Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 2

by Samantha Price

  “A confession from whom?” Ettie asked.

  “Go home!” Kelly snapped. “I’ll personally come by your home and let you know when something breaks. It’s not far away.”

  Elsa-May tipped her head to one side as she studied Kelly’s face. “You know something, then?”

  “I’m not prepared to say more, but both of you being here sticking your noses in could possibly jeopardize everything.”

  Ettie stood. “Come on, Elsa-May.”

  “I’m coming. I can’t get up as fast as you.”

  When they were outside the station, Elsa-May groaned. “That man’s annoying.”

  “Most men are.”

  Elsa-May sniggered. “Very true.”

  “Let’s go and find that cake shop again.”

  “You need another treat?”

  Ettie nodded. “I do.”

  “You’ll be my size soon if you keep eating so many cakes.”

  “I can’t seem to put on weight. Anyway, if I do, I’ll cut down on my sweets.”

  “I’ll come and watch you eat. I don’t want to be doing all that walking with Snowy to spoil it with cake every day. I could do with another cup of tea.”

  While Ettie and Elsa-May were walking up the road to the café where they’d found the delicious cakes, they saw Brandy walking toward them.

  She took off her sunglasses and stopped still as they approached. After they had greeted Brandy, she asked where they were going.

  Ettie pointed to the café. “We went into that café a few days ago and discovered they’ve got a delightful array of cakes. That’s where we’re going.”

  “Yes, I know. I’ve been in there before.”

  “We’re going to sit down and give ourselves a treat,” Ettie said.

  “That sounds like exactly what I need after a hard day. Mind if I join you?” Brandy asked.

  “Please do,” Elsa-May said.

  When they’d made their selections they all sat around a small table.

  “Were you coming from the police station?” Brandy asked.

  Elsa-May nodded. “Yes, we were.”

  “Have there been any developments?”

  “They have taken Norman Cartwright’s car. They’ve impounded it, but I suppose you’d already know that.” Ettie stared at Brandy.

  “No. How would I know that?” Brandy’s body stiffened, and her face turned ghastly pale.

  “We thought you were a friend of his,” Ettie said.

  “I know him. That’s all. I’m not a friend. I’m not a friend, at all. A friend would tell someone if they had their car impounded. What were they hoping to find?”

  Elsa-May added, “Kelly tells us he’s pretty close to finding the murderer. He appears to have it all figured out.”

  “What else did he say?”

  “He didn’t say too much exactly, but from what he did say, he had it all figured out. Maybe a witness to the whole thing has come forward,” Ettie said.

  Brandy frowned. “Where would they have found a witness? There are no close neighbors to your house, Ettie.”

  Ettie gave a quick shrug of her shoulders. “I’m not certain. We’ve always got birdwatchers coming here at this time of year; maybe one of them saw something through their binoculars.”

  “Let’s hope so,” Brandy said just as the waitress brought their cakes to the table.

  “The tea won’t be a moment,” the waitress said.

  Ettie noticed that Brandy’s hands were trembling as she picked up the fork to eat her cake.

  “Are you not feeling well, Brandy?” Elsa-May asked.

  “I’ve had a bad day that’s all. Why? Do I look sick?”

  “You do look a little pale, and your hands are shaking.”

  She clasped both hands together and smiled. “I’ve not eaten today that’s why. I’ve got low blood sugar.”

  “The cake will fix that,” Ettie said as she broke off a piece of ginger cake.

  Brandy forced a smile and took a small bite of her chocolate mini-cupcake.

  The waitress brought their tea.

  “Ah, a nice cup of tea,” said Elsa-May. “Not as good as cake, but I’ll have to be grateful for it anyway.”

  “So, you don’t know why the police took Norman’s car?” Brandy asked.

  “Looking for evidence I suppose. I can’t think of any other reason they’d take it,” Ettie said.

  “I’ve traveled in his car before. I think I also had some of my open house signs in his car. I suppose you think that’s odd, but he collected them from person who makes the signs for me. We are business acquaintances, so my prints would’ve been in his car.”

  “Yes, you seemed to know him well. That’s what Ettie and I thought at Margaret’s funeral since you were sitting next to him and traveling in the car with him.”

  “Brandy, correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that you’re in love with Norman Cartwright, and you killed for him,” Ettie said.

  Brandy sat stunned into silence.

  Ettie cleared her throat. “You gave Margaret some of your medication, enough to make her drowsy and feel unwell, then you sent her to my open house. Meanwhile, you visited Norman and told him that Margaret was visiting her old Amish boyfriend behind his back and was possibly having an affair. Norman became enraged and had to confront her at once. You told him where she was and offered to show him the exact house where she’d be.”

  Ettie took a deep breath. “By this time, everyone had left the open house, and Margaret was packing up. An argument followed, and you looked on as Norman pulled the ring from her finger. You slipped something around her neck and pulled hard. Margaret died quickly since she’d already had trouble breathing due to the drugs you gave her without her knowledge—the drugs that were prescribed for you. She was strangled by someone tall, and you’re tall.”

  “Ettie, I didn’t know you thought so badly of me.” She glanced over at Elsa-May and then looked back at Ettie. “None of what you said is true, but I’ve covered up the truth to protect someone else.”

  “What is it, Brandy?” Elsa-May leaned forward.

  “I’ve kept quiet about information I have on someone,” Brandy repeated.

  Elsa-May stared at Brandy. “You know who killed Margaret?”

  Brandy nodded as tears welled in her eyes. “I hate to even hear myself say it, but I do.”

  “You should go and tell Detective Kelly now,” Ettie said while Brandy sobbed into her cupped hands. Ettie passed her some paper napkins.

  “I’ll lose everything I’ve built up. If I get charged for …”

  “For what?” Elsa-May asked.

  “For anything. If I’m charged for anything I’ll have to find other work and real estate is what I was born to do.”

  “Maybe it won’t come to that,” Ettie said. “But if you know something you must tell.”

  “You’re such an intelligent and vibrant woman, you’d be able to do anything,” Elsa-May said. “Don’t limit yourself.”

  She sniffed. “Do you really think so?”

  “Yes. Now if you know anything, it’s better that you go and tell the detective before he finds out and comes looking for you,” Elsa-May said. “He’s not far away from the truth.”

  “That’s right, isn’t it? It’s better if I go and tell them first.”

  Ettie nodded, quite unsure of what Brandy knew and not sure she should ask.

  “Do you me to walk there with you?”

  “I’ll go there by myself. Thank you for the offer, and something tells me I should go now.” Brandy reached into her purse and flipped her compact open. “I look dreadful.” She dabbed some concealer under her eyes and reapplied her lipstick.

  “There, good as new,” Elsa-May said with a smile.

  “I’ll go now.” Brandy stood and hurried out of the café.

  Ettie leaned over, and whispered to Elsa-May, “What if she’s not going to the station? She could be getting on the next plane.”

  “From what she said, s
he seems to know what really happened and wasn’t directly involved.”

  “Like the last time she was arrested?” Ettie asked.

  “Seems so. Ettie, don’t you think I deserve a treat after that?”

  Ettie laughed. “You certainly do. I won’t stop you from having a cake.”

  “Actually, all I want to do now is go home.”

  “Me too.”

  Chapter 26

  Elsa-May and Ettie spent the rest of the evening wondering what Brandy had told the police. It wasn’t until the afternoon of the following day that they got a visit from Detective Kelly. Ettie had been baking all day and heard a car pull up outside the house. She looked out the kitchen window to see Kelly getting out of his car.

  “Elsa-May, put Snowy outside, Detective Kelly’s coming to the door.”

  By the time he got to the door Ettie and Elsa-May were standing there with the door open, waiting for him.

  He looked up at them with a big smile before he walked up the steps of their porch.

  “You look like you have something to tell us, Detective,” Elsa-May said.

  “And both of you look like you want to hear something.” He laughed. “I do have a lot to tell you.”

  “Come inside and make yourself comfortable,” Ettie said.

  “I’ll come in and sit down,” he said. “Unless you fixed those chairs I won’t be making myself comfortable.”

  “See, what did I say?” Ettie said to Elsa-May.

  “We’re getting them fixed soon,” Elsa-May assured Detective Kelly.

  Once they were seated, he began, “I believe you were speaking to Brandy yesterday afternoon after I told you not to.”

  “Is that what she said?” Elsa-May asked.

  He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter now. She said she had been talking to you …”

  “We ran into her after we left your office; it was purely coincidental,” Ettie assured him.

  “I didn’t know you ladies would believe in coincidences.”

  Elsa-May and Ettie stared at each other and then looked back at the detective.

  “After she spoke to you, she came and told me what happened on the day Margaret was murdered. She was with Cartwright, who had expressed disappointment with Margaret. He said he wanted to speak to her immediately, and Brandy told him she was finishing up at the open house.”

  “What was she doing with him?” Ettie asked.

  “Does it matter?” Kelly asked frowning.

  “It might,” Elsa-May added.

  “Ladies! Let me finish!”

  A hush fell across the room.

  “Do you want me to tell you what happened or not?” he asked.

  “Please continue, Detective; Ettie will keep quiet.”

  Ettie glared at her sister, but what could she say? The detective would only get angrier if she pointed out to Elsa-May that she was also guilty of speaking.

  “Thank you,” Kelly said, “Now, I’ve lost where I was up to.”

  Elsa-May said, “You were up to the part where Brandy just happened to be with Cartwright even though she couldn’t personally attend Ettie’s open house.”

  “That’s right, thank you. And, Cartwright expressed his disappointment in Margaret and had to confront her about something. Brandy went with him in the car to show him where the open house was being held, and an argument broke out between the two of them—Margaret and Cartwright. He said he was breaking off the engagement and wanted his ring back. He pulled it off her finger, and then she said she would go public with all his secret dealings. In a fit of rage, he strangled her.”

  “That’s it?” Ettie asked in disgust.

  The detective drew his mouth in tightly. “What do you mean? You’re probably thinking it doesn’t make sense if she were wearing the fake ring, but he could’ve pulled the fake one off as a symbolic gesture.”

  “She stood by and watched the man strangle her intern without lifting a finger or calling for help?” Ettie asked.

  “Where would he find something to strangle her with?” Elsa-May asked. “I would’ve thought strangling would’ve been a pre-meditated thing. Did he bring a rope or something with him?”

  The detective lifted both hands to silence them. “Poor Brandy stood by and watched in horror as it all unfolded. She was too much in shock to take in too many details, according to her,” Kelly said.

  “Sounds to me like she was in it with him. That’s the only thing that makes sense because why come clean about the whole thing now?” Ettie said.

  The detective stared at Ettie. “Brandy was scared of the man. He’s a very powerful man. They’ve got a long history together, and he was convinced that he could trust Brandy with the secret.”

  “What did Cartwright say about what Brandy says?” Elsa-May asked.

  He lifted a finger in the air. “Ahh. I just told you Brandy’s story; now his story is different. Cartwright says that he and Brandy were dating on and off before he fell in love with Margaret. He didn’t know how jealous Brandy was of Margaret until he asked Brandy to take Margaret under her wing as her intern. The day of the murder Brandy told him that Margaret had been secretly seeing an old boyfriend, and he went to confront her about it. He admits to pulling the ring from her in anger, and she dropped crying to her knees holding her hand. He says Brandy came up behind her and slipped something around her neck. It was all over fast. He slapped Brandy across her face because he never meant for Margaret to die.”

  Ettie covered her mouth in shock.

  “Who do you believe?” Elsa-May asked the detective.

  “There’s more!” he said.

  Elsa-May inched herself forward on her chair. “What is it?”

  “The toxicology report has come back showing that Margaret had opioids in her system. She’d received a large dose.”

  “What’s that?” Ettie asked.

  “A type of drug. And Brandy has a prescription for the exact opioids; she uses them for pain management of her chronic arthritis. Margaret would’ve already had difficulty breathing by then, and that’s why the strangulation would’ve been speedy.”

  “This falls in line with Cartwright saying that it was over quickly,” Ettie commented. “So it was Brandy?”

  “Yes, Brandy killed the woman known as Margo Rivers, and Cartwright tried to help her cover it up. Before she sent Margo to the open house, she would’ve given her something with the drug in it. Then she went to Cartwright and told him that Margo was still seeing her Amish ex-boyfriend. Once he was enraged by that knowledge, Brandy told him where Margo could be found and traveled with him.”

  The detective paused, and then began again, “She was most likely hoping that he would be enraged and do something to cause her death, and when he didn’t, she’d come prepared. According to our experts, Margo would’ve had slurred speech, and her breathing would’ve been heavily affected. Hopefully, it was all over quickly, and she wasn’t aware of what was happening.”

  “I’m glad this whole thing has been solved,” Elsa-May said.

  Ettie pushed her lips out into a pout. “You could’ve told us that as soon as you arrived.”

  The detective smirked. “I get so little amusement in life. I like to see the looks on your faces as I tell you every detail.”

  Elsa-May sighed. “Poor Margaret. I wonder how her last moments were.”

  “That is something we’ll never know,” Kelly said.

  “So, it’s fairly obvious that the Broadfoot man was paid to say he’d stolen the ring and to say that Margaret was alive when he left her,” Ettie stated.

  “Yes, he admitted it when we confronted him with the truth. He was able to pick Josh out of a lineup because Cartwright had described him well. Broadfoot often did jobs for Cartwright. Although him coming forward like that implicated Cartwright for the insurance fraud, Cartwright’s real aim was for it to clear him of the murder and keep attention from Brandy.”

  “That’s what Ettie said about Broadfoot right away. She didn’t be
lieve him.”

  “It was just a thought,” Ettie said. “A coincidental thought.”

  “So have they both been charged?” Elsa-May asked.

  “Yes, Brandy has been charged with the murder of Margo Rivers. Margaret had her name legally changed, as you know. Along with his other charges, Cartwright has been charged with withholding information, assault, tax evasion, and perverting the course of justice.”

  “It’s hard to imagine that Brandy could kill someone,” Ettie said holding her hands together over her chest.

  “It is indeed. She seemed a delightful woman. So it seems you need another realtor to sell your house, Ettie.”

  “That’s the least of my worries.”

  “Josh is totally in the clear now?” Elsa-May inquired.

  “One hundred percent.”

  “That’s good to know. Thank you, Detective,” Elsa-May said with a smile.

  The detective leaned forward in the creaky chair. “Thank you both for your help in all of this.”

  “I don’t know that we did anything,” Ettie said.

  “You did, you made my job much easier. Now, have you ladies run out of coffee?”

  “Would you like a cup?”

  “I’d love one,” he said. “That’s normally the first thing you ask me.”

  Elsa-May stood. “I’ll fix us some coffee and cake. Ettie has just made a ginger cake.”

  “Yes, it’s the first one I’ve made, and you can be the taste-tester. I don’t know if I’ll be able to eat anything; I’m so upset that Brandy could do something like that. I trusted her.”

  “I’m sorry it turned out the way it did, and the force was sad to see a good officer be cut down like she was. We’re holding a proper memorial service for her in two weeks now that we don’t have to hide that she was undercover. All her co-workers can pay their respects. You can come too, and Elsa-May.”

  “Thank you, detective, but I think we’ve gone to too many funerals in our lives. We already paid our respects to Margaret. I suppose you’ll inform Sarah, Margaret’s sister and the rest of Margaret’s family?”

  “Yes, of course. We’ve got Margaret’s badge and personal things.”

  “You might want to take them to Sarah’s house. I don’t know that her parents would want the badge as a reminder of the secrets she kept from them.”