“If you think it’ll help stop these killings, we will.”
“Yes, we will,” Elsa-May agreed.
“Good.” He clapped his hands together so loud it caused Selena to jump.
“I don’t know.”
Ettie and the detective stared at Elsa-May as she shook her head.
“You don’t know what, Mrs. Lutz?”
“I don’t know why we’re going to see this Cedric man if he hates the Amish. I'm sure he won't be happy to see us.”
“You’ll be perfectly safe. I wouldn’t send you otherwise. I need to know what he knows. As I said, he'll certainly tell you more than he’d tell a member of the force. I know it's a big ask.” He looked from one to the other.
“We’ll do it,” Ettie said. “We already said so.”
Elsa-May waved her hand in the air. “Now just a minute.”
Ettie turned to look at her. “We have to help, Elsa-May. Selena was nearly killed and now Laney is dead before she could find her way back to us.”
Elsa-May rolled her eyes before looking back at Kelly. “Okay, we’ll do it for certain.”
“Excellent. I'll arrange everything and get back to you with a time. I'll be in touch later today or tomorrow.”
“Right now,” Ettie said, “I think we should visit Laney’s parents. They'll be dreadfully upset.”
“Can I drive you ladies?”
Elsa-May shook her head. “No, thank you.”
“I can drive them,” Selena said.
“Very well. I'll see you ladies later then, and sorry to deliver you the awful news.”
“Would you like some coffee before you go?” Ettie asked.
“I don’t have the time today or I would.”
Ettie showed him out of the house.
“I’m happy to drive you to see them,” Selena said when he’d gone.
“Let me sit a moment.” Ettie walked over to the couch and sat next to Selena. “It's such a shock. How did the killer know where to find Laney?”
“She’d be fifty or sixty by now since her parents are about our age.”
“She would’ve been, you mean.”
“Jah. Maybe that talk with the fellow in the prison might enlighten us.”
“I hope so because I certainly don't feel very enlightened right now.” She turned to Selena. “We will take you up on your offer. First, I need a lie-down.”
“That sounds good to me too. I haven’t slept a wink.”
“Me either. Let’s all have a nap and then we’ll have some breakfast and then visit Laine’s parents?”
After Ettie had rested for a couple of hours, she felt much better. She wasn’t looking forward to seeing her friends right after they found out their daughter was murdered, though. Two of her own daughters had left the community, so she could only imagine how they’d feel finding out one of theirs had died outside of the faith.
When a knock sounded on the front door, Ettie sat and swung her legs over the side of the bed, forgetting about her back. She yelped in pain and rubbed her back. Then she slipped her stockinged feet into her shoes and took hold of her walking stick. “Are you getting that, Elsa-May?”
“Jah.”
Before Ettie made it to her bedroom door, she heard Gabriel talking to Elsa-May.
“Hello again, Ettie.” Gabriel waved giving her a big smile.
Ettie saw Selena in the kitchen making herself a cup of tea. “Hello,” Ettie answered Gabriel, as she straightened her kapp that she’d forgotten to take off before her nap. “Weren’t you working?”
“It’s raining. It looks like it’s set in for the day. I was happy to keep going, but no one else wanted to.”
“We’re off to visit Peter and Denise Schrock if you’d like to join us. Selena is taking us.”
“I sure will. I’ll come for the drive, but I won’t go inside. I don’t know them that well.” Gabriel crouched down to pat Snowy who was pawing his leg.
“I’m sorry, I’ll put him out.” Elsa-May swooped down and picked up her little dog.
“Nee, he’s fine. Truly.”
“Are you sure?”
“Jah. I love dogs.”
Elsa-May put Snowy back down on the floor. “I just don’t know what to say to poor Peter and Denise.”
“There’ll be nothing we can say to make them feel better. Just paying them a quick visit will let them know we’re here supporting them with our prayers.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Let’s fix something to eat now,” Ettie said.
“Come through to the kitchen, Gabriel.”
Chapter 17
Selena and Gabriel stayed in the car while Ettie and Elsa-May knocked on the Schrock’s door. Peter answered it. His face was as white as a sheet.
“I'm sorry, Peter. We just heard the dreadful news.”
“Denke.”
“How's Denise?”
“Come in and see for yourselves.”
He brought them through to the kitchen where Denise was sitting at a round table, her hands clasped firmly in her lap. She stood up and hugged them, one at a time.
“We're sorry for your loss,” Elsa-May said.
Peter said from behind them, “This wouldn't have happened if she hadn’t left us.”
“We haven't seen her in five years. Each time she came back here, we refused to talk with her. We thought that was the best way for her to come back to us. I wouldn't have done that if I knew this was going to happen.” Denise lifted a white handkerchief to her face and sobbed.
Peter put his arm around her. “It was Gott's will.”
She sniffed and then looked up at them. “Let's sit. I'll make you a cup of hot tea, or would you prefer coffee?”
“Why don't I make it? Peter, you and Denise sit,” Ettie offered.
“Denke, Ettie, a hot tea would be nice.”
Peter sat down next to his wife, and just as Elsa-May was about to sit, Ettie poked her in the ribs with the end of her walking stick. “Since I can't stand very well you'll have to do it.”
Elsa-May straightened up.
“I'm sorry, Ettie, take a seat.” She pulled the chair out for Ettie to sit down.
“Have you hurt yourself, Ettie?” Denise asked, while Elsa-May filled the teakettle with water.
“Nothing too serious. The doctor said I've pulled a muscle. I'll get better, but it seems to be in no hurry.”
While Elsa-May busied herself putting the teacups and saucers on the table, she asked the Schrocks, “How are your sons dealing with the news?”
“I've only heard from two of them. They’re just as upset as we are. They were once close with their big schweschder.”
“Before she left, they were,” Peter added.
“Did you hear about the way she died, Ettie?” Denise asked.
Ettie froze. She hadn’t intended to raise that subject. “I heard about the scarecrow. Is that what you mean?”
“Jah.”
Ettie stared at the couple who’d just lost their child. Even though the child was an adult, and a middle-aged one at that, it didn’t matter. The pain was just as great.
Since they’d raised the subject of the scarecrow, Ettie figured she should ask some gentle questions. “I hate to ask the question at a time like this, but do you know if she had any enemies, or if you—either of you—have any enemies?”
“No,” Peter said. “I don't know about Laine, but as far as I know we don't, do we?” He looked at his wife.
She shook her head and then the teakettle started to whistle. Elsa-May hurried over to make the tea.
“The police are coming tomorrow to ask us questions, but we don't know anything.”
Ettie wondered if they did know something and didn't know that they knew. "Do you know a man called Cedric Bloom?”
“No.”
"He once wanted to marry Joel Hershberger’s daughter, Rita. Joel was killed as the very first of these scarecrow murders in the 1970s.”
“Cedric Bloom was a suspect back t
hen because Rita’s father hadn't allowed Rita and Cedric to marry.”
“Earlier murders?” Peter asked.
Ettie didn’t know if it had been the right time to mention that. She stared disapprovingly at Elsa-May, but her sister didn’t notice. She was too busy filling teacups and putting them onto saucers, and passing a bowl of sugar, and the little pitcher of cream.
After a pause in the conversation, Elsa-May said, “There were five people murdered some years ago and in each case a scarecrow was left in front of their house. They were stabbed. They never caught the murderer. Now, years later, three people have been shot, and the scarecrow left in each place. The detective on the case is trying to work out if the former scarecrow murders and the latter ones are connected.”
Denise and Peter just stared at each other without saying a word, just as Elsa-May set a large teapot in the middle of the table. “I see cookies in a jar …”
“Please, cookies, Elsa-May,” Denise said.
While everyone at the table was silent, Elsa-May shook some cookies out of the jar onto a plate. When she placed the plate in the center of the table, she said, “Can I pour anyone more tea?”
“Jah,” Denise said.
When everyone had a cup full of tea in front of them, Ettie said to Denise and Peter. “Are you sure you don’t remember Cedric Bloom?”
They looked at one another then looked at Ettie. “Nee.”
She rattled off all the names of the other suspects, and the couple didn’t recognize any of them. It’d been a long shot that hadn’t paid off.
“We’re here if you need us for anything,” Elsa-May said.
“Are you handling the funeral?” Ettie asked.
Denise shrugged her shoulders. “I don't know what's happening. She never married. I suppose we will give her a funeral. I don’t know how it’s all going to work. The bishop’s on his way now.”
“I think she should be buried in an Englisch cemetery because that was the way she chose to live.” Peter wiped his eyes.
“We can decide later. We don't have to worry about that today.” Denise put a comforting hand on her husband’s shoulder.
The bishop and his wife arrived just as they were finishing their tea. Elsa-May cleared the table and put another pot of water on to boil before she and Ettie walked out and got into Selena’s car.
“Thanks for waiting.”
“You’re welcome. Was that the bishop and his wife who just arrived?” Selena asked as she drove away.
“That’s right it was.”
“How were the parents?” Gabriel asked.
“Devastated. They’ll never get over it. They say she never married, but she must've had a circle of friends,” Elsa-May said.
“I’m starting to think the killer didn’t know the victims. It just mattered that they used to be Amish.” Ettie shook her head.
“I guess we've got another funeral to go to,” Elsa-May said.
“Is there anywhere else you want to go now?” Selena asked them.
“Nee, denke. I think we have to be home for Kelly this afternoon. He's got a small job which he wants us to do.”
“Yes, I heard.”
Later that afternoon, Kelly sent someone to collect Elsa-May and Ettie and bring them to the police station. There, he told them he’d made the arrangements for them to visit Cedric the next day. Then he ran through all the questions he wanted them to ask.
When they arrived home, Selena had the dinner cooked and was sitting in the living room with Gabriel.
Chapter 18
The next day at eleven forty-five, Ettie and Elsa-May were driven to the prison. Then they were ushered into a small room. Ettie was nervous about the surroundings. It wasn’t the first time they’d visited someone in jail. The sterile gray atmosphere and the despair that always hung in the air saddened her heart. The armed guards and the security measures everywhere only served to make her increasingly nervous.
She patted the listening device strapped under her clothing to make certain everything was in place. Then she remembered—she’d been told not to touch it because it would possibly alert someone to its presence.
At twelve fifteen, a small man in an orange prison jumpsuit was led into the room. Ettie had a hard time guessing his age. Maybe he's around seventy, she thought, which would put him in the right bracket for the first of the murders.
He smiled when he saw them and sat down in front of them, handcuffed. One guard left and the other one stood against the wall.
“I don't believe I met you two ladies before. You must have something real good to say.”
They introduced themselves, as Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Lutz, figuring he didn't need to know more than that about them.
With an evil grin, he asked, “Are you relatives of that woman killed the day before yesterday?”
“No," Ettie answered, "we're not, but we are friends of the family.”
“Why have you asked for a visit with me? It must be pretty important. They told me your visiting time won’t take away from my other visits.”
Ettie recalled having heard that inmates were only allowed a certain number of visitor-hours per month.
“We’re not sure,” Elsa-May said. “This is where they told us to come.”
He looked from one to the other. “Why are you here?”
There was no point dancing about. Ettie blurted out, “We've come about the scarecrow murders.”
“They're happening again, and it’s funny you just mentioned them,” Elsa-May added.
“We get news in here. I heard about it. Like I told the cops, I don't know anything about it except for knowing the one man who was killed.”
“That’s too bad. You see, a good friend of ours was nearly killed and we know two of the others who died. Thanks anyway.” Ettie got up to go and she could feel Elsa-May staring at her.
“Don’t go.”
Ettie glared at him. “You want us to stay?”
“There’s not much else on for the day. I’m not going anywhere.” He grinned and when Ettie sat back down, he leaned forward. “I mightn’t know about the murders, but I know someone who does.”
“You do?” Ettie didn’t really believe him and figured he was just trying to fill in time.
He nodded. “Name’s Grifford. Dr. Grifford. He’s responsible for the killings.”
Ettie gulped and looked over at Elsa-May. Then Ettie grew suspicious that he was lying. It was a huge leap between knowing someone who knew something and then suddenly knowing—naming—the murderer.
“Why do you say that?” Elsa-May asked, calm and collected, not letting on that they knew the doctor. Ettie was impressed. She was too rattled by his disclosure to have spoken so calmly just then.
“I know it.”
“The first ones?” Elsa-May asked. “You do know there were five scarecrow murders years ago?”
The man nodded. “He probably did the lot. Each and every one of ‘em.”
“What makes you say that?” Ettie asked.
“He admitted it.”
Still sticking to her original thoughts, Ettie asked, “What was his reason for killing all those innocent people?”
“How do you know him?” Elsa-May asked.
Ettie stared at her sister. “I asked a question and he still hasn’t answered it. Wait your turn.”
“I didn’t hear you. Sorry, Ettie. You’ll have to speak up,” Elsa-May said.
“Well, listen next time.”
He said to Ettie, “I’ll answer your question first. They weren't innocent, not to him. They were Amish people infiltrating into society. According to him, Amish people have diseases and they should stick with their own kind.”
“What diseases?” Ettie asked.
“Genetic ones. Diseases that come from inbreeding with your own kind.”
“We don't do inbreeding.” Elsa-May scoffed.
Shrugging, he looked at Elsa-May, “To answer your question, I don’t remember how or where I met him. I know a lot
of people who know him as well. The killer, they thought had medical knowledge and he’s a doctor. He didn’t like the Amish.”
Elsa-May asked, “Where did you meet him? You must know.”
He leaned back in his chair and laughed. “I'm not stupid. You tell whatever cops sent you in here that I'm willing to talk, but I wanna get out of this place first. If I’m let out, and all charges and convictions squashed, I'll tell ‘em all I know.”
Ettie and Elsa-May exchanged glances, and then Ettie asked him, “How can you be sure this information you have is true?”
“Everyone in here talks. That’s all I’m gonna say. I'm not saying more till I get a deal.”
“If you know the truth for real, you’re carrying a huge burden,” Elsa-May said.
He bounded to his feet. “And thanks for visiting me.” With his ankles shackled, he shuffled to the door. “Guard, I'm done.”
He was escorted out and Ettie and Elsa-May were left sitting there looking at one another. “Dr. Grifford,” Elsa-May said.
“Jah, and a strange motive.”
“Do you believe it, Ettie?”
“I’m not entirely sure what I believe.”
“I think I do.”
“You’d believe anything. You’d believe blue was green if someone told you.”
Elsa-May frowned. “That’s not fair.”
A guard coming into the room interrupted them, telling them he was there to escort them out.
Ettie and Elsa-May were driven back to the station and Detective Kelly met them when they got out of the car.
“You did well,” he said.
“Do you think he was telling the truth about the doctor?” Elsa-May asked.
“I think it was a total waste of time,” Ettie said smoothing down her dress. “Why would that doctor kill people? Of course, I did say that he was creepy looking ... didn't I, Elsa-May?”
"Jah, you did. In fact, you said he looks like a murderer."
“We’ve looked him up. He’s never had so much as a traffic violation. A lot of prisoners want to do deals to get themselves out. I wouldn’t put too much store in what Bloom says. Still, we’ll talk with him. He'll get his deal if he tells us what we want to know.”
Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 7 Page 23
