“Ettie, where have you been?”
She picked up the bags, moved through the doorway and kicked the door shut with her heel. “I’ve only been gone half an hour. I had a lot of things to get. How is he?”
Elsa-May was pacing up and down with the baby who was well and truly awake. “Hungry. That’s how he is. Mix up that bottle. I’ve already got a pot of water boiling on the stove ready to warm the bottle.”
While Elsa-May continued to pace up and down with the crying infant, Ettie heated the bottle of formula. After five minutes, she tested it on her wrist.
“Should be all good now, Elsa-May.”
“Finally!” Elsa-May said as she walked into the kitchen.
“Go sit on the couch and I’ll bring the bottle out.”
Elsa-May sat on the couch and Ettie handed her the bottle. She put the bottle in the baby’s mouth and he sucked eagerly.
“He looks so hungry. I wonder when he was fed last.”
Elsa-May shook her head. “Who would leave a baby on the step like that when it’s been raining for days?”
“What if they were watching from a distance until you opened the door?”
“They could’ve been,” Elsa-May said staring at the baby. “Nee. I remember I looked around and saw no one.”
“I’ll look for more clues in the basket.” Ettie went back to the kitchen and lifted the blue blanket out of the basket and then studied the quilt. She raced back into the living room with the quilt in hand. “Elsa-May, isn’t this one of the quilts from Bethany’s store?”
Elsa-May frowned at the quilt that was one inch from her face. “Hold it further back; I can’t see properly.” When Ettie held it further away, Elsa-May said, “Jah, it is. I sold one when I was working in her store and it was exactly that pattern. I remember because I’d never seen that design before.”
“I didn’t sell one, but I remember this pattern. Bethany told me that most of her quilts are only available in her store. Except for the well-known patterns that she knows people will ask for.”
“I don’t think that would be correct. That could’ve been a sales pitch.” Elsa-May gave a chuckle.
“Bethany wouldn’t need to give me a sales pitch. She said she has a lady making quilts exclusively for her store. If this is one that her lady sewed, there wouldn’t be that many of them around.”
“And?”
“We go and ask Bethany how many of this style she’s sold.”
“That’s a long shot, Ettie.”
“That’s the only shot we’ve got so far. Other than that, we visit all the women in the community with lots of kinner and also all the single women who might be trying to hide a boppli that they’ve had out of wedlock. Do you know how many single women and married women are in the community?”
“That would be time consuming, Ettie, but maybe that’s what we might have to do. Besides, anyone could’ve made that quilt.”
“I’m certain it’s the same as the exclusive ones made for Bethany’s store.”
“If you’re certain, it’s worth talking to Bethany. I can’t help feeling that it’s somehow wrong for us to hide him here like this.” Elsa-May stared down at the baby.
“What choice do we have? The note said that his life was in danger.”
“Do you think that’s true?”
Ettie nodded. “We have to think it’s true because if we don’t believe it and we’re wrong… I just couldn’t see any harm come to the little bu.”
“Why don’t you phone Detective Crowley and tell him you have a hypothetical question to put to him about what would happen if someone found a baby?”
“I can’t do that—he’d guess. He’d ask a lot of difficult questions at the very least.”
“He might guess that someone you knew found a baby but he wouldn’t know that it was us.”
“I suppose you’re right. Do you think I should? I know he’ll say that the baby would have to be handed in to social services or some temporary care thing the government has arranged. Then, he’d go to a foster home while they try to find the mother.”
“Get the notepad out, Ettie.”
Ettie walked to the bureau and got out a pen and a notepad. Then she sat on one of the chairs opposite Elsa-May. “Jah?”
“Write down what we have to do. First, we have to phone Crowley and see what he has to say. Then we, or you, have to go into town and talk to Bethany about these quilts.”
“And?”
“We’ll know what we have to do when we find out what Crowley and Bethany have to say.”
Ettie sighed. “Okay.”
“And meanwhile, we can’t let anyone know that we have a boppli here—and that means no one.”
“Agreed,” Ettie said and then added, “Not even Ava when she comes to visit?”
“Ettie, I’m not the gossiper.”
“Are you saying that I am?”
“Well, you do have a habit of talking to everyone.”
“Talking is not gossiping.”
Elsa-May raised her eyebrows and then stared down at the baby in her arms. “I think he’s finished.” With his tongue, the baby pushed the nipple out of his mouth. “Did you see that, Ettie?”
Ettie rose to her feet and then leaned over to stare at the baby. “He’s so tiny, Elsa-May. Do you realize that ours were that small once?”
“So long ago.”
The baby stared into Elsa-May’s face.
“He seems quite taken with you, Elsa-May.”
Elsa-May chuckled.
“Well, you’ve fed him, you’ve walked him up and down and now you’ll have to change his diaper.” Ettie giggled.
“That’s not fair. I’ve done all those things so you should take your turn doing something for him.”
“I went out and got the formula and the diapers. I got those disposable ones so no one would see the cloth ones on the line.”
“You mean so you don’t have to wash them?” Elsa-May said.
Ettie giggled. “That was an added benefit. I remember washing diapers out by hand when I first got married, before we had our gas-powered machine. I had to boil the water in the big copper kettle. I’m glad those days are long behind me.”
“Me too.”
“We can take the diaper changes in turn. You go first and I’ll do the next one.”
“That sounds fair and while I’m doing that you phone Crowley and see what you can find out.”
Ettie pulled her mouth to one side. “I hope this goes all right.”
“Just don’t let him get suspicious. If he wants to know why, just tell him you’ve always wondered what would happen, and if he asks any more questions just get off the phone quickly.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one doing it.”
“Would you rather change the diaper?”
“Okay, I’m going now.” Ettie grabbed her shawl before she walked out the door. A cool breeze swept over Ettie, making her shiver as she walked down the road to the shanty that housed the telephone. She knew Crowley’s mobile number by heart and she hoped he answered it, rather than having her call divert to his pesky voicemail.
After she had put the money in the tin, she picked up the receiver and dialed his number.
“Hello,” Crowley answered after two beeps.
“Hello,” Ettie replied.
“Yes, hello?”
“Hello, this is Ettie.”
“Ettie, it’s nice to hear from you. How are you and Elsa-May?”
“We’re fine.”
“Are you calling me for a reason? Has someone been murdered?”
“Nee, well, not that I know of. I have a question for you and that’s why I’m calling.”
“I’m out on the golf course and they’re waiting for me to take my turn. Can we make this quick?”
“What would happen if someone were to find a baby?”
“A baby? Find one where?”
“Hypocritically, if someone found a baby…”
Crowley cut
across her, “Hypothetically?”
Ettie pulled a face. She wouldn’t let Elsa-May know she'd used the wrong word. Elsa-May had a much better education, which sometimes made her prideful in Ettie’s opinion. “Sorry, that’s what I meant. Anyway, what would happen if someone found a baby on their doorstep?”
“They should contact the police right away.”
“If they did, what would happen to the baby?”
“It very much depends on the circumstances. The baby would be in emergency care, most likely in a foster home environment until…”
Ettie heard Crowley talk to people in the background.
He came back. “I’m sorry, Ettie, I need to take my turn; I’m holding everyone up. If this is something we need to discuss, I can come by this evening after the ‘nineteenth hole.’”
“No, no it’s nothing. Thank you. I didn’t mean to hold you up. You go and play your game of golf.”
“Okay. Bye, Ettie and say hello to Elsa-May.”
“I will. Bye.”
Crowley promptly hung up the phone.
It was just as she suspected. Why had Elsa-May made her call Crowley? Ettie walked back home, worrying about the baby and wondering what their next move should be. When she pushed the front door open, she saw Elsa-May walking the baby up and down while holding him close against her chest.
“We can’t keep him. You know that, don’t you?”
“Of course I know that,” Elsa-May snapped. “What did Crowley have to say?”
“He couldn’t talk much; he was in the middle of a game of golf. He said the baby would most likely go into foster care—a foster home just like we thought. But that’s not an option. You read the note.”
“Did you find anything else in the basket?” Elsa-May asked.
“Nothing. I’ll take another look.” Ettie walked to the kitchen and looked the basket over carefully. There was nothing else in the basket or mixed up within the blankets. “Nothing here,” she called out to Elsa-May. “Did you manage to get the diaper changed all right?”
“I figured it out. It’s the first time I’ve used one of those throwaway ones. I’ve only ever used the cloth diapers.”
“Do you think I should go and talk to Bethany now?” Ettie glanced at the clock to see that it was just before midday.
“Jah, we should do everything as soon as we can. Crowley always said the leads grow colder the more time ticks away.”
“Okay, I’ll heat up some soup for us and then I’ll go. We have to keep our strength up.”
“Good idea.”
“Put him down, Elsa-May, you don’t want him to get used to being carried everywhere.”
Elsa-May looked down at the baby. “He’s asleep now. I’ll put him back in his little basket.” Elsa-May placed him back in his basket on the kitchen table. “Now my back is aching. I wouldn’t have thought such a light baby would make my back ache like this.”
“It’s the way you were holding him. You were arching your back—that’s what made it ache.”
“You think so?”
Ettie nodded.
“I’ll have to be more careful.”
“Jah, watch your posture.” Ettie took the saucepan out of the cold box and put it back on the stove to heat. The day before, she’d made vegetable and pasta soup. It always tasted better the day after it was made.
Both ladies sat down at the kitchen table while they waited for the food to heat.
“It’d be nice if you could come with me,” Ettie said.
“I would, but one of us needs to stay here with the boppli and we can’t take him with us.”
“I know. I can’t shake the eerie feeling I got from reading that note.”
“Put it out of your mind, Ettie.”
“I’ll try.”
“Now, what are you going to ask Bethany?”
“I’m going to take the quilt with me and ask her if they are exclusive to her store. If not, where else are they sold?”
“And also, who makes them.”
“Jah, and who makes them. Gut idea. Anything else?”
“Play it by ear. See what happens. You’ll know what to do.”
“Denke.” Ettie got up to check the stove when she heard the soup bubbling. “It’s ready.”
“Good. I’m starving,” Elsa-May said.
As Ettie poured the soup into two bowls, she said, “Don’t forget the baby would probably eat once every four hours—although I think young ones like him might drink more often. Just feed him whenever he looks hungry.”
“Don’t worry about me, you just worry about yourself. I look after the baby and you go and find out where he came from.”
“So, he’s definitely a he?” Ettie asked.
“Yes and also he must be only days old because he still has the stump of the umbilical cord. I put methylated spirits on it to dry it out.”
“Gut, Elsa-May. That brings back memories. I forgot all about waiting for that thing to dry out and fall off. Now, don’t we have to take the baby out into the sun so he gets some sunlight to prevent jaundice?”
“Take him into the light—not direct sunlight.”
“Jah, that’s what I meant.”
“He looks a gut color, but when he wakes I’ll take him out back into the garden after I wrap him up well.”
Ettie placed a bowl of soup in front of Elsa-May and sat down to one herself.
Snowy ran inside through the dog door and started pawing at Elsa-May’s leg.
“Down, boy, down.”
“Do you think he’d like some soup?” Ettie asked.
“It can’t hurt him I suppose. Put some in his dog bowl and see if he’ll eat it.”
Ettie poured a cup of soup into his dog bowl. Snowy took a couple of licks and then vigorously shook his head.
“Seems he’s not much of a vegetarian,” Ettie said.
“He’ll have to wait for dinner tonight to get his meat.”
As if hearing Elsa-May’s words Snowy ran back out through the dog door where he had a kennel close to the house and under cover, out of the rain.
Chapter 3
It had been weeks since Ettie had been anywhere near Bethany’s store. With the quilt tucked under her arm, she entered the store and was pleased to see that Bethany was there, rather than one of her workers. Bethany was busy wrapping a package for a lady who was standing at the counter. Ettie waited until Bethany was free.
Bethany looked over and smiled at her. When she’d finished serving the woman, Bethany said, “Ettie, how are you? It's nice to see you. Are you shopping today?”
“Nee, I’ve come to visit.”
“Do you have time for a cup of tea with me?”
Ettie said, “Nee, not today I don’t. I'm here to ask you a question.”
“Really? Well, ask away.”
Ettie pulled the baby quilt out of the bag she’d carried it in. “Does this look familiar?”
“Jah. That's one of my baby quilts. Where did you get it?”
“Is this only available in your store?” Ettie asked, hoping that Bethany would say ‘yes.’
“That's one of the designs that Gladys makes for me.”
“And does Gladys only make this design of quilt for you?”
“I hope so. That’s one of my personal designs. She only works for me now that I’ve got so busy. She doesn't make them for anybody else. Why do you ask?”
Ettie ignored her question and continued by saying, “Elsa-May and I thought it was one of yours. How many of these would you have sold?”
“I think I've sold about six of that design since the store’s been open.”
“Only six?”
Bethany nodded. From working in the store briefly months ago, Ettie knew that Bethany collected emails and addresses of people who bought quilts from her. She kept a database on her computer.
“Do you still keep records of all your customers?”
“I do. I have a mailing list of all my customers. Why are you so interested in that pa
rticular quilt? If there’s something wrong with it I can have it fixed. Did stitching come undone or something? If it did, I would be glad to have it fixed.”
Ettie shook her head. “It’s fine. So, you do have a record of everybody who bought this particular quilt?”
When Bethany nodded again, Ettie felt that she might be able to find the person who bought the quilt and be onto the trail of the person who left the baby on the doorstep.
Bethany put her head to one side. “What is this about, Ettie?”
“The thing is, Bethany, I can't tell you. I need to know who bought this very quilt. Is there a way you can tell me that?”
“When I take my customers details, I always assure them it’s confidential.”
“I assure you, no one will know and it’s extremely important. It could even be a matter of life and death.”
Bethany frowned. “Can’t you tell me?”
Ettie shook her head.
“I wish you could tell me what this is all about.”
“I’ll tell you as soon as I can, but right now I can't.”
“Oh, Ettie, this is putting me in a difficult position.” Bethany walked over to her computer and pushed some buttons. “I can't tell you who bought that exact design. I enter people’s data according to the money they’ve spent on a specific item. So I can enter the exact price of that baby quilt, and give you the names of all the people who have bought that exact size quilt. I haven’t sold that many of them.”
“That would be a help. Denke, Bethany.”
“I'll print them out for you, but please, keep this as confidential as you can. I shouldn't be doing this.”
“It's for a good cause, Bethany. I'll need you to trust me for a while, and I promise to keep it confidential.”
“I do trust you, and that's the only reason I'm about to give you all these people's personal details.” Bethany stared at Ettie and Ettie nodded.
“Denke, Bethany.”
Bethany spent a couple of minutes on the computer before she pressed a button and then looked up at Ettie. “Done!”
Ettie frowned until she heard the whirr of the printer.
Bethany then pulled the two pages out of the printer and handed them to Ettie. “That’s all of them. All my customers who bought this size quilt.”
Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 2 Page 29