Plain Death

by Flower, Amanda

  “I told you. I want to know why you fired me.”

  “You weren’t fired. You were laid off.”

  “As if that made it any easier.” The usual bitterness in his tone had ebbed somewhat.

  “I’m sorry, Joel. I made the best decision I could for the department.”

  He shook his head. His shoulders slumped.

  What he’d done changed him. Much of the anger he’d harbored against me had dissipated. Heroics can do that for a person. Despite all of his failings, Joel was a hero. The fact was difficult for me to accept, but it may have been even more difficult for Joel.

  I swallowed. “Thank you. You saved Becky and me.”

  He hung his head. “I did what had to be done.” Then he wandered away.

  Chief Rose sauntered up to me with her hands on her hips. “That looked awkward.”

  I grimaced.

  “See, I told you, you were the key in this case.”

  I wasn’t so sure about that. “What does this mean for your department, Chief?”

  “Crime does pay.” A sly smile spread across her face.

  Timothy’s truck threw gravel in all directions as he swerved around a police cruiser.

  Chief Rose shook her head. “Apparently none of the Troyers know how to drive.”

  He jumped out of his truck. Becky, who stood with Cookie and Scotch, broke away from the EMT taking her blood pressure and ran into her brother’s arms. He hugged her to him while scanning the crowd.

  Chief Rose nudged me. “I think he’s searching for someone.”

  Timothy’s eyes locked on mine. He said something to his sister, and she let him go. I stepped away from the police chief and met him under the shade of the oak tree. “Chloe, are you all right?”

  I ran my hands up and down my bare arms. “I’m fine.”

  Timothy’s chest moved up and down as if he couldn’t catch his breath. His big blue eyes searched my face. “When Greta called me, I got here as fast as I could. I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

  I scanned the crowd. The police chief was speaking to a protesting Curt. Brock had already been taken to the hospital in Mount Vernon.

  Mathews sat in the back of a cruiser not speaking to anyone. He stared straight ahead. His high-priced lawyer had taught him well.

  Joel stood in the middle of a group of reporters, relating how he saved the day—which he had.

  “Chief Rose called you?”

  He nodded.

  I bobbed my head, my eyes darting around. “I’m glad you’re here. Becky needed you.”

  He winced. “Becky? What about you?”

  I forced a smile. “I did too. You’ve been a good friend.”

  Timothy flinched. “A good friend?”

  I stopped. “Of course. I could have never gotten through this without you. I’ve seen what a wonderful brother you are to Becky and the children. You’re like the brother I never had.”

  His brow furrowed. “I’m not your brother.”

  I licked my lips, unable to meet his gaze. “I know that. You’re like a brother to me.”

  He lifted my chin, the calluses on his fingers brushing my skin. “No, I’m not. I don’t want you to think of me as your brother. I care about you.”

  “I care about you too.”

  His face flamed red. “I don’t care about you like I care about my sisters.” He took my small and freckled hand between his two calloused ones.

  “Oh.” The light was dawning. A smile began to form on my lips, but just as quickly it faded. “What about Hannah?”

  “Hannah?”

  “Isn’t she—aren’t you together?”

  He barked a laugh. “She wishes.”

  “You are promised to her,” I said.

  “We dated. It was nothing serious, at least not for me. Hannah might disagree. I told her many times that it’s over between us.” He frowned. “I dated her because I knew it was what her father wanted. It’s been over for a long time though.”

  “I can guarantee she doesn’t think it’s over. She pretty much told me the two of you were getting married.”

  He rocked back on his heels. “I’m not going to marry Hannah.”

  Inside of me, a little voice cried out with joy.

  Epilogue

  Tuesday morning, I sat in the second row of a small courtroom in the Knox County courthouse in Mount Vernon.

  Even the fact that Becky had been kidnapped the day before wouldn’t convince the Knox County judge to move her court date for sentencing. Becky sat next to Tyler Hart in the row in front of me.

  Timothy squeezed my hand. “It’s going to be fine,” he whispered. He was the only one from the Troyer family to attend. He told me that the Amish want as little interaction with English government as possible, but I wondered if Becky was hurt that her parents weren’t by her side for the verdict.

  The bailiff faced us. “All rise.”

  A rotund man in a black robe climbed to the bench. The judge sat, and so did the others in the courtroom. There weren’t many. Becky’s sentencing was not a big draw.

  The judge’s bushy eyebrows knitted together. He addressed the prosecutor. “Do you accept the guilty plea?”

  “We do.” The prosecutor wore a suit that must have cost half of his monthly salary.

  The judge nodded and glared at Becky. “I hope you understand the seriousness of your offense, young lady. I understand some of the circumstances leading up to this accident were no fault of your own. The vehicle was tampered with; however, that does not discount that you were an unlicensed and uninsured motorist. A more experienced driver may have avoided the fatal accident.”

  I shifted in my seat. That was a little harsh of the judge to say. Timothy touched my wrist, and I stopped squirming.

  “I do,” Becky whispered.

  “I can’t hear you,” the judge bellowed.

  Becky cowered, but then straightened. “I do understand, sir.” She spoke in a clear voice.

  “Good. It is the decision of this court to follow the prosecution’s recommendation. You are forbidden to apply for a driver’s license until your twenty-fifth birthday, you have one year of probation, and you must complete one thousand hours of community service.” He glared at her. “Although I usually feel that it does a young person some good, I don’t think in this case that prison time is needed.”

  Tears pricked my eyes.

  “Thank you, your honor.”

  The judge slammed his gavel on the bench. “Hart, get yourself and your client out of my courtroom.”

  Tyler nodded and shuffled Becky toward the exit. Timothy and I hurried after them. We met in the rotunda outside of the room.

  “Is the judge always that cranky?” I asked Tyler.

  “Always.” He grinned and patted Becky on the shoulder. “Well, kiddo, you’re going to be okay.” He shook my hand. “I’ll call you later today with the information about her probation officer.”

  “I never thought I would be happy to hear about a probation officer,” I said.

  Timothy threw his arms around Becky and they hugged. “Me either.”

  Tyler tipped his head. “I have another case this morning, so I will let you all celebrate.” His footsteps echoed as he hurried across the rotunda.

  Timothy pulled me into the hug with him and Becky. It was our own little circle, our own little family. When I first moved to Appleseed Creek, all I thought about was moving away from it. Now I wondered if I’d ever want to leave.

  Together, we strolled out of the courthouse arm in arm. Timothy released me and gave Becky another big, brotherly hug.

  As he did, I spotted an Amish man across the street, scowling at us. It was Deacon Sutter. I bit my lip. Soon the Amish district will need to choose a new
bishop. Will it be Deacon Sutter? If the deacon wasn’t chosen, how will he react, and what were his plans for the disobedient Troyer family?

  Becky tugged my arm. “Come on, Chloe, Timothy’s taking us to breakfast to celebrate.”

  I pushed away thoughts of the deacon and smiled at Becky’s glowing face. “Breakfast sounds perfect.”

  Dear Reader Letter

  Dear Reader,

  When I was twenty-four years old, my first real job out of graduate school was to be an academic librarian for a small college in rural Knox County, Ohio. Knox County is right next to Holmes County, which has the largest Amish population in the world, and Knox County has a small Amish population of its own. It was common for me to see Amish buggies when I drove to and from work or to shop beside Amish families in the local grocery store. That experience inspired me to write A Plain Death and the future novels in the Appleseed Creek Mystery Series.

  There are so many wonderful Amish novels in bookstores and libraries right now, but I hope you find A Plain Death to be a little different. First and foremost, it is a mystery novel. The novel centers around the death of an Amish bishop, who is killed in an auto-buggy collision. The protagonist, Chloe Humphrey, and her new former-Amish friends, Becky and Timothy Troyer, decide to investigate the case because Becky was the driver of the car. They must decide if the crash was an accident or perhaps murder.

  Also, the novel may reveal something new about the Amish to you. In my series, I hope to show you how different the Amish are from order to order and district to district. There are many different Amish groups, and each group has its own rules. However, the heart of their culture is keeping their communities together. Most Amish don’t drive cars because they think it’s wrong to do so. They are afraid that if they were able to own their own cars, the community would splinter because motor vehicles make it easier for community members to move away from each other. It’s a difficult and sometimes peculiar balance that the Amish have with the modern world. I hope I captured the essence of that in my writing.

  Above all, I hope you enjoy the story—that the characters make you smile, the mystery raises your suspicions, and the romance touches your heart.

  Blessings & Happy Reading!

  Amanda Flower

  Discussion Questions

  1. What was your favorite part of the novel? Why?

  2. Which character did you identify with the most? Why?

  3. What did you learn about Amish culture in this book that you did not know before?

  4. What aspect of Amish culture do you most admire? What aspect do you disagree with?

  5. The protagonist, Chloe Humphrey, has a difficult relationship with her father. How is that relationship similar to Amish shunning?

  6. The author lived in Knox County for three years during her twenties. How do you think that influenced the novel?

  7. What do you think of the author’s description of Knox County, Ohio? Is it a place you’d like to visit?

  8. The protagonist, Chloe Humphrey, has a cat named Gigabyte, and a central character, Timothy Troyer, has a dog named Mabel. Why do you think animal characters are so prevalent in mystery novels?

  9. The novel shows that Amish differ from order to order and from district to district. How does that apply to Christian denominations in general?

  10. Becky Troyer and her brother Timothy leave the Amish for different reasons. Do you think their reasons were believeable?

  11. The author, Amanda Flower, considers herself a cozy mystery author. Do you know what makes a mystery “cozy”? What makes A Plain Death a cozy mystery?

  12. Of the antagonists in the novel, which do you dislike the most? And why?

  13. Before the end of the novel, who did you think the culprit was? Were you right?

  14. What do you think about the conclusion of the mystery? What about it surprised you?

  15. What do you think the future holds for Chloe and Timothy?