The detective continued. “Thomas was keeping bad company, but I suppose I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.”
Ettie scratched the side of her face while she thought for a moment.
Detective Kelly and Elsa-May stared at her.
“What are you thinking, Ettie?" Elsa-May asked.
"It ties in with what Thea said. She said that he wasn't the same when he came back from his rumspringa. Perhaps he had been on drugs and that had changed his personality. I’ve heard of that happening."
“You've been talking with Thea Hersh?" the detective asked.
"Yes, she came to see us just after you left, the last time you were here."
"Well, that would've been nice to know."
"We’re telling you now. This is the first chance we’ve had."
Elsa-May added, "She told us she told you the very same thing—he wasn't himself after rumspringa. Unless she was speaking to another detective."
"No, it was I.” He grumbled, "I'll let you off the hook this time."
Elsa-May put her hand on her chest. "I'm glad we got out of that one so easily."
"And is this man—is he still in jail?" Ettie asked.
"He’s due for parole soon, but he’s in jail right now, yes. I wouldn't read too much into things, Ettie. It might be something to go on or it might not. Many young men get involved in things they shouldn't when they’re young and then they set themselves on the right path. I remember I did the odd bad thing myself once or twice when I was a youngster." The detective chuckled.
Elsa-May shook her head. "I find that very hard to believe."
"It's true. My friends and I used to hide with a bunch of raw eggs and throw them at passing cars. More times than not, the driver would get out and chase us." Kelly laughed again. "They never caught us. Luckily we could outrun them."
"That sounds like a dreadful thing to do. How old were you when you did that?"
"I don’t remember exactly. Let's just say I was a young teenager."
Elsa-May shook her head while making tsk tsk sounds with her tongue.
"So you think it had nothing to do with anyone Thomas was involved with?" Ettie asked.
"All I can do at this time is keep an open mind and keep asking questions and see what else happens. Now, if you like a good story, Bart Crittenden appears to have gotten away with twenty thousand dollars.”
“What do you mean?” asked Ettie.
“We were following a trail of money laundering and we traced the money to Bart. That’s how we originally came across Bart; it wasn’t originally the drugs it was the money laundering racket. Anyway, when we busted him he was supposed to have the twenty grand on him, and he had nothing. He claims to know nothing about the money.”
“So it’s out there somewhere?” Elsa-May asked.
Kelly nodded. “He’s got a nice little nest egg stashed away for when he gets out.” Kelly looked over at Ettie. “Do you know what money-laundering is?”
Ettie nodded and hoped he didn’t ask her what she thought it meant. She had a bit of an idea, but she’d ask Elsa-May when the detective left.
There was another knock on the door, and Ettie was pleased with the interruption.
"We’re popular tonight, aren't we?" Ettie pushed herself up to answer the door.
Ava stood before her on the doorstep.
"Ettie, why did you and Elsa-May leave the funeral so quickly?"
"You and Jeremiah looked like you wanted to stay on and we don't have the stamina we once had."
Ava walked through the door and then stopped suddenly when she saw the detective.
The detective turned his head to look at her. "Ava, hello."
"Hello, Detective." Ava sat down on one of the wooden chairs next to Detective Kelly.
"Did you hear something else at the funeral? Is that why you’re here?” Elsa-May asked.
"Yes, that's why I'm here, to tell you about it. Even Jeremiah thought I should come here and let you know."
"Well, it must be something important if even Jeremiah thought you should come here," Ettie said.
Ava glanced sideways at Kelly. "I don't know if this is something you know too, but I heard that Thomas had won a contract over an Englischer called William Spreed and I've heard that some people were angry over it."
“What kind of a contract?"
"I didn't get that far. Some kind of business contract, I’d assume. I don't even know what kind of business Thomas was in."
"Is that all you know?" Elsa-May asked.
Ava shook her head. “There are half a dozen stories that were flying around at the end of the funeral. There was another one that Thomas had an Englischer girlfriend as well and she wouldn't believe it was over and she kept trying to win him back. She’d been following him and everything."
"We call those kinds of people ‘stalkers.’ They can be dangerous," Kelly said.
Ettie straightened herself up and started taking notice when the detective appeared interested in what Ava had to say.
The detective turned toward Ava. "What else did you find out? Did you get the girl’s name?"
"Her name is Breanna Taylor. I'm sure it was that."
The detective wasted no time reaching into his pocket to pull out his notebook and pen. "Breanna Taylor,” he repeated as he wrote the name down. "Good work, Ava. And the other name was William Spreed?"
"Yes, that's right."
Detective Kelly chuckled. "I should've just come straight to you, Ava."
Ava gasped and her hands flew to her throat. "Oh no. That would be the last thing Jeremiah would want."
"I'm only joking," he said. “The last thing I want is to upset anyone.”
When the detective left, Ava leaned over and whispered to the two sisters, “I think that they were both possibly at the funeral. That’s why there was talk about them.”
“Who were there?” Elsa-May asked.
“That William Spreed man, and the girl, Breanna Taylor.”
“I saw a couple of Englischers standing around. I didn’t stop to think anything of it,” Elsa-May said.
“Why did you keep that from the detective, Ava?” Ettie asked.
“I don’t know. I thought we shouldn’t tell him everything. It’s not as if it really mattered, did it?”
Ettie pushed out her lips. “He’s going to look into them anyway. In my book, being at his funeral makes them look like they had more than a passing interest in Thomas’ life.”
“Shall we attempt to find out what we can about each of those people?” Elsa-May asked Ettie.
“I could go and look them up tomorrow on the computer in the library. I have to do some work for my mudder in the afternoon, but I could collect both of you in the morning and we could all go.”
“Denke, Ava. Why don’t we do that?”
“Sounds like a gut plan,” Ettie agreed.
“Would you like a cup of tea, Ava?”
Ava stood up. “Nee, denke. I told Jeremiah I wouldn’t be away long.”
Chapter 11
After all the rumors flying around at Thomas’ funeral, Thea wasn’t going to sit back and let her new friend, Austin, be blamed for something he didn’t do. As soon as it was dark, she went to her bedroom early and then sneaked out of the house. She took a flashlight and called a taxi from the barn, and had it pick her up from her nearest crossroad in ten minutes time. She ran from the house in the dark to reach the taxi in time.
She had the taxi driver take her to Austin’s apartment, hoping he’d agree with her plan. After the taxi pulled up outside the apartment block, she paid the driver, and then she walked toward his ground floor apartment with her heart pumping wildly.
Through the window, she could see the flickering lights of what she thought was a video game. After she had taken a deep breath to steady her nerves, she knocked on the door.
He opened it just a crack and peeked out. When he recognized her, he opened the door. “Thea!”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
<
br /> “What are you doing here so late?”
“Can I come in?”
“Yeah.”
Once she was inside, she wasted no time. “I thought we should do something about the rumors surrounding you and Thomas.”
He huffed. “Yeah? Like what?” His eyes dropped to the flashlight in her hand.
“I think we should look for clues in his barn.”
“You can’t be serious, Thea!”
“I am. We’ll wait until everyone’s asleep and no one will know that we’ve ever been there.”
“What are you hoping to find? The police would’ve been all over the place.”
“Maybe they missed something.”
He stared at her as though she were crazy. “Like?”
“I don’t know. We’ll know it when we find it.”
He shook his head. “Thanks for caring, but it won’t do any good. Besides, if we’re caught, we’ll be arrested for trespassing. Or, they might think I’m guilty and coming back to the scene of the crime. I’ve seen things like this on TV, where things go wrong because of people poking around.”
“Okay, I’ll go by myself, then.” Thea turned on her heel and Austin grabbed her arm.
“Don’t! It’s silly.”
“It is not! I thought you’d want to come with me, but I’ll go by myself.” She opened the door and once she was through, she slammed the door and ran into the night. On hearing his door click open, she turned around.
“Wait! I’ll come.”
She was relieved. She secretly didn’t know whether she would’ve gone to the dark barn by herself. Now with Austin there, it would give her courage. She waited for Austin to catch up with her.
“I think you’re mad. We can take my car.” He clicked a remote and the lights of a nearby car lit up.
“Good. We can park it up the road and then we’ll have to walk a fair way to the house, so they don’t see the car’s headlights.” Thea didn’t even dare to think what her father would say if he knew she was in an Englischer’s car.
They drove the ten minutes it took to get to Thomas' house and parked the car up the road as Thea had suggested.
“If only the night wasn’t so cloudy,” Austin said as soon as he got out of his car.
“It’s not too bad. We can’t put a flashlight on here, or someone might see us,” Thea said. “We’ll have to wait until we get to the barn.”
Together they made their way closer.
“Remind me why we’re doing this,” Austin whispered.
“I’ve got a hunch; that’s all.”
“You know something, don’t you? Do you know who killed him and you want to hide the evidence?”
“No, it’s nothing like that. Of course, I don’t know who killed him.”
“What’s the hunch about?”
“I dunno. Maybe I don’t have a hunch. Maybe I’m just curious to see if I can work out if it’s possible to die from falling out of the loft, or off the ladder. They weren’t sure what happened and I just want to see for myself.”
“Why don’t you go and ask his parents? You know them, don’t you?”
“Ask them to have a look in their barn, you mean?”
“Yeah.”
“I wouldn’t like to do that.”
Austin said, “It’s possible to die from falling off a chair, if you fall the wrong way on your neck.”
“Yeah, but it’s unlikely. I just feel that something’s not right.”
“I hope this isn’t going to be a waste of time.”
“Are you sad that you’re missing out on your video games?” Thea asked with laughter in her voice.
“Don’t knock it ‘til you try it.”
“I’ve no interest in games. Games are for children and a total waste of time for adults. Now don’t talk; we’re getting too close. They might hear us.”
To get to the barn, Thea and Austin had to walk past the house. They stayed in the dark of the shadows the best they could. The only light around was the soft glow coming from an upstairs window of the house.
When they reached the barn, the door was slightly open and Thea went first, pushing her weight against the tall rough wooden doors.
She covered her nose when she breathed in a weird smell like sour grain. “Come on, Austin,” she whispered. “Stay close behind. We’ve only got the one light.”
“I’m right behind you. Should I turn the flashlight on now?”
“No. Wait until we’re further inside. You go first. I can’t see where I’m going.”
Austin took hold of Thea’s shoulders, made his way past her, and then he grabbed hold of her hand. “Stay close,” he said.
The next thing Thea knew, Austin pulled her to the ground with a thud. She sneezed when a cloud of dust invaded her nostrils.
“What are you doing?” she hissed as she straightened her prayer kapp.
“Shh! I fell over something.” Austin stood up and pulled Thea to her feet.
“What is it?”
“Dunno, I'm gonna put the flashlight on.”
“No, not yet. Go around it,” Thea ordered.
“It could be a sack of grain. Here." He put the flashlight into her hand. “Turn the light on now, Thea.”
“Okay, and then I want to get close to the loft.”
Before Thea could turn on the flashlight, the barn doors behind them flew open, and beams from a huge hurricane light lit up the barn.
Thea and Austin stood squinting into the light at the large man walking toward them.
“Is that you, Thea?”
It was Mr. Strongberg’s voice.
“Jah.”
“What are you doing?” He walked closer, and then Mr. Strongberg stopped in his tracks as he looked beyond them on the barn floor. “What have you done?”
Thea’s eyes followed Mr. Strongberg’s gaze. It was a body. When she realized that what they’d fallen over was the lifeless body of a man, she screamed and dropped her flashlight running to the door. Austin, frightened by her screams, jumped a few steps sideways and looked back to see what had terrified her.
“It’s a body!” Thea screamed again.
Austin’s mouth dropped open, as he stared at the corpse. He turned to Thea and pointed to her clothes. “Look!”
She looked down to see smudges of blood down the front of her dress and apron. Then she looked at Austin. “And look at you!”
Austin looked down to see blood down the front of his sweatshirt
Mr. Strongberg handed Thea his light. “What have you done? Have you killed him? Hold the light, and I’ll see if he’s still alive.”
“We didn’t do anything. We didn’t even know… We only came…” Thea stammered and couldn’t speak.
“Hold the light still,” Mr. Strongberg’s voice boomed as he leaned over the body. Seconds later, he straightened up. “He’s dead. I’ll have to call the police.”
“We should go now, Thea,” Austin said, backing away.
“No! Both of you stay here. They’ll want to talk to you.”
Mr. Strongberg took the light from Thea and stomped further into the barn.
Austin and Thea stayed near the open door of the barn, staring at each other in silence.
When Mr. Strongberg came back, he asked, “What’s the man’s name?”
Austin looked at the ground. “I don’t know.”
“We don’t know him,” Thea said. “We didn’t know he was here.”
“I have to talk to them again. Both of you stay here. Don’t go anywhere.”
Thea knew she was in terrible trouble and felt much worse for having dragged Austin into trouble with her. It had been a dumb idea to look in the barn especially when she had no real idea what she was looking for. A dead body was not what she'd had in mind.
Chapter 12
Ettie and Elsa-May had just gotten into Ava’s buggy when Doris Wyberger pulled up in her buggy.
Ettie stepped out to talk with her. “Doris, what’s wrong? You look very distressed.�
��
“I am. There’s been someone else found dead at the Strongberg place."
Elsa-May stuck her head out of the buggy. “Who?”
“I heard it was some Englischer and that’s all I know. And do you want to know something else?”
“Jah, what?” Ettie peered at her.
“He was killed in the barn, too. And they have the two people who did it.”
Ava stepped out of the buggy. “How did you hear all this, Doris?”
“I heard it from Alice, who heard it from Milly who heard it from Ruth Fuller, the baker. One of the policemen went in to get some bread on his way home early this morning.”
Ettie nibbled on a fingernail. “A second death in the barn.” Ettie considered that it looked less likely that Thea’s Englischer friend from the market was to blame, but who was?
“Jah, that’s two deaths. And I know something else.” Doris continued without drawing breath. “Wilma had been telling me that she’s seen strange lights in the barn ever since Thomas came back from rumspringa, nearly every night, and even after his death. When she first told me, I didn’t take any notice because I thought she’d gone daft and was thinking Thomas was trying to contact her, or something. But now…”
“What kind of strange lights?” Elsa-May asked.
“Like a flashlight?” Ava asked.
Doris shrugged her shoulders. “She didn’t say—just said that there were lights. She tried to send Samuel out to see if there was anyone there, but he kept telling her it was nothing and to go back to sleep. He finally agreed last night, and went out to check, and just as well he did because he caught the killers.”
“Who were they?”
“That, I’m not sure of. All I know is that there was a man and a woman.”
“What are you doing out so early, Doris?”
“I was just taking Alice some eggs. She’s not been feeling too well lately and I thought she might be able to use them.”
“Denke for stopping by and telling us, Doris.”
“I thought you might be able to use the information to tell that detective friend of yours, Ettie—about the lights in the barn all the time, I mean. I suppose Wilma might have already told the police, but then again, she might be too upset to think with a level head.” Doris stopped speaking and looked at the three of them. “Where are you all headed at this hour of the day?”
Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 3 Page 24