“We wanted it Wednesday, but we don’t know when they’ll be finished with his body. I'm guessing it'll have to be Friday now.”
“Do you know anyone who was upset with Ebenezer?”
Bishop John rubbed his neck. “He ruffled a few feathers trying to fit in with everyone when he first got here, but then he settled in.” He looked around the crowd of people in his house. “I can’t think of a person who was upset with him. He was gruff and people dropped off visiting him. Mary and I visited him as often as we could, but we couldn’t be there often enough.”
“Was it only Helga and Levi you asked to watch him?”
The bishop frowned. “I didn’t ask anyone to do any such thing.”
Ettie took a small step closer to him. “You didn’t ask them to keep an eye on him since they lived close?”
He shook his head. “I wouldn’t have, because Levi and Ebenezer didn’t get along too well. Mary and I visited Ebenezer every fortnight. He wasn’t talkative for someone who lived alone. He was a loner, for certain.” The bishop shook his head.
“Yes. And why was the nurse visiting him if he wasn’t ill?”
“I asked her that and she talked about a local program that’s been set up and Ebenezer was happy to be part of it.”
“She said the same to us. Has anybody contacted you—any of Ebenezer’s close relatives or friends?”
The bishop shook his head. “There seems to be no one. No one's come forward to say that they were related to him.”
* * *
Someone walked up and stood behind the bishop, clearly waiting to talk with him. The bishop looked over his shoulder at the man, and then looked back at Ettie and her sister. “I’ll talk to you both later.”
“Okay.”
When the bishop turned away from them, Ettie spotted Ivy. “There’s Ivy.”
“Ach. She might ask us those dreadful things again.”
“Quick! Before she sees us, let’s go help in the kitchen.”
They hurried back toward the kitchen to help with the food preparations.
Once they were safely away from Ivy’s line of sight, Elsa-May asked, “What do you think now, Ettie?”
“I don’t know what to think. Did Helga lie to us or was she only confused?”
“She wouldn’t have lied. Surely not. Do you think you’re wrong about the nurse?”
“I think we can safely say she was a nurse. That’s all we know for certain about her. I would like to know more about her.”
Just before they reached the kitchen, Ava stopped them. “What are you two cooking up?”
“We’re talking about the nurse,” Elsa-May whispered
“I’ll see what I can find out about her. What was her name again?”
“Patricia Stuart. We don't know which spelling for the last name, though,” said Ettie, "whether it's a 'u' or 'e-w' in the middle."
"That won't matter much. It's quick to look for her under both spellings."
“I doubt you’ll find out anything,” said Elsa-May.
“But I can try. I’ll go to the library tomorrow and use the computer.”
Elsa-May put her hand on Ava’s. “Don’t go to all that trouble. Jeremiah won’t like it.”
“He won’t mind.”
“I think he will.”
“He doesn’t mind fact-finding. He just doesn’t like it when he thinks we’re gossiping. Trust me, it’s okay that I do research.”
“The police might come up with something soon. Maybe a fingerprint or something,” Ettie muttered, hoping they would.
“Did Kelly say he was coming to the funeral?”
“He said he’d be at the cemetery.”
When more people came into the kitchen, they had to stop talking. While they helped out with the food, Ettie was lost in thoughts about the two different stories the bishop had told about Ebenezer. Helga never mentioned Ebenezer and her husband not getting along, but that might’ve been because no one got along terribly well with Ebenezer. And Helga had clearly said Bishop John asked her and her husband to look after Ebenezer, but the bishop denied ever doing any such thing.
Chapter 9
On Monday, Elsa-May woke up with a head cold, so Ettie had to abandon her plans of investigating and she stayed home and looked after her sister.
It was afternoon when Ava arrived at their house with news.
“The body has been released,” was the first thing she said when Ettie opened the door.
“Come inside. Elsa-May’s not feeling very well.”
“Oh, what’s wrong?” Ava rushed over to Elsa-May who was lying on the couch.
“She’s got a head cold. It’s nothing serious.”
“It feels it,” Elsa-May groaned. “Ettie’s been looking after me quite well.”
Ettie shrugged her shoulders. “There’s been nothing else to do.”
Ava sat down on a chair opposite the couch, while Ettie sat in Elsa-May’s usual chair.
“The funeral’s on Wednesday,” Ava told them.
“Wednesday? They’re not wasting any time. Bishop John thought they'd have to wait until Friday.”
“He doesn’t have any one coming from far away, so Wednesday’s the day. I also found out that the nurse, Patricia—and S-t-u-a-r-t is the correct spelling—got left a sum of money by one of her elderly patients. She said she was giving it to charity.”
Elsa-May half sat up. “You talked with her?”
“Nee.”
“How did you find that out?” Elsa-May asked as she lowered herself back onto her pillows.
“There was an article in one of the newspaper about it. I went to the library like I said, and I found out all this from the Internet. There was some kind of expose on nurses who inherited money from sick and elderly patients, and she was named.”
“I don’t think Ebenezer had any money, did he?” Ettie asked.
“I’m not sure. I saw the bishop in town when I was coming out of the library. He’s having everyone spread the word about the funeral, and he asked me if I could let you know. I have to go, but we’ll collect you for the funeral, jah?”
“Please, Ava.”
“That would be lovely, denke.”
“I hope you’ll be feeling much better by then, Elsa-May.”
“She’ll be fine.”
Elsa-May’s mouth turned down at the corners. “I hope so.”
When Ava left, Ettie sat opposite Elsa-May. “I’m going to ask for the nurse’s phone number if she’s at the funeral. I won’t talk to her about anything there, but I want some answers.”
“Just ask her at the funeral. You don’t have to make a big thing out of it.”
“Nee.”
“Please yourself. You usually do. May I have another bowl of soup?”
“Sure. I just hope you’re better by Wednesday.”
* * *
On Tuesday Elsa-May was a little better and when Wednesday came, she was well enough to attend the funeral. The sisters were collected by Ava and Jeremiah and driven to the bishop’s house for the viewing prior to the burial.
* * *
Once inside the bishop’s house, Ettie stood next to Elsa-May at the back of the room observing everyone. “There aren’t many people here from outside this community.”
“That's unusual. If it was anyone else's funeral we’d have people from far and wide.”
“He had no friends outside of this community.”
“And I'd say acquaintances rather than friends,” Elsa-May corrected Ettie.
“Jah. That's so sad.” Ettie shook her head. “If only we had known, we might've been able to extend a hand of friendship.”
“Well it's too late for that now.”
Ettie's gaze drifted to the coffin and she wondered who was looking after Ebenezer's house now that he’d died. Had he left the bishop in charge of his will and those matters?
That was something Ettie had to find out. If he had a will, someone could’ve benefited by his death. She’d slipped up
this time. That was normally the first thing she found out. The detective would know, but he’d told her nothing.
“Elsa-May, did Ebenezer have a lot of money?”
“How would I know?”
“Who would know?”
“Maybe the bishop.”
Ettie nodded. “We have to find out from him before we go home today.”
“Probably the best time for that would be at the graveyard when everybody's leaving. What do you think?”
“That sounds like a good idea.”
It wasn't long before everyone was in their buggies and in single file following the custom-made funeral buggy to the graveyard.
Ava stayed in the buggy with Aaron, who had fallen asleep. Ettie and Elsa-May, with Jeremiah holding an arm each, made their way to the freshly dug grave.
Jeremiah looked up at the gray sky. “Why does it always rain at funerals?”
“I hope Gott holds back the rain until we’re ready to leave.”
Ettie said, “It seems Ebenezer is showing his disapproval over how he died.”
“Oh, Ettie, you do talk a lot of rot.” Elsa-May shook her head. “He wouldn't be able to control the weather from where he is.”
Ettie chuckled. “Sometimes I just like to think about things like that.”
“I have no idea how your mind clicks, Ettie.”
Jeremiah butted in to their conversation, “Do you two have to argue all the time?”
“We don't. Not all the time,” Elsa-May said to her grandson.
“I also don’t like Ava getting involved with these things.”
“We try to keep her out of things, but she’s strong minded.”
Jeremiah chuckled. “I know what you mean. She certainly is that.”
“Don't worry, Jeremiah, I'm keeping a very close eye on her,” Elsa-May said.
“Somehow, that doesn't make me feel much better. With the two of you around, there always seems to be weird goings-on.”
Ettie and Elsa-May chuckled, and then Elsa-May patted Jeremiah on his shoulder. “We have no idea what you're talking about.”
Jeremiah sighed. “I guess I'm better off not knowing.”
“That's right. You’re better kept in the dark.”
Chapter 10
As they stood at the grave waiting for the crowd to move from the buggies to gather around, Ettie noticed Englischers.
Elsa-May saw them too, nodding in their direction.
“Ettie, look over there.”
“I see them. I’ll say hello and find out who they are.” She walked right over to an older man standing with an arm around a woman about his age, and a young man standing with them. “Hello, may I ask how you knew Ebenezer?”
“My wife and I live next door to him. We’ve got the cottonseed farm.”
Ettie realized they owned the fields she and her sister had walked through to get to Ebenezer’s house. She turned her attention to the boy. “And do you live next door as well?” He could’ve been the right age to be their son.
“No, I'm not related. I just met these people today. We kind of gravitated together because we’re the only people here who aren't Amish.” He glanced over at the crowd.
“I see.” Ettie noticed the man was holding on to his wife almost as though he were holding her up. Her eyes were red-rimmed and then Ettie saw her hands were hidden under a shawl. “And how did you know Ebenezer?” she asked the young man.
“I delivered his food once a week. He liked his fruit. And he was very particular about his fruit. It couldn’t be under-ripe or over-ripe.”
“You knew him well?”
“We did get along together after a while. I found him gruff to start with but then we became almost like friends.”
Ettie introduced herself and they did the same. The neighbors were Jack and Blythe Simpson, and the young man's name was Pete Ross. When she said goodbye to them and was heading back to Elsa-May and Jeremiah, she spied the nurse walking toward the crowd and changed direction to meet her.
Before Ettie could say a thing, Patricia blurted out, “My car wouldn’t start. I thought I’d be late and miss it all.”
“You’re just in time,” Ettie told her. “Would you mind if I arrange a time to speak with you about Ebenezer?”
She scrunched her brows and stared at Ettie. “About what?”
“I have some questions but today’s not the right time. Could we perhaps meet in a café near your work?”
“Okay, but I can’t tomorrow.”
“Friday, then?”
She hesitated and smiled awkwardly. “Wait, I can do it tomorrow. It’s my day off, but I’ll be out that way. I can meet you somewhere in town. What about twelve o’clock?”
“That sounds perfect. Where shall we meet?”
“There is a café two doors down from the clinic. It’s got a green and white awning.”
“I know the one. I’ve seen it before. I’ll see you there.” Ettie hurried back to Elsa-May while the nurse stayed close to the other Englischers.
* * *
“What did you find out?” Elsa-May whispered.
“They’re the neighbors, the older two, and the boy who delivered the fruit.”
“Delivered the fruit?”
“He got his food delivered every week and that was the boy who did it. Sounds like they became friends.”
“Friends? What would an old man have in common with such a young man?”
“Maybe he was some kind of mentor for the young boy.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
Ettie scrunched her shoulders. “That's what he said, that they were friends, I mean.”
The bishop called out and asked everyone to gather closer, and then he began. He opened his bible and read a passage of scripture in High German. It was from John 14.
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Then the bishop closed his bible and said a few words about this life being temporary, and how it was a blink of an eye compared with eternity. A lengthy prayer followed.
Ettie stole a sideways glance at Elsa-May knowing her sister was thinking about whether the next funeral would be her own. Normally, Elsa-May joked about that being the case, but at this funeral she’d said nothing of the kind.
On top of that, Christmas was close and Elsa-May always pointed out that this might be their last Christmas together. This time Elsa-May hadn’t mentioned that either, but Ettie knew she would say it soon enough. Ettie closed her eyes and wondered what the last moments of Ebenezer’s life had been like. Did he know the person who killed him, or was it a complete stranger? Detective Kelly said he had been stabbed in the back, so had Ebenezer even seen the person who’d taken his life? Had the person come at him and chased him, or was he attacked as he waited for that mystery person at the boundary fences.
“Amen,” the bishop said just as a large droplet of rain landed on the end of Ettie’s nose causing her to jump in fright.
“What is it?” Elsa-May whispered.
Ettie looked up to the sky wiping her nose with her coat sleeve. “I think I just felt rain.”
At that very moment, rain poured from the sky causing everyone to scatter.
“Gott held the rain back, Ettie. Or do you think it was Ebenezer?” Elsa-May cackled, just as Jeremiah took off his coat and held it over their heads.
“Come on,” he urged them. Together they hurried back to the buggy. By the time they got there, Jeremiah's white shirt was drenched and sticking to his skin. While they got into the buggy, Ava handed Jeremiah a blanket.
“Are you two okay?” she asked Ettie and Elsa-May.
“We’re fine thanks to Jeremiah,” Ettie said.
Jeremiah stated, “We'll take you
straight home.”
“Nee, we should go back to the bishop's haus with everyone else.”
“I won’t hear of it not with you being sick, Mammi. I’ll take you home and start a fire for you. You both have to start looking after yourselves at your age.”
“I’m fine! I’m not sick.”
“Really? You look a little pale and you’ve got dark circles under your eyes.”
Elsa-May opened her eyes wide and put a hand to her face.
Ava said, “We should go right home after that, too, Jeremiah. You’re soaked to the skin and Aaron has been fussy all day.”
“I won’t argue with that.”
* * *
When the sisters were finally alone in front of a warm fire, Ettie looked down at her feet in her fluffy slippers. Then she looked over at Elsa-May’s feet in the slippers she’d knitted herself. Nearly everything of Elsa-May’s was knitted.
“Do I still look sick to you?” Elsa-May asked.
“Nee. You look the same as always.”
After a few more rows, Elsa-May said, “I just realized Kelly wasn’t at the funeral.”
“Jah, that is odd.”
“Something must’ve come up."
"I wonder what. You stay in front of the fire and I’ll heat some soup for us.”
“Denke, Ettie.”
“Tonight, we should go to bed early because we’re meeting with the nurse tomorrow.”
“We are?”
“Didn’t I tell you?”
“Nee, you didn’t.”
“She agreed to meet with us. I said I had some questions I wanted to ask, so we’re meeting her at lunchtime at a café.”
Elsa-May sighed. “An early night sounds good to me.”
Chapter 11
After an early dinner of soup and toast, Elsa-May and Ettie were back enjoying the warmth of the fire when they heard a knock on their door.
“Who could that be?” Elsa-May said.
“That’ll be someone.”
“Well, open the door and see which someone.”
Ettie chuckled to herself as she headed to the door. When she opened it, she saw the handsome face of Gabriel Yoder. “Gabriel!”
Amish Winter Murder Mystery Page 5