“Of course I remembered it.”
Right then, the door opened and a woman stepped out. The woman had a pale face and her dark hair was severely drawn back into a bun. Her eyes stood out against her gaunt white face as did her thin lips that were painted blood red. “How did you get in here?”
“We followed a car in,” Ettie said.
“Name?”
Elsa-May scratched her neck. “We don’t know who it was. It looked like a cleaning lady.”
The woman narrowed her eyes. “No! What are your names?”
“I see, I thought you meant the name of the woman from the car we followed in… but, of course, you’d probably know who that was.”
Ettie thought she’d better interrupt, or they’d be there all day. Taking a step forward, she said, “I’m Ettie Smith and this is my sister, Elsa-May Lutz. Are you Mrs. Cohen?”
“I work for her. What’s all this about?” The woman folded her arms across her thin frame.
“Can we see her? We’ve come a long way and we’ve got some confidential information for her.”
“About what?”
“It’s about this.” Ettie pulled out the quilt and the woman stared at the quilt and immediately unfolded her arms and straightened up.
“You’d better come inside.” She pushed the door open for the ladies to walk through. “You'll meet with her in this room. I’ll tell her you’re here.” Just to the left of the hallway was a sitting room. “Please, have a seat.”
They were only in the room for two minutes before another lady walked in. “Hello,” she said.
Ettie and Elsa-May stood and introduced themselves.
“Have a seat,” Mrs. Cohen said as she sat down. “You’re here about the quilt?” she said as her eyes went right to it.
Ettie began, and got to the point. “You left your baby at our door, didn’t you?”
She opened her mouth to speak, then looked from Ettie to Elsa-May as though she were searching for words. She sobbed and pulled a lace handkerchief out of the front pocket of her pants. “I did.” She looked at them. “Where is he?”
“He’s safe with some friends of ours.”
“Amish friends?”
Ettie nodded. “Amish friends. Don’t worry, he’s safe and he’s being looked after well.”
“Do you think someone is going to steal this baby like they stole your baby five years ago?” Elsa-May asked.
“It was four years ago, and it’s likely. We never got our Langley back. I can’t go through that again. Did you know that a detective was here? They were no help last time and I wish they’d just stay away.”
“He’s a retired detective—a friend of ours— he just wants your baby to be safe the same as Ettie and I do.”
“Will you tell us what happened with Langley?”
“He’s dead.”
“Presumed to be? I thought they never found him,” Elsa-May said.
“They told me that’s what happens when kidnappers don’t get their money. My husband, Craig, was speaking to the people who took our baby, he’d agreed to give them the money. He stupidly got the police involved and they called in the FBI. That’s when everything went wrong. Craig arranged to drop the money where they wanted. After Craig took the money there, the police swooped in on the man and we never got the call to collect Langley. I mean, of course, we wouldn’t because they never got the money they asked for. Turns out the man they caught was someone they’d hired to pick up the money—he knew nothing about the kidnapping or the men who did it. It was botched all the way along, and I blame the police—and my husband.” She shook her head and in a low tone said, “If Craig had just given them the money like they’d asked, I’d be sitting here with Langley today.”
“You don’t know that for certain, Mrs. Cohen, and you can’t live in fear,” Elsa-May said.
“I can’t risk anything happening to my baby. That’s why I gave him away. My husband doesn’t even know about the baby. Please don’t tell him.”
“How is it that he doesn’t know?” Ettie asked.
The woman mopped up some more tears before she confessed, “As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I flew to Canada to stay with my sister. I had the baby there and on my way back here, I knew I had to leave him with the Amish. I could have left him in Canada, but I’d feel better knowing he was living close by. I saw…” she turned to Elsa-May. “I think it was you I saw walking a dog. You looked kind and I watched you go into a house. I then left and drove around all night wondering if I was doing the right thing. In the morning, after I’d given him a bottle and he was fast asleep, I drove back and left him on your doorstep. I watched from a safe distance away and saw you pick him up and take him inside.”
“Wouldn’t you be able to keep your baby? Couldn’t you get better security around this place? It didn’t take Ettie and me very much effort to get inside here.”
She shook her head. “These people are professionals. If they want to get someone, they’ll find a way. And I can’t go through it again. We never planned for another baby. He was an accident. I didn’t want to go through any more pain after Langley was taken from us.”
“We have to tell you that a man came to our house and said he was the father of the baby and asked us to hand him over,” Elsa-May said.
The woman gasped and covered her mouth. “I wonder if Craig’s found out.” She jumped to her feet and took hold of a framed photo that had been sitting on the mantle. “Is this the man?”
Elsa-May shook her head. “No, that’s not him. Is that your husband?”
“Yes. That means they know where he is and they’re trying to do this all over again.”
“I think we might need to get the police involved,” Ettie said. “We got the man’s plates and our retired detective friend found out his name and he’s got a criminal record.”
Tears brimmed again in the woman’s eyes. “I feel so helpless. I thought he’d be safe with the Amish.”
“You can’t continue to live in fear of these people.”
“I can’t risk my baby’s life. I’ll do anything, if it means he’ll be safe. I can’t lose another child.”
“While your child is safe, it might be a good time to talk with the police so they can catch these men, and then perhaps when they catch them, you can find out what happened to your first baby.”
“Yes, I’d like to know what happened to him and where he is. I want him to have a proper burial. He had a memorial service, but that’s not the same. He’s lying out there somewhere—all by himself.” She shook her head and through tear-filled eyes said, “How did they find him? I was being so careful. Not even my husband knew about the baby.”
“Didn’t he see you getting bigger and think it strange that you were gone for so long?”
“I told him my sister was sick. My sister knew, of course, but she’d never tell anyone anything. We’ve always held each other’s secrets since we were children.” She went on to remind them, “It was my husband’s fault that we lost Langley. If he’d just done what the kidnappers said, we’d have gotten him back.”
“But you don’t know that for certain,” Ettie said.
“In my heart, I know it. Things were never the same between Craig and me after that. He’ll be so upset with me if he learns about the baby. I suppose I’ve got to tell the police about it now. If they know my baby exists, and it sounds like they do, he won’t be safe.”
“Do you want us to call the detective for you? The one who came here was retired, but we do know a real one quite well,” Ettie said.
“Would you?” Mrs. Cohen asked.
Ettie stood up. “Where’s the phone?”
The woman stood up and pointed to the phone in the corner of the room.
“I’ll phone Detective Crowley,” Ettie muttered, being too afraid to talk to Detective Kelly herself. She’d call Crowley and then he could call Kelly and fill him in. While Ettie dialed the number, Elsa-May continued to talk with Genevieve. Knowing Crowley’
s mobile number by heart, Ettie dialed.
“Hello?” Crowley answered.
“It’s Ettie.”
“Where are you phoning from, Ettie?”
“I’m at Genevieve Cohen’s place and she’s agreed to co-operate. She got very worried when she learned that a man had come to our door asking for the baby.”
“He’s her baby?”
“Yes, he is.”
“Good work, Ettie, I’ll get in touch with Detective Kelly right away.”
“Elsa-May and I will leave before he gets here.”
“Yes, that might be a good idea. Thanks again, Ettie.”
Ettie hung up thinking he’d already finished talking. Did he just thank me? Normally he warned them to keep out of things, but that was before he’d retired.
“All done?” Genevieve asked Ettie as she approached.
“Yes. Detective Kelly should be here soon.”
Elsa-May rose to her feet. “We’d better go, then.”
“Yes, we should and we need to hurry,” Ettie said, fearing the lecture Kelly would give them. He wouldn’t be as lenient as Crowley.
“Are you certain my baby is safe?” Mrs. Cohen asked when everyone was standing.
“My grandson is newly married and he’s taken the day off to look after Luke with his wife.”
“Luke? You’ve named him?”
“We thought we should give him a name.”
“I didn’t give him a name because I knew I couldn’t keep him. I hope something works out so I can. That would be my best dream come true. Perhaps the police will catch these people.”
“We will pray for the best outcome,” Ettie said.
“Thank you, both of you.”
Ettie leaned in and quietly asked Mrs. Cohen, “Who’s the woman who answered the door?”
“She’s my personal secretary, Nerida.”
“What’s her last name?”
“Flower.”
“Nerida Flower,” Elsa-May said. “How long has she worked for you?”
“I couldn’t be without her. She’s worked for me for nearly ten years. She kept the household going while I was away.”
“Does she know about the baby?” Ettie asked.
“She knows everything about me, but I trust her completely.”
After they said goodbye, Ettie and Elsa-May hurried toward the gates. The gates opened as they drew closer.
“We should’ve called for a taxi before we left the house.”
“Too late now. I’m not staying there any longer so Kelly can see us.”
“Why are you so scared of him?” Elsa-May asked.
“He always makes me feel guilty of something. And he always says that we’re sticking our noses into things.”
Elsa-May chuckled. “Come on. Let’s walk this direction. There are some stores up here and there should be a public phone where we can call for a taxi.”
“What do you think of Nerida?”
“She looks a little cranky.”
Ettie shook her head. “I don’t know. I think she might not be as trustworthy as Genevieve thinks.”
“Why don’t we see what we can find out about her?”
“We will.”
Chapter 9
Ettie and Elsa-May had been home for two hours before they got a knock on the door.
Ettie looked out the window. “It's Detective Kelly.”
“I suppose we should let him in. I hope he’s not mad with us for contacting Crowley instead of him.”
“Me too.” Ettie shrugged off her nervousness and opened the door to Detective Kelly, with Elsa-May standing right behind her.
He looked at both of them. “Good afternoon.”
“Good afternoon, Detective,” Elsa-May said.
Ettie stepped back. “Come in.”
“Ow! That was my foot, Ettie.”
Ettie spun around. “Oh, sorry.”
Elsa-May shook her head and looked at Detective Kelly. “Can we make you some tea?”
As he moved toward the living room, he said, “I’m in no mood for tea.”
Ettie exchanged nervous glances with Elsa-May.
“We did the right thing in telling you about the baby,” Ettie said to soften his mood.
He sat carefully on one of their wooden chairs.
As Elsa-May sat in her usual chair, she said, “It’s all right. We’ve had the chairs fixed. They’re quite safe now. Not that they weren’t safe before….”
“I didn’t come here to talk about your furniture.” He glared at Elsa-May, and then he turned his head and glared at Ettie.
“As I was saying, we told you about the baby.”
“No, you didn’t. You went to Genevieve Cohen’s house without her permission—as good as trespassed, and then you contacted Crowley rather than me. And when did you find the baby on your doorstep? Crowley said it was yesterday.”
“That’s right,” Elsa-May said. “We did what we thought was right for the baby, and what his mother wrote in the note.”
He pressed his lips tightly together. “Where is he now?”
“He’s with friends of ours and he’s safe.”
“You know I’m going to have to contact social services, don’t you?”
“Can’t you hold off doing that? Genevieve Cohen said she didn’t want Englischers to take the baby. She’s happy to leave him with us. She said…”
“This time, I’ll do what you ask, but only because Mrs. Cohen also requested that I hold off as long as possible before contacting social services. She’d like nothing more than to take her baby back, as long as it’s safe to do so. Since her first baby was taken from her home four years ago, she feels better that this baby is elsewhere.”
“That’s good that she wants her baby back,” Elsa-May said. “She left him here for a good reason.”
“I’ve got Victor Lemonis in for questioning. He’s the man who came here asking for the baby. So far, he hasn’t talked. I’m going to go back to the station after I talk with the pair of you. I’ll do my best to get some information out of him.”
“That’s good,” Ettie said.
“The good news is that the cold case unit is now following up on the old kidnapping of Langley Cohen and we’re working closely with them. And next time anything like this happens you must contact me directly. Crowley is retired. You need to call me and not him.”
Ettie nodded, feeling like she was back at school when the teacher would reprimand her for daydreaming. “Yes, Detective Kelly.”
“What do we do now?” Elsa-May asked him.
“As far as the baby is concerned, we're looking at things one day at a time. Crowley suggested having your grandson and his wife approved as temporary custodians, and that should be fine since we have Mrs. Cohen’s approval.”
“So she said the baby can stay with Ava and Jeremiah?”
“We’ll have to wait and see. There are charges for abandoning a baby—it’s a crime and Mrs. Cohen will have to face those charges.”
“I’m sure she only did it for the best reasons,” Ettie said.
“All that will be taken into consideration and she’s had previous psychiatric care and will need to be evaluated again. I’m holding off on her arrest because I don’t want to draw attention to the case while we’re investigating it.”
“So she will be charged at some point?” Elsa-May asked.
“Yes she will, but I’m putting it off for as long as possible. Now that we’ve got Victor Lemonis we’re hoping he’ll lead us to his accomplices.”
“I hope so. Jeremiah is bringing the baby back here tonight.”
“And he’s going to stay here too because that’s the arrangements we’ve made.”
Kelly nodded. “Okay. I’ll send a doctor over to check that the baby’s in good health. What time will the baby be here?”
“I’d say by six tonight,” Ettie said, glancing at Elsa-May who nodded in agreement.
“Leave it with me,” the detective said, rising to his feet.
“Can we trust this doctor will be confidential?” Ettie asked.
“The doctor will be on a need-to-know basis. Don’t mention anything about the baby. All I will be asking of him is to give the baby a check-up and make sure he’s all right. Give him any story you want. Anyway, I doubt he’ll ask anything. That baby’s health is my primary concern at this point in time—understood?”
Ettie and Elsa-May nodded and walked Detective Kelly to the door.
When Ettie and Elsa-May were by themselves, Ettie looked at Elsa-May and asked, “What do we do now?”
Elsa-May wiggled her shoulders and threw her hands in the air. “I suppose we just wait here until Jeremiah comes back with Luke. And then wait for the doctor.”
“I'm not comfortable with a doctor coming here, but what do we do?”
“Neither am I, Ettie, but I suppose it’s a compromise.”
Chapter 10
Jeremiah knocked on the door and walked in with the laundry basket. Ettie and Elsa-May rushed to him.
“How is he?” Ettie asked as she peered into the basket.
“He’s good. He’s just been fed and he’s gone back to sleep.”
“The detective has arranged for a doctor to check him over.”
“Crowley?”
“Nee Kelly.”
“What happened today?”
“Put Luke in the bedroom and then we’ll tell you all about it.”
When the three of them were sitting in the living room, they told Jeremiah everything.”
“So they’ve got the kidnapper, then?”
“Jah, they’re trying to get a confession out of him and find out what happened to the Cohens' first baby.”
“I hope he tells them.”
“Jah, it must be awful not knowing the truth of what happened.”
“Kelly said we’re not to tell the doctor the true circumstances of the baby. He said we could make something up, but…”
“I don’t want to do that,” Jeremiah said.
“Nee, we didn’t think that you would. Hopefully, the doctor won’t ask a thing. He’ll simply be here to give the baby a quick check-up to make sure he’s healthy.”
“Of course, he’s healthy; anyone can see that,” Jeremiah said.
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