Elsa-May nodded. “I know. And do you think the boy he adopted was Hugh Dwyer? Isn’t Hugh Dwyer the third man who was after Ruth’s bread recipe?”
“Jah, he’s the one who has the Amish small goods store and attached cafe.”
“The three of them all wanted Ruth’s bread. I wish we’d had more time to ask him more questions,” Elsa-May said.
“I think we did well finding out as much as we did. I was fearful the whole time he’d ask us why we wanted to know all that.”
“Me too. My heart was pumping so fast. Now, we have to go tell Kelly what we found out.”
Chapter 20
“What is it this time, Mrs. Smith?” Detective Kelly asked looking across his desk at Ettie.
“We found a newspaper article that mentioned Rupert Bird and Alan Avery.”
“I’m one step ahead of you, Mrs. Smith, we had that information days ago. We know that the two men were, at one point, fostered in the same home.”
Ettie and Elsa-May looked at each other.
Ettie said, “Do you also know that the same man who fostered them also fostered Hugh Dwyer?”
The detective opened his mouth and leaned back. “No, I didn’t know that. How did you find that out?”
“We visited the man who fostered them today.”
“Yes, Ettie and I went and visited the man who fostered all three boys.”
When the detective scowled at them, Ettie added, “One of the boys tried to kill him. It was either Alan or Rupert.”
“When?”
“Years ago. He was pushed off a cliff. Didn’t you find that same article?”
“Yes, we did.” The detective nodded.
“Marvin Montgomery told us that he and his wife adopted Hugh Dwyer, and the other two boys were jealous. Well, he said the name ‘Hugh’ but we’re certain it must be Hugh Dwyer.”
Elsa-May dug Ettie in the ribs. “Tell him what else you found out.”
Ettie said, “We heard that Melissa had a grudge against her stepfather and we also found out that Melissa’s mother died a few years ago – was murdered.”
“Yes, we’ve got her possible murder on record. They never found out who did it. In fact, they never proved positively that she was murdered.” The detective pulled the same four photos out of his folder and placed them in front of Ettie. “Which one did you see with Melissa Avery?”
Ettie peered at them and tapped her finger on one of the photos. “This one.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Smith, that makes my job a whole lot easier.”
“What do you mean?” Ettie asked.
“This man is Stuart Tonks and a partial print of his thumb was found in Ruth’s office. We’ve already got him here for questioning. One of my men is talking to him as we speak.” The detective stood up. “He’s denied everything up until this point, but he might change his tune when we let him know that you’ve made a positive ID as to him being close to Melissa Avery. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and see if he’s said anything yet.”
“Wait! You’re not going to mention Ettie’s name, are you?” Elsa-May asked.
“No.” Detective Kelly hurried out of the room.
Ettie and Elsa-May stood up.
“Does that mean that Melissa might be involved?” Ettie asked.
“We don’t know that yet. Can we wait and see what he says?” Elsa-May asked.
“We could wait in his office here, but will he get mad when he comes back?”
Elsa-May grinned. “I think we should wait. He never seems happy with us anyway.”
Five minutes later, a police officer stuck his head into the room. “Detective Kelly asked me to drive you ladies home.”
Elsa-May smiled. “He did?”
“Yes.”
They followed the officer to one of the patrol cars.
“This is service,” Elsa-May said.
“What if one of our neighbors sees us being driven home in a police car?” Ettie whispered.
“You’re sounding like Marvin Montgomery.”
Ettie giggled.
“If they say anything, we’ll tell them to mind their own business,” Elsa-May said.
The officer opened the doors and the ladies got into the car.
“Did you see who Kelly was questioning?” Ettie asked the officer on the way home.
“Yes, I did. He’s often brought in for questioning over one thing or another.”
“And what was it today?” Elsa-May asked.
The officer glanced at Elsa-May in the rear view mirror. “He said a woman paid him to do it.”
“The murder?”
“Yes. They had his prints at the scene, so he’s giving up the person who paid him in exchange for a lighter sentence. I’m glad to get out of the station with all that going on. Kelly gets crazy and starts yelling at people when he’s on to something like that.”
“I’m glad we could be of help to you,” Ettie said.
When Ettie and Elsa-May got out of the police car, they hurried into their house. Snowy was there to greet them at the door, dancing on his hind legs to be picked up. Elsa-May leaned down and scooped him up.
“I’ll put the pot on for a cup of tea,” Ettie said.
“Gut. I’ll take Snowy out to the backyard so we don’t have any accidents inside.”
“He knows how to use the dog door.” It was too late; Elsa-May was already in their small yard.
When the tea was ready, Elsa-May and Ettie sat at their kitchen table.
“A woman paid him,” Ettie said.
“So he says, and I suppose he’d tell the truth if he’s after a lighter sentence.”
“That’s right.” Ettie took a sip of tea.
“Who could it have been besides Melissa Avery?”
“I don’t know, Elsa-May. Melissa’s mother back from the dead?”
“I was thinking of Melissa’s mother, but she was found dead after she’d disappeared. It’s unlikely they got someone else’s body mixed up with Melissa’s mother.”
“Mmm.” Ettie nodded. She waved a hand in the air. “Elsa-May, when I went to Harrisburg with Ruth to talk with Rupert, Ruth mentioned Alan Avery’s name and that he was found murdered in her office, and he didn’t flinch. It was as though he’d never heard the name. Now we find out that he’d lived with him.”
“Okay, but it was a woman who paid that man to do it, so Rupert Bird must be innocent. He might have already heard about Alan’s death on the news or something.”
“I suppose that could be true.”
“Tomorrow, I think we should go and visit Ruth. I’m sure she’d like to know all that we’ve found out,” Elsa-May said.
“I think you’re right.”
While they were on the way to Ruth’s house the very next day, Ettie leaned over and had the taxi driver take them to the library.
“What is it Ettie?”
“I’m just going to check on something.”
When they arrived, Ettie wasted no time in sitting down in front of one of the computers. She sifted through images on the Internet.
Elsa-May had her glasses folded onto the top edge of her dress. She unfolded them, popped them on, and leaned closer to see what Ettie was looking at. “You’re looking at books?”
“I’m looking at Bibles. I was just going over everything in my head as I was waking up this morning. I remembered Ruth’s Bible didn’t look like any Bible I’d ever seen before.”
“And?” Elsa-May said.
“And there’s one here that looks the same as hers.”
Ettie clicked on the picture. “It’s a first edition Clovedale Bible assumed to be dated around 1535. It’s the first complete English-translation Bible.”
“The year 1535?”
“Jah. Have a look Elsa-May. Hers is exactly the same as this one.” After Elsa-May had a look, Ettie did another search. “It’s worth around half a million dollars.” Ettie opened her mouth and stared at Elsa-May.
Elsa-May leaned back. “Are you sure?”
>
“That’s what it says here, and I’m certain it’s exactly the same.”
“I wonder if Alan Avery knew what he had in his hands?”
“The man who killed him can’t have known; otherwise he would’ve surely taken it,” Ettie said. “Ruth kept saying the Bible was her most prized possession, and I didn’t stop to think that she meant it literally.”
“She might not know the value of it,” Elsa-May said.
“There’s one way to find out.”
Elsa-May and Ettie left the library and continued to Ruth’s house.
Ruth had let them in just as the detective’s car pulled up directly in front of the house. From the doorway of Ruth’s home, the three ladies watched as Detective Kelly strode toward them.
“Mind if I come in?” he asked when he reached them.
“You don’t look too happy, Detective. Come through to the living room and take a seat,” Ruth said.
As soon as he sat, he said, “Ruth, can you tell me what you were doing with a rare first-edition Bible worth hundreds of thousands of dollars?”
“A very dear friend gave it to me. It’s my most prized possession.”
“Ruth, did you know how much your Bible is worth?” Detective Kelly asked.
Ruth nodded. “It’s priceless.”
The detective rubbed his chin. “Why didn’t you tell me how much it was worth?”
Ruth breathed out heavily. “I didn’t want anyone to know.”
Ettie raised her eyebrows. Ruth had known all along. Ettie stared at the detective to see what he’d say next. She could see his nostrils flare, and a vein in his temple was throbbing.
“You led us to believe he was after your bread recipe, and you sent me on a wild goose chase?”
Ruth looked down, and her eyes filled with tears. “I just wanted it back. I thought it was valuable, but I didn’t know it was worth that much. It’s not the money value that’s important to me. You see, a dear friend gave it to me and asked me to keep it forever.”
“Would that have been William Yoder?” Ettie asked.
Ruth nodded. “It was passed down through his family and came to him. He wanted me to have it so I’d never forget him, and I never did.”
“How did you find out, Detective?” Ettie asked.
The detective smiled. “I went over the evidence to see if there was anything I’d missed. When I was looking over Alan Avery’s house, I saw he had loads of information on antique and rare books. When I saw the Bible in the evidence room, something clicked.” He turned back to Ruth. “We found out what happened in your bakery.”
Everyone leaned forward. “Stuart Tonks was paid by Melissa Avery to do away with her stepfather. Stuart Tonks followed Alan right into the bakery, and killed him just as he was stealing your most prized possession, Ruth.”
Ruth gasped. “Is that what happened?”
“That’s how he tells it.” Kelly laughed. “You should’ve seen the look on Stuart Tonks’ face when I told him he walked out of the room leaving half a million dollars behind.”
“He wouldn’t have been too happy about that,” Ettie said.
Ruth sighed. “I had my Bible out one day looking at it when Alan Avery came in to pay his account. He took an interest in it and said he collected antique books. He asked me about it and said it might be extremely valuable. I packed it away and wouldn’t let him see it.”
“So, is that when you stopped supplying him with bread?” Ettie asked.
Ruth nodded. “It was also around the same time I found out he was opening the bakery, so it wasn’t just that he seemed too interested in my Bible.” Ruth looked at the detective. “Can I have my Bible back now?”
“I don’t see any reason why you can’t, but I don’t think you should go around calling it your most prized possession. I don’t think you should keep it around here anymore either.”
“No, not now that you’ve told Stuart Tonks about it’s existence,” Elsa-May said scowling at the detective.
The detective ignored Elsa-May’s comment and looked at Ettie. “And all the while, Mrs. Smith, you were worried about missing knives.”
Ettie’s lips turned down at the corners. “And I still am. Where did Tonks get the knife to kill Alan Avery? And what of Melissa Avery?"
“She was arrested this morning. We’ve got Stuart Tonks prepared to swear under oath that she paid him to kill her stepfather. He claims he stole the knife from Hugh Dwyer's place, that Dwyer has ties to Big Freddy's gang so Tonks had seen the set before. Naturally Dwyer lied about the knife when I asked about it because he’s been in trouble with the law before.”
“Weren’t Stuart Tonks and Melissa in a relationship?” Elsa-May asked.
The detective shrugged. “Things can change suddenly under different circumstances. It’s not unusual for a man like Stuart Tonks to throw his girlfriend under the bus. There’s no loyalty among the criminal element.”
Ettie looked at Ruth. “How are you feeling, Ruth?”
“I’m feeling a little better now that it’s all sorted and I’ll get my Bible back. I can’t believe that Melissa would’ve had Alan killed.”
“Money might not mean a lot to you, Ruth, but to some people, that’s all they think about,” Detective Kelly said.
Ruth sighed. “I don’t know how I can keep my Bible now. I might loan it to a museum. At least that way it’ll be safe and I can visit it.”
“That sounds like a good idea, Ruth,” Detective Kelly said.
It was a week later when Ettie opened the oven and pulled out the first loaf of bread she'd made in a long time. She shrieked when she saw it. “Elsa-May, it’s okay it’s not sinking!”
Elsa-May came into the kitchen to have a look at it. “It does look better. How did you fix the problem?”
“I don’t know. I’ve done nothing different.”
“Hmm.” Elsa-May looked over Ettie’s shoulder at the bread. “Can you cut me a slice and put butter on it?”
“Okay, but I’ll let it cool down a little first.”
When the sisters left the kitchen, they heard a knock on their front door. Ettie opened it to see Detective Kelly. “Come in, Detective.”
“Thank you.”
“Hello, Detective Kelly,” Elsa-May said. “Come, have a seat.”
The detective nearly tripped over Snowy. He looked down at the dog clawing at his shoe. “New addition?”
“Yes, that’s Elsa-May’s dog, Snowy.”
As soon as they were all seated, Ettie asked, “How’s everything?”
“I was just driving out your way and I thought I’d drop by. I must say I was quite surprised that you didn’t notice that Ruth’s Bible wasn’t a regular kind of Bible, Mrs. Smith. I had come to think that you had a mind as sharp as an eagle's eye, but the identity of that Bible slipped right on past you.”
Ettie nodded. “Just as well you’ve got the mind like an eagle, Detective. And isn’t that what they pay you for? I’m just a regular Amish woman.” Ettie and Elsa-May had decided to let the detective think that he was the only one who’d found out the value of the Bible.
Elsa-May stood up. “Ettie’s just made some fresh bread. Would you like to try some with butter?”
“Don’t mind if I do.” The detective threw his head back and laughed.
“What is it?” Ettie asked.
“To think that you thought someone would’ve been killed over a bread recipe.”
Ettie pouted. “Well, it was odd that the three men who’d offered Ruth money for the recipe all had grown up in the same foster house. And one of the boys even pushed Marvin down a cliff.”
The detective just smiled and said nothing. Ettie continued, “I’ve been wondering something.”
“What have you been wondering?”
“How did Alan Avery get into the bakery? You said there were no signs of forced entry.”
“We found a receipt for key-cutting amongst Alan’s paperwork. Alan must have stolen Ruth’s key early one morning,
had it cut, and then put it back later in the day before Ruth left the bakery. Tonks said he followed Alan to the bakery that night and saw him unlock the door. One of my men found the key in Avery's pocket. Avery’s mistake was in leaving the door ajar, inadvertently allowing Tonks to follow him inside. According to Tonks, Avery had no idea he’d been followed right up until the time he had the Bible in his hands. As he drove the knife in, Tonks said, ‘this is for Georgina.’ Apparently that is what Melissa had instructed him to say.”
Ettie asked, “Melissa thought her stepfather killed her mother?”
“She claims her stepfather killed her mother, and that’s why she wanted him dead. In her mind it was a payback.” The detective rubbed his chin, and stared at Ettie. “I’m the laughing stock now in Harrisburg. I did tell you it was going to be difficult to talk with Rupert Bird since he was out of my jurisdiction.”
Elsa-May placed a plate of buttered bread down on the table. “Yes, but who’s laughing now, Detective? You’ve cracked the case, isn’t that how they say it?”
Detective Kelly reached for a slice. “Yes.” He chuckled and then took a bite of the bread. When he swallowed, he said, “Not bad, Mrs. Smith, not bad, at all.”
Ettie smiled, and then pulled a slice of bread off the plate, but Snowy jumped up and knocked it to the floor. “Elsa-May! Look what your dog’s done now.”
Elsa-May leaned down and lifted Snowy into her lap. “Would you like a dog, Detective?”
I hope you enjoyed these mysteries.
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Blessings,
Samantha Price
Volume 2 Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set
(Includes: Amish Murder Too Close: Amish Quilt Shop Mystery: Amish Baby Mystery)
ETTIE SMITH AMISH MYSTERIES
Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 1 Page 36