Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 7

by Samantha Price

  “What’s the likelihood of it being true?” Elsa-May asked.

  “According to the forensics, the way the bodies were cut, there certainly seemed to be knowledge of the human body. A doctor could be a possibility. So, that fits with the medical knowledge.”

  Elsa-May stared at Ettie. “How would that man sitting in that prison have known about the murderer having medical knowledge?”

  Ettie looked at Kelly. “Where had he come into contact with the doctor?”

  “He wouldn’t tell us,” said Elsa-May.

  “We’ll have to find out what we can from him,” Kelly said. “He could’ve heard talk at the time of the original investigation. Now, I’ll have someone drive you home.”

  “First, could I have someone release me from this nonsense?” Ettie patted the listening device.

  Kelly gave a rare smile. “Ah yes. Right this way, and then I’ll have someone drive you home. Laine’s body will be released tomorrow.”

  “That was fast,” Elsa-May said.

  Chapter 19

  It was four days later before they found out from the local newspaper when Laine’s funeral was. Selena drove the sisters, and Gabriel went with them. It seemed the funeral had been arranged by some of Laine’s friends and not her family.

  As soon as Ettie walked into the small church, she saw that they were the only representation of the Amish community. There wasn’t one member of Laine’s family among the small group of people. It was possible, she knew, that they were too upset to attend.

  The four of them sat in a row behind the crowd. There had been nobody at the door to greet them like there had been at other Englisch funerals. They soon found out there was no minister or pastor officiating. A man who introduced himself as a good friend of Laine’s stood in front of the coffin and spoke about Laine and her life.

  As they listened, they found out she was fifty-six and had recently retired from being a nurse. That piqued Ettie’s interest and she wondered if Laine had known Dr. Grifford.

  Then Ettie was dug in the ribs and she looked at Elsa-May to tell her to stop doing that and saw Elsa-May’s gaze was fixated on something. When Ettie turned to see what her sister was looking at, she saw Dr. Grifford sitting on the opposite side of the room.

  Grifford looked over at them and raised his hand in a wave. Ettie nodded a little and then looked to the front of the room.

  “Ettie, it’s …”

  “I saw.”

  “Those people he’s sitting with must be staff from the hospital.”

  “Could be.”

  When the service was over, six men carried the coffin to the small graveyard behind the church. Once everyone was gathered around the freshly dug grave, the same man who’d spoken in the church said a few words.

  Rather than listen to what was being said, Ettie looked around at the attendees. They all varied in age. Most likely Laine had met many of them through her work.

  Once the talking had ceased, three women walked forward and each threw a single white rose into the grave. Then everyone started leaving.

  “Is that it?” whispered Elsa-May.

  “I guess so. Everyone’s walking away.”

  Just as they joined the tail-end of the crowd heading back to the church, a woman approached them and introduced herself as Barbara Thomas, and invited the four of them back to her house to continue the farewells.

  “Thank you. We’d love to,” Ettie quickly accepted.

  “I suppose you knew her before she left the Amish?” Barbara asked.

  “Yes. We weren’t sure if anyone knew her history,” Elsa-May said.

  “We worked together for nearly twenty years. We were best of friends. I’ll miss her dreadfully.” Barbara then proceeded to give them her address.

  When they arrived at Barbara’s house some twenty minutes later, Ettie was most interested to talk to the man who’d done most of the talking at the funeral. Then she planned to speak with Barbara.

  “Hello, I’m Ettie Smith. It seems you were a good friend of Laine’s.”

  He put out his hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Raymond Dellings.”

  She shook his hand. “Did you know Laine when she was Amish?” Ettie figured he was old enough to have known her from back then.

  “I didn’t. She would’ve been upset her parents aren’t here. She said they never said a word to her after she escaped. Oh, I’m sorry. I mean, since she left the Amish.”

  “It’s not because they didn’t love her. They would’ve found it very hard to do, to be here. They never stopped hoping she’d return, and that was their way.”

  “What’s their excuse for not being here today? I personally invited them.”

  “I don’t know. I think they thought they were going to hold the funeral. I was with them on the day they found out. They were devastated.” Ettie studied his face. He seemed pleased to hear they’d shown emotion.

  “Well good, but still, it would’ve been nice if they’d come. I would’ve thought it wasn’t the Amish way, but you and your friends are here.”

  “It depends. There’s no hard and fast rule in our community about whether we talk to our children who’ve left us. I have two daughters who’ve left and I do talk to them when they stop by, which is very infrequently, sadly.”

  “Sorry to hear it.” He looked uncomfortable.

  “It sounds like everyone will miss Laine.”

  He nodded. “She was a very loving woman, a good woman.”

  “It sounds like it. Everybody has only good things to say about her. Did she have any enemies?”

  “Certainly none that I knew of.”

  He looked around. “She did see a strange car in her street a couple of days before she died. Was driving up and down the street really slow, and she has a dead-end street so it made it more noticeable.”

  “I know what you mean. Where I live is a dead-end street, too. Did you tell the police?”

  “I did at the time it happened. I think they thought I was crazy, but still, I had to tell them anything I could think of.”

  “What kind of a car?”

  “Well, she said it was a gray car, gray silver-tone car. She did take the plate number down.”

  Ettie couldn’t believe her ears. “She did?”

  He nodded. “She called me and gave it to me and then when a detective came around asking questions, I found it and gave it to him.”

  “That's interesting. Do you recall if it was Detective Kelly?” What was interesting to Ettie was that Kelly never told her that there had been a sighting of a car. He was forever holding things back from her.

  “I don't remember. The detective didn't seem very interested, but it must've stuck out to her because she called me and asked me to write it down.”

  “Did it strike you that it was odd at the time?”

  “It did. She seemed nervous.”

  “And she didn't say why?”

  “No, and I never saw her again. I had two scheduled days off, and then I heard the news on the radio. I hope they catch the psycho who killed her.”

  “Me too. I see that Dr. Grifford is here.”

  “Yes. Most of us here are from the hospital.”

  “So he has a private practice, and he works at the hospital too?”

  “He once worked at the hospital. He doesn’t anymore.”

  When the conversation came to a natural end, she made her way back to Elsa-May and told her what she’d learned about the silver car.

  .

  On the way home, Ettie asked Selena, “Have you ever seen a silver-gray car on the street at Gabriel’s house?”

  “Not that I've noticed, why?”

  “I found out that Laine saw a silver-gray car driving very slow past her house a few times. She thought it strange, so she gave the plate number to a friend. He’s since given it to the police.”

  “Are you sure you haven’t seen any strange cars in the street at all, Selena?” Gabriel asked.

  “I honestly hadn't noticed. No
thing seemed strange. That's why what happened took me so much by surprise.”

  Chapter 20

  The next morning, Ettie decided they needed to tell Kelly that Dr. Grifford had been at the funeral. Selena was out of the house early doing some shopping and then she was going to look for a long-term place to stay since she couldn’t stay in Gabriel’s house any longer.

  As Ettie walked into the kitchen for breakfast, Elsa-May looked her up and down. “Is your back getting any better?”

  “It's okay. I wouldn't say it was better. It's about the same.”

  “I think you should go back to a doctor.”

  Ettie pulled out a chair and sat down. “Definitely not. If it's not getting any worse, why would I see one?” Ettie sniffed the air. “Is that pancakes you’re making?”

  “Don’t change the subject.”

  “I’m not changing it, I'm just done talking about it,” Ettie said. “When we finish eating our breakfast we’ll go to Kelly and find out about the silver car, and tell him the doctor was at the funeral.”

  Elsa-May smiled. “That’s fine by me.” She then placed a cup of tea in front of Ettie. “If he wants us to help, he must tell us what's going on, otherwise we only have half the pieces of the puzzle.”

  “There is no good telling me that. You need to help me tell him that. You could tell him that if he doesn’t tell us everything, we’re left halfway out on the tree limb.”

  “And to stop the limb from breaking, we need information.” Elsa-May chuckled and then flipped a pancake.

  Ettie sipped on her tea knowing that neither one of them would be brave enough to use his analogy. She wasn't looking forward to any such conversation with Kelly.

  “Do you think we should see if Gabriel can drive us in?”

  “I think we’ve bothered him and Selena enough for the last few days. Let's just go by taxi, shall we?”

  “Okay.”

  Ettie looked down at Snowy pawing at her leg for food. “Snowy needs a walk.”

  Elsa-May reached down and stroked Snowy. “I know. He’s been neglected with all that’s been going on. I’ll take him for a walk when we get back.”

  “Okay.” When Elsa-May gave her some pancakes, she broke off a piece and gave it to Snowy.

  They had to wait for Kelly when they got to the station because he was in a meeting. They sat in the hard seats of the waiting room.

  Twenty minutes had passed, and Ettie had to get up and stretch her legs—this seat was awful for her sore back. Elsa-May had brought her knitting and was happily engaged in 'one purl and one plain' while she waited on the hard wooden seat.

  Ettie sat down again. “I wonder what the meeting is about.”

  “He’s probably having a meeting with all the police officers to tell them what's going on. Unless he’s interviewing someone—they just said he was in a meeting.”

  Ettie sucked in a gulp of air. “Maybe they found the person who owns that silver car.”

  “I hope so, but I doubt it. Do you know how many silver cars would be out there?”

  Ettie frowned at her sister. “They got the plate number.”

  “Oh, that’s right.” Elsa-May put the knitting down in her lap and giggled.

  The first thing Ettie asked when she was sitting across from the detective was about the silver car. She wanted to know why he hadn’t told them.

  “I knew you’d ask me about that.” He interlaced his fingers together and placed them down on the desk.

  After a moment, of silence, Elsa-May leaned forward. “And?”

  He drew his eyebrows together and opened his mouth to speak, but Elsa-May spoke up again before he had a chance. “Ettie’s a little annoyed that you expect us to help with various things and you don't give us the full information. She said it's like you're giving us two pieces of the puzzle and expecting us to finish it, but we can’t.”

  The detective looked at them and drummed his fingers. Then he interlaced his fingers again and placed them lightly on his desk. “Is that right, Mrs. Smith?”

  “Um … err ...”

  “You’ll be pleased to know that we located the owner of the silver car.”

  Ettie frowned. “You’re saying that as though it was stolen.”

  “Yes, that’s right, it was. Now, the reason the owner didn't report it stolen was that he thought one of his teenage children had taken it and forgotten to let him know. It’s a second car for the family.”

  “Do you believe that?” Ettie asked.

  “I have no reason not to believe it. Seems it was stolen, and possibly the murderer was using it for a time.”

  “Have you located the car?”

  “Yes, it was abandoned and we’ve got it impounded as a crime scene. Forensics are doing their job now. Initial results show the same traces of mud and straw that match what was on the scarecrows.”

  “Who owns the car?” Elsa-May asked.

  “If you’re asking me if you know the man who owns that silver car, I can tell you he runs an antique furniture store downtown.”

  Elsa-May’s eyes bugged out. “The second hand Amish furniture store?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is that the same one that also sells the newly-made Amish furniture?” The very first suspect they’d followed to the Amish furniture store suddenly seemed more interesting. What if the car hadn’t been stolen at all?

  “It’s the big store downtown. The one with the big windows.” Kelly looked at Ettie. “What's going on in that head of yours, Mrs. Smith?”

  “Oh, nothing. It's just that we drove past there the other day, didn't we, Elsa-May?”

  “We did, and what about this doctor? We haven't mentioned him yet. There was talk about the scarecrow murderer having medical training.”

  “Did I tell you that?”

  Ettie put her fingers to her mouth. “Someone did. The man from the prison—Cedric—he was talking about a doctor being responsible.”

  Kelly nodded. “I heard it all on the recording.”

  “That’s right. What’s happening with his deal to get out of prison?” Ettie asked. “He seemed pretty adamant that the doctor was the killer.”

  “These things take time. It's a slow process and first off, we need to determine if there’s any truth in what he’s claiming.”

  “Wouldn’t that be hard until you hear what he says?” Ettie asked.

  “That’s right it is, but I can’t tell you the number of times that prisoners offer information to get out or have their sentences lessened. It doesn’t mean the information they’re offering up is genuine. More often than not it’s a fabrication woven out of something they’ve overheard.”

  Elsa-May screwed up her nose. “So, he won't tell you until you give him the deal, is that right? And you won’t give him the deal until you hear what he's got to say, because he could be lying?”

  Kelly chuckled. “That's right. We have to be fairly certain he has information before we enter into any deals with him.”

  “I see. It all goes around in a circle.”

  When Kelly nodded, Ettie leaned forward. “And what have you learned so far that you can share with us?”

  “I’ve found out the doctor in question studied Amish genetics. He’s more of a scientist. He was based in New York and has done some study of the Amish in this area. He now works locally as a general practitioner.”

  That fit with what Cedric had told them, and it was nothing they didn’t know already—except for the New York part.

  Ettie’s mind was elsewhere, however. “If the killer used one stolen car …”

  “Yes. I know where you’re coming from, Mrs. Smith. I’ve got my team looking into what cars were stolen around the time of each of the murders. I’m determined to pull this thing together and find the perpetrator.”

  “Or perpetrators.”

  “Yes. What I’m asking of the both of you is to keep your eyes and ears open. You know what to do. No, I’ll go further than that.” He rubbed his nose with the back of hi
s hand. “Ask around, the way you do, and see what you can find out. Don’t overstep your limits. Stick with people from your community. Someone must know something. These victims could be connected in some way other than being ex-Amish members, and please, don’t go talking to people outside of your community.”

  “You said that already,” Elsa-May remarked.

  “I’m saying it again. You two have the habit of having selective hearing sometimes.”

  “What was that?” Elsa-May asked.

  Ettie snickered—she couldn't help it. Detective Kelly had set himself up perfectly for that one.

  Kelly rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I’ll walk you both out.”

  As the two sisters once again tackled the task of getting safely down the front steps of the police station, Elsa-May asked, “Where to next?”

  “I think we need to look at furniture.”

  Elsa-May chuckled. “I thought that was what you were going to say.”

  “Then, you weren’t disappointed.” They walked down a few more steps and then Ettie stopped still.

  “What is it?” Elsa-May asked.

  “I just saw someone familiar.”

  “Who?”

  “Don’t worry about who. That’s not the point. Remember when Selena thought she saw her ex-boyfriend?”

  “Eugene Ryder, jah, and he’s her ex-fiancé, Ettie.”

  “Yes. The one who’s in England ... but, what if he’s not?” Ettie shook her head as dark thoughts sprouted like mushrooms in the dark recesses of her mind. “What if he’s out to kill Selena and make it look like she’s been killed in a spree of killings—the scarecrow murders? It’s a perfect cover.”

  “It would be a perfect cover. Kill a few people, then kill the real person you want dead—but Kelly said he checked on Eugene and he’s in England.”

  Ettie leaned on her stick. “He might’ve fooled everyone. Unless someone went over there and saw him with their own eyes, how would they know he was there for certain? He could’ve been there and then flown back.”