Amish House of Secrets

by Samantha Price

  Wil looked down. “I’ve loaned it to people in the community who were in need.” He looked back up. “You know I can’t ask for it back, don’t you?”

  “Of course I know. Nee, you can’t ask for it.”

  “Will you live at my haus though, Emma? Or shall I live here? Or do we live separately once we’re married until we have another haus?”

  Emma was tired, and all his questions required thinking and she was far too weary. “I really don’t know. Can we talk about this later? I’m tired from the big trip I’ve just had and I’ve got to plan dinner for Dorothy. She’s coming back here tonight.”

  Emma said goodbye to Wil and watched at the door as he walked back towards his place.

  Remembering Growler’s blood all over the kitchen floor, she headed back to the kitchen. She grabbed a dishrag, wet it with water and began to wipe the floor.

  She had barely finished when she heard a knock at the door, she hoped it wasn’t Dorothy so soon because she hadn’t even had a chance to think about dinner. She opened the door to see Detective Crowley.

  He jumped back in shock. “Mrs. Kurtzler, who’s dead now?”

  Emma frowned until she realized she had a rag in her hand filled with blood. She laughed and put the rag behind her back. “Oh, Growler injured himself somehow.” She stepped aside. “Come in and have a seat. I’ll just get rid of this and wash my hands.”

  Moments later, Emma sat down in the small couch opposite the detective. “How can I help you?”

  “I believe you have one Dorothy Welby staying here?”

  Emma narrowed her eyes and nodded. “Yes, she was the one the letters belonged to, the one Maureen and I went to visit in Florida. Anything wrong?”

  The detective shook his head. “Why is it Emma that you always land into the middle of things?”

  Emma stared at him wondering what he was talking about.

  “Mrs. Fielding, who used to go by the name of Josephine Cutter, died in a local hospital. She was there for a simple operation to have her tonsils removed and she died.”

  “There’s a risk with all operations, isn’t there?” Emma raised her eyebrows at the detective’s silence. “Do you think she was murdered or something?”

  The detective ignored her question and continued, “An autopsy was performed, and it was revealed that she was given a lethal dose of insulin.”

  Emma’s hand flew to her mouth.

  The detective continued, “Were you aware that Dorothy Welby was once a nurse?”

  “I don’t think so, I can’t remember whether she mentioned that or not. Surely you can’t think that Dorothy had anything to do with it?”

  The detective leaned back in his chair. “Mr. Fielding was not happy and claimed hospital negligence. I looked into things and asked around. The woman who was sharing the same hospital room as Mrs. Fielding says she saw an elderly lady around Josephine’s bed shortly before she died. Nothing made sense, and there were no suspects until now.”

  Emma tilted her head to the side. “I’m not following you, Detective. What are you saying?”

  “I pulled up records of Dorothy Welby and found that she matches the description of the lady who was seen over Josephine’s bed.”

  “Detective, surely all old ladies look the same. There would be thousands upon thousands of women with that same description. An old lady with gray hair of medium build five feet two inches. How many women would fit that description?”

  “She has motive from what you ladies told me of Josephine Fielding’s deception. At the time of Mrs. Fielding’s death, Dorothy Welby did live close by.”

  Emma said, “You mentioned Mrs. Welby’s record, does she have a criminal history?”

  The detective shook his head. “No, I was speaking of her driver’s license record.”

  “Detective, Dorothy Welby is a sweet old lady and not capable of doing anything like that. When we told her that Harold was alive, she had no idea, she was truly shocked.”

  The detective rose to his feet. “Of course, that’s what impression she would need to have given you. She could not have turned up out of the blue and gone straight to Harold after she’d killed his wife.” He shook his head slowly. “No. If she did kill Josephine Fielding, she would have gone underground and set about planning a legitimate way that she could be reunited with Harold. Such as, innocently leave a box of letters in her house for some ‘do-gooder’ to read and set about to re-unite them.”

  Emma thought that maybe the detective had been at the job for far too long if he thought that everyone was a murderer. “Detective, did you just call me a ‘do-gooder’?”

  “I meant no offence. The old lady needed a cover, a genuine way that she could be reunited with the old man after the wife happened to die. The way I see it, Dorothy knew she’d been seen and figured there would be an autopsy. She had to lay low and have everyone think that Josephine had been mistakenly given insulin by one of the hospital staff. Is it a co-incidence that a few days after Josephine died that Dorothy moved to Florida?”

  Emma bit her lip, and wondered whether there might have been someone else who would have wanted Josephine dead. “Detective, are you joking with me? Or is this all true?”

  “Emma, I’m not a joking kind of person. I wouldn’t joke about something so serious. I went back to question the witness today, but unfortunately she had died.” Detective Crowley walked toward the door. “Just thought you might like to know who you’re entertaining in your house.”

  Emma stood in the doorway and watched the detective walk to his car. “Wait.” She ran over to him. “Are you going to open up the investigation? I mean are you going to investigate things?”

  “The witness is dead. Nothing would stick, and it’s not likely she’d confess. Not much point going further, is there?”

  Emma studied the detective’s hard face. Maybe he’d been in the job far too long and had grown to be too suspicious of people. “Detective, you really should stop seeing a murderer behind every tree.”

  Detective Crowley looked at Emma for a moment before he got in his car and drove away.

  Emma’s head started to spin. She had the worry of the sale of the house not going through, and her nest egg gone; the last thing she wanted on her mind was the idea that she might be entertaining a murderer.

  Chapter 10.

  Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,

  and put your trust in the Lord.

  Psalm 7:1

  Emma shelved the ridiculous thing the detective had told her of Dorothy Welby. There was no way that Dorothy would have done what Crowley suggested, besides Dorothy did not even know that Harold was still alive. The main worry on Emma’s mind was whether she and Wil were suited to one another.

  Silvie might be able to help her sort through her feelings. Emma left a note on her front door for Dorothy telling her to let herself in and that she would be back soon. Emma drove to Silvie’s house, which was nearby, and was pleased to find her at home. Once she told Silvie that she had something to speak to her about, Silvie and she sat on the couch.

  “Silvie, I don’t know what I’m going to do. Did you hear that our new haus has fallen through?”

  “Jah, but I don’t know the details. What happened?”

  Emma took a deep breath. “I’ve been trying not to think about it; that’s why I didn’t mention it to you when we had kaffe.”

  “I knew you had something on your mind; I could just tell.”

  Emma nodded and continued with her story. “Wil bought the haus without telling me; that was the first thing.”

  “Jah, I know that,” Silvie said.

  “When Maureen and I were away meeting the old lady, she said that the sale of her house did not proceed and that’s the first I learned of it. When I went back to the hotel, I phoned Wil, and he said that he was expecting some money to come through from one of his inventions. What do you think about that?”

  Silvie opened her mouth to speak, but Emma continued. “He invented this
plough thing and sent plans off to a company and then he expected them to send him a check for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Sometimes I wonder whether he’s lost his mind. He signed for the house with no money to back it up.”

  Silvie covered her mouth with her hands and said nothing.

  “It’s worse than that. Since I thought that he had paid for the haus, only because that’s what he told me, I said I’d pay for the renovations. I gave him twenty thousand dollars for the renovations, and he spent a lot of it, so now I’ve lost money.” Emma took a deep breath and stared at Silvie. “I saved hard for that money and now most of it’s gone.”

  “Wow, Emma I don’t know what to say. Sounds like you’ve been through quite a bit.”

  Emma wiped a tear away from her cheek. “I don’t know if I can see myself married to him now. Levi would never have done anything so flighty. I can’t be with someone who does silly things and takes risks like that. I’m only a simple woman and just want a simple life. I don’t need any grand things. I’m happy how I am.”

  “Have you told Wil this?”

  “Nee, I don’t know what to say to him. He knows I’m not happy about the whole thing, and we haven’t really spoken of it. I don’t want to upset him because I know he means well.”

  “You need to speak to him, Emma. You don’t have to marry him; you can change your mind; it’s not too late.”

  Emma stared at Silvie; those were the very words that Maureen’s mudder had used when she was trying to stop Maureen from marrying the man they were hiding from on the train. Was it a sign from Gott? “I know I should speak to him. I just don’t know where I would start or what I would say?”

  Silvie sucked in her cheeks.

  “I don’t like talking behind his back like this, but I just need advice. I don’t know if I’m thinking clearly. You know I’m not a gossip, don’t you?” Emma asked.

  “Of course, I do. I’m not thinking that at all. I’m thinking how hard it must be for you since you were so in love with Levi. It’d be hard for someone else to measure up.”

  “Exactly, that’s what I’m struggling with. I know I keep comparing him and it’s not fair to him. Every time he does something to upset me I think to myself that Levi would’ve done things differently and that’s hardly fair to Wil.”

  “What if it’s not about being fair to Wil? What if you’re just not ready yet?”

  “It seems as if there’s not an easy answer. I do love him, but I don’t know if deep in my heart, I can go through with marrying him. Then I think, that there will never be anyone for me again, only Levi. I’m so confused.”

  “Sounds like you need time to think things through. Did the time away with Maureen help clear your head at all?”

  “It might have if I hadn’t found out as soon as I got to Dorothy’s place that we hadn’t bought the haus at all. I think I’ve been in shock. I’d better get home. Denke for listening to me and my troubles.”

  “Anytime, I wish I could’ve been some help to you.”

  * * *

  When Silvie closed the door after waving goodbye to Emma, she turned around to see Sabrina. “Sabrina, I thought you were at work today.”

  “Nee, remember I told you I wasn’t working today? I worked yesterday.”

  “I can hardly keep track of the days and times I’m working without keeping track of your hours.”

  A smirk covered Sabrina’s face. “So, Emma doesn’t like Wil?”

  “Of course she does, they’re betrothed.”

  “Sounds to me like she’s having a lot of second thoughts about him.”

  “It’s normal for people to think things like that before they get married. Nothing to worry about.” Silvie pushed past Sabrina and made her way into the kitchen.

  “When I first came to stay here you told me to stay away from Wil because he was in love with Emma.”

  “Jah, he is in love with Emma and they don’t need you trying to come between them.”

  “Sounds like she’s not too happy about him though, doesn’t it?”

  “Sabrina, you should not listen in on other people’s conversations. None of it concerns you.”

  “You knew that I liked Wil. You were the one who told me to stay away from him.”

  “You do have to stay away. Find someone else, Wil and Emma are getting married soon.”

  Sabrina crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I’ve a gut mind to tell Wil what Emma’s running around saying to people about him.”

  “Sabrina, don’t you dare. If you breathe a word, you’ll be out of my haus in no time flat. Anyway, I thought Carmello Liante was the only man you could ever love.”

  Sabrina’s mouth fell open. “Silvie, how could you? How could you mention his name?” Sabrina’s face was red with rage as she stomped into her bedroom.

  Silvie knew she was mean to mention Carmello’s name, but it was only weeks since his death and Sabrina had sworn that she would never be interested in another man. Silvie had to say something to get Sabrina’s mind off telling Wil about how Emma felt about him. Things like that should be left well alone.

  * * *

  Emma opened the door of her haus and was met by Growler. “Hello, boy. What have you been up to?” Emma was pleased that Growler was finally acknowledging her presence. She looked down at his paw and saw that it was healing over nicely. He probably knows I’m the one who feeds him, so he’s realized he should be nice to me, Emma thought. Growler followed Emma to the kitchen, and Emma filled up his food and water bowl.

  Dorothy had not come home and Emma still had no idea what to have for dinner. There was sure to be something in the cold box she could heat up. Feeling tired and stressed Emma considered it was time to eat some chocolate to cheer herself up. She always kept a supply of milk chocolate, soft centers that she buys from the specialty chocolate shop in town.

  She put her head back into the couch, closed her eyes and popped a soft center pineapple chocolate into her mouth and let it melt slowly. Emma felt better now that she had shared how she felt about Wil, but it did nothing to help her figure out what to do.

  Chapter 11.

  There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy:

  who art thou that judgest another?

  James 4:12

  Wil answered the knock on his front door and was surprised to see young Sabrina standing there.

  He looked past her to see if she had come with Emma or her schweschder, Silvie. “Sabrina, you’re here alone?”

  Sabrina nodded, and Wil noticed that something with Sabrina was not right. Sabrina was normally smiling and happy. Knowing that it wouldn’t be right to invite a young single woman into his haus even if it was very chilly out, he said, “Have a seat on the porch. Would you like some hot tea or something?”

  Sabrina sat on the wooden porch seat after shaking her head in reference to the tea.

  Wil sat in the chair beside her and rubbed his hands briskly together in an attempt to keep them warm. “What brings you here? Everything’s alright, isn’t it?”

  “I’ve something to tell you,” Sabrina said.

  “Jah?” Wil asked after she stopped and did not continue.

  “It’s about Emma.”

  “What about her? I’ve only just seen her drive past in her buggy; she’s home isn’t she?”

  “I’ve overheard something.”

  Wil frowned. “What is it?”

  Sabrina’s big blue eyes fastened on to him, and a frown lightly touched her forehead.

  “Out with it, you’re getting me worried.”

  Sabrina took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll just say it. Emma was talking to Silvie earlier today, and I heard her say that she’s not happy with you.”

  Wil gave a chuckle. “I know, she’s angry with me for making a mistake about a haus I tried to buy. Don’t worry, she’ll be okay when she has had time to calm down.”

  Sabrina turned her body to face him more directly. “Nee, Wil, you don’t understand me. I’m saying
that she said that she’s having second thoughts about marrying you.”

  Wil shook his head. “Sabrina, what you heard is women’s talk and you should not be repeating it.” Wil rose to his feet. “When you grow up you’ll realize that when you repeat things you have heard, that you’re creating trouble and spreading gossip.”

  “Wil, I am grown, I’m nearing twenty.” Sabrina stood up.

  Wil ran a hand through his hair. “Then, you should know better.”

  “Don’t you want to know what she’s saying about you?”

  Wil shook his head slowly. “Nee. It would be best if you go back home.”

  Sabrina took a step toward him. “What? I’m telling you that the woman that you’re so in love with is not in love with you, and you blame me? That’s all the thanks I get? I thought you’d want to know.” Sabrina put her hands firmly to her hips. “You should thank me.”

  Wil looked straight at Sabrina’s buggy. “See that buggy?”

  Sabrina turned, looked at her buggy, and said, “Jah.”

  “I want you to get in that buggy and go home right now.” Wil turned and went into his haus and shut the door.

  Sabrina leaned close to the door and said in a loud voice, “I also heard Emma say to Silvie that Levi would never do all the stupid things that you do.”

  He tried not to let Sabrina’s words hurt him. He stood leaning against his front door and listened to Sabrina’s footsteps as she stomped down the two steps of the porch. Finally, he heard the clip-clop of horse’s hooves heading back to the main road. He sank to the floor. He knew it was more than just women’s talk; he could feel Emma slipping away from him and that’s what prompted him to try and buy the haus.

  He wasn’t stupid; he could see through Sabrina’s flirting ways. He could smell the strong rose and vanilla scent she used in an effort to woo him. He knew why she was giving him information about Emma’s lack of interest in him. It was clear to him that Sabrina liked him; he knew that from the first day that Sabrina arrived in Lancaster County.