Murder, Served Simply

by Isabella Alan

  “I know all the children who come to my bookmobile. There are many, but some I remember better than others. Eve was one of those children. You know she grew up Amish right here in Rolling Brook.”

  I nodded.

  “She made her choice to leave the community,” Martha said.

  Austina nodded. “Yes, and I wasn’t the least bit surprised when she left Holmes County. I can always tell when one of them is going to leave during their rumspringa.”

  “How’s that?” I asked.

  “Their reading choices. For example, Eve was fascinated with biographies about actors and actresses. She would ask me specifically to find as many as I could for her, but to hold them behind my desk on the bookmobile so that no one else knew about her reading habits. A librarian never tells.”

  “How did she even know about those people to ask for books about them?” a member of the school board, who was also a judge, asked.

  “The Amish aren’t as sheltered from the media as they once were.”

  Martha frowned at that comment.

  Austina sighed, bringing us back to the sad subject at hand. “Now that Eve’s gone, I suppose I don’t need to keep my silence about her favorite books any longer. When I heard that she left Rolling Brook to pursue a career in acting, I wasn’t the least bit surprised. What surprised me was that she came back.”

  “I heard her sister, Junie, told her about the part and encouraged her to return to try out,” I offered.

  “Ahh, Junie.” Austina nodded. “I knew she would stay Amish by her book choices.”

  “What were those?” I asked.

  “I can’t tell you. Junie is still very much alive, and that would be breaking patron-librarian confidentiality.”

  Oh-kay.

  “The whole thing is just too awful for words,” Jessica said. “Eve was such a sweet girl. What do you plan to do about it, Angie?”

  “What? Me? Nothing. I’m not going to do anything.” I felt Martha watching me again.

  “This is not good for tourism. Mark my words,” Austina said. “I know it will be all the talk of the county when I take the bookmobile out on my rounds later today.”

  “You drive that monster in this snow?” Jessica asked.

  “Absolutely. I’m like the postal service with books. Nothing will keep me from my patrons.”

  “Can we get back to judging here?” one of the other judges asked. “I have to pick my grandson up from pre-K at eleven.”

  “Fine, fine,” Austina said.

  The woman circled a Rolling Block quilt made by a conservative Mennonite woman living in Sugarcreek. It was one of the most beautiful quilts in the show. I wouldn’t be surprised if it took top honors. In addition to the quilts being judged, I had a couple of my aunt’s best pieces on display. Those were disqualified from the contest since they came from my shop.

  After the women finished judging, they handed the clipboards in to Martha. Mattie would tabulate the scores, and the winning ribbons would be posted on the quilts by the time the quilt show officially opened for the day at ten in the morning. Jessica hung back and milled around the quilts until all the other judges turned theirs in and left the room.

  Martha handed the stack of clipboards to Mattie, and my assistant sat on a love seat and started counting. Martha sat next to her, checking her work. I shook my head. I had hoped that the quilt show would be the start of some kind of peace between Martha’s shop and mine, but it wasn’t looking like it would be.

  Jessica placed her clipboard on the love seat next to Mattie and grinned at me.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Is he here?” Her eyes crinkled at the corners.

  “Who?” I said, walking away from Martha and Mattie. I didn’t want Martha to overhear our conversation.

  Jessica followed me. “The infamous Ryan.”

  “Oh, ya, he’s here. I met him yesterday at Running Stitch,” Mattie said, looking up from her numbers. “He’s very handsome.”

  I shot an irritated glance at my assistant, and she dropped her eyes to the clipboards.

  Jessica clapped her hands. “When do I get to meet him?”

  “You want to meet him?” I wrinkled my nose.

  “Yes.” She lowered her voice. “I want to meet the jerk who broke your heart.”

  “That jerk is right here,” Ryan said from the doorway.

  Ugh. I smacked the heel of my hand onto my forehead.

  Jessica’s pale Irish complexion morphed from white to pink to red to purple in a matter of seconds. “I—I—I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize,” Ryan said smoothly. “I am a jerk when it comes to Angie, so the title is well deserved. She just won’t let me apologize or admit that.”

  “I’d let you admit that,” I muttered. I cleared my throat. “Jessica Nicolson, this is Ryan Dickinson. Ryan, Jessica.”

  Ryan held out his hand to shake Jessica’s. She stared at it. I nudged her with my knee.

  Jessica’s hand shot out, and she shook Ryan’s. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

  “I bet,” Ryan said good-naturedly, looking at me.

  “Now that we have all met one another, Mattie and I have to finish up here and get over to the shop to open up,” I said.

  Ryan frowned. “I was hoping that I could talk to you today.”

  “Talking is good,” Jessica said dumbly. Ryan’s polished appearance and chocolate brown eyes had Jessica under his spell. Me, not so much.

  “If you want to drop in at Running Stitch later today, that would be just fine. We can talk there.”

  “Won’t there be other people there?”

  I nodded. “We have our last quilting class of the year today. They’re making quilted snowmen, so the store will be pretty busy. You are welcome to sit in. Maybe try your hand at quilting.”

  Ryan frowned. “I wanted to talk to you alone.”

  “Why don’t you let Mattie and Anna handle the class, Angie?” Jessica said without taking her eyes off Ryan. “Ryan is only here for a few days.”

  “We can handle it,” Mattie called from the sofa.

  Traitors, rang out in my head.

  “I would prefer to be there for the last class. The shop will be closed tomorrow and Christmas Day. Ryan and I will have plenty of time to talk after today.”

  Jessica looped her arm through Ryan’s. “If you have nothing to do, why don’t I show you around town?”

  “Jessica,” I said through gritted teeth, “don’t you have to get back to Out of Time?”

  She waved away my concern. “I have my new intern working in the shop today. Between him and Cherry Cat, the shop will be well covered.”

  Ryan looked down at Jessica. “I could use a tour guide to pass the time, and you would keep me out of Angie’s way. You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Angie?” His gaze held a challenge.

  “Sure,” I said, my voice shooting up two octaves. “It’s a great idea. Jessica will be a terrific tour guide.”

  Jessica dropped her arm from Ryan’s and scooped up her coat hanging over the arm of a sofa. “Let’s go.”

  “Okay,” Ryan said. “We’ll see you later, Angie.”

  I forced a smile. “Bye,” I said with as much cheer as I could muster while hiding the tic in my right eye. “Have fun.”

  After they left, Mattie said, “Are you okay?”

  “Okay? Yes, I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be okay? Ryan can do whatever he wants with whomever he wants to do it.”

  “Are you lying?” Mattie studied me. Maybe she saw the tic.

  “I hope not,” I said honestly. “Because if I am, I’m afraid of what that might mean.”

  Chapter Eleven

  The quilt show winners were chosen, and I left Mattie and Martha to adorn the winners and runners-up with the appropriate ribbons.

>   “How’s Oliver doing?” I asked Bethanne as I crossed the lobby.

  “I think he’s all right.” She smiled.

  I leaned over the counter and found Oliver holding on to a ham bone with his paws and gnawing on it with the side of his mouth. “He looks pretty content to me. You’re an excellent pet sitter. Can I give you a call if I ever need one?”

  Her face lit up. “I would like that.”

  “I should warn you first. I also have a kitten name Dodger. He’s a little more rambunctious than Oliver.”

  “I don’t mind. I love all animals. When the vet comes to the farm, he always lets me assist him.”

  “I will keep you in mind, then.” I paused. “I know you said she wouldn’t be in until later, but have you seen Junie yet today?”

  “Actually, I have,” Bethanne said. “She is in the dining room. Most of the guests are finished with their breakfast now. Junie is clearing the tables.”

  “Thanks.” I slapped my thigh. “Come, Oliver. Let’s go say good-bye to Junie before we leave.”

  Oliver shot one round brown eye at me. The other’s concentration remained pointedly on the bone between his paws.

  I put my hands on my hips. “You can’t take the bone with you. We have a quilting class going on in the shop today. We can’t have the smell of old ham bothering the ladies while they quilt their snowmen.”

  Oliver wrapped his legs more tightly around the bone. I hoped this didn’t turn into a wrestling match.

  Bethanne leaned over and took the bone from the Frenchie. Oliver didn’t fight her for it, but he gave an audible sigh when his physical contact was broken.

  She smiled. “I will keep it here behind the desk for him.”

  Oliver is such a charmer. Now he had young girls hiding treats for him.

  I smacked my leg again. “Come on, you old Casanova.”

  He grinned and trotted after me.

  The French doors opened into the dining room. The long table where I had seen the cast and crew eating breakfast more than an hour ago was empty. A few of the smaller tables had guests sitting at them, perusing the newspaper while they savored their coffee. Junie moved around the long play table with a dishpan. As she collected cups and plates, she added them to the pan. A metal cart sat to the side. It had even more dishes on it. Drama must make a person hungry, because the cast and crew could certainly eat.

  I picked up an empty bin from the cart and started collecting silverware. Oliver followed me around the table, most likely thinking I would drop a crumb or two for him to gobble up.

  Junie’s head snapped up. “What are you doing?”

  “Cleaning up. Boy, those actors sure enjoyed their breakfast, didn’t they?”

  She set the bin at the end of the table. “You can’t. You’re a guest. I will get in trouble if it looks like I asked a guest to do my job for me.”

  “I’m not a guest.” I placed a serving spoon in my bin.

  “But you don’t work here.”

  “I do, in a way, at least as long as the quilt show is going on. Besides, I need to talk to you, so you might as well put me to work while I am at it.”

  She started gathering coffee mugs again. “Me? Why would you need to talk to me?”

  “I want to know more about your uncle Nahum.”

  She dropped the coffee mug she was holding onto the table. Luckily, it didn’t break, but the remnants of the coffee inside splattered across the white tablecloth. Her face turned red, and she dabbed at the stain with a wet rag. “Why? What would you want to know about him?”

  A man three tables away pointedly rattled his paper, which caused Oliver to wriggle under the long table.

  I lowered my voice and moved closer to her. “Where can I find him? I want to talk to him.” I paused. “About Eve.”

  She gnawed on her bottom lip so much that there was a small dot of blood right at the crease. “You can’t want to talk to him. He’s crazy.”

  “I have to. He has a motive.”

  She dropped the rag onto the silver cart. “A motive for what?”

  I gave her a look. “A motive for Eve’s accident.”

  Junie dropped her eyes to the table. “I don’t think it’s a good idea if you talk to him. It will make him angry.”

  I took that as a gross understatement. “Just tell me where I can find him, and I will be the judge of that. Do it for Eve.”

  She swallowed. “If I tell you, do you promise not to go alone?”

  That sounded ominous, but I wanted the information, so I said, “I won’t. Do I look stupid?”

  She didn’t say anything for a full minute. Finally, she said, “He lives in a cabin in the woods on the outskirts of Holmes County. It’s almost in Wayne County.”

  “What’s the name of the road he lives on?”

  “If he’s still there, and I’m not certain that he is, it’s called Yoder Bend. The cabin is not exactly on the road, but that’s the closest road to it. I’ve never been there myself, but I heard my father describe it. He had gone there before to try to talk some sense into my uncle and ask him to rejoin our community.”

  “Yoder Bend,” I repeated to commit it to memory.

  “Junie, why isn’t that table cleared off already?” Mimi said as she stepped through the French doors. “Guests have checked out and their rooms need to be turned.”

  I found Mimi’s reaction a bit harsh, especially considering Junie’s sister just died under suspicious circumstances.

  Junie lowered her eyes. “I am sorry.” She started to pile the last of the dishes on the cart with abandon.

  “It’s my fault,” I said, jumping in. “I was offering Junie my condolences on the loss of her sister.”

  Mimi’s face softened. “Yes, it has been terrible for all of us.”

  Interesting, I thought. Mimi seemed to be speaking on a more personal level than I would expect her to use with one of the actors.

  Junie threw the last of the dirty napkins on the metal cart and wheeled it toward the kitchen without a backward glance.

  “Did you know Eve well?” I asked Mimi.

  To my shock, the hotel owner burst into tears.

  The man with the rattling newspaper was really giving the sports section a workout. I wrapped my arm around Mimi’s shoulder and led her across the dining room to the French doors, which led into the swimming pool area. Oliver waddled in after us and made a beeline for a lounge chair. Shades and a towel were all he needed to be ready for a day at the pool, which looked pretty enticing right then.

  I guided her to a small table near the deep end and farthest away from the door. The whirlpool bubbled a few feet away, and the smell of chlorine burned the inside of my nose. There was no one in the pool room, and the whirlpool would cover our conversation if anyone were to step inside.

  Mimi whipped at her eyes, and her heavy layer of mascara melted and smeared onto her cheek. “I’m sorry,” she muttered through her tears. “I should have better control over myself.”

  I rifled through my monster purse and came up with a crumpled packet of travel tissues. “Don’t be silly. Eve’s death has been a shock for all of us.” The tissues appeared to have been stepped upon by an elephant, but they were clean. I handed Mimi the package.

  She accepted it and removed a tissue from the plastic. “Thank you.” She blew her nose.

  Oliver hopped off his lounger and licked Mimi’s hand. The hotel owner smiled. I could always count on Oliver to mend wounds.

  Overhead, snow gathered on the corners of the atrium’s glass ceiling. Inside the pool room, tropical plants flourished, and the warm humid pool air felt lovely against my dehydrated winter skin. It was all I could do not to throw myself into the crystal blue water.

  “How did you know Eve? Was it from her life here before she left for New York?” I asked.

 
She nodded. “She was like a daughter to me.”

  Involuntarily, I felt my eyebrows pop up.

  Mimi wiped tears from her eyes with one of the mangled tissues. “She was such a sweet girl. I don’t know how anyone could do this to her, especially her own family.”

  I leaned back in my chair. “Her family? Do you mean her uncle Nahum?”

  “I wouldn’t limit it to just him.” There was an edge to her voice.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Nahum may have been the most outspoken against Eve’s return to Holmes County, but her whole family has treated her poorly since she returned. People think that the Amish are kind and caring. They usually are, but they can be cold too. They treated Eve like a leper, even her own father.”

  “What’s her father’s name?”

  “Noah Shetler. He and his brother, not Nahum, own Shetler Tree Farm in Berlin. They are very well off for an Amish family. They supply many of the greenhouses and nurseries with trees and shrubs in Holmes, Wayne, and Stark Counties.”

  “Tree farm?” I asked. “What about Christmas trees?” I asked with an idea sparking in the back of my brain.

  “Oh yes, this is a great time for business for them. Even though the Amish won’t have Christmas trees in their homes, it doesn’t mean they won’t make money off the English who will.”

  “Do you include Junie in that number of relatives who have been unkind to Eve?”

  Mimi placed her hands on the table. “Junie is confused. She wanted Eve to come back to Holmes County, but when Eve arrived, Eve told me that Junie had hardly spoken to her. I know she was hurt when her sister left, but now was her chance to make amends. That chance is gone now. She will never get it back.”

  “Did you meet Eve through Junie?”

  She shook her head. “I met Junie through Eve. Eve started working for me the summer after she finished school.”

  Oliver stared into the whirlpool. I hoped that he didn’t get any ideas about going for a dip.

  Mimi twisted the packet of tissues in her hands, and the plastic crackled. “Eve was a star employee, and I put her on the desk most of the time. She was so charming, and guests loved her. Everyone loved her. Junie is a year younger, and I gave her a job as a maid because Eve asked me to. Junie is a good worker, but she didn’t have the special sparkle Eve did.”