Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 2

by Samantha Price

  “I wonder if it was particularly valuable, and she was killed for it? Her car’s not that expensive, which leads me to suspect she wasn’t that well-off.”

  Elsa-May gazed at the car. “Looks expensive to me.”

  “It wouldn’t have cost as much as Brandy’s car.”

  Their conversation was drowned out by the sounds of police and ambulance sirens.

  Elsa-May stood and pulled on Ettie’s arm. “I suppose they’ll want to speak with us.”

  “Well, that’s why we’ve been waiting,” Ettie said as she stood.

  As they walked towards the road to speak with the police, a dark blue car pulled up behind the police car.

  “Ach nee! Elsa-May look! It's that Detective Kelly again.”

  “I thought you two were getting along better. You sound like you don’t want to speak with him. Better him than some unknown police officer.”

  “I suppose, but you can imagine what he will say to us, can’t you? Another body here at the haus; the same place where Horace was killed. He’ll have something smart to say to us about that for sure and for certain.”

  Ettie’s mouth turned down at the corners when she realized how selfish she was being. A woman was dead—most likely murdered, and she was worried about what a detective might say to her.

  Elsa-May and Ettie stayed back a little distance as the paramedics and the police gathered around the body. They witnessed Detective Kelly drop to his knees and sob.

  Ettie wiped a tear from her eye and whispered to Elsa-May, “I never thought he would have that reaction. Wouldn’t he have seen many murders scenes and dead people by now?”

  “Maybe he has a heart, Ettie.”

  Ettie wiped away another tear. Seeing the hardened detective that upset affected her.

  The detective glanced over at them, and then rose to his feet wiping his eyes. A few seconds later, he coughed and walked over to them.

  “Well, well, well… Ettie and Elsa-May. We meet again, under very similar circumstances.” His forehead showed deep furrows as his eyebrows nearly reached his sparse hairline.

  These were exactly the sorts of comments Ettie thought that Detective Kelly would make. He’d shrugged off his earlier display of kindness and human warmth.

  “Hello, Detective Kelly,” Ettie said as Elsa-May nodded to him.

  “How was the woman murdered, Detective Kelly, might I ask?” Elsa-May inquired stepping past Ettie.

  “Looks like the poor soul’s been strangled. She’s got marks on her neck; we’ll know more once the coroner arrives.”

  “Was it a robbery?” Elsa-May asked.

  “It seems at first look that no money or credit cards were taken. My men will go through the car and ascertain what might be missing. They tell me a taxi driver rang this in.”

  “We were with him,” Elsa-May said as she passed him the slip of paper with the driver’s phone number. “He said you could reach him at this number.”

  He looked at each sister in turn, and then asked, “Did either of you know the deceased?”

  Elsa-May answered, “Ettie had an open house here today, and we think she's one of the agents.” Elsa-May pointed at the book not far from them that looked as though the dead woman might have dropped it.

  The detective looked over at the same time as one of the evidence technicians was picking it up with a gloved hand. He placed it in a bag.

  “From what we could read, she's from the same agency as Brandy Winnie, my realtor. Brandy must have left first.”

  He narrowed his eyes at Ettie. “You didn’t touch that book, did you?”

  Ettie shook her head. “No, we didn’t.”

  “Never seen the woman before?” he asked firmly.

  “No, I’m positive I’ve never seen her before.”

  “Me either,” Elsa-May added.

  “Good. Is there anything else you can think of to tell me?”

  “We came here hoping to catch Brandy at the end of the open house. It seems we were too late. The taxi driver said he’d call her,” Ettie said.

  Elsa-May added, “But then he didn’t tell us what she said or whether he called her at all.”

  “Yes. He was in a hurry to leave.”

  One of Kelly’s men came and whispered something to him, and Kelly looked behind them at the house. When the man left, Kelly said, “We’re going to have to look for evidence in your house, Ettie. If you move over this way, we must put tape across it, and you won’t be able to go into it until I say it’s okay.”

  As they moved away from the house, the three of them turned when they heard a car come to a screeching halt.

  “That’s Brandy Winnie now,” Ettie said, recognizing her car.

  Chapter 3

  The two elderly sisters and the detective stood and watched Brandy get out of her car. Out of the corner of her eye, Ettie noticed that Detective Kelly stood taller, cleared his throat and straightened his tie. After he’d preened himself, he walked to meet her.

  Elsa-May whispered to Ettie, “They’re covering the body with a sheet.”

  Ettie’s attention turned to the dead woman. “Let’s go back and sit down before we fall down,” Ettie said to her sister.

  “You can if you want to. I want to hear what Brandy has to say. I’ll get a little closer.”

  Not wanting to be left out of anything, Ettie said, “I’ll come with you, then.”

  Elsa-May and Ettie linked arms and took several steps forward until they were close enough to overhear what the detective said to Brandy. It was Brandy who spoke first.

  “Someone called me and said someone is dead. Is it Margo? That’s Margo’s car there.” She was stretching herself to look over to where the body lay.

  “I’m afraid the deceased’s name is Margo Rivers,” he said.

  Brandy let out a yell and fell to her knees. The detective kneeled down and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

  Through sobs, she said, “I knew it must’ve been her when that man called me and described her and her car.”

  Brandy put her hand to her forehead and sobbed some more.

  “Don't worry; we'll get the person who did this to her.”

  “What happened to her?”

  “She was murdered, and that’s all we know at this time.”

  Brandy continued to sob.

  “I’ll get a female officer,” Kelly said.

  Ettie thought it must be protocol to get a female officer when a woman needed comforting, although Ettie was certain Detective Kelly would very much like to put his arm around Brandy.

  “Come on; we should be with her,” Ettie said to Elsa-May

  As the elderly sisters walked over to Brandy, she looked up at them. She rose to her feet and wiped her eyes. “Ettie and Elsa-May, were you here too? Did you see anything happen?”

  “We came here by taxi and she was on the ground near her car. She had already gone.”

  “We asked the driver to call you,” Elsa-May added.

  “We knew you must have known her because she had paperwork with the name of your firm on it.”

  “Margo’s my intern. I had her do the open house instead of me because I was busy with something that came up unexpectedly.”

  “So, she wasn’t supposed to be here?” the detective asked.

  Brandy shook her head. “I mean, yes she was. She goes where I tell her to go.” Brandy put a hand to her forehead again. “She was newly engaged. Poor Norman will be devastated.”

  “I’ll get his details from you in a minute, but first, when I asked if she was meant to be here, I meant was it a last-minute thing? When did you tell her she was to come here?”

  “Only yesterday.”

  “It was unexpected, but you knew yesterday that you wouldn't be able to attend the open house today?"

  Brandy nodded.

  The detective retrieved a notebook from an inner coat pocket and scribbled something on it. “We’ll need her fiancé’s number and the numbers of her next-of-kin.”


  “You can phone my office for her next-of-kin. They’ll have all those details in her personnel file.” Brandy pulled her phone out of her pocket to give the detective the office phone number.

  “That the phone number there?” he asked pointing to the For Sale sign.

  “Oh, yes, of course, that’s it. I’ll need to give you Norman’s number.” Brandy pushed some buttons on her phone.

  “You have her fiancé’s number in your phone?”

  “Yes. He’s a client of mine.” Brandy read out the number to the detective.

  “I’ll call this in; I’ll be right back.” The detective wandered away from them while he made a call.

  “I can’t believe this is real. It’s like a bad nightmare.” Brandy sighed loudly.

  “I’ll need you to come down to the office for questioning, Ms. Winnie.” The detective was back already.

  “Yes, of course.” Brandy nodded.

  “Do you know anyone who might have wished Margo harm?” he inquired.

  The sisters took a few steps back to be polite.

  “No one; no one at all. She was a lovely girl.” Brandy gasped. “Do you think someone thought she was me and killed her by accident? Is that why you asked me when I decided to have her come here?”

  “Why? Do you have someone who would want you out of the way?”

  “I guess I have people who’ve been angry with me from time to time. There are always clients who miss out on properties for one reason or another. It’s always my fault in their opinions.”

  “What about anything more personal? A jealous boyfriend perhaps?”

  Ettie was amused and glanced at Elsa-May who appeared to agree that the last question was an odd one.

  “No. I’m too busy for a boyfriend,” Brandy replied. “All I do is work, work, and more work.” She smiled at Detective Kelly, and he smiled right back at her.

  Ettie stepped forward. “Shall I unlock the grossdaddi haus, Detective, so that you can talk with Brandy in more comfort?” Since Ava had already moved out and only had to come and collect furniture, Ettie knew Ava wouldn’t mind them going in.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Smith, that’s very kind. It won’t take long then I’ll have to inform her nearest and dearest.”

  “Oh, Ettie, I gave your house keys to Margo,” Brandy said. “I don’t know where they are now.”

  “I’ve got spare keys hidden around the back. I’ll get them. I’ve got one to the grossdaddi haus and a spare to the main one.” Ettie and Elsa-May headed to the back of the house leaving Brandy and the detective alone.

  “Did you hear what was said, Elsa-May? He asked if she had enemies and she said she had a lot.”

  “Who did? Her or the dead woman?”

  “No. Brandy said she—I mean Brandy—has enemies. Remember she told us when she first came to look at the house that she knows many people’s secrets? She seems to know a lot about a great deal of people. And not everyone wants their secrets exposed.”

  “You think someone was trying to kill Brandy?”

  “Possibly, if she’s the one who was meant to be here. She mailed us a copy of the advertisement that was going into the paper—it was her name on the ad.”

  “Where are those key?” Elsa-May asked once they were around the back.

  Ettie reached under the house and picked up a brick. Under it was a set of keys. Ettie picked it up to show Elsa-May. “There is a key to this house and one to the grossdaddi haus.”

  After they had unlocked the door of the grossdaddi haus, Ettie handed Kelly the key to the main house.

  “Thank you, Ettie.” He handed the key to one of his men and then the four of them went to where Ava once lived.

  Ettie stood at the entrance. “You don’t mind us sitting in the living room do you, Detective? We do need somewhere to sit. You might be comfortable if you go through to the kitchen and sit at the table with Brandy.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Smith. We shouldn’t be too long.”

  “Take your time, Detective,” Ettie said.

  Brandy walked through the door followed by the detective. When Brandy and the detective sat in the kitchen, Ettie and Elsa-May sat on the couch in the very next room. The detective got up and closed the kitchen door.

  “Shouldn’t he be down there with his men to see what they turn up?” Elsa-May whispered.

  Ettie gave half a shrug of her shoulders. “I suppose they take it all back to the station and go through the evidence there.”

  “Sh. Let’s see if we can hear what they’re saying.”

  “That’s eavesdropping,” Ettie hissed.

  “Not when the woman was killed on your property; that gives us a right to listen in.”

  They both heard the detective say, “Do you know anybody who … do you know anybody …” he hesitated, and then said, “I’m sorry, I’m distracted by your blue eyes. They’re the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen.”

  Ettie covered her mouth to stifle a giggle and Elsa-May opened her mouth in shock.

  Brandy Winnie's first response was a little giggle, and then she said, “People always tell me that. The funny thing is that there aren’t many blue-eyed people in my family.”

  “Hmm, that is odd, but they’re lovely.”

  “Thank you. Poor Margo, she only just got engaged to a lovely man. Has anyone called him? He’ll be devastated.”

  “I believe you gave me his phone number. I’ll get to all the next-of-kin tonight and inform them. What’s her fiancé’s name?”

  “Norman Cartwright.”

  “The Norman Cartwright?”

  “Yes. You know him?”

  “Everyone around here knows him. He’s one of the wealthiest men in the region.”

  Ettie looked at Elsa-May and pointed to her ring finger. If the man was wealthy, he might have given his fiancée a valuable ring. She had noticed that one of the men on the forensic team had placed paper bags over the woman’s hands so they must have considered her hands important. They would surely have noticed her red and swollen finger that was evidence of a missing ring—possibly forced off her finger. Elsa-May nodded to her, acknowledging what Ettie was thinking.

  “Margo’s life was finally working out well for her. She’d had a rough time, but since she met Norman things had turned completely around for her. He’ll be devastated; she was everything to him.”

  “And what made you swap places with her today?”

  “She's my intern and as I already told you I didn't change places with her; I was doing other things, and I had her come here to hold the open. She was to take names and addresses of the people who turned up. It was her duty to take offers and call them through to me.”

  “We’ll take a look at those names; we’ll speak to everyone on that list. And did she call you with any offers?”

  “No, she didn't. She normally calls me as soon as she gets to her car after an open house. Perhaps she didn’t make it to her car?”

  “You might be right.”

  “Do you think someone was angry with her fiancé and then killed her to get at him?”

  “That's something we can look into. We’ll hear what he’s got to say. I’ll take your phone number and I will need you to come down to the station tomorrow.” After she gave him her number, he asked, “Can I drive you somewhere?”

  “No. I’ve got my car outside.”

  “Is that a bruise on your face?”

  “Yes. I ran into an open cupboard in my kitchen earlier today.”

  “I don’t think you should be driving when you’re this upset. Can I phone someone for you?”

  “No. I'll be fine. I'll just wait awhile and then drive straight home; it's not that far away. Will you call her parents and call everybody else? I guess that's all under control?”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll do that as soon as I leave here.”

  The detective and Brandy walked out of the kitchen into the living room.

  “Are you two all right?” he asked looking at the two sisters.

 
; Ettie and Elsa-May pushed themselves up off the couch.

  “We’re okay,” Ettie said.

  “Just a little weary,” Elsa-May added.

  Ettie stared at Brandy looking for the bruise that the detective had mentioned. There was a slight mark that Ettie hadn’t noticed before.

  “Would you like me to drive you home?” Brandy asked them.

  “I’ll do that,” the detective said. “If you ladies don’t mind waiting for ten minutes or so?”

  “We’ll wait,” Elsa-May said.

  “We’re very sorry about your friend,” Ettie said to Brandy.

  “Thank you, Ettie. I’ll be in touch soon.”

  “You know where we live,” Ettie said.

  “Yes, I do.”

  The detective walked Brandy to the door and then had a word with some of his police officers who’d been waiting at the door to speak with him.

  When Ettie walked outside, she saw that the body had gone. There was a tow truck attaching chains to the car. She whispered to her sister, “Everything happens so quickly.”

  “Jah. They probably have to take the car in to look for evidence too.”

  Ettie pressed the lock on the front door handle so it would lock when the door was closed.

  “It might be some time before you get the key back for your main house, Ettie. I don’t see a problem if you want to go back into the apartment where we just were.”

  “I understand.”

  Detective Kelly spoke with some of his men, and after some time he turned and stared at Elsa-May and Ettie with his hands on his hips. When he walked up to them, he said, “I’m ready now. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

  “Are you sure you can take us home? We can get a taxi.”

  “You don’t live that far. I don’t mind driving you.”

  On the journey to their place, he said, “It’s a sad business. The woman was about to get married, and now she’s cut down in the prime of her life. I’m determined to get who did this. I’m more determined than I’ve ever been. I hope you ladies will give me help if I need it.”

  Ettie pulled her mouth to one side. He’d only ever asked for their help if the case was something to do with the Amish community. “I doubt we’ll be able to help you with anything, but let us know.”