“I can drive everyone to the library,” Jeremiah said.
“There’s no need,” Ettie said. “Crowley left us a cell phone for emergencies and it’s one of those iPhones where we can get onto the Internet.”
“Quick, go and get it, Ettie.”
When Ettie brought the phone into the kitchen, Jeremiah sprang to his feet. “I hope you’re not going to turn that thing on under your roof, Mammi?” He glared at Elsa-May, his grandmother, and then glared at his great-aunt.
Ettie and Elsa-May looked at each other.
“Perhaps we should go to the library?” Ava suggested. “If you take us to the library, Jeremiah, then you can go back to work.”
“Okay,” Elsa-May said, “We’ll go to the library.”
Ettie said, “You’re such a stickler for rules, Jeremiah. It’ll save time if we look it up here and now! The bishop won’t mind if it’s saving someone’s life. I’ll confess to the wrongdoing myself if that eases your conscience.”
Jeremiah folded his arms tightly in front of his chest. “If we ease up on one rule we might as well ease up on the lot, and where would that leave us? We must follow the Ordnung and the guidance of the bishop.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Elsa-May said.
“It’s probably best we go to the library and it’s not that far,” Ava said.
“Come on, Ettie, let’s just go there,” Elsa-May said.
“Very well,” Ettie grumbled.
Chapter 15
Jeremiah stopped the buggy not far from the library. “It’s a bit of a walk, but I can’t stop any closer.”
“This is fine, Jeremiah, denke,” Elsa-May said before she stepped down.
“I’ll see you all later.”
When Jeremiah drove away, Ettie said to Ava, “I hope we haven’t gotten you into trouble.”
Ava winced. “He doesn’t like to do anything that might be considered questionable. With him, it’s all black and white and nothing in between. I thought I told him I went to college, but it sounds like I didn’t. He’ll think my education has made me prideful.”
“Well, you aren’t, so don’t concern yourself. I guess that’s the way he feels safest—to be cautious and that’s not a bad way to be,” Elsa-May said as they headed toward the library.
“We’ll let you do the looking up on the computer, Ava since you know what you’re doing better than either of us.”
“Okay.”
When they found a free computer, Ava pulled two extra chairs beside her. Ettie and Elsa-May sat close at either side so they could see the screen.
“Search for kidnapping in this area and see what comes up,” Elsa-May ordered.
After a few minutes of searching, Ava said, “There are a few women who have stolen babies, but no one taking babies for money yet.”
“Keep looking,” Elsa-May said. “Unless one of those women is… What was that woman’s name, Ettie?”
“Mrs. Cohen personal secretary?”
“Jah, I don’t trust that woman—she looked shifty.”
“I think her name was… it was something odd. I wish I’d written it down. Was it Jemimah or something?”
Elsa-May frowned. “Nerida Flower—that’s what it was.”
“Gut work, Elsa-May. I should’ve remembered a name like that.”
“I’ll look up her name when I finish this search,” Ava said. “Write it down so you don’t forget the name.”
Ettie obeyed and wrote the name down.
Ava peered at the screen. “There are plenty of news articles on the Cohen kidnapping four years ago. but they aren’t telling me anything we don’t already know.”
“Skip them and move on,” Ettie said.
“Okay. There’s a movie about a woman who was abducted as a child and how she adjusts when she comes home.”
Ettie huffed. “Focus, Ava, focus.”
Ava frowned. “Okay, but it looks interesting.”
“You’re not going to watch it so move on. You don’t want to give Jeremiah something else to grumble about,” Elsa-May said.
“You’re right.” Ava giggled. After looking for a few more minutes, Ava said, “There doesn’t seem to be anything here.”
“Increase the search into other areas,” Elsa-May suggested. “Go wider.”
“All right. The whole of Pennsylvania?”
“Jah, the whole of Pennsylvania,” Ettie said.
“Here’s something.” Ava straightened her back. “Oh no. It’s another movie. Sorry.”
“That’s okay, keep looking,” Elsa-May said rubbing her head.
“I wonder how many children are kidnapped and we never hear about it. Mrs. Cohen's husband was the one who got the police involved; if it had been solely up to Genevieve, she would’ve paid them the money and kept silent,” Ettie said.
“So you’re saying that maybe these kidnappers have never been caught and they might have done it before and even after?” Elsa-May said.
Ettie nodded. “It’s a possibility.”
“Should we be looking at unsolved cases, then?” Ava asked. “Or people suspected of something, but never charged?”
Elsa-May said, “Jah, if we can find people like that. Let's have a look at them before we go further.”
Ava pulled up a list of unsolved cases and after Ettie and Elsa-May had read a couple of them, they didn’t want to read more. All the children that had been taken were either found dead or were never found at all. In one of the cases, a man had given a deathbed confession that he’d kidnapped a child, but he gave no more details as to what had happened to that child.
“This is too gruesome,” Ava said.
Ettie said, “Ava, I want you to write down every name that a newspaper has mentioned of being connected to a kidnapping. Then find a photo of them and print them all off.”
Ava nodded. “Okay, it might take some time. I’ll have to print each one separately and write their name on the same page.”
“We’ve got all day,” Ettie said.
“What are you going to do with their photos, Ettie?” Elsa-May asked.
“We’re going to visit Mrs. Cohen again and show her the photos to see if she knows one of them.”
“Why would she?”
“I don’t know, but this is all we’ve got so far. You all wanted me to do something, so I’m doing something.”
Elsa-May leaned forward and jutted out her bottom jaw. “I meant something that would lead to a result.”
“A little silence please, so I can concentrate,” Ava said in a small voice.
Ettie frowned at Elsa-May, shaking her head.
* * *
When Ava was through, there were twenty photos of men, who were at some point, alleged kidnappers. Ettie carefully studied each photo before she passed them to Elsa-May.
“See anyone you know?” Ava asked.
“Nee, no one looks familiar to me,” Ettie said.
“Now we’ll have to get a taxi to Mrs. Cohen’s house.”
Are you coming with us, Ava?”
“I wouldn’t miss seeing Luke; of course I’ll come.”
“Wait!” Ettie said. “See what you can find out about Nerida Flower.”
“Okay.” Ava turned back to the computer and searched the woman’s name. “There’s nothing here. Nothing that I can find out about her, and she doesn’t even have Facebook.”
Elsa-May said, “Facebook’s for younger people, isn’t it? She seems to be around fifty.”
“That’s young to me,” Ettie said. “So nothing at all?”
“Nothing. But…” Ava continued, “wait a minute. Hand me those photos.”
Elsa-May handed the photos of the possible kidnappers to Ava.
Ava pulled one of the photos out. “I thought that name was familiar. Look here! Kel Flower.”
“Ah! I wonder if they are relatives,” Elsa-May said.
“I wonder if the police have missed that. They would’ve checked everyone out—everyone who was close to the Coh
ens, that is,” Ettie said.
“This will make the visit to Mrs. Cohen even more interesting,” Elsa-May said.
“Could you phone a taxi for us, Ava?” Ettie asked.
“Jah, what’s the address?”
When Elsa-May gave her the address, Ava headed off to the front of the building where the pay phones were.
“I hope Mrs. Cohen talks with us,” Ettie said to Elsa-May.
“She should. She talked to us the other day.”
“I suppose so.”
“She’ll want to find the kidnappers. So she can feel safe.”
Chapter 16
The taxi dropped the three ladies off at Mrs. Cohen’s house, and Elsa-May led the way to the tall front gates and then she pressed the intercom button.
“What is she doing?” whispered Ava.
“That’s where you talk to someone inside when you arrive in a car.”
Ava and Ettie watched as Elsa-May talked to an employee within the house. “We’re here to see Mrs. Cohen and she’ll want to see us. It’s a matter of vital importance. Just tell her three Amish ladies are here to see her.”
A minute later, the gates opened and the three ladies hurried through them. Their feet crunched along the tiny white pebbles that led toward the front steps of the house. Before they reached the door, it opened and Mrs. Cohen stood there staring at them.
“I’m so pleased you’ve come. Do come inside,” she said once they drew closer.
Ettie introduced Ava and told Mrs. Cohen that Ava had taken good care of her baby for one of the days that they’d had him. Once they were sitting down, Mrs. Cohen told them that the baby was asleep upstairs and was nearly due to wake.
“I would so like to see him now that I’m here. I miss him so much,” Ava said.
Mrs. Cohen smiled kindly at her. “Of course, I’ll take you up in a minute. Have the police made any inroads yet?”
“Their only suspect, Victor Lemonis, killed himself, and without him, I don’t know if they’ve got anything to go on. Detective Kelly tells me he’s hopeful of uncovering evidence from his apartment,” Ettie said.
“I’ve heard all about it from the detective,” Mrs. Cohen said with a frown.
“Mrs. Cohen, it’s only a slight chance, but do any of these men look familiar?” Elsa-May handed the stack of photos to her.
“Take your time,” Ettie said.
She looked at the photos one by one and hesitated at one man, and then looked up holding the photo high. “This man did my gardening for a while.”
“Are you certain?” Ettie asked, hoping it would be the man whose last name was Flower.
“Yes. I could track down his name. Or do you know it?” Mrs. Cohen asked.
“Ava? Do we know his name?” Ettie asked.
“It’s written on the front in small pencil writing.” Ava stood up and studied the photo. “George Cousins.”
“That’s him. I remember he worked here for around six months, but I had to get rid of him.”
“Why’s that?” Ettie asked.
“He pruned my roses way too much.”
Ava asked, “Did your baby go missing from the house here? We never heard how or where he went missing from.”
She nodded. “He was taken at night from this very house.”
“He would’ve known the routine of your household—I’m guessing,” Elsa-May added.
“I suppose he would’ve, but at the time, the police asked questions of everyone who’d ever worked here. They questioned my current and past staff—I’m certain of it. Where did you get the photo of him?”
“From the Internet. He’s been suspected of kidnapping before,” Ava said.
Mrs. Cohen drew her fingers to her throat and gasped.
“Ettie, you should call Detective Kelly,” Elsa-May said.
“Can I use your phone?”
“Yes, it’s over by the window.”
Ettie called Detective Kelly and told him what they’d found out. She hoped this lead would prove to be of value otherwise Kelly would be furious with them for butting in and wasting his time.
“He’s coming here right away,” Ettie said once she’d hung up. “There is one more picture that I’d like you to take a good look at, Genevieve.”
“Okay.”
Ettie found the photo of Kel Flower and handed it to her.
Genevieve Cohen looked at it hard, and then shook her head. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen this man before. Who is he?”
“Just… don’t worry. He’s no one.”
“Just another man who might have possibly been involved in a kidnapping,” Elsa-May said.
Mrs. Cohen handed the photo back.
“Where is your secretary today?” Ettie asked.
“She’s sick today, and then she has tomorrow off. Which works out well because I don’t want her anywhere near the baby when she’s sick.”
“She’s not too ill, I hope,” Elsa-May asked.
“She’s got a cold, and she couldn’t stop sneezing this morning, so I told her to take the day off. She’s not left her apartment all day.”
Ettie nodded. “She lives nearby?”
Mrs. Cohen raised her eyebrows. “She lives in the servants’ wing.” Mrs. Cohen laughed. “I know it sounds pretentious—we don’t call our employees servants, but that’s what they called that section of the house when we purchased the property ten years ago. It’s more of a self-contained apartment adjoining the house, but that’s quite a mouthful to say.”
“Could I have a quick look at the baby?” Ava asked.
“Yes, he’s upstairs. I’ll take you now.” Mrs. Cohen led the way, and they all followed her up the stairs. When she reached the landing, she turned around. “My husband is getting used to the idea of another baby, but we don’t have a proper nursery yet. We’re keeping him in the upstairs study until the decorators come and turn it into a nursery.” She pushed a door open. “There he is. I don’t think he’s awake.”
The three of them peered into the crib to see Luke sleeping soundly.
“He looks happy to be home,” Elsa-May said quietly, turning to Mrs. Cohen.
“I hope so. And I hope he’ll forgive me when he grows up and finds out what I did. I don’t think my husband will forgive me. He’s coming around; he never wanted another baby after what happened before, and neither did I.”
“You did what you thought was best,” Ettie said.
“That’s not what the police think. I’m going to be charged for leaving him.”
“Are you?” Elsa-May asked, acting shocked, as though she hadn’t heard that before.
Mrs. Cohen nodded.
“I’m sure they’ll take into account your extraordinary circumstances. And the fact that you stayed and waited until I took the baby into the house.”
“I hope you’re right. It’s just another worry. My husband insisted we have a fulltime nanny to help look after Luke. He doesn’t trust me anymore—I’m sure that’s why he wants a nanny here.”
“You’re leaving his name as Luke?” Ava asked.
Mrs. Cohen smiled. “I think it suits him well, but we’re leaving off the traditional ‘k’ and the ‘e,’ and spelling it with a ‘c.’ That’s what we put on his birth certificate, ‘Luc.” It’s the French spelling, I believe, and I have a penchant for all things French.”
French or not, Ettie hid her dislike of the name Genevieve had chosen for the baby. Surely that name would be mixed up with the female name of Lucy. She didn’t like that idea at all, but she kept silent, as it wasn’t her choice to make.
Chapter 17
A loud buzzing sounded.
“That’s the intercom,” Mrs. Cohen said. She called out to someone they hadn’t seen before, “Jill, if that’s the police, let them through.”
Ettie’s heart beat wildly, hoping that she was helping rather than hindering the investigation. If she were hindering it, she’d never hear the end of it.
“Who’s Jill?” Ava asked.
/> “She’s my housekeeper. We don’t have a nanny yet; we’re still interviewing.” Mrs. Cohen moved into the hallway and looked out a window at the driveway below. “It’s the police. We should head downstairs. Watch Luc would you, Jill?”
A small dark-haired woman appeared out of an adjacent room. “Yes, Mrs. Cohen.”
The three women walked down the stairs behind Mrs. Cohen who then opened the door to Detective Kelly, who had another plainclothes man standing beside him.
Ettie, who was standing a distance back from the door, could see them in the doorway. She whispered to Elsa-May, “I’d say that’s the man who’s heading up the cold case unit.”
“Could be,” Elsa-May whispered back.
When Kelly walked through the door, he introduced the other man as Detective McDonald from the Cold Case unit.
“We’ll sit down in the sitting room. Come through this way,” Mrs. Cohen said.
Ettie had thought they’d already been in the sitting room, and was amazed at how many rooms there were in the house. The sitting room overlooked the rolling green grounds of the hedge-walled back yard. There was a pool to the left and what appeared to be a pool house next to it.
“Thank you for your call, Mrs. Smith,” Kelly said to Ettie in a low voice.
After they had all sunken into the soft white leather couches, Kelly leaned forward and said to Ettie, “Can I take a look at the pictures you showed Mrs. Cohen?”
“Ava,” Ettie said.
Ava handed over all the photos they’d printed off at the library.
After he leafed through them with Detective McDonald looking on, he handed them to Genevieve Cohen. “Which man do you think was working for you?”
She picked her way through them until she found the one. “Here.” She handed it to the detective. “This man definitely worked here as a gardener.”
“And this is his name?” Kelly pointed to the penciled name.
“His name is George Cousins. He was never a good worker. I gave him chance after chance, but he just wouldn’t follow instructions. I had no choice but to let him go after he butchered my roses. I grew them from seeds that I’d brought all the way back from France. I can’t replace them. They’ve recovered now, but it’s taken years.”
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