“Of course, he won’t mind and neither will Ava. He was asking about them being foster parents. They’re both like a couple of broody hens.”
They both giggled quietly so Jeremiah wouldn’t hear them.
Chapter 8
Their plan worked and Jeremiah headed off with Luke in his buggy early the next morning. Jeremiah was going to take the day off, so both he and Ava would look after the baby at their house. In case anyone was watching Elsa-May and Ettie’s house, Jeremiah had taken Luke to his buggy in a laundry basket.
“Come on Ettie; he’s gone now.”
“I’m coming, I’m just getting my boots on.” While sitting on her bed, Ettie laced up her boots and tied them in double knots. They were off to talk to Genevieve Cohen.
When Ettie came out of the bedroom, she saw Elsa-May brushing Snowy. “He’ll have to wait for his walk today until we come back.”
“I’m sure he won’t mind.”
“Do you think we should’ve let Crowley know we’re going to talk with Genevieve?”
“Of course not!” Ettie said. “He would’ve had some reason why it wouldn’t be a good idea, but the way I see it, we don’t have anything to lose. She’s the only person with any connection to Luke so far, and even though the detective thinks it’s a long shot that she’s involved, we need to see her.”
Elsa-May nodded and placed Snowy back down on the floor before she pushed herself to her feet. Once she’d thrown the dog brush down on her chair, she looked up at Ettie. “Let’s go then.”
“Do you know where she lives?” Ettie asked.
“Nee, don’t you?”
“How would I know that?”
“Why did you say we should see her, then?”
Ettie shook her head, quite disgusted with Elsa-May. She should’ve thought this through better. “Elsa-May, do we still have that cell phone that Crowley gave us for emergencies?”
“Jah, we do.”
“Let’s try to phone Information and see if they’ll give us the address.”
“Won’t they only give a phone number?” Elsa-May asked.
“Then we’ll call Genevieve and see if she’ll give us her address.”
“I doubt she will.” Elsa-May said, “We know the general area she lives in and that’s a start. Do you remember what her husband’s name is?”
“Didn't Crowley say 'Craig' when he mentioned him last night?”
Elsa-May picked up the cell, turned it on, and then dialed the number for Information. “Quick, get me pen and paper.”
“It’s a good thing you still remember how to use a cellphone. We had one once remember? Until the bishop let on he knew about it, and you thought you should get rid of it.”
“Shh. It’s ringing.” Elsa-May got the phone number of the residence and then ended the call. “I think I can get onto the Internet with this phone. I couldn’t with my old one.” After she had clicked a couple of buttons, she managed to find the Cohens’ address, which she wrote down.
“How on earth did you do that, Elsa-May?”
“Well, they don’t have much security. They don’t even have an unlisted telephone number.”
“That’s strange, isn’t it?”
“Seems odd to me if they’ve got a lot of money like Crowley said, and they’ve had problems before.”
“Let’s go.”
Elsa-May and Ettie hurried down to the end of the road to call for a taxi.
When the taxi dropped them off, they were faced with a house surrounded by a high fence and high metal gates.
Ettie stared up at the gates, hugging the folded baby quilt. “What was that about them not having much security?”
“I guess this is why they aren’t too careful about people knowing where they live. How are we going to get through those gates?”
At that moment, a car drove into the driveway, and the driver spoke into the intercom. Two seconds later, the gates were opening and the car was driving through.
“Quick, Ettie.”
Before Ettie could think, she was being dragged through the opening gates. Then Elsa-May pulled her behind some bushes when the large double gates began to close.
“Now what do we do?” Ettie asked, crouching down with her long dress brushing the grass.
“We’ll see who’s in that car.” They watched as a lady in a black and white uniform got out of the car.
“It’s the maid by the looks of her,” Ettie said.
“We’ll wait a while, and then we’ll knock on the door.”
“What if they can see us? There could be cameras around, or they could have big attack dogs.”
“We like dogs, don’t worry about it. You’re always looking on the down side of things.”
“I’m not. I’m being practical. One of us has to be.”
“Stop talking, Ettie. Less talking and more action.” Elsa-May stepped out from the hedge and tugged on her sister's sleeve, pulling her up off the grass as Ettie hugged the baby quilt under her other arm. “Let’s go.”
Ettie stumbled toward Elsa-May and had no choice but to follow as Elsa-May strode confidently on the white pebbles of the driveway toward the front door. Their footsteps crunched underneath them and Ettie was certain the people inside the house must’ve heard them approaching.
After Elsa-May had pressed the call button, she waited for the tall white double doors to open, while Ettie stood behind her.
To their surprise, a woman spoke to them through an intercom. “Hello?”
“Hello, we need to speak with Mrs. Cohen. Is she available?”
“How did you get in?”
“Through the front. We need to speak with Mrs. Cohen; it’s a matter of great importance.”
“Who wants to speak to her?”
“She doesn’t know us. It’s urgent that we speak to her, though.”
Ettie leaned forward. “We have some private information to give her.”
“Just a moment,” the voice replied.
Elsa-May turned around and raised her eyebrows at Ettie. Then her gaze fell to the quilt under Ettie’s arm. “It’s gut that you remembered that.”
“Of course I remembered it.”
Right then, the door opened and a woman stepped out. The woman had a pale face and her dark hair was severely drawn back into a bun. Her eyes stood out against her gaunt white face as did her thin lips that were painted blood red. “How did you get in here?”
“We followed a car in,” Ettie said.
“Name?”
Elsa-May scratched her neck. “We don’t know who it was. It looked like a cleaning lady.”
The woman narrowed her eyes. “No! What are your names?”
“I see, I thought you meant the name of the woman from the car we followed in… but, of course, you’d probably know who that was.”
Ettie thought she’d better interrupt, or they’d be there all day. Taking a step forward, she said, “I’m Ettie Smith and this is my sister, Elsa-May Lutz. Are you Mrs. Cohen?”
“I work for her. What’s all this about?” The woman folded her arms across her thin frame.
“Can we see her? We’ve come a long way and we’ve got some confidential information for her.”
“About what?”
“It’s about this.” Ettie pulled out the quilt and the woman stared at the quilt and immediately unfolded her arms and straightened up.
“You’d better come inside.” She pushed the door open for the ladies to walk through. “You'll meet with her in this room. I’ll tell her you’re here.” Just to the left of the hallway was a sitting room. “Please, have a seat.”
They were only in the room for two minutes before another lady walked in. “Hello,” she said.
Ettie and Elsa-May stood and introduced themselves.
“Have a seat,” Mrs. Cohen said as she sat down. “You’re here about the quilt?” she said as her eyes went right to it.
Ettie began, and got to the point. “You left your baby at our door, didn’t you?”<
br />
She opened her mouth to speak, then looked from Ettie to Elsa-May as though she were searching for words. She sobbed and pulled a lace handkerchief out of the front pocket of her pants. “I did.” She looked at them. “Where is he?”
“He’s safe with some friends of ours.”
“Amish friends?”
Ettie nodded. “Amish friends. Don’t worry, he’s safe and he’s being looked after well.”
“Do you think someone is going to steal this baby like they stole your baby five years ago?” Elsa-May asked.
“It was four years ago, and it’s likely. We never got our Langley back. I can’t go through that again. Did you know that a detective was here? They were no help last time and I wish they’d just stay away.”
“He’s a retired detective—a friend of ours— he just wants your baby to be safe the same as Ettie and I do.”
“Will you tell us what happened with Langley?”
“He’s dead.”
“Presumed to be? I thought they never found him,” Elsa-May said.
“They told me that’s what happens when kidnappers don’t get their money. My husband, Craig, was speaking to the people who took our baby, he’d agreed to give them the money. He stupidly got the police involved and they called in the FBI. That’s when everything went wrong. Craig arranged to drop the money where they wanted. After Craig took the money there, the police swooped in on the man and we never got the call to collect Langley. I mean, of course, we wouldn’t because they never got the money they asked for. Turns out the man they caught was someone they’d hired to pick up the money—he knew nothing about the kidnapping or the men who did it. It was botched all the way along, and I blame the police—and my husband.” She shook her head and in a low tone said, “If Craig had just given them the money like they’d asked, I’d be sitting here with Langley today.”
“You don’t know that for certain, Mrs. Cohen, and you can’t live in fear,” Elsa-May said.
“I can’t risk anything happening to my baby. That’s why I gave him away. My husband doesn’t even know about the baby. Please don’t tell him.”
“How is it that he doesn’t know?” Ettie asked.
The woman mopped up some more tears before she confessed, “As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I flew to Canada to stay with my sister. I had the baby there and on my way back here, I knew I had to leave him with the Amish. I could have left him in Canada, but I’d feel better knowing he was living close by. I saw…” she turned to Elsa-May. “I think it was you I saw walking a dog. You looked kind and I watched you go into a house. I then left and drove around all night wondering if I was doing the right thing. In the morning, after I’d given him a bottle and he was fast asleep, I drove back and left him on your doorstep. I watched from a safe distance away and saw you pick him up and take him inside.”
“Wouldn’t you be able to keep your baby? Couldn’t you get better security around this place? It didn’t take Ettie and me very much effort to get inside here.”
She shook her head. “These people are professionals. If they want to get someone, they’ll find a way. And I can’t go through it again. We never planned for another baby. He was an accident. I didn’t want to go through any more pain after Langley was taken from us.”
“We have to tell you that a man came to our house and said he was the father of the baby and asked us to hand him over,” Elsa-May said.
The woman gasped and covered her mouth. “I wonder if Craig’s found out.” She jumped to her feet and took hold of a framed photo that had been sitting on the mantle. “Is this the man?”
Elsa-May shook her head. “No, that’s not him. Is that your husband?”
“Yes. That means they know where he is and they’re trying to do this all over again.”
“I think we might need to get the police involved,” Ettie said. “We got the man’s plates and our retired detective friend found out his name and he’s got a criminal record.”
Tears brimmed again in the woman’s eyes. “I feel so helpless. I thought he’d be safe with the Amish.”
“You can’t continue to live in fear of these people.”
“I can’t risk my baby’s life. I’ll do anything, if it means he’ll be safe. I can’t lose another child.”
“While your child is safe, it might be a good time to talk with the police so they can catch these men, and then perhaps when they catch them, you can find out what happened to your first baby.”
“Yes, I’d like to know what happened to him and where he is. I want him to have a proper burial. He had a memorial service, but that’s not the same. He’s lying out there somewhere—all by himself.” She shook her head and through tear-filled eyes said, “How did they find him? I was being so careful. Not even my husband knew about the baby.”
“Didn’t he see you getting bigger and think it strange that you were gone for so long?”
“I told him my sister was sick. My sister knew, of course, but she’d never tell anyone anything. We’ve always held each other’s secrets since we were children.” She went on to remind them, “It was my husband’s fault that we lost Langley. If he’d just done what the kidnappers said, we’d have gotten him back.”
“But you don’t know that for certain,” Ettie said.
“In my heart, I know it. Things were never the same between Craig and me after that. He’ll be so upset with me if he learns about the baby. I suppose I’ve got to tell the police about it now. If they know my baby exists, and it sounds like they do, he won’t be safe.”
“Do you want us to call the detective for you? The one who came here was retired, but we do know a real one quite well,” Ettie said.
“Would you?” Mrs. Cohen asked.
Ettie stood up. “Where’s the phone?”
The woman stood up and pointed to the phone in the corner of the room.
“I’ll phone Detective Crowley,” Ettie muttered, being too afraid to talk to Detective Kelly herself. She’d call Crowley and then he could call Kelly and fill him in. While Ettie dialed the number, Elsa-May continued to talk with Genevieve. Knowing Crowley’s mobile number by heart, Ettie dialed.
“Hello?” Crowley answered.
“It’s Ettie.”
“Where are you phoning from, Ettie?”
“I’m at Genevieve Cohen’s place and she’s agreed to co-operate. She got very worried when she learned that a man had come to our door asking for the baby.”
“He’s her baby?”
“Yes, he is.”
“Good work, Ettie, I’ll get in touch with Detective Kelly right away.”
“Elsa-May and I will leave before he gets here.”
“Yes, that might be a good idea. Thanks again, Ettie.”
Ettie hung up thinking he’d already finished talking. Did he just thank me? Normally he warned them to keep out of things, but that was before he’d retired.
“All done?” Genevieve asked Ettie as she approached.
“Yes. Detective Kelly should be here soon.”
Elsa-May rose to her feet. “We’d better go, then.”
“Yes, we should and we need to hurry,” Ettie said, fearing the lecture Kelly would give them. He wouldn’t be as lenient as Crowley.
“Are you certain my baby is safe?” Mrs. Cohen asked when everyone was standing.
“My grandson is newly married and he’s taken the day off to look after Luke with his wife.”
“Luke? You’ve named him?”
“We thought we should give him a name.”
“I didn’t give him a name because I knew I couldn’t keep him. I hope something works out so I can. That would be my best dream come true. Perhaps the police will catch these people.”
“We will pray for the best outcome,” Ettie said.
“Thank you, both of you.”
Ettie leaned in and quietly asked Mrs. Cohen, “Who’s the woman who answered the door?”
“She’s my personal secretary, Nerida.”
&nb
sp; “What’s her last name?”
“Flower.”
“Nerida Flower,” Elsa-May said. “How long has she worked for you?”
“I couldn’t be without her. She’s worked for me for nearly ten years. She kept the household going while I was away.”
“Does she know about the baby?” Ettie asked.
“She knows everything about me, but I trust her completely.”
After they said goodbye, Ettie and Elsa-May hurried toward the gates. The gates opened as they drew closer.
“We should’ve called for a taxi before we left the house.”
“Too late now. I’m not staying there any longer so Kelly can see us.”
“Why are you so scared of him?” Elsa-May asked.
“He always makes me feel guilty of something. And he always says that we’re sticking our noses into things.”
Elsa-May chuckled. “Come on. Let’s walk this direction. There are some stores up here and there should be a public phone where we can call for a taxi.”
“What do you think of Nerida?”
“She looks a little cranky.”
Ettie shook her head. “I don’t know. I think she might not be as trustworthy as Genevieve thinks.”
“Why don’t we see what we can find out about her?”
“We will.”
Chapter 9
Ettie and Elsa-May had been home for two hours before they got a knock on the door.
Ettie looked out the window. “It's Detective Kelly.”
“I suppose we should let him in. I hope he’s not mad with us for contacting Crowley instead of him.”
“Me too.” Ettie shrugged off her nervousness and opened the door to Detective Kelly, with Elsa-May standing right behind her.
He looked at both of them. “Good afternoon.”
“Good afternoon, Detective,” Elsa-May said.
Ettie stepped back. “Come in.”
“Ow! That was my foot, Ettie.”
Ettie spun around. “Oh, sorry.”
Elsa-May shook her head and looked at Detective Kelly. “Can we make you some tea?”
As he moved toward the living room, he said, “I’m in no mood for tea.”
Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 2 Page 33