“Hi, Selena, it's Gabriel.”
“Why didn't you call my cell phone?”
He laughed. “I didn't even think of it.”
“Is everything okay?”
“It is, but I do have a small favor to ask on behalf of some ladies.”
“Sure, anything. Ask away.”
“I'm wondering if you might drive Elsa-May, Ettie, and myself somewhere today.”
“Okay, I can do that.” She was pleased for the company and those two old ladies were always good for a laugh. “I don't have any other plans at this stage. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Perfect. I’ll be waiting at their house. You remember where it is?”
“I do, and I even remember how to get there.”
“Even better.”
He ended the call without saying goodbye. She shook her head and replaced the receiver. As she walked toward the open door that had been opened wider by the wind, she noticed everything was in its place. Every piece of equipment was neatly lined up. The sacks of horse food stood in a row, and an assortment of tools lined one wall. Just like his house, everything was just so. She brushed the dust off her hands figuring it must’ve gathered since he’d been gone.
* * *
When she arrived at Ettie and Elsa-May’s house, Gabriel was there as he'd said. After they greeted her, they didn’t seem in a hurry. She was a little surprised when they asked her inside.
“Where am I taking you?” she asked once she’d sat down.
They told her all about the scarecrow murders, the former and the current. “You said two have been killed recently?”
Ettie said, “Yes, and we knew that because we all knew the second person who was killed.”
Elsa-May further explained, “We didn't know the first because his parents left the Amish when he was a teenager and he wasn't from our community, was he?”
Ettie shook her head. “He wasn't. We must go to Eli’s funeral, Elsa-May.”
“We’ll find out when it’s being held.”
“I can find out,” Gabriel said.
Elsa-May gave a sharp nod. “Good.”
“And are we going somewhere today in connection with the murders?” Selena asked.
Elsa-May nodded. “While Ettie and I were in the detective’s office, we happened to see who the suspects were—for the old murders— and we have their names and addresses.”
Her eyes widened. “And you’re going to …. What?”
“Question them,” Ettie said.
Selena shook her head. “I don't think that's a good idea.”
“Ettie just wants to get a look at them and a feel for what they’re like, and such,” Elsa-May answered while Ettie stared into the distance lightly tapping her walking stick on the floor. “Don’t worry, we do this kind of thing all the time. We’re used to it.”
Selena was glad to be going with them just in case they got into any trouble and she might be of some help. “Yes, that might be interesting. Are we ready to go?”
Elsa-May pushed herself to her feet. “Okay, let's get started then, shall we?” She looked over at Ettie, who was still daydreaming, and took two steps toward her and clicked her fingers in front of her face. “Come on, Ettie. We’re ready to go.”
Ettie frowned at her sister. “No need to startle me.”
“You looked like you were in a trance, or hypnotized.”
“I was thinking, that’s all. It’s what some people do.”
Elsa-May chuckled. “I won’t even ask.”
“I was thinking about Eli if you must know.”
“Move. We’re not going to find out anything by thinking.”
Ettie put out her arms and Elsa-May helped her to her feet.
Chapter 5
Nick Walker was the first man on their list. Selena had used the Internet on her phone and had pulled up an image of Walker.
Selena stopped her car a little up the street from Nick Walker’s house. No sooner had they stopped than a gray-haired man walked out the front door and locked it behind him.
“Is that him?” Gabriel whispered.
Elsa-May held up Selena’s cell phone and looked at the photo of Nick Walker that was on the screen. The image was from a newspaper article that had mentioned him as a suspect to the murders of many years ago. “It certainly looks like him. He looks exactly the same as the picture. He hasn’t aged much except his hair is more white now.”
The man walked over to his car in the driveway, opened the driver’s side door, and then looked up the street towards where Selena's car was parked. They all ducked down at the same time, and then slowly raised their heads. By that time, he was backing his car out of the driveway.
“What do we do now?” Gabriel asked.
“Follow him!” Ettie hoped they hadn’t already been spotted. If he was the killer, then surely, he would’ve been on the lookout for the police who might have him under surveillance.
“But don't get too close,” Gabriel added.
“I know what I'm doing.” Selena started the car once Nick Walker’s car was nearly out of sight.
Elsa-May leaned over the backseat and asked Selena. “Have you ever followed anyone before?”
“No, but I know not to get too close.”
They followed him all the way into town and then he stopped outside an Amish furniture store. They stopped and parked a few cars behind him.
“Is he going in there?” Gabriel nodded toward the store.
“It seems like it,” Ettie said when the man started walking across the street.
“Go in there, Selena, and see if you can find out what he's doing.”
Her eyes widened and she looked around at Elsa-May. “Me?”
“We can't do it in these clothes. We’ll draw attention.”
“It's an Amish store, though. You’d fit right in.”
“I'll do it,” Gabriel said.
“Would you?” Selena asked.
“Sure.” Before anything else was said, Gabriel was out of the car and was sprinting across the road.
Selena stared after him. “I hope he doesn't make it obvious.”
“I don't think he would,” said Ettie. “He's a very careful kind of a person.”
“And how are you settling into his house?” Elsa-May asked.
“I'm not. I feel bad for him moving out. Did he only move out so I could stay there?”
“That's a hard one to answer.” Ettie figured he probably had. He was madly in love with Selena, couldn’t she see that?
In her no-nonsense way, Elsa-May responded, “The house next to us was going cheap because of the murder that happened there.”
“Yes, I heard about it. Gabriel’s just so generous. He's been very good to me. I just wish I hadn’t given him such a hard time when I first met him, about allowing the Kings to lease my house.” Selena sighed. “I don’t think I’ll ever move into my old family home. I can’t ask the Kings to leave, not after doing it once and then telling them they can stay. Especially with the new baby coming.”
“That’s a shame for you, but good for the Kings.”
“It is. I’ll have to buy another house—if the bank will loan me the money.”
“Or marry Gabriel and stay where you are.” Ettie giggled.
Elsa-May looked down her nose disapprovingly at Ettie. “She’d have to join us first, Ettie.”
“Oh no,” Selena said. “You don’t think that’s what Gabriel’s thinking, do you?”
Elsa-May rolled her eyes. “That’s what he’s hoping and thinking.”
“And praying,” Ettie added with another giggle. “You’d fit in well with us, Selena, and you’d have so many friends.”
Selena nibbled on a fingernail. “This isn’t good. I’ll stay at a bed and breakfast somewhere. I can’t stay and give him false hope.”
Elsa-May shook her head. “Just stay where you are until you find something more permanent. Don’t go wasting your money.”
“Okay, but I feel so
bad.”
“Don’t. Gabriel’s happy to have you there. He and your grandfather were very close.”
Selena nodded.
“Here he comes now,” Ettie said. "Mr. Walker, I mean."
They lowered themselves in their car seats when they saw Nick Walker coming back out of the store. He got into his car and drove away, but Gabriel was still inside the store.
“What’s he doing?” Ettie asked, squinting as she tried to see through the highly reflective glass windows of the store.
Elsa-May said, “We can’t drive off and leave him.”
“I didn’t say we should.” Ettie was considering it, though.
“Here he comes now.” Elsa-May pointed at him. “And now we’ve lost Mr. Walker.”
Gabriel slid into the front seat beside Selena. “Well, I heard a lot and we can count him out.”
“Why?” Selena asked, and everyone stared at him.
“He’s trying to sell them back furniture he bought there. His wife’s very ill in a hospital in Gladstone, and he’s selling up to go back there. I overheard him say he got back from there yesterday and he’s going back as soon as he can.”
“He could be lying,” Ettie said.
“Maybe he’s buried his wife in the backyard and he’s running away?” Elsa-May grimaced. “Killed his wife, and told everyone she’s in some far away hospital.”
Selena turned around and stared at them. “No doubt the police have questioned him again and ruled him out. I think, for the moment, we should do the same, don’t you?”
Ettie and Elsa-May looked at one another. “Makes sense,” Ettie finally said reluctantly, not wanting to give up one of the only two leads they had.
Elsa-May’s thin lips turned down at the corners. “The police miss things so often.”
Ettie patted her sister's shoulder. “We’ll keep him in the back of our minds just for now.”
“Good.”
“Now, where?” Selena asked.
“I have the address of suspect number two.” Ettie unfolded her piece of paper and read out the address of Don Shallot.
Selena tapped the address into the maps on her phone. “That’s not far from here. What’s the plan?”
Gabriel suggested, “Why don’t we knock on his door and talk to him? Ask what he knows about the murders.”
“We can’t do that,” said Elsa-May.
Selena said, “We could ask him if he knew the people who were killed and see what he says.”
Ettie pulled her mouth to one side. “Why will we say we’re asking?”
Selena breathed out heavily. “I’ll say I’m a private detective and someone’s employed me to look into the murders.”
Gabriel shook his head. “That sounds like it could be dangerous.”
“You lot can come running from the car and rescue me if you hear screams.” She giggled. “Don’t worry. He’ll probably not even let me in the front door. He won’t even know who I am. I’ll give him a false name if he asks.”
“Okay,” Gabriel said, “As long as you’re sure you know what you’re doing.”
“It’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure you want to get involved, Selena?”
“I’m involved already. I’m an ex-Amish person. I could be next. Anyway, as I said before, the police would’ve investigated him, and they apparently didn't arrest him, so I don’t see that he’ll be a threat. I have more confidence in the system than you do, Elsa-May.”
Ettie said, “We’ll be watching from the car.”
“And listening,” Elsa-May added.
* * *
Selena swallowed hard as she walked toward the door of suspected scarecrow murderer, Don Shallot. The house was small and the garden was overgrown with weeds, and the lawn was high. She lifted her hand to knock and jumped when someone yelled out.
“You looking’ for Don?”
She looked over at the neighbor’s yard where she'd heard the voice. A small woman in a floral dress and a cardigan sweater leaned on a lawn rake.
“Yes, I am.” Selena took a couple of steps toward the woman.
“You’re too late. His daughter took him to the retirement home only yesterday. Are you the realtor?”
Selena seized the opportunity. “I am. I was supposed to meet someone here to appraise the house. They said there was a neighbor I had to collect the key from. Is that you?”
She shook her head. “No. He never gave me a key.”
“It’s so sad when people can no longer live in their own homes. Was he frail for a while?”
“No. He’s never been sickly, or even frail.”
“Then why did he have to leave?”
“He was lonely and his daughter thought it would be better for him to be with other people his own age. The place he’s gone sounds really good.”
“I have an elderly maiden aunt in the same situation and I’ve been looking for a good place for her.”
“You should inquire at True Valleys.”
“True Valleys. I’ll look into it. Thank you. Meanwhile, I’ll make a call to see where I’m supposed to get that key from.”
The woman nodded and then turned away to resume her raking. Selena hurried back to the car.
“What did she say?” Ettie asked when she got back in the car.
Selena put the key in the ignition and started the car. “He’s gone to a retirement home called True Valleys.” Selena drove off and stopped the car as soon as she turned the corner. Pulling out her cell phone, she said, “Let’s see where True Valleys is. Hmm ... It’s only ten minutes from here.”
“He doesn’t sound like the killer,” Elsa-May said.
Gabriel nodded. “Now that leaves us with no one.”
Ettie put her head in her hands.
“What’s the matter, Ettie?”
“We have zero leads.”
“You can’t be that upset over no leads. You’re probably upset because of your back.”
Ettie sniffed in disagreement. Then she said, “Let’s think this through. I asked Kelly if he thought the two different scarecrow murders were linked and he seems to think they aren’t. There are differences. So, we might be dealing with a copycat, in which case …”
“In which case, we’ve just wasted all morning?” Elsa-May asked.
“Nothing like that is ever wasted if it allows us to rule things out,” said Selena.
“No one ever solved the mystery of who did those five murders all those years ago,” Elsa-May said.
“Let’s put those aside for a minute,” Ettie said. “Let’s hear what Selena has to say.”
“Go on,” Elsa-May urged.
“Firstly, why were those two men suspects in the first round of killings?” Selena asked.
Elsa-May said, “Because there was an eyewitness to one of the killings and those two men were brought in because, back then, they both drove red pickup trucks and their physical descriptions matched as well.”
Ettie’s jaw had dropped, staring at Elsa-May. “You know all that?”
“I read it when you handed me those pages in Kelly’s office.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Elsa-May shrugged her shoulders.
“That was pretty important information to keep to yourself.”
“Sorry.” She fixed her innocent blue eyes on Ettie and blinked rapidly.
Ettie groaned. “Sometimes, I wonder ….”
“I didn’t keep it from you on purpose. I thought you knew.”
“How could I?”
“It was in the file.”
“Jah, the part I handed to you.” Ettie shook her head. “Sometimes it wonders me—”
Selena cut across the two of them. “Who was the eyewitness?”
“They’re dead now. There was a note in the file about that.”
Ettie shook her head.
“How did he or she die?”
“It was a man and he died in a plane crash a couple of years after the last murder.”
&n
bsp; Ettie said, “At least, we know now. And it’s obvious that they didn’t have sufficient proof to charge either man. We came into this knowing that.”
Gabriel nodded. “Sorry, Selena. What were you going to say?”
“I had asked why these two men were suspects. Just because of the pick-up trucks? And, there seemed nothing remarkable about their appearances—they were average looking. Anyway, let’s forget about those first murders and concentrate on the recent two. He’s targeting ex-Amish people and he’s putting scarecrows in their front yards once he’s killed them. That’s what we know for certain, but what’s his motive?”
“He doesn’t like Amish, or ex-Amish people?” Gabriel suggested.
Elsa-May nodded. “Maybe ... There’d be many ex-Amish people. I should think there'd be least two hundred who’ve left us over the years.”
“Hmm. He’s a serial killer and unfortunately most of them like killing. They might not need a good reason to kill. Mostly, people kill when they’re angry or enraged and just snap. Others plan it and might even feel they’re justified in their wicked deed, but serial killers are crazed. They might not even know their victims and apart from their Amish links, there may be no link at all.”
“That makes it difficult,” said Ettie.
“What do we do now?” Gabriel asked and before anyone could say anything, he added, “I say we talk about it over a meal. My treat.”
“Denke, Gabriel, but I can’t walk too far with my back.”
“I’ll get us take-out and we can go back to my place. My new place, that is, and that way there’s no risk of anyone overhearing us. What do you all say?” Gabriel grinned at Selena, and Selena looked over into the back seat at Ettie and Elsa-May.
“Count me in,” said Elsa-May.
“Me too.” Ettie nodded.
Selena said to Gabriel, “You’ll have to direct me.”
After they got fried chicken and french fries and coleslaw they drove back toward Gabriel’s house. Ettie wasn’t happy about sitting in the home that once belonged to her strange neighbors, so she suggested they go to the house she and Elsa-May shared instead, giving the excuse that Snowy might be needing to be let out.
Amish Scarecrow Murders Page 3