“I’m happy things are working out for you.”
Bethany smiled and nodded at Ettie. Were things working out for her? The business so far looked like it would be okay, but life was so uncertain. Things were complicated now with the money issue. She didn’t want any money from her father, but as the detective had said, it was quite possible that Ian Whitmore had died over it.
Ettie and Bethany jumped when they heard loud pounding on the glass front door and the jangling of someone turning the handle, trying to get in.
“How rude!” Ettie said. “Don’t they know you’re not open yet?”
“Ettie, I think it’s Creighton Whitmore!”
Ettie grabbed Bethany’s arm. He wasn’t going to stop knocking on the door until they let him in.
“I’ll have to open the door, Ettie. You stay by the phone in case you have to call 911.”
When Ettie agreed and hurried to the back of the store, Bethany unlocked the door. When she opened the door Creighton walked through it.
“I finally figured it out when I saw you at the funeral,” he said to Bethany while glancing over at Ettie. “At first, I didn’t mind sharing my father’s estate with you, but then my mother told me that you weren’t really his child. Are you the child of Randall Whitmore?”
Bethany took a step back. “I don’t want anything! His name was on my birth certificate, and that’s all I know. How would your mother even know about me?”
He huffed. “He never sent you money all this time, or came to see you?”
“Not to my knowledge.”
Creighton placed his hands on his hips.
Ettie became annoyed and stepped toward the man. “What is it that you want, barging in and scaring people like this? All Bethany knows is that Ian Whitmore was found on her floor here, dead. We learned that the dead man had the same last name as the man on her birth certificate. We went to his funeral, and someone there approached us and said her father, Randall, wanted her to have money. Bethany never went looking for any money. She had hoped to learn more about her father, but she learned that her father had only just died weeks before.” Ettie felt she would pass out. She’d barely drawn a breath.
He pulled his eyes away from Ettie after looking her up and down, and then looked at Bethany. “Is what this senior citizen is saying correct? You never met Randall?”
“I have a vague idea he came to my mother’s house once when I was a young girl, and that’s why I found that Ian looked a little familiar. But maybe I dreamed all of it since it was so long ago. I’m not sure of anything.”
Creighton took a deep breath and seemed to relax. “I’m sorry to barge in on you like this. I totally forgot my manners. I do need to talk to you about things, but maybe this isn’t the time or the place.”
“You could talk to me after I close the store. I’ve had people fill in for me for the last two days, so I couldn’t impose on anyone again so soon.”
“I’ll meet you back here at closing time.”
“Okay. That’s five o’clock.”
“I’ll be here.” He nodded goodbye to Ettie and promptly left the store.
Bethany swung around to look at Ettie. “What do you make of all that?”
“That was a surprise, but you can’t meet him alone.”
“Ettie, do you think you could be here with me? I have no one else to ask.”
“Jah. I’ll go home, have a rest and come back just before closing.”
“Would you?”
“I don’t mind in the slightest.”
“Detective Kelly said he was going to visit the family later today. What if Creighton disappeared right after Ian? He could be the killer.”
“I’ll go to the station and let him know that you’re meeting with Creighton—that we’re meeting with Creighton—at five. He should know by then if he’s a suspect or not.”
“Would he be back by then? It’s a long drive.”
“If he’s not, I’ll speak to one of the officers. They should be able to reach him by phone.”
“Denke, Ettie. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“I’m sure you’d manage somehow. Maybe then you would let Jabez become a little closer?”
Bethany opened her mouth in shock. “What do you know about me and Jabez?”
Ettie laughed. “I do know a thing or two about love, and that boy can’t take his eyes off you.”
“Really?”
“You mean you don’t know that yourself?”
“I had hoped, but that’s all.” Bethany hoped she hadn’t ruined things with him already by being distant with him.
“Now that I’ve given you something to think about other than the Whitmores, I’ll go home. I’ll be brighter by this afternoon.”
“Denke again, Ettie. I’ll see you later.”
Three women came into the store and passed Ettie on her way out. Bethany was glad of the distraction when one of the ladies told Bethany all about the quilts she had at home and the one she was presently sewing. Many women who came into the store liked to talk about their sewing projects, and today Bethany was glad to listen.
It was mid-afternoon when a well-dressed woman walked in wearing a slim-fitting tailored business suit. She didn’t look like she was there to buy a quilt. The woman locked eyes with Bethany and approached her directly.
“Good afternoon. Would you be Bethany Parker?”
“I am.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Freda Harris, one of your father’s lawyers. I believe your uncle was found shot here in your store.”
Bethany froze. Did the woman mean her harm? Was it appropriate to offer her condolences? She hadn’t seen this woman at the funeral, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t there amongst the crowd of mourners.
“The reason I’m here is that I happen to believe that Randall Whitmore’s brother came here to deliver you a document.”
“What kind of document?” If she means the will, why doesn’t she say it straight out?
“Did he bring you anything? It’s of vital importance that I know because I was his personal lawyer. He trusted me with everything. Cheryl Bailey gave me your address and said I should make contact with you to smooth the process for you.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know anything. All I know is that the man was found on my floor right where you’re standing.”
She looked down at her feet and took a couple steps to her left. “Sooner or later, they’ll find out if he gave you that document.”
“Who’s they?”
“The family. It’s best you tell me now so we can work out how best to move forward with everything.”
“I wish I could tell you something, but he left nothing here. He was here when I got here. Perhaps you should contact the police? They took lots of things away in bags as evidence.”
“What kind of things?”
Bethany shrugged. “I didn’t take notice.”
“But you noticed enough to see them putting things into bags, so what were they?”
The woman was making her nervous. “Do you want me to call the police for you?”
“If I want to speak to them I can call them for myself. I assure you, Bethany, I’m on your side, and I’m possibly the only one who is, apart from Cheryl Bailey. You can’t trust anyone, particularly Creighton. No one in the Whitmore family wishes you well, and Ian and your father knew that.” The woman stared at her for a moment and then opened her bag and handed over a business card. “If you think of anything, or if you need help with anything, here are my numbers.”
She took the card. “What do you think that Ian came to give me?”
“If you don’t know that, Bethany, I’ll only get you into more trouble by telling you. If you find out for yourself, be sure to call me if you need help.”
“Are you talking about his will?”
“Do you know where it is?”
“No, I don’t.”
The woman took a step closer to her. “I think you’re playing games with me. This is no game, Be
thany.”
“The detective in charge of the case wants to speak with you.”
“I haven’t heard from him. Anyway, my office arranges my appointments. Your father trusted me and you should too.” She glanced at her wristwatch before she hurried out the door.
Chapter 16
The rest of the day had gone quickly for Bethany and when it was fifteen minutes before five, she looked up and down the street to see if Ettie was anywhere in sight. It was then that she saw Jabez walking toward her. He lifted his hand to give her a wave.
“Any other time but now,” she murmured to herself as she gave a wave back.
This was the worst time for him to be anywhere near the store. She didn’t want to involve him in the tangled mess that the Whitmore family appeared to have created.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Come inside.” She walked back into the store. “My father’s lawyer visited me today and asked if Ian brought something with him, and Creighton Whitmore came here before she did. Creighton’s coming back to talk to me in a few minutes. He said he’d be back at five.”
“What does he want?”
“He said he needs to talk with me about things.”
“Do you want me to wait with you? I won’t say anything. I’ll stay in the background.”
“Nee denke. Ettie Smith will be here soon. She offered to stay with me.”
“Ettie Smith? What does she have to do with any of this?”
“She went to Ian Whitmore’s funeral with me, and she was here with me this morning when Creighton Whitmore was here.” She deliberately didn’t tell him that Creighton Whitmore could very well be a suspect in Ian Whitmore’s murder. She contemplated asking him whether he would stay with her until Ettie arrived just in case Ettie didn’t show but thought better of it.
“I see. I’m not needed, then. I’ll leave you to it.”
Without saying goodbye, he strode out of the store.
Bethany opened her mouth to call him back, but something stopped her. Maybe it was his sulky attitude or maybe it was her own pride, she didn’t know, but she had bigger worries than Jabez’s hurt feelings. She watched him head back in the direction from where he’d come.
At five in the evening, there was no sign of Ettie. Immediately, Bethany knew something was wrong. Ettie was always punctual, as was the way of all Amish people. If Ettie said she was going to be at a certain place at a certain time, she was generally five minutes early.
Making an effort to steady her breathing, Bethany logged off the credit card terminal and then reconciled the money in the till. When Bethany heard a knock on the glass door, she whipped her head up hoping it was Ettie. It wasn’t. It was Creighton. Now she regretted not having Jabez stay with her.
Was she going to end up dead on the floor just like Ian Whitmore? Knowing Ettie was stopping by the police station and would be there soon gave her a little sense of calm amidst the panic welling inside.
Bethany unlocked the door, allowing Creighton to step into the store.
“Sorry about earlier today,” he said. “I’m afraid I’ve inherited some of my father’s bad traits—stubbornness and a bad temper.”
Her father had been stubborn just like she was. “It must be a comfort for you to have known him.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Spoken like someone who’d never met him.”
“Maybe one day you can take the time to tell me about him. I would like to learn all I can about him.”
No sound came from Creighton’s lips as he stared at her as though she were an oddity.
She coughed to cover her nervousness. “Why did you feel the need to come here today?”
“It’s a matter of an inheritance and whether you are or you aren’t the child of my father, Randall Whitmore.”
“I’ve told you all I know. All I can tell you is that it’s his name on my birth certificate, and when I saw your uncle on my floor, he looked slightly familiar. I might have seen your father when I was a small child. Anyway, I’ve already told you about that vague memory, and that’s all I can say. My mother never told me anything about him even though I often begged her to.”
“Would you take a DNA test?”
“I would as long as it doesn’t hurt.”
“It’s painless—just a simple swab inside your mouth.”
“Okay.” She nodded.
“You do have a certain family resemblance. You’ve got the same high cheekbones, the same shaped nose. Show me your hands,” he ordered.
She held them out in front of her.
He laughed as he held out his hands. “See? The same crooked finger—that’s a big Whitmore trait.”
Bethany found herself relaxing when he seemed pleased to find evidence that she might be related.
“I’ve always wondered why my fingers were like that.”
“My mother told me that you weren’t my father’s child but she was a twisted woman. I figured she was always jealous of your mother.”
“Jealous of my mother?” It sounded ludicrous that anyone could be jealous of her plain mother.
“I think she was jealous that my father held a certain amount of affection for your mother and obviously for you.”
“He did? Did he ever say anything about me?”
“Not to me, but he obviously did to my mother, and it appears he told Ian of your existence.”
“And your Aunt Cheryl; she knows too.”
“Who’s that? I don’t have an Aunt Cheryl.”
Bethany’s chest tightened. “Cheryl, Ian and Randall’s sister.”
“Ian and Randall don’t have a sister or any siblings. They were the only two children in the family. Randall was the older brother by one year.”
Bethany backed herself against the countertop to stop herself from falling. “There is no sister?” The woman’s face flashed before her. “She was talking to us at the funeral and even offered us Kleenex.”
He shrugged and shook his head.
“Whose home was the wake held at, then?”
“The wake was at Ian’s house. Well, I suppose it’s Aunt Rita’s house now.”
Where’s Ettie? Bethany looked out the store window, hoping she wouldn’t be too far.
“I do know a Cheryl, but she’s no relation and definitely no friend. What did she say to you?”
She studied Creighton’s face. Maybe he was the fraud, and he was telling lies. Cheryl had warned them against him.
“She said Randall wanted me… well… wanted to leave me something in his will. And that there was a big family fight.”
“You’re making it all up. There is no sister.”
His raised voice scared Bethany. “I’m just telling you what she said.”
They were both startled when an officer burst through the door. “Creighton Whitmore?”
“Yes?”
“I need you to come down to the station with me. We need to ask you a few questions.”
“About what?” he spat out as though insulted by the intrusion. “I saw a detective the other day and answered all his questions. I don’t know anything else.”
“I need you to come with me now,” the officer repeated, stepping forward.
“How did you know I was here?” Creighton asked.
“We can talk about that down at the station.”
Creighton turned around and shot Bethany a look of disgust before he walked out with the detective. Bethany watched out the window as he slipped into the back door of the police car. When the car drove off, Ettie appeared as if out of nowhere and rushed into the store.
“Are you all right, Bethany?”
“I thought you’d never get here. Does the detective think he killed Ian? Is that why the police officer rushed in here like that?”
“Creighton disappeared from the house not long after Ian left.”
“Is that right?”
Ettie nodded.
“He seemed as though he could’ve been nice. Although he did get weird and a little ag
gressive at the end of our conversation. We were having a nice talk and do you know what he told me? He said there was no one called Cheryl. Ian and Randall didn’t have a sister at all.”
Ettie gasped and covered her mouth. “What else did he say?”
“That he thought his father never forgot my mother and his mother was jealous of my mother. The way he spoke of his mother, it sounded like she might have died, but I didn’t like to ask. It would be nice to find out about Cheryl. She took a risk telling us that it was her house when it really was Ian's house where the wake was held. We could very easily have found out that it wasn’t.”
“And she seemed to be involved with the family at the funeral service. She was sitting in the front with them.”
“Remember she wasn’t anywhere to be found when we wanted to say goodbye to her?”
“That’s right. I totally forgot about that. We couldn’t see her anywhere.”
“I also had a visit from my father’s lawyer, and she left me her card. She wanted to know if Ian had brought anything with him, but the funny thing was that she never mentioned the word ‘will.’”
“That is odd. Come and have dinner with Elsa-May and me tonight. Before you say no, I have to tell you that Elsa-May is cooking a roast. I told her I’d ask you to come home with me.”
“After the day I’ve had, a roast sounds like the very thing I need.”
Chapter 17
Bethany was pleased to be going to Ettie and Elsa-May’s house for dinner. She hadn’t been to the store to buy groceries for well over a week, and she was certain cookies and potatoes were the only foods left in the house. Tomorrow she’d have to find the time to go to the grocery store. She couldn’t exist on half-strength cappuccinos and salad sandwiches from the café down the road for much longer.
When the taxi stopped outside Ettie and Elsa-May’s house, Bethany could smell the roasted meat. Fond memories of her mother’s cooking flooded her mind.
“Smell that?” Ettie breathed in deeply.
“Jah. I didn’t know how hungry I was until now.”
“Elsa-May does cook a wunderbaar roast.”
“I can’t wait to taste it,” Bethany said.
Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 2 Page 23
