Elsa-May asked, “You were back living with your parents?”
Gertie shook her head. “This was before I’d married anyone.”
“Oh.”
“Carry on. Just ignore, Elsa-May.”
Elsa-May stared open-mouthed at Ettie.
Ettie stared back at her sister and tugged on her ears. “These are for listening. Follow what she’s saying. This is after Aaron died and before she married anyone.”
Elsa-May clamped her mouth closed and looked back at Gertie. “Go on, Gertie.”
“I watched from the stairs as they stood by the front door. My mudder knew I was suffering over Aaron’s death and fretted about leaving me alone. I wanted them to go so I could get on with it and try to communicate with Aaron before I lost my nerve.
“My mudder called out, Are you sure you'll be okay if we go out for a few hours? We can stay in if you'd prefer it, just say the word. I insisted I was fine. My vadder told Mamm to leave me alone and that fussing over me wouldn’t make me miss Aaron any less, but a little quiet time might do me the world of good. Mamm took a reluctant step to the door, which my vadder had opened. When they had gone, I headed up to the attic with the oil, a metal bowl and a box of matches. I figured when my parents got home they wouldn’t smell the oil from way up there.”
“Good thinking,” Elsa-May said.
“Oh, so you’re okay with all this now?” Ettie asked.
“Nee, I just said 'good thinking' about doing it all in the attic. Although, the barn might have been better.”
“Anyway, I lowered the attic stairs. Oh, and I took with me one of Aaron’s shirts that I had. After setting everything up as Miranda had suggested, I lit the oil and stared into the flame, concentrating on Aaron—on his face, the sound of his voice, and his infectious laughter. I even spoke to him and said, ‘Aaron, please, if you're close by, show yourself, or speak to me. Make yourself known to me. Let me see you again.’ I waited a few minutes, but nothing happened. The silence was only disturbed by the crackle of the flame, and the creaking of the old house.”
Gertie stopped and looked at the two sisters.
“It’s okay, you can keep going,” Ettie said.
“I know it’s wrong and I knew it was wrong then, but if there was any chance, I had to know who killed him, or if he had in fact been killed. It was the grief that was so deep that I couldn’t see past it.”
Elsa-May patted her on the shoulder. “Finish your story.”
“I told him if he’d been trying to communicate with me, now was his chance to share his message. There was silence—nothing. I looked around the darkened attic, shivered with cold and a little fear. I pleaded with him to speak with me. Half an hour passed of talking to no one, and I had all but given up. Staring at the flame I breathed in the delicate aroma of the oil. It made my head whirl, and my eyelids grew heavy, and I fell asleep.”
“That’s dangerous, to go to sleep near a flame like that,” Elsa-May pointed out.
“I’m still here. The haus didn’t burn down. I fell into a deep sleep and dreamed of Aaron. He was at the river and about to swim. A large man surprised him, covered his mouth, smothering his cries for help. He was dragged into the water and pushed under. In my dream, I screamed, and ran at his attacker but my efforts made no difference. The man who killed him was faceless, as though he wore a mask. He had no features; it was eerie. Aaron struggled but the man was stronger and he stood no chance against him. I watched what happened next.” She shook her head and wiped away a tear. “I saw it. Then the man just walked out of the water, got in his car and drove away. I woke suddenly, drenched in sweat with my heart pounding. The room reeked of the oil and I did my best to rid the house of the smell. I closed up the opening to the attic.”
“Did your parents smell it when they came home?” Ettie asked.
“Nee, they didn’t. The dream whirled around in my head every day. I knew I’d seen what happened to Aaron, my best friend and my first love. We would’ve married, you know.”
“And you think that’s what happened?” Ettie asked.
“Jah. And I know who did it. I found out just a few weeks after our wedding that Harold had done it. He drowned Aaron. The very next day, I came back here to this very place and sat on this very rock. My palms were sweating, even though the breeze offered a fresh blast of iciness. The river had beckoned me toward it, in spite of everything. I wondered whether visiting this place where Aaron had taken his last breath might lead me to him. I might hear his voice, a whisper, or I figured if he could contact me from heaven; he’d leave me a sign—any kind of a sign.”
“I don’t believe in all that. And it’s wrong to delve into those things.”
Gertie wagged a finger at Ettie. “I know you think I had to believe in ghosts, had to accept that Aaron was trying to communicate with me from beyond the grave.” She shook her head. “It was madness. Wasn't it? Either way, if I had to peek into madness to find an explanation for what had been happening to me since his death, then peek I would.”
“Go on, continue with what you were saying, Gertie,” Elsa-May said.
“I remember it as though it was only yesterday. I sat right here, while the birds sang their midday song and the chilling wind made the leaves rustle about on branches older than my grossdaddi. I stared at the river as I’m looking at it now. The wind dried out my lips and I wondered how something so blessed with Gott’s beauty could have been the place for so gruesome a thing.”
Ettie stared at Gertie, remembering how she had looked as a girl. Gertie was some years younger and they’d had different friends back then. So lost in thought was she, that she jumped when Gertie spoke suddenly.
"Aaron! I called out in a voice that was shaky. I felt silly, even though there was no one around to hear me. Who’s to say we go to heaven directly when we die? I don’t know. The bishop couldn’t show me where in the bible that it states such things clearly, and without any doubt. I asked again, Are you still here? The sudden snap of a branch behind me frightened me. The first thing I thought was that it was Aaron’s attacker—Harold coming to tell me he wouldn’t allow a divorce—and I would face him head on. Who’s there? I demanded. Come out!”
Ettie felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she listened to Gertie’s tale. Then she wondered if Elsa-May was still having trouble following the story. “Elsa-May, we’re now past the brief marriage to Harold and Gertie finding out Harold murdered Aaron. She told Harold she wanted a divorce. Now she’s sitting here many years ago right in this very spot. This is before—“
“I know, Ettie. Carry on please, Gertie. You were calling out and you thought someone was there. Who was it?”
“Was there anyone there?” Ettie asked when Gertie hesitated.
“Jah, it was Aaron's bruder, Simon. He stepped out from behind a large tree. He asked me if I was calling for Aaron, and I felt like a fool. Even back then, he knew me pretty well. I told him he startled me and I asked him why he was there.” Gertie laughed. Then he asked me why I was there. It had always annoyed me back then when people ask the same question as you just asked. I had no sane reason to be there. I realized how foolish my plan would sound if I said it aloud. My heart hammered in my chest as I searched my mind for something to say, until I decided I didn't have to explain anything at all. Do you know what he said next?”
“What?” Ettie asked, wondering how Simon had won her heart.
"You thought you might find his ghost walking around here didn't you? Feeling ridiculous, I said, Of course not. Then he said that he was ridiculous, because that’s what he was doing. He’d come there to be closer to Aaron, and that was when I admitted that’s what I was doing too. He told me it was only normal to miss him and to go somewhere to feel close to him.”
“You didn’t tell him that you thought Aaron was trying to connect with you?”
“Nee, Elsa-May, that sounds too mad. I couldn’t tell him or anyone that. No one in the community. You’re the only two people I�
��ve ever told about me going to the witch, fortune teller, or whatever she was. Anyway, Simon and I stayed here and talked by the water for hours. We spoke of Aaron and what we missed about him.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, how did it come about that you left the community?”
“And married Harold Appleby?” Elsa-May looked at Ettie. “Oh, I know I’m backtracking now, no need to tell me that, Ettie.”
“Only trying to help,” Ettie said.
Chapter Nineteen
“Ah. Harold knew Aaron and me. It was obvious Harold liked me right from the start, but I only had eyes for Aaron. When Aaron died, Harold wouldn’t leave me alone. I was low, weak, and I leaned on him to get through it. We married and I left the community. After only a few short weeks, I saw a different side to him and in my heart I knew he was the one who’d killed Aaron. It was the lowest point I’d ever been at in my life. I filed for divorce. I told him if he ever came near me again I’d go to the police and tell them everything. He left, we divorced and then I married Simon.”
“And he came back, didn’t he?”
“Jah, he did. He came back later, years later and leased the haus next door. He knew I hadn’t told anyone I’d married outside the community. As you know, we can’t divorce.” Gertie sighed. “There are so many things against me. I hope Gott forgives me for my sins—for seeing the witch, for marrying that dreadful man and covering it up with lies. I lied to Simon every day of our married life. I didn’t expose that man for the murderer that he is. Grief is a dreadful thing.”
“It’s all good now, Gertie. He won’t be able to hurt anyone again. The police are arresting him. They might have already arrested him by now.”
“Gott always forgives. Just ask Him,” Elsa-May said.
“Maybe some sins are too great.”
“Ah, you know that’s not so, Gertie.”
“What my head knows and what my heart knows are two different things.” Her eyes were wide and shining.
“Why don’t we leave you alone for a few minutes? Come up the bank when you’re ready and we’ll get a taxi and take you home.”
“Denke to both of you. Did you find out why Harold killed Earl Quinn?”
“This is what we think happened; Earl Quinn had allowed Harold and his wife to adopt a child from him. Harold was Earl’s boss.”
“Jah, it was a daughter that Earl and his first wife had when they were young. They thought they were too young and had no money with which to raise a child. I suppose they thought the child would’ve been better off with a rich couple rather than a penniless couple just starting out.”
Ettie took over, “But then, some years later, Earl heard of the divorce and it was a nasty divorce.”
“I’d believe that,” Gertie said.
“What Earl thought would be a happy home where his daughter wouldn’t want for anything had become the opposite. The detective thinks that Earl confronted him over it and possibly wanted the child back.”
“Well, we know he did want the child back because he’d seen a lawyer about it.”
“Now that daughter would be all grown up. She’d have no idea that her birth father was so concerned about her welfare that he lost his life over it.”
Gertie sighed and stared out over the rippling water. “If only I’d gone to the police as soon as I’d found out. It would’ve saved Simon, and saved Earl Quinn, and whoever else he killed.”
“We’ll leave you alone for a bit, Gertie. Take your time, and we’ll meet you up at the road when you’re ready.”
“I’m sorry I lied to both of you by not telling you it was Harold Appleby who killed Earl Quinn.”
“It’s all turned out well,” Elsa-May said. “Well, it looks like it is going to.”
“We understand why you didn’t tell us.” Ettie pushed herself to her feet and then pulled Elsa-May off the large rock where they’d been sitting.
As they walked back to the road, Elsa-May rubbed her behind. “They should make softer rocks.”
“With all your padding I’m surprised you felt anything.” Ettie chuckled while Elsa-May was silent. “Poor Gertie, she’s been through a lot.”
“Jah she has. I hope it’s all over now.”
A week later, Kelly came to Ettie and Elsa-May’s house after dinner.
“Have a seat, Detective.”
After he sat, they waited until he spoke.
“You’ll be pleased to know that we have a confession from Harold Appleby for the murder of Earl Quinn.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“What about the other murders?” Ettie asked.
“At first he denied them, and then he came clean a couple of days later and told us everything. His murderous spree started with Aaron Fisher and once he found that he’d gotten away with it, he did it again, and again, and then again.”
“That’s awful.” Ettie shook her head.
“Who else did he kill?”
“He killed his own brother, and at the time it was put down to a hiking accident, then there was Simon. He kidnapped him and ran him down when he tried to escape, and then—”
“No more, please,” Elsa-May said. "I'm sorry I asked."
“I was right all along. Appleby killed Earl because he was harassing him about his daughter,” Ettie said.
“Appleby and his wife adopted two children, a boy and a girl. Due to his age the only way they could adopt was privately, and with all his money that was something easy for him.”
“Are you happy with the result?” Ettie asked Kelly.
“I think it’s a good result. He confessed, so we only have to wait for the sentencing. How’s Gertie doing?”
“She’s fine now that it’s all over. She’s been living with a heavy burden for a long time and she says now she feels a load’s been lifted.”
“I want to thank you both for your help. You provided that book, Ettie, and I provided the fingerprint.”
Ettie’s face scrunched. “What do you mean, you provided the fingerprint?”
He chuckled. “It’s an old police trick. There was no fingerprint in the book. It was too degraded. We often use that trick when we haul in two suspects who’ve been working together. We convince them both that the other has turned on them, then they usually crack and we learn the truth.”
Elsa-May’s mouth fell open in shock.
“You told Harold you had his fingerprint?”
“Yes. We didn’t, but now we don’t need it because he’s confessed.”
“What if he says he was wrong to confess, and he didn’t do it? Now you’ve got no evidence.”
“A confession is evidence. And we have his confessions—not for one murder, but many. And Gertie, if we need her.”
He put his hands up. “Relax, both of you. I didn’t use the words, ‘We found your fingerprint in this book.’ I said, 'What if I told you that your print was found in a book that was hidden in the fireplace of a certain house?' Then I was able to confirm that he was in the military and we had his prints. He squirmed in his seat and things went from there.”
“You told Ettie and me you found his fingerprint in the book.”
He chuckled. “I was getting in the zone before I talked to him.”
“I suppose we have to be pleased he confessed,” Ettie said to Elsa-May.
Kelly nodded.
“How did you figure it out that it was his book?” Elsa-May asked him.
“A background search revealed he was once married to one Gertrude Hersler. Then when you told me the story about her being in love with Simon’s brother, Aaron, and then marrying Simon a little later, it all clicked when I saw all those names in the book.”
“If you’d listened to Ettie you would’ve arrested him sooner.”
“All roads lead to Rome.” Kelly laughed. “There’s the road Ettie takes called Hunch Highway, and the one I take is aptly called Fact Freeway.”
Ettie pursed her lips. “Well, thanks for stopping by, Detective.” Ett
ie pushed herself to her feet.
His lips parted along with a slight eyebrow raise. “No cake or cup of tea tonight?”
“We’re all out,” Elsa-May said, moving off her chair.
“Out of tea as well as cake?”
“It happens.”
They both walked Kelly to the door. When they closed the door, they stared at one another.
“I should let Snowy back in the house.”
“What do you think of what he did, Elsa-May?” Ettie said, as she followed her sister to the back of the house.
“I don’t like it a bit, but the man confessed.” Snowy scampered into the house as soon as Elsa-May unlocked the dog door, and he ran to where Kelly had been and sniffed around.
“We should visit Gertie tomorrow.”
“She would feel like a new woman with all those lies out in the open. She’s been carrying those lies and deceptions for many years. Jah, we’ll visit her.”
“I can’t believe she was once married to Harold Appleby. That’s something I didn’t see coming,” Ettie said.
“It was a shock. Cup of tea, Ettie?”
“Why not? And we should have some of that cake we got from the markets today.”
“We really were a little bit mean to Kelly just now.”
“Next time he might treat us a little better, but if you feel bad I suppose we could bake two cakes tomorrow and take him one and then bring one with us to Gertie’s.”
“Should we take the highway or the freeway that he was talking about?” asked Elsa-May.
Ettie giggled. Then Elsa-May started to giggle, which made Ettie laugh harder. Soon both of them were wiping their eyes.
“Well, let’s hope that’s the last body you fall over, Ettie. It was you who started the whole thing.”
Snowy walked into the kitchen.
“Nee. It was Snowy’s fault. If he hadn’t wanted to get out of the taxi, he wouldn’t have run off and we wouldn’t have gone after him.”
Elsa-May put the teakettle down on a trivet atop the counter, and crouched down in front of her dog. “Hear that Snowy? It’s all your fault. What do you have to say for yourself?”
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