“Strange.”
“Do you think that’s strange?”
Elsa-May nodded. “A little strange that she didn’t want to own the house or anything when she’s got a stepdaughter like Camille who’d be pleased to see her off the property. She was taking a risk relying solely on Jacob.”
“I disagree. Jacob will always look after his mudder. Jacob and Mildred are like real mudder and son.”
“Even so, she seems a little naive.”
“How so?”
Elsa-May rubbed her leg. “From what you told me, the detective might think that someone killed Nehemiah since he was questioning you about his death.”
Ettie regretted telling Elsa-May so many details. “Jah, I think he might.”
“And it sounds like Camille had many enemies.”
“I’m hoping that Jacob’s in the clear. Kelly said he believes he’s innocent.”
Elsa-May added, “I hope that’s right.”
“Well, I’d better go and fix the dinner. Speaking about food, you should have seen what Kelly ate for lunch. I was so surprised and you would’ve had something to say about it if you’d been there too.” Ettie told Elsa-May about the detective’s eating habits and Elsa-May had a good chuckle. “It’s dreadful, Elsa-May. It’s not a laughing matter. He can’t go on eating like that every day.”
“Hmm. Why don’t you cook up some extra dinner tonight, and then take him some food tomorrow? I’m sure he’d appreciate a decent meal rather than having sweets.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll do that.”
The next day, Ettie had fixed some sausage and egg casserole to take to detective Kelly, and since he had a sweet tooth, she’d gone to the trouble of making him some blueberry muffins. She placed the bowls in a cloth bag and walked down the road to call for a taxi. As soon as the taxi stopped, a small man in long cream-colored pants and a matching short-sleeved shirt sprang out and opened the front passenger-side door for her.
“Such service! Thank you.”
“No problem at all, lady.”
He seemed such a happy man that Ettie was certain she was in for a pleasant drive, but as soon as she sat in the seat, heavy cigarette smoke invaded her nostrils. She wound down the window and inhaled some fresh air before the driver got in the car. Normally Ettie didn’t mind a little smoke, but the odor in the taxi was overpowering. She glanced down at an overflowing ashtray between the two seats and crinkled her nose. She was glad the muffins in her lap were covered in heavy cloths and the casserole was in a tightly-lidded glass bowl so they wouldn’t pick up the smoky smell.
“Where to?” the driver asked while he fastened his seat belt.
Ettie was tempted to make a comment about him fastening his seat belt but not being concerned how many cigarettes he was smoking. She held her tongue.
“Where to?” he asked again glancing over at her.
“The police station.”
He flicked the meter on while he pulled away from the shoulder. When he turned onto the main road, he lit up a cigarette. He drew in a long breath, and then blew it out the partially opened window. Ettie glanced in his direction to see smoke wafting out of his nose in waves. Then she looked directly ahead hoping the fabric in her clothes and her prayer kapp wouldn’t pick up the smell.
Suddenly the taxi driver asked, “Are you a relative of the Amish man who was arrested last night?”
“What man?”
“I heard it on the radio. Some Amish man was just arrested for murdering his sister.”
Ettie’s mouth fell open. It could only be Jacob who had been arrested. There had been no other murder in the Amish community. “Put your foot on it, driver!” Ettie yelled.
The man did as instructed.
“I’m not a relative. I’m a good friend and I believe I’ve been double-crossed.”
The taxi driver gave her a sideways look and remained silent the rest of the trip. When the taxi pulled up, Ettie threw down some money hoping it was enough to cover the fare. The driver got out of the car to help Ettie out, but by the time he reached the passenger side of the car she was halfway up the steps of the station.
Once she was through the door, she hurried to the man sitting behind the front desk. “Where’s Detective Kelly?”
The man looked up at her with a bored face, and drawled, “He’s busy at the moment, ma’am.”
“I need to see him immediately. Let him know Ettie Smith is here, would you? Now?”
“What’s it regarding?”
“He’ll know.”
“Take a seat and I’ll call him.” The officer picked up his phone and talked to Kelly, and when he placed the receiver down, he called out to Ettie, “He’ll be out as soon as he can.”
“How long will that be?”
He shook his head. “I’m not sure.”
Ettie stood up with the bundle of food still in her arms, and walked over to the officer. “Then I’d like to speak to Jacob Esh.”
“Who?”
“I believe you have him here somewhere. He’s just been arrested.”
“No, you can’t talk to anyone in custody. Please take a seat and Detective Kelly will be out to see you as soon as he can.”
Ettie narrowed her eyes at the officer, and then turned and took a seat. It was an hour later when Detective Kelly finally came out to see her.
“Come through,” he said, motioning to her with his hand.
Ettie followed him through to his office with the bag of food clutched in her hands. Once he was seated, she placed the food on his desk without any explanation of what it was, sat down, and then asked, “What’s going on, Detective? You’ve arrested Jacob?”
He interlocked his fingers, placing them under his chin. “We have him in for questioning. He’s not under arrest, not at all.”
“The taxi driver said he heard on the radio that an Amish man was under arrest for killing his sister.”
“I said he’s not under arrest. I’d hardly think a taxi driver is a reliable source of information.” The detective sniffed the air. “Do you smoke?”
“No, I do not.” Just as she’d feared, her clothes had picked up the odor in the taxi.
“I can smell cigarette smoke. I’m sensitive to the smell. I’ve given them up.”
“Congratulations,” Ettie said sarcastically before she regretted her tone. She licked her lips, about to make an apology and explain about the smoke-filled taxi she’d ridden in to get there, when the detective spoke.
“I’m afraid there was more to things than I let on to you.”
Ettie tipped her head to one side. “What haven’t you told me?”
“The kind of things that made it look like Jacob Esh murdered his sister.”
Ettie pulled her mouth to one side. “I didn’t know there were things that made him look guilty. You said…”
“There are.”
“Can you be more specific?”
The detective leaned back in his chair and scratched his forehead. “We had dealings with Camille before she died. She’d had shots fired into her apartment. Someone drove past and shot into her home three times. More accurately, it was a drive-by shooting and three shots were fired.”
Ettie gasped.
The detective nodded. “Someone tried to kill her.”
“You think it was Jacob?”
“Evidence strongly points to him. He’d hardly be sticking to your Amish rules if he was about to kill someone. He could’ve paid someone to shoot her, or he could’ve borrowed a car and done the job himself. I know you were just about to point out to me that he doesn’t own a car.”
“Were the gunshots to scare her or kill her?”
“I don’t know what you’re getting at, Mrs. Smith, but when someone has a gun fired into their home, we take it that the person or persons involved who were doing the shooting were aiming to kill.”
“Was it while she was living in her apartment? Because Mildred never mentioned anything about a gun being fired into her home.
”
“It was after she left the house and started living in the apartment.”
“So after her father’s death, then? Because that’s when she left the house, when she found out she hadn’t been left the farm.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“There’s no motive for him to kill her. He already had the farm.”
“There’s the money. People have killed for a lot less.”
“So, you’ve got Jacob here still?”
“He’s still being questioned. I’ve already grilled him but he’s sticking to the same story so I’m letting someone else have a crack at him.”
“Have you considered that he might be telling the truth?”
“Someone’s dead, Mrs. Smith. If the brother didn’t do it, then who did?”
“In just one day I found out that Camille had enemies; two people told me that. Why don’t you look into those people?”
Kelly sighed. “I thank you for your help, but I think you’ve done all you can do. I hoped you’d uncover something we didn’t know, but it seems there is nothing we didn’t already know.”
“You think he’s guilty, and you thought he was guilty all along, which means you tricked me into believing you were trying to help him.”
“I had to make you think I was on his side. I knew you wouldn’t help if you thought otherwise.”
Ettie rose to her feet. She bit her tongue while thinking of all the things she wanted to say to the despicable person before her. “I can’t speak the words on my mind right now.” She pushed the food she’d brought toward him. “Elsa-May thought you should have some proper food at lunchtime.” Ettie turned and walked out the door without saying goodbye.
She heard him call after her: “Wait, Mrs. Smith.”
Ettie turned around.
“I couldn’t tell you. It would have influenced your thinking when you were finding things out for me.”
Ettie folded her arms firmly in front of her chest. “That’s something Crowley never would’ve done. He was always honest with us and we respected him for it.”
“Mrs. Smith, I do appreciate your help, but I’ll handle things from here.”
“You told me you thought he was innocent. That’s the only reason I helped you.”
“Like I said, I had to tell you something to get you on my side.”
Ettie opened her mouth in shock. “That’s unethical and downright disgusting.”
Kelly smirked. “I didn’t want to deceive you; it’s just part of the job sometimes. Often it’s the only way we can get things done.”
“So you do think Jacob’s guilty for certain?”
“Have you come up with any other suspects?”
“I told you; there’s the neighbor, and the woman Camille was seen arguing with in town. Maybe there were two people she was arguing with, because Mildred heard her arguing with someone on her phone and the neighbor saw her arguing with a woman in town.”
“Hearsay and conjecture. It’s too fuzzy a lead to follow up. I need something concrete.”
“Everything is fuzzy until you follow the leads and see where they take you.”
“Are you telling me how to do my job?”
“Yes, I suppose I am. Because if you think that Jacob is guilty, you’re not doing a good job right now.”
“You think he’s innocent because he’s a part of your community?”
Ettie shook her head. “It’s not that.”
“I think we’re through speaking for today.”
“What? Until the next time you need my help?”
The detective frowned and threw his hands in the air. “It doesn’t please me that I had to lie to you, but that’s just what had to happen.”
Ettie pressed her lips together. “You don’t mind if I follow some leads that you’re ignoring, do you?”
“As long as you don’t get in my way you are at liberty to do as you wish.”
The detective reached out and grabbed a piece of paper from his desk. He motioned for her to come forward and she did so. “I’ll tell you what. Since you’re so upset with me, I’ll give you a peace offering.” He tossed the sheet of paper to Ettie. “This is a list of names and addresses of the people Camille talked to most often from her cell phone.”
Ettie took hold of the paper and stared at it. There weren’t many names on it. She looked up at the detective. “Isn’t this against some kind of law, letting me have this list?”
The detective smiled. He swiveled in his chair and turned his head away. “I can’t help it if the list disappeared from my office. If I need the list, I’ll just print out another one. Maybe I never printed one out at all.”
Ettie looked down at the paper, holding it tightly, and then disappeared out of his office without saying goodbye. He didn’t deserve a goodbye. Ettie was mad with herself for not figuring out what Kelly had been up to from the start. She wasn’t normally fooled so easily, and now she was so upset she was nauseous.
Chapter 7
After Ettie left the station, she hailed a taxi, knowing she had to go and see her dear friend, Mildred.
When the taxi pulled up at Mildred’s house, she could see the bishop’s buggy leaving. Well, at least she had someone to speak with this morning. When Ettie’s taxi drove off, a teary-eyed Mildred met her at the front door. “I’m so glad you’ve come. You’ve heard what’s happened?”
“I have.” Ettie put her arm around Mildred as she broke down and sobbed. “Come on, let’s sit inside.”
Once they were sitting down in the living room, Mildred sniffed back her tears. “They came here with so many police cars; lights were whirling and flashing, and then they stormed in here and said they had a search warrant. Then they went right through the house, and the barn, and took things away with them.”
“What kind of things?” Ettie was amazed that Kelly had never mentioned the search warrant or the fact that the police had taken things.
“I didn’t see exactly what they took from the barn, but they took all Jacob’s hunting guns that he had kept in the house for safety. They think that Jacob killed Camille, but she wasn’t shot. Why would they take the guns?”
“She had gunshots fired into her apartment. She didn’t tell you?”
Mildred opened her mouth wide. When Ettie saw the hurt in Mildred’s eyes she regretted asking the question. Ettie knew how painful it was for Mildred that Camille resented her. Of course Camille wouldn’t have told her about the attempt on her life.
“I don’t know how to help him, Ettie. I found a card from a lawyer amongst Nehemiah’s things.” Mildred stood up and walked over to a small bureau, found a business card, and brought it back to Ettie.
Ettie took the card and read the name. “Claymore Cartwright.” Ettie looked at the back of the well-worn card and read the address. “He’s just in town, if he’s still in business. I’ll go with you if you want to see him.”
“Would you, Ettie?”
“Jah. Do you want me to call now and make an appointment?”
Mildred nodded.
Ettie rose to her feet with the card in hand. “I’ll do it right away. You stay here and take some deep breaths. Do you want a cup of tea?”
“Nee, I had tea just now with the bishop.”
“Jah, I just passed him when I came through your gate.”
Ettie made her way to the barn. She pushed the door open and saw things scattered everywhere. The police must’ve done this. No one would keep their barn in a state like this. She stepped over things and made her way to the telephone on the other side of the barn. She picked up the receiver and dialed the number on the card. Ettie was pleased when she heard it ring – that meant the man was still in business.
After a couple of weird dial-tone and clicking sounds on the other end of the phone, a male voice answered. It was the lawyer himself. Once Ettie explained the situation to the lawyer, he had them come in immediately. Ettie called for a taxi, placed the receiver back on the hook, and hurried to tell Mildred
.
Ettie convinced Mildred to take the taxi in to visit with the lawyer rather than taking the buggy, figuring they should get there as fast as possible.
When they arrived in town, the taxi dropped them right outside the address that was on the old business card.
They took the elevator up to the fourth floor. When the elevator doors opened, they stepped out and followed the corridor around the corner. They were looking for the office of Claymore Cartwright, but it was nowhere to be seen. All the offices appeared to be empty. When they walked up to the end of the corridor, Ettie was pleased to see an open door. Ettie walked two more steps and when she peeped in she saw a young man behind a desk in a sparsely furnished office. The man was dressed in casual clothes and wore a bright green baseball cap.
He smiled and rose to his feet. “Mrs. Esh?”
Ettie was surprised that the man was so young. He had to be the lawyer, as he’d known Mildred’s name. Given his name and the aged business card she had expected a much older man. Ettie nodded and pulled Mildred forward. “This is Mrs. Esh. I’m her friend, the one who called you. Ettie Smith.”
“Please, come in.”
Ettie had never seen a lawyer in casual clothes. She’d only seen them wear dark suits and ties.
“I heard that your son was arrested. Are you here because you want me to represent him?”
Ettie spoke first. “He’s not been arrested, although the news stations seem to think so.”
“Yes, they do like news - bad news, anyway - about the Amish.”
“Seems so.” Ettie continued, “He was taken in for questioning, and the police had a search warrant and took a great number of things out of Mildred’s home and out of her barn.”
Ettie glanced at Mildred, hoping she didn’t mind her speaking on her behalf. Mildred wasn’t used to doing things for herself because Nehemiah, or Jacob, had always been around to do things for her. Ettie looked back at the lawyer and continued, “Mildred found your card amongst her late husband’s things, and we really need some legal advice. We’re not too sure how these things work.”
Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 1 Page 16