Amish Christmas Mystery

by Samantha Price

  “I see,” Ettie said.

  "Another piece of good news is that we ran Santa’s prints and he has no priors.”

  "That is good news. So he was just a homeless man who thinks he’s Santa Claus?" Elsa-May asked as she sat down at the table.

  "He’s not homeless. He lives in an institution. They let him keep his Santa outfit and made him promise that he’d only wear it at Christmas. The poor old soul.”

  Ettie placed a cup of coffee in front of the detective and sat back down.

  "Thank you, Ettie."

  "So it might be right that Santa was just going up the street knocking on doors asking for donations?"

  "Yes, and I wonder where those donation ended up?" Detective Kelly asked. “I’ll let that go for now. There are more important things at stake.”

  "Did you have a good Christmas, Detective?"

  Detective Kelly stared at Ettie. "It was like every other day of the year for me." He slurped a mouthful of coffee.

  Chapter 10

  Ettie and Elsa-May got dressed warmly, ready to visit Ava. When Ettie opened the door, she found herself face-to-face with Detective Kelly.

  "Heading out somewhere?" he asked with a lopsided smile.

  "Yes, we were just going to go to visit Ava. We feel we’ve been in the house for days,” Elsa-May said.

  Ettie added, "Well, I suppose we haven't, but it just feels that way.”

  "Come in out of the cold.”

  When they were all seated in the living room, Kelly said, "I was surprised to get a call this morning from the handwriting analyst.”

  "Are the results in?" Elsa-May asked.

  "Yes they are and that's why I’m here. I thought I would let you know that Myra’s live-in-boyfriend is responsible for sending those invitations.”

  Ettie gasped. “No!”

  Elsa-May frowned. “I don’t believe it.”

  "Do you think he killed Earl?" Ettie asked.

  "It's the strongest lead we have so far. As you said yourself, Mrs. Smith, apart from him, all the people at your house were people Myra knew from when she was growing up in your Amish community.”

  Ettie felt sick to the stomach. How would poor Myra be taking this?

  "He's being picked up now and brought down to the station. I thought you should know because your daughter might be upset." He stared at Ettie.

  Ettie nodded. "Yes, she would be devastated. She would’ve had no idea. I appreciate you letting us know."

  "I just thought I should have the decency of telling you in person.”

  "Yes, that was very considerate of you."

  He sniffed the air. "Can I smell coffee?"

  "No, we drank tea this morning,” Elsa-May said matter-of-factly.

  "It's no trouble if you would like to make you some coffee," Ettie said.

  Detective Kelly smiled. “I'd appreciate a cup."

  “I’ll get it, Ettie.” Elsa-May stood up. "Coming right up. And maybe a couple of sugar cookies?"

  "Yes please."

  "And do you know the cause of death, yet?" Ettie asked.

  "The man was strangled and he also had a drug in his system which would have inhibited his breathing."

  "And would that have made it easier for someone weaker to strangle him?" Ettie asked.

  "A woman perhaps?" Elsa-May inquired before she’d reached the kitchen.

  "That was my first thought, but logically, if someone was going to slip something to him, why not poison him outright then and there?”

  "That's a very good point, Detective.” Ettie said. “Maybe it would’ve implicated that person, if he’d dropped dead right next to the person who’d poisoned him.”

  "Thank you, Ettie,” the detective said, his tone full of sarcasm. “There are several scenarios that could be at play."

  “What was the drug?”

  “Meperidene sold as demerol. Available only by prescription.”

  "So what now?"

  Kelly’s phone beeped and he pulled it out of his pocket and stared at it. "I just got a text message. My officers are five minutes away from the station and they've got Michael Skully with them. I have to go and ask some questions.”

  "You're not going to arrest him, are you?" Elsa-May asked sticking her head around the kitchen doorway.

  "Depends on his answers."

  “Do you still have time for coffee?”

  “I’ll have a quick one.”

  * * *

  It was several minutes after Detective Kelly left when Myra came to their door. The sisters had only just finished cleaning up the kitchen after the detective’s visit.

  "They came to take Michael in for questioning. Do you know what it's about?"

  "What did they tell you?" Ettie asked, following Myra as she flounced further into the house.

  "It was something about those invitations. Before he left with the police, he told me he wrote them, but he was only trying to get you and me back on speaking terms, Mother.”

  "I'm sure there’s nothing to worry about, then. As long as the truth is out, he’s got nothing to worry about.”

  Myra collapsed onto the couch. "I hope you're right.” She looked the two of them up and down. "Are you going somewhere?"

  "We were, but not any more. Would you like a cup of coffee?"

  "I suppose I need something."

  Elsa-May went to the kitchen to make the coffee while Ettie sat down next to Myra. "Where and how did you meet Michael?"

  "Does it matter?"

  "Not really. I'm just trying to have a conversation."

  "Did I tell you before?"

  Ettie looked up to the ceiling as she searched her mind. "I don't think you told me."

  Myra shook her head in an agitated manner. "It doesn't matter now."

  "What do you mean it doesn't matter now?"

  “We met, we fell in love and we bought our house. We’re building a life together. He’s my soulmate.”

  “What kind of job does he do?”

  “He’s in sales.”

  “What does he sell?”

  Myra recoiled from her mother. “Why all these questions?”

  “I want to get to know him a little better.”

  “His job is just a job. He’s not his job. That’s something he does to get money. It says nothing about his personality or who he is as a person.”

  Ettie rubbed her chin. “It seems to me that a job is what people do with most of their waking hours. If you tell me what he does with those hours, I’ll understand better what he does most of the time.”

  Myra breathed out heavily. “He sells pharmaceutical products. I’m certain I’ve told you this.”

  “Who to?”

  “Doctors, hospitals—I guess.”

  “You don’t know?”

  “No! We’ve got better things to do with our time. He travels and makes good money. We’ve got a large mortgage. Houses like ours don’t come cheap.”

  “It’s a very nice house, I must say.” Ettie realized their relationship was much more than Myra first described. They had bought a house together so it was more than just a boyfriend-girlfriend thing.

  Elsa-May came back in the room. “Here we are.” She handed a mug of coffee to Myra.

  “Thank you,” Myra said as she took the mug by the handle.

  “Cookies?” Elsa-May asked.

  “No, thank you.” Myra took a sip of coffee.

  “Myra was just telling me that Michael sells pharmaceutical products.”

  Elsa-May’s left eyebrow raised. “Drugs?”

  Myra nodded. “Essentially, I suppose.”

  Ettie pressed her lips together. If she’d mentioned the word ‘drugs,’ Myra would’ve reacted far differently.

  Chapter 11

  As soon as Myra finished her coffee, she headed out the door to the police station to wait for Michael.

  "What do you make of it, Elsa-May? She doesn't give much information away about Michael."

  "I wonder if he's been in trouble wi
th the police before.”

  "Kelly didn't mention anything of the kind."

  "He probably doesn't tell us everything and he could like to have us think that he does."

  Ettie pulled her mouth to one side. What her sister said was probably true. "I’d like to get to the bottom of it."

  "We’ll probably find out soon enough."

  "Do you believe Michael’s story about why he sent the invitations?"

  "Not really. It seems a drastic thing to do to get mother and daughter to talk. Besides that, how could Myra and I have had a conversation with all the other people around?"

  "That’s right. You stay there and I’ll wash up these things and then we can head off."

  Later, when they were getting ready to head out the door again, they both jumped when someone thumped on the door.

  Ettie and Elsa-May stared at each other.

  "This is beginning to become a regular occurrence. I'm starting to think someone wants us to stay home today.”

  Ettie open the door to see their old friend, Ronald Crowley.

  "Hello. I've just been talking to Myra. She was coming out of your house when I was heading toward it."

  They stepped aside to allow him in.

  "Come in out of the cold and take a seat," Elsa-May said.

  "Would you like a cup of coffee?" Ettie asked.

  He shook his head and sat down. "No, thank you."

  Once they were all seated, Ettie asked, "Did Myra tell you about her boyfriend?”

  Elsa-May added, “He’s been taken to the police station."

  "Yes, she was very distressed. I offered to go with her, but she said she preferred to go alone."

  "Have you two kept in contact?"

  "We lost touch some time ago. That was her decision."

  Elsa-May said, "She tells us that Michael admitted that he sent the invitations.”

  “Apparently he did that to get Myra and me talking to one another again,” Ettie said.

  "Do you believe that?" Elsa-May asked.

  "Stranger things have happened," Crowley said.

  Ettie pushed out her lips. "It seems unlikely to me."

  "People do weird and wonderful things particularly around this time of year.”

  "Ettie and I were wondering if Michael had some kind of criminal history.”

  A hint of a smile twigged at the corners of Crowley’s lips. "I already looked into that. I do have a few friends left on the force. Apart from a few speeding tickets there was nothing."

  "Wasn't Detective Kelly asking you to help with this investigation?" Elsa-May asked.

  "That's what he said originally, but I've heard nothing from him and he’s not keeping me in the loop."

  "Do you think Michael could've killed that man because he was annoying Myra?" Elsa-May asked.

  "I can't say. We’d need more information.”

  Ettie continued, "If Michael didn't kill the man, who could've? I've had something running through my mind."

  Crowley leaned forward. "What's that, Ettie?"

  "Betsy Stoll—the young woman who had her life ruined by running away with Earl when she was a teenager. There is no going back to the community when you've run away with someone's husband. Well, she could’ve come back, but it would’ve been difficult for her."

  "So she would've had a good motive? She wasn’t at your Christmas party, though,” Crowley said.

  "No, she wasn't. I haven't seen her for many years.”

  “Not since she left the community,” Elsa-May added.

  “And do we know where she is now?"

  Elsa-May and Ettie looked at each other and they both shook their heads.

  "No. We haven’t seen her, or heard about her, since she left the community,” Elsa-May said.

  "Detective Kelly asked us to talk with Moses Stoll and Naomi Fuller in a couple of days. They won’t speak to Kelly now, and that’s probably because they already told him all they know while they were here. Kelly asked us to wait a day or two and then go and see what we could find out, but before we do that we could find Betsy.”

  Crowley said, "I could drive you anywhere you want to go tomorrow.”

  "Tomorrow?" Elsa-May asked. “What’s wrong with today?”

  "I've got some things to do today. Tomorrow I'm free."

  "Why don't we stay home today, Ettie, and we’ll go out tomorrow?"

  "I think that would be a good idea. Every time we try to head out, someone’s at the door.” Ettie giggled. “Now, Ronald, we’ve got some lovely orange cake left. Would you like to try some?"

  His face lit up. "Does it have frosting?"

  "Loads of it."

  "Yes please. And while you're at it, I might take you up on that offer of coffee, Ettie.”

  "Of course."

  "I'll just make a quick call to Kelly.” Crowley took the phone out of his pocket and stepped outside the house.

  “Ettie, with Ronald driving us tomorrow that will save us money on taxis."

  "Jah, but he'll have to stay out of sight. We don't want anyone to be scared off and they might be if we’re seen with a detective."

  "He's a retired detective."

  "He still looks like a detective."

  Ettie giggled. "That's true, he does."

  They placed coffee and cake down on the coffee table for the detective just as he stepped back inside the house.

  "Any news from Detective Kelly?" Elsa-May asked as she sat down in her favorite chair and picked up her knitting from the bag by her feet.

  He stared at the cake in front of him. “Michael made a statement that the people he sent the invitations to were people Myra had spoken to him about. That’s how he came up with the list. Kelly is convinced he’s guilty, but he’s let him go for now until he gathers more evidence.”

  Ettie gasped. “Myra will be devastated if he did it.”

  “We’ll have to hope that Myra is not named as an accessory to murder if he’s found guilty.” Crowley shook his head.

  Elsa-May pointed to his cake. “Eat up. Everything looks brighter after cake.”

  Crowley sat down in front of his cake and coffee. “Thank you, this looks good.”

  Ettie asked, “Did Kelly say anything else?”

  When Crowley had finished his mouthful, he said, “I told him that I would be driving both of you around to talk to people over the next couple of days. He said it wouldn’t hurt to keep asking questions. The danger is that Kelly might start to think that Myra was somehow involved.”

  “We’ll have to find the real killer,” Elsa-May said.

  Crowley nodded. “And fast.”

  Chapter 12

  The next morning, the two sat across from Moses, hoping he might know of his daughter’s whereabouts.

  “I don’t have any idea where she’s gone,” Moses said in answer to their inquiry.

  “What about her friends? Did she have a friend she might have kept in contact with?”

  He shook his head. “It’s not likely that she kept any friends around here after what she did.”

  Ettie’s shoulders slouched.

  “I tell you what I have. I have letters she wrote to a pen pal. I only came across them a week or two ago when I was throwing things out. When Betsy was a young girl she wasn’t doing too well in schul and the teacher suggested that the children who were struggling with reading and writing should have a pen pal. Betsy wrote to that pen pal every week for years.”

  “Can we see those letters?” Elsa-May asked.

  “I’ll get them for you.” He left them in the living room and came back with a box of letters.

  Ettie sifted through them to see they were all from the same address. “I wonder if Betsy’s kept in contact with this person?” Ettie looked for the name. “Roslyn Jones.”

  Elsa-May looked over her shoulder. “It’s not too far away. We could drive there and knock on the door.”

  “Young Roslyn came here once.”

  “The girls met?”

  He nodded. �
��They were about seventeen at the time.”

  “She was an Englischer?” Ettie asked.

  “Jah, she was.”

  “Do you mind if we write down her address?” Elsa-May asked.

  “I’ll do you one better than that. You can take the box with you.”

  * * *

  “How did you make out?” Crowley asked when they got back into the car.

  “We’ve got a lead. A pen pal that Betsy had when she was living at home.”

  Elsa-May tapped on the box she had on her lap. “These are all of the pen pal's letters.” Elsa-May handed the address to Crowley.

  “Are you planning to knock on the door?”

  “Yes,” the sisters chorused.

  “Okay. Let’s do it,” Crowley said, turning the key in the ignition.

  * * *

  When they arrived at the address on the envelopes, Elsa-May got out of the car while Ettie waited with Detective Crowley.

  Minutes later, they watched Elsa-May head back to the car with a grin on her face and a piece of paper in her hand.

  “She’s got something,” Ettie said.

  “Let’s hope so.”

  Elsa-May opened the door and slid into the backseat. "I've got it."

  "Good work, Elsa-May. What did you get?”

  "Her address. They still write to one another even though they haven't seen each other in over twenty years. She was hesitant to give it to me at first until I told her about Earl. Roslyn thought Betsy would like to know about his death." Elsa-May handed Crowley the address.

  "Betsy must have told Roslyn everything," Ettie said.

  Crowley unfolded the paper. "It's about a twenty-minute drive away.”

  "That's not too bad,” Elsa-May said.

  Crowley programed the information into his car's GPS navigation system. “Okay, off we go.”

  * * *

  When they pulled up at the address that Roslyn had given them, Ettie announced she would go in by herself.