“Mrs. Smith.”
She stopped still in the hallway and turned around. “Yes?”
He walked over to her. “I’ll need you to keep an open mind. Perhaps Mrs. O’Toole withheld the consigners’ money or didn’t pay someone the right amount. Enemies can readily be made in business. It all comes down to money.”
“That doesn’t seem very likely, and besides, didn’t you just tell me it takes strength to strangle someone? Sounds like a man did it. And, besides that, why would someone kill her over a small amount of money? It’s not as though quilts are sold for thousands of dollars.”
“Mrs. Smith, to you and I something might seem inconsequential, but when the ego becomes involved things get blown out of proportion. I’ve been involved with people killed over parking disputes. Someone thinks someone stole their parking spot, and a fight breaks out and boom, someone’s dead.”
“You would know.”
“Exactly. So do what you can and let me know if you find out anything.”
“Thank you, Detective. You said you heard Greta’s daughter is opening the store today, no, sorry … not her daughter because she doesn’t have a daughter. Is it her niece opening the store today?”
“Correct. And one more thing, Mrs. Smith, please, never keep information from me again even if you think it doesn’t matter.”
“I won’t, and I will.” Ettie left him standing there looking confused and hurried away to find her sister. Ettie was anxious to speak with Greta’s niece at the quilt store.
Chapter 8
Elsa-May sat in the waiting area wearing a long face and reading the newspaper. She looked up at Ettie. “What took you so long?”
“Nothing. I made the statement.”
“The statement must’ve taken longer than the actual events that you were re-telling.” Elsa-May tossed the paper back onto the table beside her and pushed herself to her feet. “What happened to poor old Greta is on the front page of the paper.”
“I knew it would be.” Ettie glanced down at the paper and saw a photo of Greta. “Are you ready?”
“I am. How rude was Detective Kelly just now?”
“Very,” Ettie agreed as they walked out of the police station. Mostly, she agreed with her sister to avoid arguments. Life was easier that way. Once they were outside on the pavement, Ettie said, “I’ve told Kelly I’d find out for him what ladies had quilts on consignment at Greta’s store.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, he wants us to see if they know anything or if they were upset with her. He’s got some idea that maybe someone might not have been paid properly and they got angry and killed her.”
“When are we supposed to do that?”
“Detective Kelly said one of Greta’s nieces is opening the store today.”
“Today! Is that right?”
“Jah, that’s what he said, unless he’s made a mistake.”
“If you want me to go with you I will, but I can’t do it when I’m so hungry, Ettie.” Elsa-May held her hand over her stomach.
“We just had breakfast at home.”
“That was hours ago. It’s nearly lunchtime.”
“Is it?”
“Jah! Why don’t we have lunch at the café up the road? It’s close enough for me.” Elsa-May grinned.
“Let’s do it.” The two sisters walked up the road arm in arm. “I still haven’t forgiven you for judging the cookies.”
“What did you want me to do, refuse?”
“Of course. Then come looking for me. You would’ve bumped into the killer and saved Detective Kelly and me a lot of bother.”
“And probably got myself killed in the process.”
“I didn’t think of that, but no one could’ve known that would happen. Instead, you took my job, allowed me to be put in danger, and then you ended up getting thrown out of the interview room by Detective Kelly.” Ettie contained a giggle.
“He didn’t throw me out.”
“He did. You wouldn’t stop talking. I was giving a statement and you couldn’t keep quiet. It was my statement, not yours and that’s why he did what he did.”
“Oh, Ettie, Kelly is temperamental. We both know that and as for the judging, I was just trying to help you out when no one could find you.”
“You thought you were helping me by stealing my cookie judging job?”
Elsa-May nodded. “Jah, exactly. I was doing what a big sister does.”
“Just for that, you can pay for the lunch.”
“I had intended to.”
“Good, then you’re not disappointed, and I’m suddenly very hungry.”
When they walked into the café, Ettie breathed in the aroma of cake and freshly brewed coffee. They were two of her favorite scents. While Elsa-May stared at the array of cakes in the glass display cabinet, Ettie resisted the temptation and flipped through the menu trying to make a sensible lunch choice.
“I’m going to have a small cup of coffee and a large slice of lemon cake. Look at the frosting, Ettie.”
Ettie stared at the frosting on the lemon cake. “So, for lunch you’re having a plate of white frosting?”
Elsa-May chuckled. “Nearly, but it’s lemon frosting and it does come with a small slice of cake attached.”
“It’s not a proper lunch.”
“We can have a decent lunch when we get home, but right now I’m having cake! You do whatever you want.”
Ettie closed the menu. “If you’re having cake, so will I.”
After they placed their order, they made their way to a table by the window at the back. A man on the other side of the room stood and Ettie recognized him. It was the councilman. “Mr. Cruise.”
He barely looked at her, gave a nod, and kept walking.
Ettie realized he mustn’t have recognized her and that had to be why he hadn’t stopped to talk. “It’s Ettie Smith, from Saturday.” By this time he’d moved out the door. She walked outside after him. “Mr. Cruise, it’s me, Ettie Smith.”
He stopped and turned around. “Oh yes. Sorry, I didn’t see it was you.”
“How are you doing after what happened on Saturday?” Ettie asked.
“I’m fine. Excuse me, I’m late for an appointment.” He gave another quick nod and hurried away.
Ettie walked back into the cafe and sat down in front of Elsa-May.
“Well, that was embarrassing, Ettie. Did you have to run after him like that?”
“No, I wasn’t running. I haven’t run since 1965.”
Elsa-May chortled. “Okay, you were ... shuffling after him.”
“He didn’t recognize me, that was it. He said he was late for an appointment.”
Elsa-May shook her head. “That’s not so.”
“He was, he said that. Anyway, you always think the worst.”
Elsa-May nodded toward the table he’d just left. Ettie looked over and saw a full plate of food and a barely sipped-from cup of coffee. “I don’t know what you did to him, but the man left his lunch and his coffee to get away from you.”
Ettie’s fingertips flew to her mouth. “He must’ve found out.”
“Found out what?”
Ettie slumped in the chair. “I didn’t know it was important so I didn’t say anything to you and I’ve only just told Detective Kelly.”
Elsa-May leaned forward. “What is it?”
“In the quilting tent just after I found poor Greta wasn’t breathing, I looked back at him and I saw him slipping something into his pocket. I don’t know what it was, but it was something. Kelly might’ve called him and asked him about it. I hope Kelly didn’t say it was me who said it, but he must’ve known anyway because there was no one else in the tent at the time.”
Elsa-May nodded. “That could be it. Of course Kelly would ask him what it was. This is a murder investigation. If he’s removed anything he’ll be in big trouble. Did you ask him at the time what he put in his pocket?”
“Not at the time, but I did later when we were outside, an
d he pulled his pockets inside out to show me nothing was there. He would’ve had time to remove whatever it was, though.”
“That is odd.”
“He came into the tent quickly when I called out after I found Greta. I thought that it was a coincidence he was so close by, but now ...”
“He might’ve been close because he’d just strangled the woman in cold blood.”
“I hope not. Would he come back into the tent if he’d just murdered Greta?”
Elsa-May shook her head. “Probably not, but I’d love to know what he put into his pocket.”
"Jah. Me too. At the time, I felt I should ask him, but I didn’t want to sound like I was accusing him of something. Then it kept bothering me and I had to ask him. Now I feel bad for not asking him at the time. He couldn’t have said it was nothing then, because I saw him put something in his pocket.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. I would’ve done the very same thing as you, Ettie.”
The waitress set their food down in front of them. Then she turned to the table where the councilor had been sitting. She looked around, puzzled, and then cleared everything from the table onto her tray.
“He certainly looked like he was in a hurry,” Elsa-May whispered as she readied her cake fork.
“I know.” Ettie looked down at the cake and knew it was going to taste delicious. There were tiny pieces of lemon zest on the frosting to give it that extra lemon tang. “It looks too good to eat.”
“Eat it or I’ll eat it as soon as I’m finished with this.”
Ettie picked up her cake fork, broke off a piece and placed it into her mouth. The cake was moist, with just the correct amount of sweetness and the frosting melted in her mouth. She could barely keep herself from moaning with pleasure. When Ettie had finished her mouthful, she said, “If that was a cookie, it would’ve won first prize at the fair. Sadly, nothing won because the fair was shut down. I wonder if they’ll hold it again soon. Have a do-over.”
“Who would organize it?” Elsa-May shook her head.
“I don’t know. Someone will step into her shoes."
"While I was banned to the waiting room just now, I did hear two officers talking at the front counter. They didn’t know I could hear them.”
“What did they say?”
“They’re close to arresting a young man for Greta’s murder. Seems he has a criminal record and used to mow her lawns and do odd jobs.”
“What was his motive?”
“I’m not sure, that’s all I heard.”
“Good work.”
Elsa-May smiled. “His name is Raymond Quale-Wate. Goes by the nickname of Mondo.”
“Monday?”
“Mondo,” Elsa-May repeated. “Your hearing is getting worse than mine.”
“It was you mumbling with cake in your mouth. I can hear perfectly well when you speak properly. Mondo. I will remember that now because of Monday.”
Elsa-May picked up her last bite of cake and popped it into her mouth. Then when she looked at Ettie’s plate, Ettie quickly spooned the last of her cake into her mouth before Elsa-May got any ideas.
“Where to now?” Elsa-May dabbed at the sides of her mouth with a paper napkin.
“Greta’s quilt store. If you ask me, it’s odd that her niece would open it the very day after Greta died. Why not close the store out of respect?”
“It is odd, very odd. We’ll soon find out, Ettie.”
Chapter 9
Ettie and Elsa-May looked in the window of Greta’s Quilts. They hadn’t been in the store for years. Out of the three quilting stores in the town, this was the busiest and in the most prominent location.
“Here we are. Now, what’s the plan?” Elsa-May asked her sister.
Ettie didn’t have a plan. She had vague memories of meeting one of Greta’s nieces years ago, but she didn’t even remember her name. “We’ll just talk with her and say we’re sorry, and somehow we’ll have to gather those names that we need.”
“Jah, but how? We need a plan.”
“I don’t have one. We’ll just see what happens.”
“Okay. You go in the door first.”
Ettie put her foot on the step to walk into the store and came face-to-face with their temporary neighbor, Kate, who was walking out the door. Matilda was beside her holding her mother’s hand. Ettie was surprised to see them. “Kate! Hello, and what brings you here?”
“I have quilts to sell. I was just talking to the lady about that. I didn’t know this was the store that the poor lady …” She looked down at her daughter, not wanting to say more.
“Yes, this is … was Greta’s store.”
“They’re not taking any new consignments until they know what’s happening with the store, and I can understand that.”
“That’s too bad. There are two others in town, have you tried them?”
“That’s where we’re headed right now. She was kind enough to give me the addresses.”
“Good.”
“I better be on my way. I’ve got a lot to do.” She hurried past them.
“Goodbye,” Ettie called after her.
Matilda turned around. “Goodbye, Mrs. Lutz and Mrs. Smith.”
Ettie and Elsa-May waved at Matilda until her mother pulled on her arm and she turned to face the front.
As the sisters walked into the store, Ettie whispered to Elsa-May, “I’m still surprised it’s open today.”
“Me too.”
Behind the counter, Ettie saw a young woman who appeared to be in her early forties. Her hair was cut short, in line with her chin and she had the same piercing green eyes as Greta. It had to the niece.
Elsa-May walked up to her. “Hello, would you be Greta’s niece?”
“That’s right. I’m Valerie George.”
“We’re very sorry to hear about your aunt.”
“Thank you. Did you know her well?”
“Yes, she was a very good friend of ours,” Elsa-May said.
Ettie stared at Elsa-May wondering why she would make such an exaggeration. They hadn't known her that well at all. Then she said to Valerie, “I’m Ettie Smith and this is Elsa-May Lutz.”
Valerie offered her hand. “Pleased to meet you. It was a huge shock. I’ve only just left my job, so it was good timing that I could step in here until we figure out what to do with the place. I can’t believe she went the way she did.” She teared up and plucked a tissue from a nearby box. “I’m sorry,” she said as she wiped her tears with the corner of the tissue.
Ettie shook her head. “No need to be sorry. Everyone’s shocked and saddened by the loss.”
“Thank you. I was considering closing today, but I know my aunt would’ve wanted the shop to keep going. That’s the only reason I’m here, for her.”
Ettie felt bad for having thought the store should be closed. What Valerie said made sense if she was doing it out of respect for Greta. Everyone had different ways of thinking and doing things.
Valerie looked around. “I’ll keep the shop if I can.” She smiled at them, and then asked, “Do you ladies have quilts on consignment here?”
Before Ettie could say no, Elsa-May moved in front of her. “That’s right, but I don’t see mine here anywhere.”
“Oh.” Valerie looked around at the quilts on display. “It might be in the back. Sometimes when my aunt has had them on the floor for a while and they don’t sell, she gives them a rest in the back room, and then after a while introduces them again. I have worked here on and off over the years ever since I was in high school, and I’m familiar with her routine.”
“That might be right, it has been here for a while,” Elsa-May agreed. “But I would feel better knowing that it was definitely still here and hasn’t been sold.”
“Greta would’ve informed you right away if it had been sold. I’ll take a look in the book.”
She moved behind the counter, crouched down and pulled out a dark green hard-covered book. After she placed it on the counter, she flipped
it open. “This is where Aunt Greta kept her records. Everything’s in here.” She looked up at Elsa-May, “Was it Elsa-May Klutz?”
Ettie covered her mouth but too late to contain the giggle.
Elsa-May’s jaw dropped open. “It’s Lutz. Elsa-May Lutz.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” The woman kept her head down and continued looking in the book, flipping over pages. “I don’t see your name here at all. When did you leave it?”
“I’m not sure. A few months ago.”
“Is it possible that your aunt kept another book?” Ettie asked.
Valerie pressed her lips together as her eyebrows lowered. “I don’t think so. She only had the one.”
“No, I am sure there is another book,” Elsa-May said in her usual booming voice. “Every time I came in, she got the book from the back room. Perhaps you should look out in the back room there?”
Valerie pushed up the bottom of her hair. “I don’t think so, but I’ll take a look anyway.” She closed the green book and put it back under the counter.
As soon as she was gone, Elsa-May grabbed the book and stuffed it down her apron.
“What are you doing?” Ettie hissed.
“There’s no other way. Tell her an emergency came up and we’ll come back later.” Elsa-May hurried out of the shop leaving Ettie standing there in shock.
When Valerie came back out, she said, “No, there was nothing.” She looked around for Elsa-May.
“My sister had to leave suddenly.”
“Oh.”
“Stomach problems,” Ettie explained.
“I see. I hope she’ll be all right.”
Ettie’s heart pounded. This wasn’t how she’d envisioned getting the information. “I’ll check on her and we’ll have to come back later to see about that quilt.”
“Yes, do that. And in the meantime, I’ll double check the book.”
Ettie leaned forward and whispered, “I wouldn’t bother.” Then she tapped her head. “She has been losing her mind lately. She might not have had a quilt here at all.”
“Oh, then you don’t think she has one here?”
Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 7 Page 31
