Ettie nodded. “Yes, we’d like to do that, wouldn’t we, Ruth?”
“I’d like to rid myself of the awful memory of finding Mr. Avery dead in my office, then I could go back to how things used to be.”
“You said you didn’t know Alan Avery’s daughter, Melissa, well?” the detective asked.
Ruth answered, “Not very well at all. We did have quite a chat, though, after the funeral.”
“Did she happen to mention she’s going to do quite well out of her father’s life insurance policy?” The detective looked smug.
Ettie and Ruth looked at each other. They knew Melissa was being harassed by loan sharks, but was it their place to tell the detective that all the money coming from the policy was going to go to pay off her father’s loans?
“I wasn’t going to mention anything,” Ruth said, “but Melissa told me that the men her father had borrowed money from are coming after her. They found out about the life insurance, and they want her to pay back the money her father borrowed.”
The detective raised his eyebrows and wrote something else down on his note pad, while muttering, “I guess I’ll have to talk with her again, as well.” The detective rose from his chair. “Thank you ladies for coming in. You’ve given me a few leads to follow up, and I appreciate that.”
When Ettie and Ruth had left the building, Ettie said, “I’d like nothing more than to forget about things. It’s hard to forget about it when I think of that poor man with the knife sticking out of his back.”
“Yes, Ettie, I also find it hard to forget. I ran into my realtor friend this morning. The one I was telling you about, Brandy Winnie. She said she’d be pleased to come and take a look at your house.”
“I suppose that would take my mind off things.”
“That’s what I hoped you’d say because I did make an appointment for you to meet her at your house tomorrow.”
Ettie frowned. “You didn’t, did you?”
“I did; at eleven in the morning. I know it’s hard for you to make appointments and things with you not having a phone. I’ve got one at the bakery, but I remember how hard it was to get in touch with people when I didn’t have a phone.”
“Denke, Ruth. Eleven you said?”
Ruth nodded.
Chapter 10.
“Jah, you have to come to the haus with me today, Elsa-May. I don’t want to be talked into anything that I’m not ready for. Ruth said the realtor’s pushy. I don’t know why Ruth made this appointment without asking me.”
“She would only have thought she was doing the right thing for you.” Elsa-May stroked the fluffy white puppy in her lap.
Ettie breathed out heavily. “I suppose so.”
“I don’t like to leave Snowy alone. Look, he’s going to sleep.”
“Is that his name, Snowy?”
Elsa-May nodded. “It came to me this morning.”
“You could bring him, but it might be distracting when we’re trying to talk to the realtor. He’ll be all right. He sleeps most of the day anyway.”
“Okay. We’ll be right back, Snowy,” Elsa-May whispered to her dog.
“He’ll have the run of the place, or he can go out the dog door into the backyard.”
Elsa-May stood up and then placed Snowy on his dog bed in the corner.
“Finally,” Ettie said when she saw Elsa-May put the dog on his bed.
Elsa-May chuckled. “You were the one who wanted me to get a dog.”
“I wanted you to walk. Have you taken him for a walk yet?”
“I might do that later today.”
“Gut. I might go with you. Now let’s go and wait outside. The taxi will be here any minute.”
The two sisters placed their black over-bonnets over their prayer kapps, and put their capes over their shoulders before they stepped outside. The wind was chilly, but it wasn’t long before the taxi arrived.
When they stepped out of the taxi at the end of their journey, Elsa-May looked up at the house. “Jeremiah’s certainly made it look better.”
“Jah, it’s taken a bit to get it into proper shape. Let’s get out of the cold and wait inside.” Ettie had noticed that Ava’s horse was not in the yard, so she knew that her young friend was out somewhere.
Minutes later, a shiny blue car pulled up in the driveway. A tall slim blonde-haired woman stepped out. She opened the back door to retrieve a briefcase and headed to the house.
When Ettie looked through the window and saw her approach, she opened the door.
“Mrs. Smith?”
Ettie nodded.
“Lovely to meet you.” The tall blonde woman put out her hand.
Ettie shook her hand. “It’s lovely to meet you, Ms. Winnie.”
“Please call me Brandy.” She looked over Ettie’s shoulder at Elsa-May.
“And this is my sister, Elsa-May.”
“Nice to meet you too.” She shook Elsa-May’s hand and then flicked her long hair over her shoulder. “Ruth tells me you’re thinking of selling?”
“I will be selling later on. I’ve got a young friend living in the grossdaddi haus until she gets married, and then I’ll sell.”
“Perfect. Would you like to show me through?”
“Before I do that, I must tell you that a man was murdered and hidden under the floor for forty years.”
Brandy’s mouth turned down at the corners. “I heard about that. So that was this house?”
Ettie nodded.
“That will affect the price. By law, I do have to let people know if anyone’s been murdered at a property they’re viewing. The other thing is, it might take some time to find a buyer. The price will have to be drastically reduced, too. Ruth’s just had someone murdered in her bakery, Alan Avery.”
Ettie nodded. “Did you know him?”
“I know everyone. I know all the gossip – who’s having affairs with who, that type of thing. I knew both Alan and his daughter, Melissa. Of course, what happened to him was no surprise.” She shook her head.
“What do you mean?” Ettie asked.
“He’d borrowed money from Big Freddy. Big Freddy isn’t just any loan shark; if you don’t pay him back, you’ll end up at the bottom of the harbor with no questions asked.”
“Did you sell Alan Avery the building he recently bought? I believe he was going to turn it into a bakery,” Ettie said.
“Yes, I did. And I happen to know he used the money from his wife’s insurance settlement to pay for it. And the money for the remodeling was Big Freddy’s money.”
“How did his wife die?” Elsa-May asked.
“You didn’t hear about it?” She looked at both of the sisters in turn, and when they shook their heads, she continued, “She died many years ago. She’d disappeared for around five months, and then she was found murdered.”
Ettie and Elsa-May looked at each other.
“Murdered?” Ettie asked.
“Yes, and they never found out who did it.”
“I had no idea. Ruth didn’t mention that.”
Brandy pushed her hair back from her face. “It said in the paper that Alan was found in Ruth’s bakery holding a Bible. I didn’t like to ask Ruth, but does anyone know why he was holding a Bible? It seems as though it must’ve held some significance to him.”
“I’m not sure,” Ettie said.
“Oh, that’s disappointing. Now, back to your house. Show me around.”
Ettie showed her through the house with Elsa-May following along behind.
When they came to the end of their tour, Ettie said, “As you can see I’ve had some work done. There’s just a little work still needed on the porch, and then all the work will be finished.”
“It’s good that you’ve had the house freshly painted inside. That always helps. I suggest having an open house and seeing what kind of offers we get. I’ve got a few people looking for low-priced homes; I’ll call a few of them and get them through.”
Ettie wasn’t sure she liked the idea of Agatha’s hou
se having to go for a low price. “I’m not ready yet,” Ettie said.
“Ettie, it’s not going to sell quickly even at a reduced price. No one wants to live in a house where someone was murdered.” She reached out a hand to rub Ettie on her shoulder. “Oh, don’t look so sad. I’ll get you the very best price possible.” Brandy went back to her briefcase she’d left by the door. After she pulled out some paperwork, she said, “Just sign this. I’ll cover the cost of the advertising.”
“What am I signing?” Ettie asked.
“An exclusive property listing for six months.”
“I’ve still got the lady in the grossdaddi haus.”
“Very good,” Brandy said. “I should have a look at that accommodation too, then.”
Ettie shook her head. “I don’t think Ava would like that. She’s not home at the moment. It’s much the same condition as this place. It’s got one bedroom, a living room half the size of this one, the kitchen’s half the size as well, and there’s a tiny bathroom with shower and toilet.”
“My grandson has to finish off the repairs at the front of the house too,” Elsa-May said.
Ettie nodded. “Yes, he’s got to finish replacing some of the boards on the porch.”
The realtor folded her arms. “It’s not going to be an easy sale. Best we start sooner rather than later. We could have a delayed possession date for the buyers, which will give your friend plenty of time to move out. We can date it at a time to suit her.”
“I didn’t know you could do that,” Ettie said.
Brandy nodded. “Of course you can.”
“Brandy, since you know everything. I’m wondering if you know a man called Hugh Dwyer or a man called Rupert Bird?” Elsa-May asked.
“I’ve never heard of a man by the name of Rupert Bird, but I do know Hugh Dwyer. No one in my office will deal with him anymore. He’s unscrupulous. A few years ago, he was always trying to put shady deals together. He was trying to be tricky, buying property with no loan and no money down, and flipping them before he had to pay for them. Technically what he was doing wasn’t illegal, but we realtors have to be careful with deals like that because if anything blows up, we’ll get the blame and be the ones to suffer the consequences.”
“That’s interesting,” Elsa-May said.
Brandy went on, “I also heard he was caught shoplifting more than once.”
Ettie recalled the detective mentioning Hugh had a record of petty theft. Ettie’s gaze fell to the listing agreement in her hands. “Will you give me a day to read through this?”
“Yes. How about I meet you back here at the same time next week?”
“Okay.”
“Perfect. Here’s my card with all my numbers.”
Elsa-May looked over Ettie’s shoulder at the card. “Winnie. That’s an unusual surname.”
Brandy giggled. “I don’t tell too many people, but that’s not my real name. My name was Winchester, but it was too long for the business card. I changed it to Winnie.”
“I thought I could use it for slogans as well. ‘Win a better price for your house when you sell with Winnie.’ ‘Win with Winnie.’ Winning agent, Brandy Winnie.’”
“They are catchy,” Elsa-May said.
“And it does fit nicely on the card too,” Ettie said with a smile.
“So is Brandy your real name?” Elsa-May asked.
Brandy shook her hand. “No it’s not.”
“Do you mind me asking what your name was, used to be?” Elsa-May asked.
“It started with a B. It’s a dreadful name. It’s Boadicea.”
“Ah, I see why you changed it,” Elsa-May said.
“I think Boadicea is a lovely name. I know many people who don’t like their names,” Ettie said.
When Brandy left the house, Elsa-May said, “I never knew it was so easy to change one’s name. She’s right about Winchester being too long on the business card.”
Ettie and Elsa-May chuckled.
“Well, she was a whirlwind,” Ettie said.
“Ruth did say she was pushy,” Elsa-May reminded her.
“What do you think about what she said about Big Freddy?”
“Seems as though Alan Avery got himself into a lot of trouble.”
“I think we should tell Kelly. That’s something he should know about.”
“He knows already. Didn’t you tell me Kelly knows that he was having money problems?”
“Didn’t you hear what Brandy said, Elsa-May? It was Big Freddy, not just any private lender, or loan shark. Sounds like this man kills people who don’t pay up.”
“We should go straight to Detective Kelly, then, and tell him.”
Ettie nodded.
“Will he listen to us?” Elsa-May asked.
“He might.”
Chapter 11.
“Come in, ladies. You know the way by now,” the detective said when he greeted Elsa-May and Ettie at the front of the police station.
They followed him into his office and sat down.
When Kelly had taken his seat opposite them, he asked, “Have you come to tell me something?”
Ettie was the first to speak. “We’ve come to tell you that we’ve heard that Alan Avery owed money to someone called Big Freddy.”
“Big Freddy? Are you certain?”
Elsa-May said, “That’s what we were told.”
“Who told you?”
“The realtor who came to look at Ettie’s house. Her name is Brandy Winnie, and she says she knows everything that goes on.”
“We’ve never been able to pin anything on Big Freddy. Interesting information, but it’s unlikely he killed Avery. Besides, how would Big Freddy get his money back if he killed him?”
Ettie said, “You mentioned Melissa Avery having a payout from her father’s death. Melissa said the loan thugs are coming after her. That’s what she told Ruth at the funeral.”
“Yes, I remember Ruth mentioning that, but I didn’t know that it had anything to do with Big Freddy. This does shed light on things.”
“Do you know about Avery’s wife disappearing and then being found dead?” Ettie asked.
“I’ve only just found that out. How did you find out?”
“The same realtor.”
“I wasn’t working in this area around that time. It’s a wonder your friend, Ruth, didn’t mention anything about it to you. She would’ve known; it was big news a few years back.”
Ettie and Elsa-May looked at each other. It was strange that Ruth had never mentioned anything of the kind to them.
Elsa-May pushed herself up from the chair. “I’ll have to get home to my dog.”
“Would you happen to have the realtor’s number?” the detective asked Ettie.
Ettie shook her head. “I didn’t bring her card with me; I left it in my house. Her name is Brandy Winnie; she’ll be listed in the phone book.”
“Yes, she’ll help you win some information,” Elsa-May said. “You might even win the case.”
The detective lifted an eyebrow.
Ettie stood up and poked Elsa-May in the ribs. “Stop it.”
Kelly frowned at them.
Ettie felt the need to explain Elsa-May’s odd behavior. “Elsa-May’s trying to put a ‘win’ into every sentence. She was doing it all the way here in the taxi. It gets quite annoying after a while.”
“I’m not going to win with you, am I, Ettie?” Elsa-May said.
Ettie grunted and looked at the detective. “I’ll get her out of here for you.”
The detective blinked and nodded. “Please.”
After Ettie managed to steer Elsa-May out of the office, she stepped back in, and said, “Is Melissa in any danger from Big Freddy?”
“She could well be. I’m on my way to talk to her now.” He grabbed his coat that was draped over his chair.
As the detective rushed past the two sisters, Ettie said to Elsa-May, “We forgot to mention what Brandy said about Hugh Dwyer being unscrupulous.”
“You
won’t win by forgetting things, Ettie.”
“Stop it!” Ettie stamped her foot, which caused Elsa-May to snigger.
“Don’t worry. It sounds like he’s going to talk to Brandy himself.”
“I hope so. I’ll have the policeman at the front desk call us a taxi.”
* * *
When they arrived home, Snowy ran up to them. “I’ll take him outside, Ettie, you check to see if he’s left any surprises.”
They’d shut the bedroom doors before they’d left that morning, so Ettie looked over the kitchen and the living room floors. “All’s clear in here,” she yelled to Elsa-May.
While Elsa-May was outside with the dog, Ettie put the pot on to boil. She then sat at the kitchen table wondering why Ruth hadn’t mentioned the fact that Alan Avery’s wife had been murdered. Surely that would have been something to mention?
“Ettie, we need to make pies.”
Ettie looked up at her sister who was holding Snowy in the doorway of the kitchen. “That’s right. I completely forgot about the pie drive. I’ll make us cups of tea while we figure out what kind of pies to make.”
The charity pie drive was on the day after tomorrow. In the past, the sisters normally made ten pies between them to take to the drive. That was the most they could manage in their small kitchen.
Elsa-May put Snowy on the floor and sat down at the kitchen table. “We’ve got lots of apples. We’ve enough to make three apple pies.”
“We’ve got pumpkin from Bernie next door. What else do we have? I really don’t want to go out again. I’ve been out nearly every day for the past week.”
“We got plenty of jam. We could make some jam cakes.”
“Not exactly pies, but people do like jam cakes.”
Chapter 12.
On the morning of the pie drive, Ava arrived in her buggy to pick up Ettie and Elsa-May, and the goods they were taking to sell.
“Denke for collecting us, Ava,” Ettie said, as Ava helped them into the buggy with their baked goods.
“Any time, you know that.”
Once they were all in the buggy, Ava drove the horse forward.
Murder in the Amish Bakery (Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Book 3) Page 7