“Do you see my dilemma, ladies?”
Elsa-May nodded. “We did hear some gossip that they met regularly in town.”
The detective’s jaw dropped open. “Why didn’t you tell me? This is the kind of thing I need to know.”
“We were going to tell you. We weren’t keeping it from you.”
He shook his head and scowled at them. “It sounds like you were keeping it from me to throw suspicion off him. Now that you know he lied you might be more inclined to be more open with me. I need you to ask him a few more questions.”
Elsa-May groaned. “You’re looking in the wrong direction if you think Josh had anything to do with this.”
The detective put both hands to his head. “Is this the old thing that you ladies think an Amish person can't be guilty? Because they can. People are people; it doesn't matter what they believe.”
Ettie studied the detective’s face and wondered what to say to him. How could she explain things that had to be understood with the heart? The detective was being too scientific and mathematical about things. “But don't you believe there is a certain type of person that is a murderer?”
“No, Mrs. Smith. I don't. Certainly there are people more prone to killing people willy-nilly, but when people are pushed the wrong way or too hard, you'll be surprised what they’re capable of.”
“Going along that line of reasoning, Detective, what scenario would you come up with for someone being pushed to kill Margaret?”
Ettie stared at Elsa-May wondering what she was talking about. She didn't want to sit there and listen to reasons why people might want to kill others. Now she’d be stuck there for the next ten minutes or so listening while the detective waffled on. She'd certainly have a word with her sister as soon as they got out of his office.
“I'd say this was a crime of jealousy because Josh was rejected several times by a beautiful woman and she was about to marry the richest man in a five-hundred-mile radius of here. That would be hard for any man to take particularly when she’d been all set to marry him years ago.”
“Wouldn't he have put that all behind him, though? From all their phone calls it would appear that they’d become friends rather than enemies.”
“That's exactly why I want you to speak with him again, Mrs. Smith.” He clapped his hands in the air so loud that Ettie and Elsa-May jumped.
Ettie was trapped; she had no way out but to go through with the detective’s request.
“I will talk to him,” Ettie said. “But I can't say that I will speak with him anytime soon. He'll know something is up if we visit him because that's something that we normally would not do. A couple of ladies of our age would not visit a couple of young men. Now if he was still living with his family that would be a different story. We could stop by the family’s house with no qualms, couldn't we, Elsa-May?”
“Yes we go visiting all the time, but we've got nothing in common with Josh so it would just be odd.”
“I see. So you'd feel you have to wait for a suitable function?” the detective asked.
“Yes or even our next meeting every second Sunday. The next one’s not too far away, and you still haven't got your toxicology report back yet, have you?” Ettie asked.
“That's still at least a week away,” the detective said.
“Where are you up to with your other investigations? Do you have any other leads?”
“I just want you ladies to concentrate on Josh and the information he might have.”
“Since this happened at my house I would feel more comfortable if you let us know what you find out, Detective.”
“Yes, don’t you owe Ettie that since she’s helping you with your investigations?”
The detective held both hands up. “All right, all right. I’m not only investigating Josh; I’m looking into everyone involved. Everyone in Margaret’s life.”
Elsa-May leaned forward. “Who?”
The detective answered, “Norman’s daughter, Paisley, and Brandy.”
Ettie gasped. “Brandy?”
“Surely you don’t think she had anything to do with this?” Elsa-May asked.
“No, of course not, but everyone has to be investigated so they can be eliminated.”
“Brandy told us the daughter wasn’t happy about her father marrying Margaret. You told us that you had her coming in for questioning?” Ettie asked.
“I did some days ago, and we got her DNA for elimination purposes. Margaret was only one year older than she was. I suppose that would be hard for any child to take. Norman’s ex-wife lives in California. Norman and his ex-wife, Candice, haven’t spoken to each other in years.”
“Is Paisley close to her mother?” Ettie asked.
“Paisley didn’t have much to do with her father growing up. Her mother raised her in California. According to Paisley, her mother didn’t mind her moving here when she was eighteen to commence working for her father.”
“Well, it seems she wasn’t just any child going to live with her father since her father was so wealthy,” Elsa-May said.
The detective nodded. “That’s another factor in this whole thing.”
“One thing you haven’t mentioned again, Detective, is the missing ring.”
He stared at Ettie. “Where did you find out about the ring?”
“You told us about the ring before.”
Elsa-May added, “We saw her finger, it was red and swollen. And we knew that was the finger where wedding rings are generally placed. Then when we found out she was engaged to a wealthy man, we just put two and two together. Like Ettie said, you told us all about it the other day.”
The detective rubbed his jaw. “Yes, I remember now. Her ring was missing; that’s quite right. We’ve notified all the usual places someone might try to offload a diamond of that size, but so far we’ve drawn a blank.”
“A ring like that would most likely stand out. It’s not an everyday kind of ring by the sounds of it,” Elsa-May said.
“Quite right. The other possibility would be that the diamond could be recut, and the laser identification would be lost. It would lose some of its carat weight, but that would be made up for because it could be sold untraceable on the open market. It wouldn’t have to be sold under the table.”
“Sounds like you’ve got your work cut out for you,” Ettie said.
“It’s been a tough one so far. That’s why I appreciate any help you can give me.”
Elsa-May stared at the detective. “Did they make it known how much the ring was worth? Did Margaret tell anyone her ring was of so much value?”
“I’ve asked that question of Norman already. That was one of the first things I asked him.”
“And what was his answer?” Elsa-May asked.
“They were careful not to tell people what the diamond in her ring was worth through fear of something like this happening.”
“Did Margaret have any close friends?
“Not that we’ve been able to find out about. Brandy knew of no one close to her.”
“Where did he get a diamond of that size? I’m guessing it’s not a thing you’d purchase from a local jeweler.”
“It was sourced by a New York gem dealer. I’ve already been to see him, and he’s verified everything that Norman told me about the diamond. I’ve got copies of all the paperwork and laboratory certificates.”
“So you’re still not certain whether Margaret was killed for the diamond or for some other reason?” Ettie asked tilting her head.
“If we can’t find a personal reason, it would most likely be for the stone since it was worth so much.”
“We should go now.” Ettie stood. “We’ll be back in touch once we speak to Josh again.”
The detective stood. “I do appreciate your help in all this.”
Ettie and Elsa-May hurried out of his office.
“What's the big hurry, Ettie?”
“I think we should go to see Josh because he lied to us about Margaret.”
“Go to
his haus?”
“Why not?”
“That was the last thing you wanted to do the other day. You told Kelly we were going to wait until we saw him again,” Elsa-May said.
“I’ve rethought things. Now we’ve got a reason to see Josh.”
Elsa-May shook her head, and deep lines appeared on her forehead. “But we don’t want him to know the detective’s sent us. If we show up on his doorstep upset with him for keeping information from us, that’ll look odd.”
“Do you have a better idea, Elsa-May?”
“We already said that we’ll wait until we see him again.”
“What if we take him a pie?”
Elsa-May laughed. “A pie?”
“Two single men living on their own would appreciate a pie, and we can take it there later tonight when they’re certain to be home.”
“If that’s what you want to do, Ettie, I’ll come with you as always.”
“Let’s go. We’ve got baking to do.”
Chapter 11
“The secret to a good apple pie is the filling, and also the pastry,” Ettie stated.
“So the secret is the filling and the crust? Then, there’s nothing left; that’s hardly a baking secret. In fact, what you just said makes no sense at all.” Elsa-May continued peeling the apples for the pie with Ettie beside her.
Ettie did her best to explain further. “The way I see it, the filling has to be tasty and firm – not runny, and the pastry can’t be too doughy or too dry.” Ettie broke off a slice of apple and popped it into her mouth. “Oooh. Have you tasted these?”
“Nee, why?”
“They’re not sweet they’re sour.”
“I like using sour apples.”
“Well, I don’t!”
“That could be a big problem.” Elsa-May popped a small piece of apple into her mouth. “That’s quite tart. We could add a lot of sugar if you want the pie that sweet.”
“Do you think that’ll help? We’ll have to add a lot.”
“We’ll taste it before we put it into the pastry to make sure it tastes all right.”
They hadn’t been to the store for days, so they were left with the apples from Bernie next door who had given them some from the two trees in his yard.
The apples were stewed in sweet liquid until they were firm. When they were both happy with the taste, the filling was added to the pastry crust that lined the pie tin. Once the filling was heaped high, Ettie placed the rolled out top layer onto the pie. To finish it off, Ettie decorated the center with small pieces of pastry fashioned into a flower.
After the pie was placed in the oven, both sisters walked into their living room to have a much-needed rest.
Ettie closed her eyes. Why would someone want Margaret dead? Several scenarios ran through her mind.
The next thing Ettie was aware of was being shaken awake by Elsa-May.
“Ettie, wake up we have a visitor.”
Ettie opened her eyes to see Detective Crowley sitting in front of her. She coughed and sat straight on the couch. “Detective, is it you or am I dreaming?”
“He’s here because he read the papers, Ettie.”
“So nice of you to visit us. Have you talked to Detective Kelly?”
He shook his head. “No, I haven’t. I wanted to see how you two are holding up. I recognized your house from the photo in the paper, Ettie.”
“Yes, it was a dreadful thing. I don’t know what they said in the papers; did you know that the girl used to be Amish and was raised in our community?”
“The paper didn’t mention anything of the kind. I’m sorry to hear that; that makes it doubly awful for you. Was she someone you knew well?”
“We knew her, but she left us five years ago. She’d been working with the real estate company for a year.”
“So she was there to sell your house that your friend left you, Ettie?”
“Yes. I had intended to sell it. I don’t know what will happen with it now that there’s been another murder there.”
Elsa-May said, “The realtor Ettie had selling her place had her intern do the open house, and the intern was the one killed. Her name was Margaret Yoder.”
“And Brandy Winnie, the woman she was an intern for, had Margaret change her name to Margo Rivers thinking it sounded like a better name for a realtor.”
“That is interesting. I guess that’s not a good thing for the sale of the house,” Crowley said.
“There’s nothing anyone can do about that now.”
“Would you like tea, Detective?”
“Yes, I would thank you, Elsa-May.”
“While you’re in there, it smells like that pie’s ready to come out of the oven.”
Elsa-May laughed. “It’s been out of the oven for about half an hour now. I got it out while you were sleeping.”
“Just as well you were awake, then.”
Elsa-May stood up. “I’ll make the tea and see what I can find for us to eat.”
“Sounds good,” Crowley said.
“I don’t know what you read in the paper, but the girl didn’t have any of her money or cards stolen; the only thing that was taken was her engagement ring.”
“How much do you know about her?” Crowley asked.
“Just that she was the youngest child of Gideon and Rose Yoder, she was not far from marrying a man years ago, and then she called off the wedding and left the community.”
The former detective rubbed his chin. “Is that all you know about her?”
“Why? Is there something else we should know?”
“No, I don’t believe so. The most obvious things is—did she have any enemies?”
“Well, that’s the confusing thing. Were they after Margaret or Brandy? Brandy was the one who should’ve been there that day running the open house. It was her name in the newspaper advertisement. Margaret was Brandy’s intern, and Brandy had Margaret do the open house at short notice. They both looked similar although Brandy’s older.”
“Let’s start with Margaret; did she have any enemies?”
“She was about to be married to a very wealthy man.”
Crowley nodded. “Yes. I read in the paper she was engaged to Norman Cartwright. He’s worth millions.”
“That’s correct and according to Brandy his daughter wasn’t happy about splitting her inheritance down the middle. The daughter thought Margaret, or Margo as they knew her, was a gold digger.”
“And did Brandy have any enemies?” he asked.
“She’s not certain, but she did say that she has people who aren’t happy with her from time to time over real-estate deals—people who miss out on properties.”
“I tend to think that it would be unlikely that they were after Brandy.”
Elsa-May came back with the tea and a tray of cookies. “Did I hear you say that you don’t think the killer was after Brandy?”
“Yes.” Crowley nodded.
“Why’s that?” Elsa-May set the tea on the table and sat back down.
“When it comes to murder, cases of mistaken identity are rare. Unless Margaret was driving Brandy’s car. Was she?”
“No, she wasn’t.” Ettie shook her head.
“It might have been an option if she were driving someone else’s car. Yes, I doubt very much they were after Brandy.”
“That’s good to know.”
“Thank you, Detective. We didn’t quite see things that way. What you’re saying makes sense.”
Ettie looked over at Elsa-May. “Well, am I going to pour the tea?”
Elsa-May pushed herself up off the chair. “I was just giving it a little time to steep. You would’ve complained if I poured it straightaway, but I didn’t. I just can’t win with you, Ettie.”
Ettie giggled.
“I can see not too much has changed,” Crowley said in an amused tone.
“Not too much ever changes around here,” Elsa-May said.
“And how are things going with you?” Ettie asked Crowley.
; “I’ve taken up golf. It’s challenging, and it gives me something to do.”
Elsa-May passed Crowley a cup of tea and then handed one to Ettie before she sat back down.
“That’s good that you’ve found something you like to do,” Ettie said.
The detective brought the cup to his lips and took a sip. “I had thought about getting back into detective work on a part-time basis.”
“That would be a good idea,” Ettie said.
“I’d take private clients, which would most likely be missing persons cases and things like that.”
“That sounds like it would suit you and with your connections in the police force, many people would like to hire you.”
“Do you think so?”
“Of course,” Ettie said. “You can practice right now.”
“I’d be happy to.”
Ettie and Elsa-May told Crowley everything they knew about the facts surrounding the murder of the woman who died with the name Margo Rivers.
“It does seem very odd that she would wear the ring seeing it was worth so much money. She’d almost need to go around with a bodyguard beside her. Often when people own a valuable ring like that they wear a replica and keep the real one in the safe.”
“Detective Kelly said something like that, and that’s an interesting point. Was she wearing a fake?”
“Or what if she was wearing the replica and that was stolen? Someone could have thought it was the real thing,” Ettie said.
Crowley frowned. “Cartwright should’ve been able to clear that up right away, whether she was wearing a fake.”
Elsa-May shook her head. “He mentioned nothing about it. From what the detective said, the man Margaret was going to marry had the ring insured.”
“He could be taking advantage of the robbery to claim insurance on a fake ring,” Ettie said.
“Do you think he’d be in the right mind to think that fast right after his fiancée died?” Crowley suggested.
“You really think he would take advantage of the situation to collect an insurance payout, Ettie?” Elsa-May asked.
“Do you?” Ettie deflected the question to Crowley, who remained silent while staring at her. “What are you thinking?” Ettie eventually asked him.
“I’m just mulling the whole thing over. I’ve heard the ring was worth nearly a million dollars so that would be a sizeable payout. There are various scenarios. Number one; someone could have taken the ring thinking it was the real deal. Number two; Cartwright could be taking advantage of the situation of her dying and the ring missing. Only he’d know if the missing ring was fake or real. And that doesn’t have to mean he had anything to do with her death.”
Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 2 Page 7