Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 7

by Samantha Price

  "Do you know how to whistle?"

  "I do. Go on." Elsa-May made shooing motions with her hands.

  Ettie took a deep breath to still her nerves and then headed slowly to room number nine. She tapped on the door. “Room service."

  “Come in," said a female voice.

  Ettie walked in and saw the famous movie star, Shand Hollows, sitting on the couch. "Here are your towels, ma’am."

  She took her head out of the magazine and looked up. "Oh, it’s you. You were at my aunt’s funeral.”

  "That's right. I was.”

  "I didn't know you worked here."

  "I knew Greta." Ettie put the towels down on the small table and then took two steps closer to her. "You were at the fair, weren't you?"

  "Which fair was that?"

  "You were at the fair your aunt organized and you were wearing Amish clothing."

  Shand laughed. "I wasn’t there, and I would never wear Amish clothes unless I had a paying role to do so."

  "You were wearing Amish clothes so you could kill your aunt."

  Shand sprang to her feet. "How dare you accuse me of such a thing? I would never lay a finger on my dear old aunt. Why would you come in here and accuse me of such a thing?” She looked Ettie up and down. "I haven't seen you here before."

  Shand picked up her cell phone and Ettie took a step toward the door. “I’m calling the police,” said the actress.

  "If you didn't kill her, why were you wearing a disguise at the fair?" Ettie asked. “And, I know more. I know about everything you benefited from by your aunt’s death.”

  Shand pressed numbers on her phone. "Milton, where are you? Get back here now." She ended her call and tossed the phone on the couch. "My bodyguard’s coming back. You better go if you know what's good for you."

  Ettie raised her eyebrows. "We were just talking. There was no need to call anyone.”

  "Get out!"

  Ettie turned and hurried out the door. She ran slap bang into the hard chest of a six feet four inches, solidly built, bodyguard. Slowly, Ettie looked up into his face. "I was just bringing her towels," she said in a small voice that came out as more of a squeak.

  "Call the police," Shand ordered him from within the room. “Have her arrested.”

  Chapter 25

  "That’s not necessary I'm going right now."

  "There you are!" Elsa-May appeared behind the bodyguard. “You wandered off again, dear.” Elsa-May looked at the bodyguard and said, "I'm sorry, my sister has lost her mind and she got out of the home where we keep her. I hope she hasn't caused any trouble, has she?" The bodyguard looked doubtful at Elsa-May’s story. "Please allow me to take her home. She didn't mean to cause trouble, and she’s due for her medication right now. The medication and the walls of her sanctuary usually keep her contained. I will keep a better eye on her."

  The bodyguard looked over at Shand for approval. "Shall I let her go?"

  "Yes, let her go. But if she escapes again, I will not hesitate to call the police."

  The bodyguard looked back and said to Elsa-May, "You better get her out of here.”

  Elsa-May took Ettie by the arm. "Most definitely. Come along, Dearie." Together, they hurried out of the building.

  As they hurried up the street, Ettie said, "Did you really have to say all those things about me?"

  "Yes, you heard them. They were going to call the police. Did you really want to have to explain to Kelly what you were doing there?"

  “I was only trying to help him. He asked for our help.”

  “Yes, but he never would’ve allowed you to go to her room impersonating a maid. What did you say to her to make her so upset?”

  “I just asked her why she was at the fair dressed as an Amish woman.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She said she didn’t kill her aunt.”

  “Oh, Ettie, you accused her, didn’t you?”

  “I might’ve, but I had to get her to talk.”

  Elsa-May looked over her shoulder and walked faster dragging Ettie up the street. “Let’s find a pay phone to get a taxi. I was right. We do need to get you home where you can’t cause any more trouble.”

  Chapter 26

  Ettie was the first to wake the next morning. Humming the tune of the hymn they’d sung at Greta’s funeral, she scrambled eggs while toasting the bread under the gas grill. When Elsa-May came out of the bedroom with her head hung, Ettie knew immediately that something was wrong. "What's the matter with you?"

  Elsa-May looked up at her blinking her eyes. "It's my eye. It's very sore. I think I have something in it."

  "Give me a look." Ettie took the eggs off the stove, turned off the grill, and walked over to Elsa-May. “Open wide."

  Elsa-May did as she was told.

  "Look up and hold your eye wide open. Now look down. No, I can't see anything there.”

  “I can't see why it's so sore. It feels scratchy."

  "It might be dry. You could have dry eyes. I have some drops if you want to try them."

  "It couldn't hurt I suppose."

  Ettie went to the bathroom. When they'd bought the house together, one of its attractions had been the two sets of cabinets in the bathroom, so she and Elsa-May each had a space for personal items. Ettie returned to the kitchen with the eye drops. “I'll put them in for you. Sit down." Elsa-May sat in the chair and tipped her head back. Then Ettie splashed a large drop in her eye. Elsa-May blinked a few times. "Is that better?"

  Elsa-May opened and closed her eyes a few times. "It's hard to tell."

  "I'll put another one in. Hold still." Ettie leaned over her sister and repeated the process. “All done.” Then she screwed the lid on tight, placed the bottle on the table and went back to making the breakfast. "Maybe you had your eyes half open during the night and that’s why they feel like that now."

  "Could be."

  "Coffee?"

  "Yes please."

  After they’d had breakfast, Elsa-May's eye was still the same.

  "Before we go to see Detective Kelly, how about we stop by the pharmacy and see what they think the problem is?"

  “Kelly?”

  “Yes, we talked last night about visiting him.”

  "Okay. I don't see what the people at the pharmacy can do if your drops didn't help. I'll just grab your bottle. Maybe a different brand will work better."

  While Ettie straightened her dress in preparation to go, Elsa-May came back out of the kitchen holding up the bottle in the air. "Did you see this?"

  "What's that?"

  "The use-by-date on this bottle. It says it’s five years and one month out of date."

  "Impossible! I only got it a few months ago.”

  “Look here.” Elsa-May thrust the bottle into Ettie’s hands.

  Ettie held it up to the light and looked at the date. “Ah, that's an 8, not a 3, so it is out of date, but only a little more than a year. I don’t see it would matter. It's not like it's milk going off, or anything."

  "Oh, Ettie, don't you know anything? Things outlive their usefulness."

  "Don't look at me when you say that.” Ettie giggled thinking Elsa-May would laugh too, but apparently she wasn't in a joking mood. "I'm sorry, I didn't know, otherwise I wouldn't have given it to you."

  "But you would’ve known that you haven't used those drops in the last year, wouldn't you?"

  "I didn't think of it and it didn’t seem so long ago that I got them. And, I didn't know things like that had a use-by-date. I'm very sorry."

  Elsa-May clenched her jaw, and then shrugged a shoulder. "It doesn't matter. It was a genuine mistake so I can't hold that against you."

  "Did the drops help even a little?"

  "No. It just feels scratchy, still. I hope there’s not something seriously wrong. What if I lose my eyesight? I won’t be able to knit. What would I do with my time?"

  "Nee, I’m sure there’s nothing wrong. There isn't anything in it, but it does look a bit red. Perhaps you scratched it duri
ng the night."

  "Maybe."

  “Are you ready to go?”

  “I am.”

  Together, they walked out the door and headed to the shanty that housed the telephone, so they could call for a taxi.

  Chapter 27

  From the pharmacy, they headed to the police station. The pharmacist had sold Elsa-May more drops for her eye and told her to go to the doctor if it didn't improve, and right away if it got worse. She still had no answer to what was wrong with it.

  They had to wait a while before they got to see Detective Kelly.

  “Ettie, are you going to tell him yet about Ann Maree?”

  “Do you think I should?”

  “Jah, I do. Especially if he thinks someone else did it.”

  Ettie stared at Elsa-May. “You think she did it?”

  “I don’t know, but you should tell him all the facts and, if you saw her talking to Greta after you were speaking with Greta, that makes Ann Maree the last person to talk with her before she died. Unless, of course, Greta talked with her killer.”

  Ettie’s tummy squirmed at the thought. Then they were called into his office. He had two sandwiches in front of him and a large takeout coffee.

  "Excuse me, but this is the only chance I have to eat. No rest for the wicked," he chuckled. “This is my breakfast.”

  "Go right ahead. Don’t mind us,” Ettie said as they sat down in front of him.

  He stared at Elsa-May. "Are you winking at me?”

  “She’s got something wrong with her eye. She’s got drops in it now. If she starts crying, it’s nothing to do with you.” Ettie smiled.

  Kelly leaned forward. “It’s you who might be crying, Mrs. Smith. I had a call from a certain bodyguard regarding certain events of last evening. It seems you escaped from your facility or your home.” He made curly quotation marks with his fingers in the air when he said the word home.

  “Did you tell Shand your name, Ettie?”

  Elsa-May glared at Ettie. “No.” With her sister opening her big mouth, Ettie couldn’t deny she had been with Shand Hollows.

  “I got a pretty good description of the two women that were there at her room.”

  “I can explain,” said Ettie.

  “Can you? Well, this’ll be good. Go ahead. And, by the way, you’re lucky I’m the one who took that call. I was able to calm him down and assure him I’d keep you away from Ms. Hollows.”

  Elsa-May spoke before Ettie had a chance. “You see, the woman who’s temporarily living next door to us has a young daughter. She insists she saw Shand at the fair.”

  “Impossible, she has an alibi.”

  “Not only at the fair, but wearing Amish clothing,” Ettie added.

  Kelly chuckled. “And how old is this storyteller?”

  “About ten, but when we saw Shand at the funeral, she was convinced she’d seen her at the fair.”

  Kelly took a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a mouthful of coffee. "Just keep away from Shand Hollows. And that goes for the both of you. How are doing with questioning all of your Amish ladies who had quilts at Greta’s store?” Kelly took another bite of what looked like a meat and pickles sandwich.

  "There are too many of them," Ettie said. "We are working our way through them. We’ve talked with many of them."

  "And did you learn anything?"

  "Yes, we told you that we learned that Shand Hollows was seen at the fair wearing Amish clothing."

  Ettie saw Kelly was growing annoyed with her sister. “Elsa-May shouldn't have said that to you."

  “Apart from getting yourselves into trouble with influential people, do you have anything for me?"

  Ettie drew her lips together. "What do you know about the building where Greta’s quilt store is situated being sold and someone wanting to buy it?"

  "I don't know anything about it.”

  "We have heard that someone wants to buy that single row of shops, knock it to the ground and build new shops plus apartments over the top."

  "It wouldn't surprise me. There’s a lot of development going on in the area. I’ll have someone look into it.”

  “I have been told that it’s Shand Hollows who currently owns the building.”

  “Yes,” Elsa-May said, “And we heard she has inherited a sizeable amount along with her sister.”

  “I am aware of the inheritance, but are you sure she owns the building?”

  “That’s what we heard.”

  He pushed aside the remainder of his sandwich and scribbled something in his notebook.

  While he was doing that, Elsa-May said, “While you’re looking into it would you mind asking Shand Hollows if she was at the fair?”

  “I’ll do no such thing. You should’ve come directly to me with that information. I would’ve been able to assure you that I have her alibi along with her sister’s. In an investigation like this we always look at those closest to the deceased first.”

  “So, she has an alibi?” Elsa-May asked.

  “She was on set at the time.”

  “Matilda must’ve been mistaken,” Ettie muttered.

  “Well, how closely have you questioned Martin Cruise? Did you find out what he put into his pocket?” Elsa-May asked.

  “Martin Cruise is not on my suspect list, but I can tell you I’m running out of time and patience. The young man who took those checks from Greta is our best suspect and he was also at the fair. He can’t offer a reasonable excuse as to why Greta gave him so much money.”

  “She gave him the checks, though,” Ettie said.

  He ignored her comment. “His lawyer will say just because he was taking her money and was at the scene of the crime doesn’t mean he killed her. And, he’s right. I don’t want this to be another case thrown out of court. We need to get our evidence lined up. All we need is solid proof.” He turned to Ettie. “Are you sure you didn’t see the young man slipping out the door of the tent?”

  “I told you I only saw a quick glimpse of a figure.”

  “All we need is for you to have seen him and we can get him off the streets and make sure he doesn’t kill again.”

  “I can’t say I saw what I didn’t see,” Ettie said.

  “Very well. Just stay away from Shand Hollows, will you promise me that?”

  “We won’t promise anything,” Elsa-May said, “but if we say we won’t, that means we won’t.”

  He frowned at them. “'Say you won’t?'”

  “We won’t,” Ettie told him.

  “Fine, now if you’ll excuse me, I have many things to do. Can I have someone drive you home?”

  Ettie still hadn’t mentioned that she’d seen Ann Maree talking to Greta, but with the mood he was in, she was sure he’d dismiss it as nothing. “No thanks. We’ll find our own way.”

  Ettie and Elsa-May walked out of the police station. “He didn’t listen to a thing we said,” Elsa-May grumbled.

  “I know. I was right about what I said before. He’s trying to find evidence that Mondo’s guilty, but what if he’s not?”

  “He could be.”

  “We need to find out why Greta gave him that money.”

  “Jah, but how are we going to do that? We can’t talk to Valerie again. That door is firmly closed to us. Neither can we talk with Shand again, even if she wasn’t constantly surrounded by people.”

  “Let’s sit down and think for a moment.” Ettie sat down on the bus seat not far from the station and Elsa-May sat next to her. “What do we know about Mondo?”

  “He’s been in trouble before with the police.”

  “We know he was mowing her lawns for her and taking money from her. What else? Do we know anyone else who might know him?”

  “No, Ettie, but everyone has family. Well, most do. What if he has family who’ll talk to us?”

  Ettie grabbed hold of her sister’s arm. “That’s it! Let’s go through the phone book and see if we can locate some of his relatives.”

  “Not after Kelly’s recent lecture. He
only asked us to talk to our ladies to see what they know about Greta.”

  Ettie grinned. “We said we wouldn’t talk with Shand again, he didn’t specify anyone else we shouldn’t speak with. What was Mondo’s real name again? Please tell me you remember it.”

  “Quale-Wate. And Raymond is his first name. I wonder why his nickname isn’t Raymo. Why Mondo?”

  “Let’s go. There can’t be too many people by the name of Quale-Wate in the area.” Ettie got to her feet and then pulled on her sister’s arm. “We can find a phone book at the library.”

  “Library?” Elsa-May grimaced. “I just hope Carol’s not working there today.” Elsa-May got to her feet and they walked to the library, making a stop on the way when they came across Ann Maree’s Quilt Store.

  “I might as well get the fabric while I’m here.”

  “It’ll save us coming back again,” Elsa-May agreed.

  “Hello, ladies,” Ann Maree hollered from the other side of the shop. “You’re back again.”

  “Yes we are. Ettie is back to get fabric.”

  “Excellent.” Ann Maree clapped her hands together as she walked over to the wall of fabric rolls. “Point out the ones you like, and I’ll bring them to you for a closer look.”

  “I like that one there. The pink one.”

  “Certainly.” Ann Maree reached on her tiptoes and pulled down the roll and spread it on the counter.

  “Pink? Oh, Ettie. I don’t think you should have a pink quilt at your age.”

  Ettie stared at Elsa-May wondering what she had against pink. “It won’t all be pink. Anyway, who will see it?”

  “I will and any guests we have to the haus. Nee, not pink.”

  “It’s my quilt, though. You can choose the color when you’re making your quilt, okay?”

  Elsa-May rubbed her head.

  “Careful of your eye,” Ettie told her.

  “It’s better now.”

  “Ah, good.” She turned back to Valerie. “I’ve decided I’m going to make a pink and blue Jacob’s Ladder quilt.”

  Slowly, Elsa-May nodded. “That might be all right since you have blue with it, and hopefully it’ll be deep pinks rather than that lolly pink associated with younger folk.”