Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 7

by Samantha Price

  Ettie nodded. “It's important he's found before he kills anybody else. Did your husband have any enemies?”

  “Like I told the cops, he only had one person he was arguing with and that’s the man who lives next door.”

  “And what was that all about?”

  “He was continually arguing about property boundaries. We live on a modest plot of land, not like the farm we had before we left the community. The neighbor said our fence should’ve come in on our land another foot. But Eli said it’d been that way when he bought it and it could jolly well stay that way. That’s not exactly what he told him, but I’m sure you don’t want to hear the curse words.”

  “No, I don’t. Yes, I get the idea. The two were at loggerheads, then?”

  Kate nodded vehemently. “Our garage was built right on the fence line, and if we moved the fence, we would’ve had to pull down our garage and the slab upon which it was built. That’s not an easy thing to do and it would’ve cost us so much. At one point, Eli offered him money just to help him forget about the whole thing, but he wouldn’t hear of it. I mean, what difference would a foot make to him?”

  “Not much.”

  “The neighbor said it was the principle of the matter. But he wasn’t going to use it for anything at all and for us it would’ve cost us thousands.”

  “Apart from him, was there anybody else that you can think of? Anybody who would’ve had something against Eli, or you?”

  “No, I can’t think of a single soul who would’ve been upset with us.” She shook her head and cast her gaze downward. “It was dreadful, Ettie. There was a knock on the door in the middle of the night. Eli got out of bed to answer it. I stayed in bed half asleep, nodded off for a bit, and when I woke up I remembered someone had knocked on the door and Eli still hadn’t come back to bed. I went out there and saw him dead on the floor lying in a pool of blood. I screamed and called 911. I didn’t see the scarecrow outside until I looked out hoping the ambulance would hurry. A chill pierced through my body when I saw the scarecrow standing there staring back at me.”

  “Staring at you?”

  “Facing me. It was just a pole with a black hat on its head and straw stuffed into the clothing. It was the evilest thing I’d seen. It was mocking Eli as he lay there dead.”

  Ettie shook her head. “I’m so sorry to hear it.”

  “Is this God punishing us for leaving the Amish community all those years ago?”

  Ettie pulled her mouth to one side. “I wouldn’t think so.”

  “What then? And why did Gott allow this to happen to us? We kept our faith in our own way. We didn’t leave Him, we only left the community.”

  “Sometimes things happen and we don’t have the answers. There are no answers to things like this.” She looked up and saw Kelly glaring at her, but she ignored him and concentrated on Kate. “Can I do anything for you?”

  “No. David, our son, is staying with me for a few days and then I’m moving back up north with him and his wife.”

  Ettie nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. You shouldn’t be alone.”

  “It’s nice that they want me. I really had no one here. We didn’t fit anywhere after we left the community. David managed to make a life for himself and then he married Tamika.”

  When other people came up to talk with Kate, Ettie backed away. She found Elsa-May at the food table, still eating, and headed over to her.

  Elsa-May looked up at her, and swallowed her mouthful. “Did you learn anything useful?”

  “Not really. He had an argument with the man who lives next door about a property line between their two properties. It seems it was an ongoing argument and nothing to do with his murder. She can’t think of anybody who would’ve had any grudges against her or him or anyone in their family. Anyway, she’s moving away to live with her son and his wife.”

  “Good idea.” Elsa-May reached for more food.

  “We’re supposed to be finding things out, not stuffing our mouths with food.”

  Elsa-May stopped still and stared at Ettie. “You have your way of doing things and I have mine. I’ll have you know I found out something interesting by staying by the food.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “It seems that David didn’t get along with his father. I don’t just mean they disagreed on things. They had dreadful rows and that’s the reason David moved so far away. At one time, David even told Eli he wished he were dead.”

  “Really.”

  “Jah, so I’ve heard.”

  “Who from?”

  “Kate’s sister, Molly. Kate often confided in her.”

  “Interesting.” Ettie looked around for Molly and saw her now talking with Kate. She had remained a member of their community and wasn’t the kind of woman to make things up. “I’m going to talk with David.”

  “Good idea. I’ll stay here and see what I can find out.”

  Ettie rolled her eyes and then headed off when she saw David walking out of the men’s bathroom. She cut him off before anyone else approached him. It was often hard to speak with family members at funerals with so many people wanting to offer their condolences. “Hello, David. You don’t remember me, but I knew your father and I know your mother.”

  He nodded and there was no spark of recognition of his face.

  “I’m a friend of your parents. I’m not sure that we’ve met. If we have it would’ve been a long time ago indeed. I’m very sorry for what happened.”

  “Thanks. It can’t be helped.”

  “Your mother tells me she’s moving away with you.”

  “That’s right. If you’ll excuse me, I see someone I need to talk with.” He walked away leaving her standing there.

  Molly hurried over to join her. “What do you think of David?”

  Ettie was surprised by the question. “Ah, nice?”

  Molly huffed. “I’m not sure that she’ll be happy if she moves away with him. He never bothered with his folks for years. He moved away and only came back here a few weeks ago. Never even wrote to them.”

  “A few weeks ago, did you say?”

  Molly nodded. “And why is he here on vacation without his wife?”

  “She’s not here?”

  “No.”

  “I didn’t know. Was David staying with his parents while he was here?”

  Molly shook her head. “No. He wouldn’t even do that. He’s staying with her now to help her pack up the house.”

  “That’s right. She’s selling up to move away.”

  “She’ll regret it, but she won’t listen to me.”

  “I suppose he’s all she’s got now except for you, and she’s not in the community now.”

  “That’s probably how she sees it. Can you say something to her, Ettie? Tell her she shouldn’t make decisions when she’s upset. She should leave it a few months. Six months at least to be sure she’s making the right decision.”

  “She wouldn’t listen to me.”

  “I think she would.”

  Ettie shook her head.

  “Please, Ettie?”

  Ettie looked around at Kate. “Okay, I’ll try.”

  “Denke, Ettie. I won’t be far away. Let me know what she says.”

  The last thing Ettie wanted to do was alter a decision that someone had already made. She would come across as interfering and meddling. She swallowed hard and walked over to Kate. Ettie stood there until Kate finished talking to someone else.

  Kate turned around and smiled. “There you are. I thought you were going home.”

  “I was, but I just couldn’t go without asking you if you think you’re making the right decision.”

  “About what?”

  “About moving in with your son.” Kate looked so upset that Ettie wished she had kept her mouth shut. She often fell victim to getting riled up about things and being the mouthpiece for someone else.

  “It’s all done. We’ve got the place up for sale already.”

  “I know, but David's be
en gone for years and do you really know him anymore?” She’d already started so she figured she’d follow through.

  “He’s my son, Ettie. Of course I know him. He didn’t get along with Eli and I suppose Molly’s told you about that?”

  “Oh, well … She’s just concerned about you. You’ll be so far from her.”

  “I’ll be with my son. I’ll be fine. I’ll write to Molly and she can visit if she wants.”

  Ettie could see Kate had her mind made up. “Can I stop by and see you before you go? I’d like to sit down with you quietly.”

  “That would be nice, Ettie. Why don’t you stop by in a day or two with Elsa-May? We can have a nice pot of tea together and talk about old times.”

  Ettie nodded. “I’d like that.”

  “Me too.”

  The two women hugged and then Ettie walked over to tell Molly that she’d failed in her mission of talking Kate out of moving away.

  Chapter 9

  As Selena drove them home from the funeral, they compared what they’d learned by talking with people.

  “Kate said she couldn’t think of a single person who’d wish him any harm except for the neighbor. They had some dispute over where the fence should be,” Ettie told them.

  “I came up with nothing except for finding out Eli’s son hated him and wished him dead,” Elsa-May said. “Apart from Kate’s sister, Molly, I didn’t talk with anyone.”

  Ettie rolled her eyes at Elsa-May, who was sitting in the backseat with her. “You were too busy eating. I saw you.”

  “It was good food. No one was eating it and I hated to see it go to waste.”

  “I was helping Elsa-May,” Gabriel said, unable to hide his laughter.

  Elsa-May patted Ettie’s knee. “Don’t be troubled. There was no one to speak with. Selena talked to Detective Kelly and you talked to Kate. The only other people there were ones I didn’t know.”

  Ettie narrowed her eyes at Elsa-May. “That was the point. You were supposed to mingle and ask questions of people you didn’t know. That’s how we find things out.” Ettie threw her hands in the air. “I can’t do everything. Yes, Eli’s son might’ve hated him, but don’t forget John Fuller was also murdered. Did he hate him too? Eli’s son probably didn’t even know him.”

  “Anyway, I found out the same as you, Elsa-May. David never got along with his parents. All of a sudden, he arrived here a couple of weeks ago and he wasn’t even staying at their house. Now his father is dead, and he’s talked his mother into moving away with him back to Canada, or somewhere far away.”

  “I had an interesting talk with Detective Kelly,” Selena said. “It seems the man killed a week ago and Eli were second cousins.”

  Gabriel laughed again. “That’s not unusual. Everyone’s a second, third or fourth cousin of someone in our community.”

  Elsa-May agreed, “Jah and if you go back far enough, everyone’s related to someone in various ways.”

  “Maybe Eli’s son did know John Fuller. Is that all he said, Selena?” asked Ettie.

  “Pretty much. The rest was just small talk about me moving here.”

  “Did he offer you a job, Selena?” Elsa-May’s blue eyes twinkled with mischief.

  Selena smiled at the question and glanced at Elsa-May in the rear-view mirror. “No. It doesn’t work like that. Besides, I’ve given up hopes of becoming a detective. There’s no point to it anymore. I’m going to take some time off to figure out exactly what I want to do with my life. My mother had that lottery win, as you know, and she gave me quite a bit so I figured I’d take the opportunity to have a good think.”

  “Good idea,” said Ettie.

  As they drove on, Ettie decided they shouldn’t waste time. Tomorrow, they’d talk to Eli and Kate’s neighbor.

  Ettie knew they’d need Selena’s car once more, so she took the opportunity to mention it, in a roundabout way. “You know what we have to do with what we've learned at the funeral today?”

  “What's that?” Selena asked.

  “We have to talk to the neighbor.”

  From the front seat, Gabriel turned around to face them. “Who does?”

  “She means me. She always means me when she says, 'We,'” Elsa-May stated flatly.

  “We should. We have to follow up every lead. He was the only enemy the man had according to Kate.”

  Gabriel looked at Ettie. “But he didn't have any connection to the first man who was killed, John Fuller … Did he?”

  “That's something Selena can find out for us.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes, posing as a journalist. You can ask him some questions.”

  Selena grimaced.

  "And," Ettie added, “neither Elsa-May or I can go because we’re Amish and it’s a good guess the murderer hates Amish people. And then, more than likely, he won't tell us anything.”

  “And he might kill us, too,” Elsa-May added.

  “We don’t want that,” Gabriel said. “There have been enough killings.”

  “I suppose I could,” Ettie said.

  Elsa-May stared at Ettie. “Could what?”

  “I could ask him things if Selena doesn’t want to.”

  “That’s a bad idea. I don’t want you to do that, Ettie,” Selena said. “Not if he doesn’t like Amish people.”

  Ettie chuckled. “Good.”

  “If I agree to it, when would I have to do it?”

  “Today?” Gabriel asked, smiling.

  Ettie knew he was motivated by wanting to spend more time with Selena.

  “Best to do it as soon as possible,” Elsa-May added.

  Selena nodded. “We can do it now if you want.”

  Ettie was surprised. She was a little tired, but if everyone else was happy to do it now, she’d go along with them. “Okay. We’ll wait in the car while you do it,” said Ettie. “I only hope he’s home. He certainly wasn’t at the funeral.”

  “She can’t go by herself. It’s far too dangerous,” Gabriel said. “I’ll go with her.”

  “No!” Ettie said. “He won’t talk if you’re there. Selena looks non-threatening and that’s how it should be.”

  Selena smiled at Gabriel. “I can do it. It’s broad daylight.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t like it. It's far too dangerous. You don’t even know the man.”

  “I’ll be fine. You can wait in the car and watch me in case there’s any trouble.”

  “I don’t like it, but if you’re determined, I can’t stop you.”

  Selena asked, “Do we have an address?”

  “I know where Kate lives,” Gabriel said. “I’ll direct you. They only had one neighbor because their house was the last on the street.”

  “Am I going the right way?”

  “Yes. You’ll need to take a left two miles ahead.”

  When they found the place, Selena stopped the car slightly up the road, and looked back at Eli’s neighbor’s house. It was the same as every other house in the street. The gardens were neat and tidy, the lawns were carefully edge-trimmed and without a weed in sight, and low fences separated the houses from one another.

  Gabriel said, “If you have any trouble, I’m right here. I’ll be watching everything.”

  “Thanks. I should be fine. I won’t go into the house.” Selena placed her hand over her stomach. “I’m a little nervous.”

  “Just breathe through it,” Ettie told her.

  Elsa-May grumbled, “She’s not having a baby, Ettie.”

  “I didn’t say she was.”

  Selena got out of the car as quickly as she could. When she was away from the squabbling sisters and the overprotective Gabriel, she mentally rehearsed her story as she ambled toward the house.

  I’m Selena Rose, journalist. I’m asking about the recently deceased neighbor, Eli.

  Secretly hoping there was no one home, she lifted her hand and knocked on the white front door. When she heard footsteps inside the home, her heart pounded so hard she felt it in her head.

/>   Breathe, just breathe.

  The door opened and in front of her stood a middle-aged man. He wouldn’t have been more than sixty. Selena was surprised that in this cold weather, he only wore a white T-shirt with his casual trousers. When she noticed his frown and the large tattoos sprawled up and down his arms, she wanted to run. Then she remembered her former police training.

  I can do this.

  “Hello, my name’s Selena.” She cleared her throat. “I'm Selena Rose, a journalist and I would just like to ask you a few questions about what happened next door if I might.”

  “I'll tell you what I told every other nuisance who’s knocked on my door today. GET LOST!” He went to shut the door and Selena couldn't let the opportunity go by.

  “Wait!” she yelled, pushing against the door.

  He stopped, startled and opened the door further to look at her.

  “Are you frightened of being a suspect?” she shot back.

  The man opened the door wider, frowned deeper, and stepped forward, looming over her. “What do you mean?”

  She wanted to run, but stood her ground. “I thought you might’ve heard, you're a suspect.”

  “I don’t think so. The police came and asked me questions and that was it.” He stared at her and his top lip curled into a snarl. “What are you playing at?”

  “I simply want to ask you a couple of questions. For starters, why do you hate Amish people?”

  He crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Who says I do?”

  “Everyone’s saying it. That’s what I’ve heard.”

  “Rumors.”

  “Where there’s smoke there’s fire.”

  He breathed out heavily. “There’s no law against them not being my favorite people. They're just annoying, that's all. You get behind one of those buggies and you can't get past ‘em. And then you’re sitting on five miles an hour until you get a chance to pass.”

  “Tell me about it.” She faked a sympathetic smile. “There are too many of them on the roads nowadays. The roads should just be for cars not horses and buggies. I mean, buggies had their place hundreds of years ago, but today…” She shook her head. “They should just keep up with the times.”