Ettie gave a sidelong glance at Detective Kelly sitting there with one leg crossed over the other in his dark blue suit and black shiny shoes. He looked very well-presented, and better dressed than normal.
“What are you looking at?” Myra asked.
“Nothing.” She looked back at the front with her mind lingering on Kelly’s suits. He told her once that he never bought expensive suits because in his line of work he’d often have to wind up throwing them out. She didn’t ask him why, but she guessed.
Ettie gave Detective Kelly another quick glance to see if he was looking at one particular person. Kelly caught her eye and gave her a tiny nod. She smiled and leaned back. He couldn’t have thought Myra was guilty because she hadn’t been arrested yet, but then again, they had gotten a search warrant and it wasn’t good that they'd found the bottle of poison in her house. She knew that when someone was accused, it was hard to prove that they weren’t guilty. It was hard to make a positive out of a negative.
Chapter 13
The attendees at the funeral were told refreshments were being served in the room adjoining the church, and that afterward, only the family would attend a private burial ceremony.
Elsa-May leaned over and whispered to Ettie, “That’s a bit cold. Mrs. Carter isn’t even having people to her home.”
“Because she doesn’t want people like us there, no doubt,” Ettie whispered back.
It made perfect sense to Ettie, because Tiffany was guilty. That explained why she was trying to throw suspicion off herself. She hoped the detective could see that. In Ettie’s mind, it was as clear as a summer sky.
Before they left their seats, Myra told Ettie who was who. Two people had waved to Myra and they appeared friendly. Ettie guessed they might have been from the same crystal society as both Myra and Ian.
When Myra left the sisters to speak with other people, Ettie and Elsa-May followed the rest of the crowd into the other room for refreshments. The two sisters decided to keep their distance from the detective because they didn’t want anyone to know that they knew him. Today was the best day to get around, mingle, and talk to a few of the people who had known Ian.
When they each had a cup of hot tea in their hands, Elsa-May said to Ettie, “You talk to Angelo, and I’ll talk to Byron, and then we’ll meet back here.”
“Okay.” Angelo was the first son, Ettie reminded herself. She saw him talking to a group of people and she hung back slightly. Then he moved away, heading to the refreshment table. She hurried over. “Angelo.”
He turned around. “Hello.”
“Hello.”
“Did you know my father?” he asked.
“I knew of him and I just wanted to offer you my condolences.”
“Thank you. That’s very kind. How did you know him?”
“He was a friend of a friend.”
“Thank you. It was nice of you to come.” He gave her a polite nod, smiled and went to move on.
Ettie could not let him get away before she had learned something from him. She bit her lip, cranky with herself for not thinking of something before she approached him. “I understand you were young when your mother and father divorced?”
He stopped and turned around to face her. “That’s right. The divorce happened when I was just a young child. I barely remember my mother and father being together.”
“I couldn’t help but notice that your mother and Tiffany don’t quite get along, even though they're polite to each other.” She hoped she wasn’t being too nosey but she had to probe.
He smiled. “You’re not a fan of Tiffany’s?”
Ettie shook her head, hoping that was the way she could get through to him. “Not one bit.”
He grinned. “It’s not surprising. Not many people like her. I guess, neither did my father after some time, but it was too late by the time he realized it.”
“Too late?”
“For a divorce. There was no prenup, that’s what he told me. After the pay-out, he had to give Mom, he said he would be ruined if he had to divorce again.” He gave her a little smile and then said, “If you’ll excuse me, I’m ravenous. I had a big night last night and I’m still a bit hung over.” He walked over to the table that was filled with small sandwiches and cupcakes.
Ettie was pleased she had gleaned a small amount of information from him. When Ettie turned around intending to locate Elsa-May, she was standing right in front of her.
“Well?” Elsa-May asked.
“Ian didn’t get along with the second wife but couldn’t divorce her because she would have taken most of the money. Also, I learned that Angelo doesn’t particularly like Tiffany and is of the opinion that no one else much likes her either. What did you find out?”
“I think Byron’s hiding something.”
“What did he say?”
“He doesn’t think that Myra did it. He thinks his father did away with himself because he was dying of heart disease.”
Ettie frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. I’m sure there was a far more efficient way for him to kill himself than poisoning. Especially so dangerous a poison.”
“You’re probably right. I’d reckon Byron had something to do with it.” Elsa-May turned slightly, glancing in Byron’s direction.
Ettie turned around and stared directly at Byron. “I suppose Tiffany will be left most of the money?”
“Most likely. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out for certain. I noticed Alice didn’t come.”
Looking around, Ettie said, “No she didn't, but I didn’t think she would. Not with Mrs. Carter accusing her of stealing.”
Ettie looked around for Angelo once more; he was with a group of people and then she saw him smile. Following his eyes, she saw he was smiling at Tiffany who smiled back. So! They did get along, even though he had made out to her that no one liked Tiffany, himself included. Ettie filed that away in her brain. She left Elsa-May and found John, Ian’s brother. “I’m so sorry about your brother.”
“Thank you. You were a friend?”
Ettie nodded. “In a roundabout way. Those were lovely words you said about him.”
He smiled. “Thank you. It’s hard to know what to say. There was so much more I could’ve said.”
“It was dreadful for him to go in that way.”
“It was such a shock to find out how he’d died.”
“Do the police know who did it yet?”
Ettie noticed that John’s eyes flickered to Tiffany who was talking to her son. “Not yet. If they have suspects they didn’t mention anything like that to me. How did you know Ian?”
“Through a friend. It was nice to talk with you.”
“You too.”
Ettie made her way back to Elsa-May with a strong hunch that John thought Tiffany, or her son, Byron, was guilty.
Ten minutes later, Ettie and Elsa-May were joined by Myra. “Ready to go?”
“Yes,” Elsa-May said.
“I’ll drive you home.”
“Denke, Myra.” When Myra glared at Ettie, she corrected herself. “I mean Sparkle.”
“Everyone here knows me as Sparkle, Mother.”
“Yes, I’m sorry. It's hard for a mother to make that kind of a change.”
“Come along. Are you ready?”
Ettie nodded. “I am.”
Myra drove them home and Elsa-May talked her into coming in for a cup of tea.
A moment after Myra left Ettie and Elsa-May’s house, a loud knock sounded on their door. “She’s forgotten something,” Elsa-May said, “I wonder who she takes after with that?”
“She certainly doesn’t take after me. Or her vadder.” Ettie opened the door and instead of Myra, she faced a stern-looking bald fifty-ish man with flushed chubby cheeks. She recognized him. He was their new neighbor, the man who’d moved in next door. Ettie had seen him moving packages from a truck into the house. Then she remembered what Snowy had done on one of his suitcases. He didn’t look happy. Was that why he was there, because
of Snowy?
Chapter 14
Ettie felt her heart start racing and she tried to steady her breathing as the man from next door loomed over her in her doorway. “Hello it’s nice to meet you, I’m—”
“Look, Lady, your dog’s been barking all day.”
Ettie was shocked by his outburst. “I don’t think that’s right. He doesn’t bark. He never barks.”
Elsa-May was suddenly by her shoulder. “That’s right, he never barks.”
“He was barking non-stop and my wife had a headache all day. All that barking made it much worse. She was trying to sleep and she couldn’t.”
Snowy got off his bed and walked past Ettie and Elsa-May and sniffed the man’s shoe.
The man kicked out at him. “Get,”
“Don’t. He’s harmless.” Elsa-May said as she leaned down to pick Snowy up.
“Make sure you keep that dog away from us.”
“You don’t like dogs?” Ettie asked.
“Not ones that bark all day.”
“Like we both said, he never barks. It must’ve been a different dog you heard.”
“Is that right?”
“It is.”
He placed his hands on his hips. “Where were you today?”
“We were out,” Ettie said.
“Exactly.” He pointed at Snowy. “And that dog was barking all day. Barking might be the wrong word. It was more of a high-pitched yapping, and if you don’t shut it up, I’ll get animal services to have it put down.”
Elsa-May gasped and took a step back, hugging Snowy to her chest.
Ettie stood there with her mouth open. They’d never had a neighbor like him before and she didn’t know what to say. All she could do was stare at him until he took a couple of steps back.
The neighbor then stomped away and yelled over his shoulder, “Just keep the thing quiet or else.”
Ettie stared at Elsa-May. “Well, what do you think of that?” She closed the door.
“Do you think he barks?”
“I’ve only heard him bark once or twice in his whole life. And he didn't go on and on. It was just a couple little barks before he was quiet again.”
Elsa-May nodded. “Every time we go out, I thought he just went to his dog bed and went to sleep.”
“That’s right. He sleeps most of the day and with the dog door he can go in and out as he pleases. What reason would he have to bark?”
Ettie closed the door. “That man didn’t even tell us his name.”
Elsa-May put Snowy down on the floor and he scampered back to his dog bed in the corner.
“I couldn’t even confess what Snowy did to his suitcase.” Ettie put her hand over her mouth and giggled.
Elsa-May laughed along with her. “Nee, it definitely was not the right time to confess about that.”
“What will we do about Snowy? At least, we don’t have to go home tomorrow. I mean, leave home,” Ettie said.
“That’s right. It’s the reading at the will and we have to stay here until Myra comes afterward and tells us who the beneficiaries are.”
“I do hope Myra wasn’t left too much. She doesn’t need money and it will make her look guilty.” Ettie sat down on her couch, while Elsa-May sat down in her armchair.
“Do you still want to bake the neighbors a pie?” Elsa-May asked with a gleam in her eye.
“Jah. That might be just the thing. I’ll take them a pie and do my best to win them over. And, might I remind you that you were going to bake the pie?”
Elsa-May breathed out heavily. “I’ll do it, but I’m not going with you when you take it over to them. I’ll stay home and protect Snowy.”
Ettie chuckled and looked down at Snowy, who was back in his bed in the corner. “Snowy, were you barking all day?”
Snowy didn’t move, he just looked at Ettie and his ears moved a fraction when he heard his name.
“What did Snowy say?” Elsa-May asked.
“He said he didn’t.”
Elsa-May chortled. “He must have. Otherwise, why would that man come over here complaining about it?”
Ettie bit her lip. “I don’t know, but I sincerely doubt he barked all day like the man said.”
Elsa-May picked up her knitting from the bag by her feet. “You might be right, Ettie.”
“I usually am.”
After shaking her head at her sister, Elsa-May popped her glasses onto the end of her nose and proceeded with her knitting, making that clickety-clicking noise with the needles that grated on Ettie’s nerves. Today, that noise was the least of Ettie’s problems.
Chapter 15
Ettie and Elsa-May waited as patiently as they could for Myra, and at three in the afternoon, Ettie saw Myra pull up in her bright red car. “Here she is,” she called out to Elsa-May.
Elsa-May was just getting the second pie out of the oven. “Coming,” she yelled out.
Ettie flung the door open and Myra rushed inside and sat down on the couch. It didn’t escape Ettie’s notice that, like at the funeral, Myra had worn all black to the reading of the will. Her dress was sleeveless with a high neckline and it looked far better than her usual flowing robes. Ettie sat beside her while Elsa-May sat on her usual chair.
“Well, what’s the news?” Ettie asked.
“I knew Ian was wealthy, but I didn’t realize how many millions he had.” Myra sat and fanned herself with something.
“What’s that you’ve got there?” Elsa-May asked.
Myra stopped fanning herself and looked at the papers in her hand. “This is the program, the order of service, from Ian’s funeral. I had it in the car from the other day.”
Elsa-May leaned forward and stretched out her hand and Myra gave it to her. “We didn’t get one of these, Ettie.”
Myra said, “They were on a table just as you went in the church doors. Have that one if you want.”
As she looked at it, Elsa-May shook her head.
“I thought it odd that Tiffany didn’t have people back to her home.” Ettie didn’t think the house had looked that grand for someone who had so much money, but she couldn’t mention that because Myra would know they’d been snooping around Ian's house.
“People don’t always do that,” Elsa-May pointed out. “The last couple of funerals we’ve been to have been like that. Anyway, what did he leave you, Myra?”
“Jah, we’ve been waiting all day to find out.”
“He left me his entire crystal collection.”
Elsa-May’s eyes grew wide. “Is that it?”
“Yes, he had some rare and lovely crystals. He knew that would’ve meant a lot to me, and it does.”
“Go on,” Ettie urged. “Who was left what?”
“His wife was surprised I wasn’t left money. I could see that on her face. Surprised, but no doubt pleased.”
“Tiffany?” Elsa-May asked.
“Yes. Tiffany was left more than half of the money and then his first wife got nearly as much and the two sons got nothing. There were former employees left some small amounts of money, too.”
“That’s odd, isn’t it, that the sons got nothing?” Ettie asked.
Myra shrugged. “I suppose he figured that the wives would then go on to leave the money to each son.”
“I’d reckon that was a surprise to the sons, wasn’t it?”
“They weren’t there,” Myra said. “Oh, and is someone moving out next door?”
“The old man moved out and new people have already moved in.”
“That explains the moving truck.”
“Another one? I don’t know where they’re putting all that furniture in such a small house.” Ettie got up and peered out the window to see another moving company truck. This one was smaller than the last.
“It’s a little bigger than this house,” Elsa-May told Myra. “Your mother made me bake them a pie.”
“That’s nice of you, Mother.”
Ettie's face lit up as she sat back down. “It’s only the neighborly thing to do
.”
“They’re not—”
Ettie had to interrupt her sister. “Mm ... Sparkle's not here to listen all about the neighbors today, Elsa-May.”
“That’s right. I don’t like neighbors. I never talk to mine unless I have to. Otherwise, they’d come over all the time. That’s what happens if you’re too friendly. We have drinks in the street on Christmas Eve. That’s quite enough for me.”
“Somehow, I don’t think we’re going to have the problem of them coming over here all the time,” Elsa-May said. “How many millions are we talking about, Mmm, um, Sparkle?”
Myra drew in a deep breath. “Fifteen million. Mostly in company shares. And a few million in change, in his bank accounts and such.”
“Fifteen?” Ettie screeched.
“'And a few million in change,' you said?” Elsa-May asked.
“That’s right. And I’m glad he didn’t leave me any of it.”
“Me too, or you might’ve been arrested,” Ettie said.
“I’m not in the clear yet. Don’t forget they found that poison in my house. Can you do anything to clear my name, do you think, Mother?”
“We’re working on it,” Elsa-May said.
Myra bounded to her feet. “I will appreciate anything you can do for me. I should go now. This has all been very stressful. I need to go home so I can unwind.”
“I suppose you’re going to meditate now to alleviate the stress?” Elsa-May asked.
“Something like that, Aunt. Is that the pie I can smell?”
“That’s the pie I baked for the neighbors. I made two. Would you like to take one with you?” Elsa-May asked.
“Thanks all the same, but no. Another time maybe.”
They walked Myra to the door. Once she had gone, they returned to their usual seats in the living room.
Ettie sighed with relief. “That went well. She was only left the crystal collection.”
“We should pay the detective another visit tomorrow.”
“And why don’t we leave Snowy with Ava while we do that?”
“Better still, she can drive us there and keep Snowy in the buggy while we talk to the detective.”
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