“He’ll certainly feel like it once he finds out Gertie’s missing and we kept it from him.”
Ettie nodded.
“I can wait. It’s okay,” Ava said.
“Nee, we wouldn’t want you to be late getting home and have Jeremiah asking questions.”
“That’s true, and he would.”
Ettie and Elsa-May walked out of the library and headed to the police station while the midday sun warmed their skin.
“What a lovely day,” Ettie said.
“I hope it stays that way.”
“I hope we did the right thing not telling him yet that she was missing.”
“Right or wrong, what’s done is done.”
Elsa-May and Ettie walked up the steps of the police station.
When they got to the front desk, the young uniformed officer asked, “Detective Kelly?”
“Yes, please,” Elsa-May said.
He picked up the phone and, a moment later, asked them to take a seat.
When they sat down, Ettie whispered, “Do you notice that every time we’ve come here, he’s been here?”
“Now you mention it, that’s true.”
“He can’t be working too hard.”
Ettie and Elsa-May chuckled and then stopped when they saw Kelly striding toward them.
He beckoned to them to follow him. Once they were in his office, they sat down and he closed the door.
“I’ve just come back from talking to Quinn’s wife.” He sat down behind his desk.
“First or second?” Elsa-May asked.
“Second. The first wasn’t home. Now do you have any information for me?”
Ettie and Elsa-May looked at each other.
He drew his eyebrows together. “What is it?”
“Gertie is missing,” Elsa-May blurted out.
If only Ettie had spoken first, she would’ve said it in a much nicer way.
His eyes opened wide. “Since when?”
“Yesterday. She wasn't home when we got there early in the morning.”
Kelly rubbed his head. “This is no good. We’ll need to find her to talk with her.”
Ettie hoped they were doing the right thing. It still wasn’t a good time to tell Kelly that Gertie was an eyewitness. There was no telling who would find out and then Gertie might get into more danger than she was possibly in already.
“What’s the best way to approach this? Normally I’d turn to you for anything to do with you Amish people. I’m a little unnerved that you’ve turned to me to find her.”
Ettie sighed. “I’ll make some more calls.”
“I’ll have to go through her house and see what we can find. Her safety is paramount.” He leaped to his feet. “I’ll get a couple of officers, and you two can come with me so I can keep an eye on you. How do I get permission to enter her house?”
“She doesn’t lock it.”
He shook his head. “Perfect. Just perfect.” Looking over at them, he said, “That was me being sarcastic. I need to legally gain access. Who handles her affairs, or who’s her next-of-kin? A close relative?”
Ettie and Elsa-May stared at each other.
“We don’t know,” Ettie finally said. “She doesn’t have any children, and there are no living siblings.”
“You think she might be in danger?”
“She might be.”
“Probably Amos is the nearest person to her because he waters her plants,” Ettie said.
He picked up his phone, pressed a button and arranged for two officers with a squad car to follow him in his car. When he hung up, he said, “Let’s go.”
Elsa-May sat in the front passenger seat while Ettie sat in the back.
Ettie leaned over as soon as the car moved off. “What did Quinn’s wife have to say?”
“She had some interesting things to tell me.”
“About what?” Elsa-May asked.
Kelly chuckled. “Nothing that should interest you.”
“About Earl’s brother?”
Kelly glanced at Ettie in the rearview mirror. “What do you know about his brother?”
“That he was a criminal and that the police have never been able to arrest him for anything.”
“Sounds like a challenge to me. Carl Quinn is known to us, I can tell you that much. And, I’m certain he has been arrested before.”
When they arrived at the house, Ettie saw Amos peeping out his front window. Elsa-May and Ettie watched from a distance as Kelly talked with Amos. Then the two officers entered Gertie's home first, followed by Kelly. Ettie and Elsa-May stayed by the front door.
They watched as Kelly sauntered over to where Ettie had left Gertie’s address book.
He picked it up and flipped through it. “This would’ve been useful if it was a diary.”
“Ettie made some calls, but no one knows where she is,” Elsa-May said.
He ignored her and kept looking around. “No signs of a robbery and no sign of violence. I suppose you’ve spoken to the neighbors?”
“There’s only Amos. He’s friendly with Gertie and she always lets him know when she’s going away and she didn’t this time.”
“Are you going to look for prints?” Ettie asked.
“She’s missing, let’s not jump the gun. I’ll have another word with Amos.” Kelly walked out of the house.
Ettie watched Kelly knock on Amos’ door, and Amos opened the door and stepped outside. They spoke for only a few minutes before Ettie saw Kelly shake his hand and walk back to Gertie’s house.
"Strange fellow," he said when he stepped back into Gertie’s house.
"I suppose he seems that way at first. But he is a very good man," Ettie said.
"Know him well, do you?"
“He's been in the community all his life, the same community as we have always lived in, so while we're not extremely close we’ve known him all his life."
"He couldn't tell me anything about the previous person who’d lived there." Kelly’s brow furrowed and he pressed his lips firmly together.
“That’s not unusual. The man who lived there wasn’t Amish and he was well gone by the time Amos moved in.”
Half an hour later, Kelly was finished at Gertie’s house and he drove Ettie and Elsa-May back home.
Chapter 11
The next morning, Ettie and Elsa-May sat in silence eating their breakfast of oatmeal and hot milk with a dash of honey. Elsa-May slurped her milk straining it through the cereal with her teeth. It set Ettie’s nerves on edge, but she tried to stop letting it bother her.
"How’s Snowy this morning?" she asked instead of complaining.
"Good. We'll have to go and get his stitches taken out in a couple of days."
"Good. I'm pleased that he's recovering well."
"I couldn't sleep last night. I was tossing and turning because I was worried about Gertie. If she was going to go away she would've said something to us when we were there. It was the very next day that she disappeared," Elsa-May said.
"You shouldn't work yourself up about something that you've got no control over."
"It's hard not to."
"I know it is. I had trouble sleeping myself. Why don't we stop by her house and see if she's come home yet, and if she's not there we'll continue on to the station and see if Detective Kelly has found anything out," Ettie said.
"Yes, let's do it."
They directed the taxi to stop right between Gertie's house and Amos’ house on the large driveway that separated the two places.
"No windows are open; no doors are open. It looks like she's not here yet. You stay here, I'll go talk to Amos."
Ettie sat in the taxi and watched her sister knock on Amos' front door. Her heart felt heavy when she saw Amos answer the door and then shake his head. Elsa-May didn't waste any time coming back to the taxi.
She slid along the backseat beside Ettie. "Nothing."
They continued on to the police station, hoping the detective had found something out but since Gertie stil
l wasn't home, they were doubtful that he had any good news.
As soon as they entered the station, they saw Kelly talking to the officer at the front desk.
“Are you here to see me?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“I can spare a couple of minutes.” He walked them through to his office and asked, “Any news on Gertie?”
“No. We just stopped by at her house and Amos said she hasn’t shown up.”
"They've released Quinn's remains," Kelly announced as soon as they were seated in his office.
"Now his family will be able to have a funeral," Elsa-May said.
"Yes, it’ll be a relief for the nearest and dearest."
"I wonder what's become of the daughter he adopted out."
"Happily living somewhere, totally oblivious to what's gone on and what's happened to her biological father, I'd say," Kelly said.
"Yes, I hope so. He did come to a rather tragic end. And you still don't know why, do you, Detective Kelly?" Elsa-May asked.
"We do know that he had several blows to his head."
"That's exactly what… what Gertie said her husband saw."
"Well, we can talk to her when she finally comes home. I do have some other news for you."
"What is it?"
"A taxi picked her up just before six o'clock in the morning, of the day you said she went missing, and took her to the train station."
Ettie put a hand over her heart. "Oh, that’s such a relief. You could've told us that right away."
"I should have. I've got so many things going on I can't remember what you do and don't know. Since you usually know everything."
"Do you know what train she got on?" Elsa-May asked.
"No. We don't even know yet if she got on a train at all. That’s just where the driver said he left her.”
"At least we know she's all right, wherever she is," Ettie said.
"Do you think his first wife will be at the funeral?"
"I'd say it's more than likely. We did get in touch with her and she's coming in today. I'll have a talk with her and see if we can get down to the bottom of things. Now, can I ask you two to stop poking around in things?"
"All we wanted to know is that Gertie’s safe. So, all we ask is that you’ll let us know—”
“I’m not obliged to let you know anything.” He huffed agitatedly. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t take my bad mood out on you two. There’s a lot going on before we can finally put this case to bed. It would’ve been a lot easier if your friend hadn’t wandered off in the middle of it.”
“I know.”
“Why would she do that if she thinks her husband was murdered? Wouldn’t she want to stick around and see the thing through? She should’ve come forward and talked to us in the first place rather than make a halfhearted attempt to call us.”
“As soon as she gets back, we’ll encourage her to talk to you.”
“Thank you.”
While Kelly talked to Ettie near the door of his office, Elsa-May put her glasses on and tilted his writing pad on his desk toward her. She read that the funeral was on in two days time, at St. Andrew's Church as they'd been told by Mrs. Quinn, at eleven thirty in the morning. They already knew where it was going to be held, and now they had the time.
Kelly glanced over at Elsa-May. “Thank you both for coming in, and I’ll talk to you after your wandering friend returns.”
“Very well,” Elsa-May said as she walked out of his office with Ettie.
As the two sisters walked down the front steps of the police station, Elsa-May said, “I saw the time of the funeral. It’s on Friday at eleven thirty at St. Andrew's Church.”
“We’ll have to go.” Ettie sighed.
“Kelly won’t like it.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t go. We should keep out of things.”
“It’s up to you. If you don’t want to go, we won’t go,” Elsa-May said.
Ettie nodded. “I'll think on it. Now, however, let’s go to that coffee shop up the road and have a nice piece of cake.”
Elsa-May chuckled. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard in some time.”
“You know, we probably should find out more about Carl, Earl’s brother.”
“And exactly how do we do that?” Elsa-May asked.
“By visiting Julie, the first wife.”
“Good idea. She should know what’s going on since she would’ve known Carl, having married his brother.”
“Hmm.” Ettie thought some more. “She’d know Carl, but she might not know anything else.”
“It’s a start. It’s important that we find out who killed Earl so Gertie can be safe.”
“If only there was a way of finding out who was staying in that house back then.”
“Gertie said there was no paperwork and it was all paid with cash.”
“I know.” Ettie frowned hoping everything would work itself out soon.
Chapter 12
It was a rare treat for Ettie and Elsa-May to sit down for cake in a coffee shop. They almost never ate anywhere other than their own home. Ettie's face lit up as she eyed the three rows of various cakes in the glass display cabinet.
"Everything looks so good. I'd like to try a little of everything."
"You can only have one, Ettie."
"What will it be, ladies?
They looked up to see the café worker.
"I'd like a black coffee and an orange cake please."
The worker fixed her eyes on Elsa-May after she gave Ettie a nod.
"And I'll try the coffee cheesecake and —"
"Oooh, that sounds good. Can you change my order to a coffee cheesecake, please?"
"Of course."
"As I was saying, I'll have the coffee cheesecake and I'll have a lemon tea with a dash of honey in it, please."
"That sounds good, too. I'll have the same as her, please?"
"So, no coffee for you?" the waitress asked.
"No, that's right. I’ll have the coffee cheesecake and lemon tea with a dash of honey."
"Take a seat and I'll bring it over."
Ettie and Elsa-May made their way over to a table by the window.
"I suppose I should've had something different from you so we could have tasted each other's?"
"That would've been the sensible thing to do."
"Never mind. We can do that next time. I do hope Gertie’s okay," Ettie said.
"It's still a bit of a worry with her missing under the circumstances, even with the news about the taxi picking her up."
"The thing that bothers me about everything is that she was so convinced that all the deaths were linked, going back to Aaron's drowning."
"It simply can't be possible, Ettie. She's wrong. She's one of those people who thinks everything revolves around her and she is the center of the universe."
"That's a little harsh, Elsa-May."
"I'm not being nasty, I'm just saying that some people don't see the broader picture. They can only see their own little world and what's happening in front of their eyes. And that's why she thinks that everything that happens around her is happening because it's got something to do with her."
Ettie remained silent, not wanting to disagree with her sister.
"Well, don't you agree?"
Ettie shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really know."
"It's quite a simple thing, Aaron died when she was a teenager, when he was a teenager, too. Gertie is around seventy so that would make it fifty-some years ago. How could that death be related to her witnessing a murder of an Englischer ten years ago?"
Elsa-May stared at Ettie.
"I don't know. Perhaps Gertie has some reasoning behind that thinking that she didn't tell us."
"I just don't see it. It's not plausible." Elsa-May straightened her prayer kapp and then the top of her dress.
The waitress brought over their tea with a small container of honey on the side, and two large pieces of coffee cheesecake with whipped cream and dark chocolate sp
rinkles. "There you go, ladies."
"Thank you. This look so good." After the waitress unloaded their items on the table in front of them, she left them alone. Each drizzled some honey into her cup, and they poured the hot tea from two small teapots.
"We should do this more often," Ettie said.
"Jah, it's nice to sit here, and we don't have to do any baking or any of the washing up."
"That's the best part. We just walk out of here and someone else does the cleaning up." Ettie took a sip of tea. "This is really good! So, what do you think; are we going to the funeral?"
"Of course we are. There’s no doubt about it.”
"Perhaps that's where we should talk to Earl's first wife. If she’s there."
"Only if we get a proper opportunity. I don't want to do anything inappropriate at the funeral."
"Nee, of course, that would be terrible." Ettie pulled a face.
"How are we going to know who Julie is?"
"I think we'll be able to work it out when we get there." Elsa-May broke off a portion of the coffee cheesecake and popped it into her mouth. Ettie could see by the look on her face that the cheesecake was delicious. "It's very rich," Elsa-May said when she finished swallowing the bite.
"Perhaps we should have just had one piece and gone halves?" Ettie said.
"I've lost weight from all that walking I've been doing, so I think I can have a little cheesecake now and again."
"I didn't say you were fat. I'm just having second thoughts myself of whether I can get through all of my piece of cheesecake or not."
“Oh, okay. Now, Amos wasn't living in that house when Simon was alive."
"That's right. After the man who was living there killed that other man, Earl, the killer left the house and disappeared without a word."
"Amos moved there after Simon died. Obviously hoping that Gertie might marry him after all those years," Elsa-May said.
"I feel so sorry for him. Being so in love with her over all these years, and she probably never looked twice at him in a romantic way.”
“At the funeral we can maybe find the brother, Carl, and talk to him. Were you listening to anything I just said, Ettie?”
“Jah, I heard you.”
“I feel sorry for Amos too, but there’s nothing either you or I can do about it. If she doesn’t feel that way about him, then that’s that. Now, what do you think about what I said about Carl?”
Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 4 Page 28
