Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 2

by Samantha Price

  “Did anything give Margaret a reason to think that her life might be in danger or threatened by Paisley?” Ettie asked.

  “Nee. If there were anything like that she certainly didn’t tell me about it because I would’ve remembered something like that. When the police force first had her get friendly with Norman, she said she was stepping on someone’s toes. She mentioned she felt extreme anger coming from a woman.”

  “Did she say who this woman was or mention a name?” Ettie asked.

  “It was the woman she started working for, the one you were at the funeral with.”

  “You mean Brandy Winnie?”

  “Yeah, that’s the one. Seems she was on the verge of having a serious relationship with the man herself until Margaret showed up.”

  Elsa-May turned and stared at Ettie.

  “Did she feel in danger from Brandy?” Ettie asked him.

  He nodded. “I think so, and then there was the man’s ex-wife who didn’t want her daughter’s inheritance to go to Margaret. Are you able to get me out of here?”

  “We’ll have a talk with the detective and see what his plans are. Do you need a lawyer?” Ettie asked.

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Did the detective say that you should have a lawyer? He asked me if I had one and I said no.”

  “We can find you one if you need one,” Ettie assured him.

  Elsa-May added, “Jah, if you’re not out of here by tomorrow. I don’t think he can hold you for too long unless you’re charged with something. He said he’ll let you out in the morning.”

  “Denke for coming to see me,” Josh said. “Do you best to get me out of here.”

  When they were escorted out of the interview room, they waited again to talk to Detective Kelly.

  Once they were sitting in his office across from him, he asked, “So what did he have to say?”

  “He seems to think that Margaret felt threatened by Brandy,” Ettie said.

  “And also from Norman’s ex-wife.”

  “I don’t care what he thinks. All I care about was what Margaret said to him.” The detective pressed his lips firmly together.

  Ettie glanced over at Elsa-May, who looked a little shocked at Detective Kelly’s outburst. Was it because they’d mentioned Brandy as perhaps being involved?

  “Perhaps you should talk to him yourself, then. Ettie and I are only trying to help.”

  “Yes, I know, forgive me. But you’re helping through the filtered view that Josh Tomson’s not guilty.”

  Elsa-May shot back, “And you’re looking at things as though he is guilty!”

  Suddenly the detective leaped off his chair and stood. “If you ladies will excuse me I’ve got many things to do.” He tapped on a huge file of folders on the side of his desk. “I have to personally go through all these phone records and text messages of Cartwright’s.”

  Ettie wondered why he’d have to do that personally but with the mood he was in, she wasn’t brave enough to ask. She pushed herself up, and as she did, Elsa-May also stood. “We’ll wait to hear from you.”

  “Thank you for coming in. Do you need someone to drive you home?”

  “No thank you,” Elsa-May said before she turned and walked out the door followed closely by Ettie.

  When they were clear of the station, Elsa-May said, “The man’s just rude.”

  “Let’s go home and try to forget about all this nasty business for a while.”

  Chapter 22

  After Ettie and Elsa-May had finished breakfast the next day, they heard a knock on their door.

  “Who could that be?” Ettie asked.

  “Open the door and see. I’ll hold Snowy back.” Elsa-May took hold of Snowy, so he wouldn’t jump all over the person at the door.

  Ettie opened the door to see Elsa-May’s granddaughter with Elsa-May’s great-granddaughter, Ivy, in front of her.

  “Hello Becky, hello Ivy, Come in!” Ettie was amazed to see them, and by the look of the small bag it looked like Ivy might be staying for a while.

  Becky said, “I didn’t check with Mammi, but Ivy said she asked Ivy to stay here tonight.”

  “Did you, Elsa-May?” Ettie spun around to look at her sister. It wasn’t the best time to have a young girl in the house.

  “Hello, you two.” Elsa-May pushed herself up from the chair, and Ivy ran up to her and hugged her while Elsa-May was still doing her best to hold onto Snowy.

  “Is this your new dog, Mammi?”

  Elsa-May laughed. “That’s him.”

  “Can I play with him?”

  “You can. As soon as your mamm leaves, I’ll let him go, and you can play with him outside.”

  Becky said, “I brought a change of clothing for her. I know you don’t have much room in the haus here. She said last time she was here she slept on the couch.”

  “We can always make room for Ivy,” Ettie said. “Can you stay for a cup of tea, Becky?”

  “Nee, I must go. I’ve got errands to run today. Shall I collect her the same time tomorrow.”

  “Jah, that’ll be fine,” Elsa-May said.

  As soon as Ivy’s mother left, Elsa-May let go of Snowy. “If you run outside, he’ll follow,” Elsa-May said to Ivy.

  “Okay.” Ivy ran outside, but Snowy stayed staring up at Elsa-May.

  “Go on, Snowy. Go off and play.”

  Snowy looked over at Ivy, who was calling him and then looked at Elsa-May again. As soon as Elsa-May took a step toward the back door, Snowy ran to Ivy.

  Elsa-May sat down, and said to Ettie, “I’m exhausted just looking at Ivy. She’s got so much energy.”

  “I’m surprised you had her here with all the murder things going on. Didn’t we decide not to have her here until it was all over?”

  “I didn’t say she could come, Ettie. You heard what I said to her. I think she told her mudder that I said she could come here.”

  “Was it Ivy or her mudder? Maybe Becky wanted a little time to herself to run her errands.”

  Ettie and Elsa-May laughed.

  “We should ask Ivy some questions later. I don’t want her to think she can get away with making up stories to her mudder that I said she could come here today.”

  “And if we think Becky wanted some time alone, we’ll not say anything?” Ettie asked.

  “That’s right. I remember what it was like to want time alone when my kinner were small.”

  “Becky’s only got one and Ivy would be no problem at all she’s so well behaved.”

  Elsa-May winced. “She does have the tendency to talk a lot.”

  The back door flung open, and the handle cracked against the wall. “Mammi come and play with us.”

  Just then, a knock sounded on their front door, and Snowy barked and ran to the door ahead of everyone followed closely by Ivy.

  “Who could it be, Mammi?” Ivy stared up at Elsa-May as she walked to the door.

  “We’ll have to open it to find out.” Elsa-May opened the door to see Brandy.

  “Oh, I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

  “Hello, Brandy. This is my great-granddaughter, Ivy.”

  Brandy was distracted by Snowy who was pawing at her, and then he scratched her leg. “Oh no, the dog again.”

  “Hello,” Ivy said to Brandy.

  Elsa-May leaned down and picked up Snowy. “I’m sorry about the dog. Ivy, this is Ms. Winnie.”

  “Hello, Ms. Winnie,” Ivy said.

  “Hello, Ivy.”

  “Is Ms. the same as Miss?” Ivy asked Elsa-May.

  “It’s a little different, but it can be used for the same purpose,” Elsa-May mumbled. “Perhaps you should go and see if you can help Ettie in the kitchen, Ivy.”

  “Okay. I’ll take Snowy with me.”

  “That would be a good idea,” Elsa-May said, as Ivy took Snowy out of her arms.

  When Ivy and the dog were gone, Brandy stepped through the door.

  “Sorry about that, Brandy. I’m looking after Ivy overnight
.”

  Brandy rolled her eyes. “Lucky you.”

  “Come through to the living room and sit down.”

  Ettie joined them. “Hello, Brandy.”

  Brandy said, “Did you know that they’ve got an Amish man in custody?”

  “Yes, we know him, and we were talking with him yesterday,” Ettie said.

  “What has he said?” Brandy inquired.

  “He said Margaret was alive after the open house; he saw her.”

  “Before the robbery, then? Because I heard that a man has come forward and said he robbed Margaret of her engagement ring, but he says that he wasn’t the one who killed her.”

  “We’re not certain,” Ettie said, not wanting to give Brandy too much information. Ettie was certain that it was still a secret that Margaret was working undercover; they had to be careful what they said.

  “You spoke with the Amish man?” Brandy asked.

  “Yes, we did.” Elsa-May nodded.

  “Did he see anyone or anything that would help the police?”

  Elsa-May said, “That’s something we don’t know.”

  Brandy looked displeased. “Well, he must’ve said something to you.”

  “All he said was he happened to go past the house and saw her leaving the open house…”

  Ettie cut across Elsa-May, “She said ‘hello’ and that was that. He said ‘hello’ back and kept going.”

  “He didn’t say anything else? Did he see anyone around?” Brandy asked.

  “Not that he told us. Have you talked to Detective Kelly lately?”

  “He’s busy. He questioned me the other day, and I haven’t heard from him since. I was sure he’d call me.”

  “Do you know something, Brandy? Was there someone else or something else to see?” Ettie asked.

  “The murderer, of course. If the man who stole the ring didn’t kill her, then who did?”

  “We’ve no idea,” Elsa-May said.

  “You don’t know anything at all?” Brandy asked.

  “No, nothing. I’m sure you’ll be one of the first people the detective tells when he finds the guilty person.”

  Brandy tilted her head to one side. “Why do you say that?”

  “She was your intern,” Ettie said.

  “Yes, that’s right. This whole thing has me jumpy.” She stood up. “I better go and get some work done. That’ll keep my mind from this whole dreadful thing.”

  “Good idea,” Elsa-May said.

  Chapter 23

  The next morning, soon after Ivy was collected by her mother, Detective Crowley came to their door.

  “We are getting a lot of visitors lately,” Ettie said. “Come in.”

  From her chair, Elsa-May called out, “Ettie and I were wondering when we’d hear from you again. Did Kelly fill you in with everything that’s been going on?”

  Crowley sat down. “Yes. He told me he let you know that Margaret was working undercover.”

  “You knew that when you came to see us the other day?” Elsa-May asked.

  “Yes. I knew Margaret very well. We worked closely together many times. When I was here, I couldn’t mention that to you. There were many of us who wanted to go to her funeral, but of course, we couldn’t. You do know that it’s still secret information?”

  “We do,” Elsa-May said.

  Ettie leaned forward. “Have there been any developments?”

  “Kelly is grateful for the help you two have given him. I’ve let him know that he can trust both of you to find things out for him.”

  “Thank you, but that’s not answering Ettie’s question.”

  “He’s looked into everyone close to Margaret, which is Brandy, Josh Tomson, Paisley, Norman, Norman’s ex-wife …”

  “And?”

  “We’re drawing a blank. The phone records of everyone show nothing that we don’t already know. Everyone seems to have alibis.”

  “Where does that leave things?” Elsa-May asked. “If we don’t find something soon someone might very well get away with killing her.”

  “They won’t get away with it,” Ettie stated.

  The detective raised his eyebrows. “You mean the great judgment day in the sky?”

  “We all have to give an account for what we have done,” Elsa-May said.

  “I hope it doesn’t come to that. It’s not ideal to have an unconvicted killer roaming around. I personally followed up on the whereabouts of the ex-wife at the time, and she has a solid alibi—as does Paisley.”

  “Does that mean Josh is still under suspicion?” Elsa-May asked.

  “We’ve got no DNA evidence linking him to the crime. The evidence is circumstantial, and that will not hold up in court. I doubt he’ll be charged with her murder.”

  “So you have to wait until more evidence turns up?” Ettie asked.

  Elsa-May added, “That cuts out the daughter, the mother… what about Cartwright himself?”

  Crowley winced. “His alibi is not airtight, but if he paid a man to steal the ring, it makes little sense he’d pay another man to come along and kill her, or even do it himself. His DNA was found on her person, but he was her fiancé, so that’s understandable.”

  Ettie nodded. “And convenient for him.”

  “So, if that rules out Cartwright, the ex-wife, and Paisley, who does that leave?”

  “I’m afraid it leaves Brandy and Josh Tomson. Unless there’s another party we’re missing.”

  “Josh must have just missed the murderer by seconds,” Elsa-May said.

  Crowley rubbed his jaw. “Buggies don’t travel that quickly and if—according to him—if she was just about to call in the robbery, he must have seen the car of the person who did it.”

  “Yes, that’s right because there’s no through road. If you go past my house you can’t keep going; you have to turn around and go past it again.”

  “The problem is, he can’t recall anything. Or says he can’t recall anything,” Crowley said.

  “Did Kelly send you to ask us to speak to him again?” Ettie asked.

  “I was hoping I wouldn’t be that obvious,” Crowley said.

  “I do hope Kelly has released him. He’s not still in jail, is he?”

  “He’s been released.”

  “We’ll talk to him today,” Ettie said.

  “Would you like a cup of hot tea?” Elsa-May asked Crowley.

  “Always,” he said with a smile.

  When Crowley left, Ettie and Elsa-May got ready to head to Josh’s house.

  “It’s certainly quiet with Ivy gone,” Ettie said. “Did you see how Brandy reacted to Ivy? She seemed to care less for children than she does dogs.”

  Elsa-May sat as she laced up her boots. “Young children can be quite annoying, but when they’re your kin that’s an entirely different thing.”

  Ettie slumped into her couch. “Maybe that’s it, Elsa-May!”

  “What’s it?” Elsa-May finished tying her laces and looked across at Ettie.

  “The family bonds are hard to break. Even though Margaret left the community, she still had that bond with Sarah, her schweschder.”

  Elsa-May’s eyebrows drew together. “And?”

  “Don’t you see?”

  “Apparently not!”

  “Maybe Sarah holds the clue to all this. She could very well know a vital piece of information we’ve all missed,” Ettie said.

  “She talked to Kelly, and he didn’t come up with anything.”

  “Remember what he told us about judgment being clouded by an expectation that someone is or isn’t guilty.”

  “Jah, when we were talking about Josh, he said our judgment is clouded by us thinking he’s innocent,” Elsa-May said.

  “Exactly, so when Kelly was talking to her, he wouldn’t have expected her to know anything.”

  “I don’t know what point you’re trying to make, but if you think it will be any use we could talk with her before we go to see Josh.”

  “Let’s do it,” Ettie said with a
nod.

  Chapter 24

  Elsa-May and Ettie got out of the taxi and hurried to Sarah’s door.

  They knocked, and one of Sarah’s young boys answered the door. Before anyone spoke, Sarah appeared at the door behind him.

  “Hello, come inside,” Sarah said. “Come through to the kitchen.” Sarah gave her little ones something to occupy them in the living room and then she joined them at the kitchen table.

  “Looks like you’re busy. Why don’t you stay seated while I put a pot of tea on?” Elsa-May asked.

  “That would be lovely. I never have anyone do anything for me anymore.”

  “That’s the life of a mudder,” Ettie said while Elsa-May stood and walked over to put the pot on to boil.

  “What’s happening? Have there been any developments?” Sarah asked.

  “Nee. We just came over here to see how you are doing,” Ettie said.

  “I’m okay. I’m coping the best I can.”

  “We’re certain that you were the only person that Margaret could trust completely. What did she tell you in that last visit?” Elsa-May asked.

  Sarah nibbled on a fingernail and looked down.

  Ettie spoke quietly. “We need to know, Sarah. You could be the one holding the key to finding her murderer.”

  “And we know she’s gone, but you wouldn’t want the same person who murdered her to murder again, would you?” Elsa-May asked.

  “Nee. Nee, of course, I wouldn’t. All right.” Sarah heaved a big sigh. “We met a week before she was killed. She said she thought Norman found out that she was working undercover, but she wasn’t certain.”

  “How?”

  “They were in a restaurant and when she got up to go to the ladies’ room someone she’d met on one of her other assignments saw her and called her by a different name. She wasn’t certain Norman had heard what was said, but when she got back to the table, she noticed a change in his behavior.” Sarah wiped her eyes. “I urged her to tell the police, but she said she didn’t want to be extracted from the investigation. She said it would ruin her record. Instead of ruining her record, it ruined her life—she was killed.”

  “Thank you, Sarah. You’ve been a big help. Can we use the phone in your barn?” Ettie asked as she stood.