“Stabbed too, so it’s not even a question of it being an accident. If he’d been shot it could’ve been an accident. That would’ve been better.”
“Ettie! What are you wishing upon the poor man?”
“I’m not. I’m only thinking that if the murderer wanted to get away with it he’d have a better chance if he made it look like an accident.”
“Maybe it wasn’t planned. It could’ve been a spur of the moment killing. Ebenezer might’ve made someone angry with him and then they grabbed a knife and then—”
“We can think up things all we like, but the number one thing we need to do is get a look at that note.”
Elsa-May sighed. “Do you really want to be bothered with all this, Ettie? Why not let the police handle it? After all, how well did we know Ebenezer? We didn’t know him, did we?”
Ettie stared at her sister not knowing how to answer. Of course she wasn’t pleased about Ebenezer being killed, but if she could be some small use to Detective Kelly it did give her something to do. Without a family to cook and to care for, after her chores were done the only other thing to do was sit around the house all day watching her sister knit. Although Ettie liked needlework, she wasn’t consumed with her pastime the way Elsa-May was. “You know I can’t not do nothing.”
Elsa-May’s eyebrows drew together. “What you said makes no sense at all.”
“Doesn’t it?”
“Nee, well I suppose it might, but it’ll take me too long to figure out what you mean with all those double negatives. Did you mean you can’t do nothing—anything?”
“That’s right. I can't do nothing.” Ettie rubbed her chin. “I’m thinking about the note. Was it from the killer? And, if it was, why didn’t he take it with him after he killed Ebenezer?”
“I can’t answer that. Depends what it said.”
“I know. Instead of just waiting for Kelly to come here tomorrow, we should set off to Helga’s early, and then stop by the station after we see her.”
Elsa-May began a new row of knitting. “Whatever you think is best. I do have one question, though.”
Ettie looked up at Elsa-May. “What’s that?”
“Who’s Ebenezer Fuller?”
Chapter 2
After Elsa-May and Ettie had breakfast the next morning, Ettie stood at the door pulling on her coat. The night before Elsa-May had confessed she didn’t remember Ebenezer at all, but Ettie had refreshed her mind by telling the story about Ebenezer being mean to some children by refusing to allow them to take a shortcut through his land to get to their friends’ place. From that, Ebenezer got a reputation for being unpleasant at times.
“Are you ready?” Ettie asked, trying to be patient while waiting by the door.
“In a minute, I’ll finish the row.”
“You know, one thing I can’t figure out is even though Ebenezer never married, he’d grown a long gray beard. I’ve never thought too much about the beard situation, but now I know for certain he wasn’t a widower it’s definitely odd.”
“Hmm,” was all that Elsa-May said appearing totally uninterested.
It was usual for the unmarried men in the community to remain clean-shaven and only the married men had beards.
“You’ve started another row!”
Elsa-May looked up at Ettie. “I’ll do some more knitting while you clean the kitchen. You know I can’t go anywhere without it being spotless.”
“I’ve already cleaned it. Let’s go.”
Elsa-May rolled her eyes with the clickety-clack of her knitting needles not missing a beat. “There’s clean and then there’s clean.”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s the way I clean and the way you do it.”
Elsa-May was always running after Ettie, cleaning where she’d already cleaned. It was an annoyance, and one of her sister's traits Ettie had done her best to overlook. It was easier to go along with Elsa-May’s quirks especially when she was anxious to get out of the house. “And will the ‘way you do it’ take long? We’re supposed to be getting an early start.”
“It’ll be quick if the kitchen is as clean as you say.”
“I’ll watch what you do and I’ll challenge you to find one crumb anywhere in the entire kitchen.”
Elsa-May grinned, put the knitting back in her bag, and then pushed herself to her feet. When they walked through the door of the kitchen, Elsa-May immediately put her hands on her hips.
“What’s the matter?”
“You’ve left your cup on the sink.” She flung her arm out into the air and pointed at Ettie’s rosebud covered teacup.
“I’ll use it later. I’ve rinsed it. There’s no point putting it away if I’m going to use it again.”
Elsa-May didn’t say anything. Instead, she marched forward and grabbed the cup. When she held it in her hand and opened her mouth to speak, the cup slipped from her fingers. She went to grab it in mid-air and was unsuccessful and it crashed to the floor. It lay there in several pieces.
Ettie stood there in shock looking at the scattered pieces of her special cup, the delicate white china with the pretty pink rosebuds. It had been given to her by Elsa-May as a gift.
Elsa-May put both hands to her face. “Oh, Ettie, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
With a shrug of her shoulders, Ettie said, “It was only a cup. Don’t upset yourself over it.”
“I know it was special. I’ll find you another exactly the same.”
“There’s no need. I enjoyed it while I had it.”
“I’ll go back to where I bought it and get you another.”
“Nee. Don’t.”
“I will.” Elsa-May swooped down to collect the pieces and then cut her hand on a jagged chip. “Ouch! I cut myself.”
“Is it bleeding?”
“Jah.”
Ettie grabbed Elsa-May’s hand for a closer look. “It’s not too deep, that's good. Just wash it under the tap and then hold your handkerchief tight against it. You’ve got one on you, jah?”
Elsa-May nodded and pulled her white handkerchief out of her sleeve. “I always carry one.”
While Elsa-May washed her hand at the kitchen sink, Ettie collected the broken pieces. Tea always tasted better out of a fine china cup. Now she’d have to drink out of their thicker cups and that would never be the same.
Once the kitchen was clean, by Elsa-May’s standards, they made their way down the road to the shanty and called for a taxi.
“Remind me again why we’re going to Helga’s?” Elsa-May asked when they climbed into the taxi.
“She asked us to come over and talk about things. We can ask her questions. She was too shaken last night to think straight.”
“Okay.”
“Why didn’t you remember that?”
“I did.”
Elsa-May looked out one window of the car, and Ettie looked out the other.
When they were nearly at Helga’s, they passed by Ebenezer’s house. People in white suits were getting into two white vans.
“What’s going on there?” the taxi driver commented, craning his neck and slowing the car to a snail’s pace.
“Not sure.” Elsa-May wound down the window.
“That must’ve been where the man was murdered. It was on the news this morning.”
“What was said?” Ettie asked the driver.
“Just that a man, an elderly Amish man was found stabbed. Did you know him?”
Ettie and Elsa-May looked at one another. “Not very well,” Elsa-May answered.
They didn’t say another word until they got out of the taxi at Helga’s place.
* * *
When they knocked on Helga and Levi’s door, no one answered. They were just about to head around the back of the house when Ettie saw a note poking out from under the doormat. She stretched down and picked it up.
Elsa-May peeped over her shoulder. “What does it say?”
“Sorry if I’m out when you get here. I’ll be back later. I had to go
into town.” Ettie shook her head and looked at the taxi disappearing over the hill. “Botheration. We’ll have to call another taxi. Or, we could walk over to Ebenezer’s haus and see what we can learn?”
“It’s a distance, Ettie, and it’s cold.” Elsa-May pulled her coat tighter around herself.
“Jah, but would you walk it if it was closer?”
Elsa-May frowned. “I suppose I would, but it’s not. I would walk if it was half the distance.”
“Let’s just do it. We’ll take a shortcut through the fields.”
Elsa-May looked down at her feet. “Just as well I wore my old boots.” Then she looked up into the sky. “What if it snows and we freeze to death?”
“They’ll find us when we thaw out.” Ettie chuckled. “We’ll be okay. We’ve got warm coats. The walk will warm us up.”
“Or kill us.” Elsa-May grimaced
“It’s only half a mile away.”
Elsa-May pulled the collar of her coat up around her neck closing the gap between her coat and her black over-bonnet. “It was silly of Helga to tell us to come and not be home when we arrive. Inconsiderate!”
“She might’ve had somewhere important to be.”
“But still. It was careless, but I suppose we didn’t give her an exact time we’d be here. Perhaps the blame lays with us?”
Chapter 3
Ettie linked arms with Elsa-May as they trudged through the grass. It could’ve been a pleasant walk if it hadn’t been so cold. It didn’t help that Elsa-May kept grumbling about there not being a fire burning to warm them at Ebenezer’s house when they got there. And, the fact that the nearest phone they’d be able to use would be back in Helga’s barn.
“At least the police and evidence technicians have gone and, by the looks of it, they’re not coming back,” Ettie said, trying to cheer her sister up.
“Well, we wouldn’t have come here if they weren’t gone.”
Ettie looked up at the house. “Not too far now.”
“My legs are aching.”
“It’s all in your mind.”
“Nee, it’s all in my legs.” Elsa-May stopped and rubbed the back of her thighs. “Wait for a minute.”
“I’m waiting.” Ettie looked up and saw a car stop outside Ebenezer’s house. Then a man got out with something in his hand. When she looked closer, she saw it was a camera. “That’ll be someone from the newspaper. Let’s stay back until he leaves.” They moved behind a tree and peeped out, while the man walked around taking shots of the house. After snapping away for no longer than one minute, he got in his car and drove away. “He’s gone.”
“I can see that for myself.”
“Come along. One hundred more strides and we’ll be there.” Ettie did her best to ignore the chilly wind that was biting into her cheeks and was glad that Elsa-May started walking again.
Finally, they arrived at Ebenezer’s house, but they weren’t happy to see crime scene tape still around it. “This wasn’t here before.” Elsa-May ran a finger along the tape.
“Maybe it was and we just couldn’t see it when we drove past. That’s why that photographer didn’t stay long.”
“What do we do now?” Elsa-May asked.
“Maybe they’ve simply forgotten to take it down. They should’ve gotten all their evidence by now. Otherwise, they’d still be here gathering clues.”
“So, what are you saying?”
Ettie didn’t say anything, she merely raised the crime scene tape and slid under it. When she was on the other side, she lifted it for Elsa-May.
“Nee, we can’t. What if we destroy evidence?”
“They’ve already been here. You saw them leave. They’re not coming back.”
“You really think they’ve forgotten to take it down?”
Ettie nodded. “I’ll guarantee it.”
Elsa-May slid under the tape and they walked up the two rickety wooden steps.
Ettie advised, “Careful where you put your feet.”
Elsa-May looked down. “It looks like this porch will fall down at any minute. I’m sure the boards are all uneven too, and look! It’s tilting down there in the corner.”
“Let’s just get inside before we fall through.” Ettie put her hand on the rounded metal door handle, turned it all the way and the door opened. “It’s open!”
“Good for us.” Elsa-May gave Ettie a little shove, to push her through the doorway first, and then wasted no time getting through herself. “What are we looking for exactly?”
“I don’t know. Some kind of a clue. It is neat as a pin just like Helga said.” Ettie opened a cupboard door in the living room and saw a stack of yellowed newspapers. “He saved all the Amish papers. For years, it seems.”
“I’m looking in the kitchen,” Elsa-May called out from the other room.
“What do you see?”
“Nothing. It would help, though, if I knew what I was looking for.”
Ettie headed to one of the bedrooms feeling a little bad that she was in Ebenezer’s house when they’d never bothered to visit him, and worse, they’d forgotten about him altogether. “Do you hear that, Elsa-May?”
“What?”
“It sounded like a car.” Out the window, she saw a newish white car and a woman walking to the house. “Someone’s coming.”
Elsa-May hurried out of the kitchen. “What’ll we do? We’ll be in trouble if anyone finds us here.”
The sisters watched the woman making her way closer to the house. She had no qualms about slipping under the crime scene tape in between herself and the house.
“I’ll have to answer the door.” Ettie opened the door just as the woman had her hand on the handle. She looked up at Ettie in fright. “Hello,” said Ettie with a smile. The woman looked odd, and she had a large black bag slung over one shoulder.
“Oh! I didn’t expect anyone to be here. I heard about Ebenezer.” She looked past Ettie at Elsa-May. “Are you relatives of his?”
“No. We’re friends. Would you like to come in?”
“Thank you.” No one mentioned the fact that they had all gone through the crime scene tape. The sisters stepped aside to allow the woman through.
“How did you know Ebenezer?” Ettie asked, as she eyed the woman carefully. She was definitely odd looking. Maybe it was the pale skin made to seem even paler by her dark hair and the heavy-handed use of black eye makeup. The blood red lips didn’t help matters either.
“I was his nurse. I came every few weeks to check on him. I heard what happened and I just couldn’t believe it. It’s too horrible to be true.”
“It’s dreadful. Just dreadful.”
“How did you hear about him?”
“It was on the radio this morning. On the news. Do they know who did it?”
Elsa-May shook her head. “We don’t know.”
“We don’t know anything at all.” Ettie was just about to ask the nurse why she was there, when the nurse put a glove-clad hand to her forehead. “Would you mind if I have a glass of water?”
“Are you okay?” Elsa-May asked.
“I’ll be fine. It’s just the tragedy of it all with the way he went.”
“Follow me.”
In single file, the three of them moved to the kitchen. Ettie noticed the woman looking around as she went. While Ettie stood silently, wondering what to say, Elsa-May filled a cup with water.
When Elsa-May passed her the cup, Ettie asked, “Did Ebenezer have some kind of ongoing medical condition?”
When the nurse took the water in both hands, Ettie saw that both hands were trembling slightly. “Thank you. No, he didn’t. I only came for his regular checks. He was well.” She took a couple of slow sips. “How well did you both know him?”
Ettie tried to be as evasive as possible. “We were in his community and we’re all quite close.”
“And, for whom do you work?” Elsa-May asked.
“Just one of the local medical practices. Dr. Moore developed a program for the elderly. For th
ose in outlying areas and with no means of transport, or who live on their own with little outside help. Ebenezer ticked those three boxes.” The nurse eyed them carefully. “And how are the both of you getting along health-wise?”
“We drove here.”
“Elsa-May doesn’t hear too well sometimes. We’re in tip-top shape,” Ettie said.
“That’s good and let’s hope you both stay that way.”
“What did she ask?” Elsa-May said to Ettie.
“She asked how our health is, not how we got here.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry,” the nurse said.
“I am sorry. I’m sorry that we lost touch with Ebenezer a little over the last couple of years,” Elsa-May confessed.
“Don’t feel bad. It so often happens.”
Ettie eyed the nurse carefully. “Might I ask which way you’re headed?”
She blinked her thick mascara-coated lashes. “What do you mean?”
“When you leave here.”
She placed the cup down onto the kitchen table. “I’m going back to the clinic.”
Elsa-May asked, “Near town?”
“Yes. Behind the library.”
“Might we be able to catch a ride with you?” Ettie asked.
“Certainly. That’s not a problem. I’m happy to drive you. We can talk about Ebenezer on the way there.”
“We walked from our friend’s place. She doesn’t live too far.”
Ettie stared at Elsa-May wondering if she’d heard something different.
“We don’t even know your name,” Elsa-May said to the nurse.
The woman smiled. “I’m sorry. I’m Patricia Stuart.”
“This is Ettie Smith and I’m Elsa-May Lutz. We’re sisters.”
“Nice to meet you both.”
“And you as well.”
“Do you know when his funeral will be?” She looked from one sister to the other.
They hadn’t even thought about a funeral. Is that why the woman had come, to find someone who knew Ebenezer to offer her condolences? “No. We don’t. We’ve only just learned about his death ourselves.”
Ettie and Elsa-May walked into the living room and turned around thinking that Patricia would follow.
Amish Winter Murder Mystery Page 2