Murder in the Amish Bakery (Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Book 3)

by Samantha Price

Ruth repeated all the names she’d previously given the detective, while Ettie stared at the faint ink smudges on her fingers.

  When the detective finished writing he looked up. “I’m sorry about the ink stains, Mrs. Smith, they should fade soon.”

  “Has your team at my bakery found out anything yet, Detective?” Ruth asked.

  “They’re collecting evidence, and then it has to be processed. It’s not a quick process, I’m afraid. Hopefully you’ll have your key back later today.”

  “I hope so. I don’t like letting my customers down.”

  “I’ll personally bring your key back to you.”

  “Thank you.”

  The detective rose to his feet. “Thank you, ladies, for coming in and giving us your prints. And I’ll look into the information you’ve given me.”

  “You will?” Ettie asked.

  He nodded. “I will.”

  “When can I get my Bible back?” Ruth asked.

  “All in due time,” the detective said.

  Ettie and Ruth left the police station and headed back to Ruth’s house.

  Before they had gone far, Ettie stopped walking. “Why don’t you come back to my haus, Ruth? It’s not nice to be on your own after all that’s happened. We can go back to the station and let Kelly know you’ll be at my place. He knows where I live.”

  “I’d like that, Ettie. And you’re right, I don’t feel like being on my own.”

  * * *

  When Ruth and Ettie walked into the house, Elsa-May stared at them open-mouthed. She placed her knitting down and pushed herself to her feet. “Ruth, I wasn’t expecting you. Come in and sit.”

  When the three of them sat down, Elsa-May looked at Ettie. “What’s happened?”

  Ruth and Ettie told Elsa-May the whole thing about the murdered man, and the people who had wanted to buy Ruth’s bread recipe.

  “What do you think, Elsa-May?” Ettie asked.

  “I agree with you, Ettie. If they were after the money, they would have kept a watch on when the banking was done. It doesn’t make sense for them to go to all the trouble to break in and then have no money to steal. They must have been after the recipe.”

  “I hope the police find out how they got in. I have the only two keys,” Ruth said.

  Ettie continued, “I’m certain Detective Kelly thinks they were after money. He thought they were after Ruth’s recipe until he asked about the amount of cash that gets banked once a week.”

  “Well, didn’t you tell him how much Ruth’s recipe must be worth, Ettie?”

  Ettie looked at Ruth. “We tried to, didn’t we, Ruth?”

  Ruth nodded. “I told him how many people wanted to buy it.”

  “I can’t recall if Ruth told him how much she’d been offered. In fact, I’m certain that no figure was mentioned.”

  “Then you should go back and tell him that it’d be worth a lot of money,” Elsa-May said with a sharp nod of her head.

  “He’ll be here later. He’s dropping the key off to Ruth.”

  Ruth added, “Jah, the police are still looking through the bakery for evidence.”

  Ettie nibbled on the end of her fingernail. “So much was happening so fast. We should’ve thought to tell him that, Ruth.”

  “You can tell him soon,” Elsa-May said.

  “Now that I’m here, Ettie, do you want to make some bread and I’ll watch what you do so I can try to spot where you’re going wrong?”

  “Denke, Ruth, but I’m too shaken up after everything that’s happened.”

  “You both sit there, I’ll make everyone a nice cup of tea,” Elsa-May said.

  Ruth stayed the rest of the day at Ettie and Elsa-May’s house and when Detective Kelly arrived, Ettie ushered him into the living room.

  “What have you found out so far?” Elsa-May asked before the detective had a chance to sit down.

  The detective looked at Elsa-May and then lowered himself carefully into the rickety wooden chair. “We’ve found out that the deceased had gotten himself into a large amount of debt.” He looked at Ruth. “It does sound like he was after the cash and not your recipe, Mrs. Fuller. Excuse me, I meant to say Ruth.”

  “That doesn’t make sense,” Ettie said. “He was offering Ruth a lot of money for her bread recipe. We forgot to tell you this morning just how much money he was willing to pay her.”

  “And he’d just bought a large building not far from me; he was going to turn the building into an Amish bakery,” Ruth said. “That conversion would’ve cost a lot of money to do.”

  The detective rubbed his chin. “And that’s the problem. You see he was spending far more money than he was making. That’s why people in this country today are having a lot of problems; too many people are spending at a rate faster than what they’re earning.”

  “If he was in a lot of debt, surely Ruth’s weekly takings wouldn’t go far to solving his problems,” Elsa-May said.

  The detective answered, “When people are desperate, some money is better than no money at all. Ruth’s weekly takings were quite a tidy sum.”

  Ettie cleared her throat. “If what you’re saying is correct, Detective, who do you think the second person was in the bakery with him? Do you think they went in together, or had they both broken in and they surprised each other?”

  “Hopefully the evidence we’ve collected will help us come up with the answer to that, Mrs. Smith.” He reached into his pocket. “Here’s your key, Ruth. The insurance company had the cleaners in already.”

  “That was fast.” She reached over and took hold of her key. “Thank you. Now I can open for business tomorrow. How did they get into the building? Have you found out that yet?”

  He shook his head. “Not as yet, but we’ll know more, hopefully, over the next few days.”

  “Are you going to look into those names Ruth gave you?” Ettie asked.

  “At this time, we’re going over the leads that Alan’s daughter, Melissa, gave us.”

  “Which are?” Elsa-May leaned forward.

  “I can’t disclose that, I’m sorry. They are to do with certain debts Mr. Avery had, and that’s all I can say. If nothing comes from our assumptions that he was after the cash, of course, we’ll look into the option that he, and the person with him, might have been after your recipe, Ruth.”

  “But if Ruth is right about that, don’t you need to act fast, so whoever killed him doesn’t have time to cover his tracks and perhaps concoct some sort of alibi?” Elsa-May asked sternly.

  “I don’t have enough men to send all over the countryside. Where one of the men who wanted Ruth’s recipe lives is out of my jurisdiction. All kinds of red tape are involved, not to mention the extra paperwork. Not that I’d mind doing all of that if I believed one of these men might be involved, but it’s too much of a long shot. There’s zero evidence at this stage to connect either of those men to Alan Avery.” He pulled a notepad out of his pocket and looked at it. “The fact that Hugh Dwyer and Rupert Bird wanted to buy Ruth’s recipe, just the same as the deceased, doesn’t mean that one of those men killed him.” The detective shook his head. “We need some solid evidence before we head down that track.”

  “Won’t you just talk to these men?” Ettie asked. “It couldn’t do any harm. Just talk to them and you might get a lead.”

  “We might, and we might not. It depends on what the forensic evidence and our other inquiries turn up. We do need to follow certain procedures. After we exhaust one line of inquiry we go down another. If we followed all the leads at once, we wouldn’t be working efficiently.”

  Ettie nodded. “I’m sorry, Detective, we haven’t offered you anything. Would you like some tea, or perhaps some coffee?”

  He stood. “No, but thank you. I’ll have to get going.”

  “Thank you for bringing the key over,” Ettie said.

  “Yes, thank you,” Ruth added.

  When the detective left, the ladies sat back down. Just as Ettie was about to speak, they heard hoofbeats.r />
  “Who could that be?” Ettie asked as she pushed herself up off the couch.

  Chapter 5.

  Ettie opened the door enough to see Ava’s buggy coming toward the house. “It’s Ava,” she said to the others who were still in the living room.

  Ettie leaned against the doorpost and waited for Ava. “It’s nice to see you again, Ava. Everything all right, is it?”

  “Jah, Ettie, everything’s fine.”

  “Well, come in. We’ve got Ruth Fuller visiting us too.”

  After Ava greeted everyone, she sat down with them.

  Elsa-May said, “Ettie and Ruth had a nasty shock this morning.”

  Ava whipped her head around to look at Ruth and Ettie, “Why? What happened?”

  Ettie leaned forward. “I was over with Ruth today at the bakery — very early, as I told you yesterday when you offered to drive me there — and we found a dead man in her office. He was dead on the floor with a knife in his back.”

  Ava gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. “That’s awful! Who was he?”

  Elsa-May answered Ava’s question. “He was a customer of Ruth’s.” Elsa-May went on to tell Ava everything that Ettie and Ruth had told her.

  “And the police think he was after the weekly take?” Ava asked Ruth.

  Ruth nodded. “Seems so.”

  “You don’t take that money to the bank all by yourself, do you?” Ava asked.

  “I have two young men go to the bank with the money. One carries the money and the other walks beside him. I feel safer with two going to the bank and it’s not that far from us.”

  “Wouldn’t it be better to bank more often than once a week? It is dangerous to have too much cash about,” Ava said.

  “You’re right. I suppose some habits are hard to break. I’ve always banked once a week, but I guess I might have to change the way I’ve always done things.”

  “Is there anything special that brings you by today, Ava, or did you just want to come visit a couple of old ladies?”

  Ava giggled. “I do have something to tell you. I was supposed to tell you yesterday, and I didn’t. Now I have to tell you today, but I don’t like to tell you after what you’ve just told me.”

  “Not more bad news, is it?” Ettie asked. “I don’t know if we can take another shock.”

  Ava shook her head and laughed. “Nee. It’s gut news. Well, I think it is.”

  “We could all do with some news like that. What is it?” Ettie said.

  “It’s about me and Jeremiah.”

  “Jah?” Elsa-May and Ettie said at the same time as they leaned forward.

  Ava giggled. “We’re getting married.”

  Ettie clapped her hands. “I knew it, I knew it.

  Elsa-May pushed herself to her feet and gave Ava a hug. “That’s wunderbaar. Now we’ll be related. You’ll be my grand-dochder-in-law.”

  “And my great-niece,” Ettie added.

  “I’m happy for you, Ava,” Ruth said.

  “Denke.” Ava’s face beamed.

  “It’s certainly good news. Where is Jeremiah? Why didn’t he come with you?” Elsa-May asked.

  “He’s got a job that he’s finishing off. Otherwise he would’ve come with me. I tried to tell you yesterday but the words wouldn’t come out. Now that we’ve told both sets of parents, it’s only a matter of time before everyone knows. Jeremiah didn’t want you finding out from other people.”

  “And when is the wedding?” Ruth asked

  “Not until the end of the year.”

  “I had an idea you had something to tell us yesterday,” Ettie said.

  Ava put her hand on her chest. “My heart was beating too fast to tell you. I thought I’d explode.”

  “And where will the two of you live after you get married?” Elsa-May asked.

  “In the house he’s been building on his parents’ land.”

  “He’s been building that for a while. He’d better get a hurry on,” Elsa-May said.

  “He has done a fair amount of work on it these past few months.” Ava turned to Ettie. “I hope you don’t mind me leaving the grossdaddi haus. Do you want me to find someone else to lease it from you?”

  “I think I might sell it, rather than lease it. I’ve got plenty of time to think about that anyway.”

  “You could get someone over to tell you how much you should expect to get for it if you do decide to sell,” Ruth said.

  “It’s far too early for that, Ruth.”

  “I have a very good customer who’s a realtor. She’s a very nice lady. Some would call her ‘pushy,’ but I guess that’s why she’s successful. Why don’t I see if she’ll come out to tell you how much the house is worth? It won’t cost you anything.”

  Ettie scratched her neck. “I’ve been waiting on Jeremiah to do a few things around the place.”

  “He’s almost finished, Ettie,” Ava said. “He’s only got those boards on the porch to replace now.”

  Ettie chuckled. “I suppose he’s been using my house as an excuse to go talk to you, has he?”

  Ava’s face lit up. “It was a good way for us to see more of each other.”

  Elsa-May clapped her hands together. “Now, about this wedding. Have you chosen your attendants?”

  Ettie said, “I think you’re too old to be an attendant, Elsa-May.”

  Everyone sniggered.

  “I wasn’t thinking of myself, Ettie,” Elsa-May said with a laugh.

  “Two of my cousins are going to be my attendants, I hope. I haven’t even asked them yet. They’re going to be my next stop, and then, later today, my mudder and I are going to choose the material for the dresses.”

  “Let me know if you want any help with anything.” Elsa-May stopped knitting and stretched out one of her hands. “I think I’m getting a bit of arthritis in one of my hands but it hasn’t stopped me knitting, so it won’t stop me sewing, if you need an extra pair of hands.”

  “Denke, Elsa-May. We’ve got a lot of time, and I think that’s something my mother would like to do by herself. I hope I haven’t intruded, but I really had to tell you today because we’re running out of time before everyone finds out. I didn’t want you to be the last to hear the news.”

  Ettie said, “That’s quite all right. We appreciate you coming over and telling us.”

  “We’re always happy to have news of weddings.”

  Ava rose to her feet. “Well I better be going; I have to meet my mudder at home so we can go to her schweschder’s haus.”

  After Ava left, Ettie noticed that Elsa-May couldn’t stop smiling.

  “I can’t help feeling we’re partly responsible for their union,” Ettie said.

  “I think so too, Ettie. It all started from the time we had them for dinner that very first time. They’re a gut match.”

  “Jah, they are. Both are in their late twenties and never seemed interested in anyone else. I thought Ava might never marry,” Ettie said.

  Ruth chuckled. “Just like me. It’s not so bad being on your own, but in the bad times I’ve always felt it would’ve been nice to have someone by my side. There haven’t been too many bad times, and I’ve got my friends. Like today; I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t been there to help me, Ettie.”

  Ettie leaned over and patted Ruth on her arm. “I’m glad I was there to help, and to be of comfort.”

  Elsa-May pushed herself to her feet. “I’ll go and make us something to eat.”

  When Elsa-May was out of the room, Ruth turned to Ettie.

  “What is it?” Ettie said when she saw the look on Ruth’s face.

  “There’s something I haven’t told you yet.”

  “Well, tell me now.”

  “When I wouldn’t sell to Rupert Bird, he said I’d be very sorry. What do you think he meant by that, Ettie?”

  Ettie grimaced. “Jah, I remember you did tell me something like that. We should’ve told the detective.”

  “He didn’t seem very interested in
finding out more about Rupert Bird. And he might be right, Rupert might not have anything to do with anything.”

  “He threatened you, Ruth. He can’t go around making threats to people.”

  “Well, he did. And I told you I wasn't scared by what he said, but I really was.”

  “Where’d you say he was?”

  “He’s an hour’s drive away at Harrisburg. It’s quicker in the car, but the bus would probably take an hour.”

  “Would you be willing to pay him a visit? I’d go with you and we could ask him questions.”

  “What about, Ettie?”

  “You could make an appointment with him; maybe say you’re considering selling after all. Then, when you're face-to-face, tell him about the terrible thing that’s just happened and that’s the reason you’re thinking about retiring. Tell him you’re reconsidering his offer. Then say the name of Alan Avery and watch his face.”

  “I’d be willing to go if you’re certain you don’t mind coming with me”

  “Jah, of course, I will. When you mention Alan’s name, we’ll see what he does. Maybe he knows him and if he does he might say something.”

  “What if he’s got nothing to do with it all?”

  “Well then we would’ve gone on a nice trip. Let’s do it tomorrow. It’ll do us both good to get away for a day.”

  “Get away where?” Elsa-May asked when she came back in with a tray of sandwiches.

  Ettie told Elsa-May what they were planning.

  Elsa-May sat down in her chair. “Be careful. If he did have some involvement, you’re likely to be putting yourselves in danger.”

  “We can’t sit around and do nothing, Elsa-May,” Ettie said.

  “I certainly don’t feel safe going into the bakery before the staff get there now.”

  “Nee, you shouldn’t do that.” Ettie explained to Elsa-May that Ruth used to go in early, an hour before her staff.

  “Do you have enough staff so you can go to Harrisburg with Ettie?”

  “I’ve got plenty of staff,” Ruth said. “I don’t need to be there. I’ll call my manager tonight and tell him I won’t be in tomorrow.”

  “You’ve been given the ‘all clear’ to open tomorrow, then?” Elsa-May asked.