Secrets in the Grave

by Karen Ann Hopkins

  Daniel shook his head. “No. They believe suicide is the ultimate sin. The Lord will forgive for grievous acts, but once you’ve killed yourself, you can’t ask forgiveness. Honestly, Rachel Yoder is the only person I know of who did themselves in intentionally.”

  “That’s what makes Fannie’s case so strange,” I exclaimed. “The herbs she ingested either killed her outright or worsened a situation arising from complications of the pregnancy. Either way, she consumed ingredients that were highly dangerous. Even if she was desperate, it seems an odd way for a young woman to take her life.”

  “Who’s to say? Maybe she simply mixed some herbs together in the hopes of having an abortion and it killed her too,” Daniel suggested.

  “I checked with Bobby on this. Tansy ragwort and pennyroyal aren’t the types of herbs that common people have laying around in their kitchens.”

  “We’re talking about the Amish, remember. There are many uses for herbs. I distinctly remember Ma having a variety of dried plants hanging from the rafters in the storeroom when I was growing up. You’ve seen firsthand how important herbal remedies are to the Plain people. Look how Ada Mae was able to save Christina and her friend.”

  I sank down into the seat, thinking. It wasn’t just plants on my mind.

  “What about the supernatural healings? Do you really believe that your friend Lester was miraculously healed by your mother or that Mervin’s leg recovered because of some kind of Amish magic?”

  Daniel was silent a moment, then chuckled. “Why is it so difficult for you to believe in things you can’t see? That’s what faith is, Serenity. Trusting in something because you feel it on the inside, not because you see it in front of your face.”

  I rolled my eyes, but didn’t immediately say anything. I had seen Mervin’s healing. It was the spooky feeling that rolled over me when Jonas had been praying that was my undoing.

  “I can’t deny that something happened in that room with Mervin. That’s what scares me,” I admitted.

  Daniel reached over and cupped my hand. He smiled. “The sooner you accept that not everything is explainable, the happier you’ll be.”

  I took a breath. “This case is different than others I’ve worked on, especially Naomi’s. Usually, I have a clear idea about what’s going on. This time I don’t. It’s as if the entire case is fogged over.”

  Daniel released my hand and turned into Wilma Gingerich’s driveway. It was still the same little white house beside the road, surrounded by yellow flowers, but in the shadows of night, it wasn’t as welcoming.

  Daniel cut the engine off and turned to me. “It’s almost nine o’clock. That’s really too late to call on Wilma uninvited.”

  “I know.” I sighed. “But I have no choice. That girl needs my help. That’s one thing I am sure of,” I said.

  Without argument, Daniel stepped out of the Jeep. I followed suit. I found myself standing on the front porch with my arms crossed. The nighttime air was chilly and still.

  Daniel rapped on the door. Only a faint light shone from a window on the side of the house. I waited, holding my breath that we hadn’t wasted a three hour drive.

  The door opened a crack and Wilma peeked out. She wasn’t wearing the usual cap. Her long gray hair was coiled onto her head. The wrinkles in her face deepened when she saw me.

  “Warum sind sie heir?”

  Daniel answered her in English. “I’m sorry. Your granddaughter, Marissa, called Serenity on the phone earlier. She said that it was an urgent matter that she talk to her.”

  Wilma snorted, straightening her bent body to address me. “Marissa’s mind does not work properly. Didn’t you see that for yourself?”

  I took a step forward. “She can still see things—understand them. The case I’m working back in Blood Rock is serious. A young woman died. I want to make sure there was no foul play involved before I close the case.”

  Wilma’s mouth tightened, but she cracked the door open a little further. “I’ll see if she’s still awake. She has trouble falling asleep most nights. That girl is plagued with nightmares. Her soul is restless.”

  Wilma shuffled away. I finally breathed. Daniel and I exchanged glances, but neither of us spoke.

  A moment later, Wilma was back at the door, a frown curving her thin lips.

  “She’s not in her bed,” she said.

  My heart began pounding. “Where could she be?”

  Wilma shrugged. “Ach, that girl. Sometimes when she can’t sleep, she wanders down to the pond behind the house. Check there first.”

  Wilma’s voice was thick with annoyance. Marissa’s disappearance didn’t seem to worry her.

  I felt the press of urgency to get to the pond. Leaving Wilma at the door, I jogged down the porch steps. Daniel was right behind me.

  We didn’t slow from a run until we reached the pond that dropped away from a steep bank on the near side. Slowing, to pick my way more carefully, I stepped through the taller grass, searching for Marissa with wide eyes. The pond was more like a small lake. The far side was mowed right up to the water’s edge, but on either side were bushes and brush trees crowding together. The scent of scum and mud reached my nostrils and the sound of hundreds of chirping frogs filled my ears.

  “There,” Daniel said, pointing across the water to a place along the shore where a tree had fallen.

  Marissa’s light colored dress stuck out like a beacon in the moonlight.

  I titled my head to listen. Marissa’s quiet singing carried over the water.

  “I have something to tell you—to tell you about Jonas. Tell you about Jonas…tell you about Jonas….about Jonas.”

  I shivered and walked faster.

  When I reached the Amish woman, her singing stopped. She smiled at me.

  I bent to my knees in front of her. Daniel hung back, crossing his hands over his chest.

  “Marissa, I’m here. You can tell me what you wanted to about Jonas,” I urged.

  Marissa looked over my shoulder and then at Daniel, searchingly. “Is Jonas with you?” she inquired.

  I shook my head. “No. He’s back in Blood Rock. He lives there now, but he used to live here, didn’t he?”

  Marissa’s smile deepened. “Yes, he did. He would visit me, here at the pond on nice evenings like this.”

  The erratic beating of my heart continued as suspicions formed.

  “Would Jonas come here alone?” I motioned to the lonely country scene around the pond. Mist rose from the water, adding to the horror movie feel of the place.

  She nodded, then frowned. “But he doesn’t come no more—no more.”

  I glanced at Daniel. His eyes were wide with apprehension. I felt the same way. Some things you needed to know, but didn’t really want to.

  I took a steadying breath. “What did you and Jonas do when he came to see you?”

  Even in the dull light from the moon, I saw Marissa blush.

  She began humming the same tune.

  I listened to the soulful sound, staring out at the water, my mind wandering to another time when Jonas Peachey was here with Marissa, alone.

  “And then came the bleeding—the bleeding—the bleeding.” In jarring fashion, Marissa began singing.

  I touched her shoulder lightly and she jumped. She turned to face me. Her eyes were clear.

  “Why did you bleed?” I coaxed.

  “It hurt.” She gripped her stomach as if feeling the pains again. “It hurt down my belly and my back and my legs, and then came the blood.” She dropped her voice, leaning in. “I thought I was dying. All that blood and the stuff too. It all came out.”

  I tried to wrap my mind around what she was saying. I felt dirty just thinking about it.

  “Do you know why you bled like that?” I asked.

  “The baby came out,” she whispered and pointed at the stand of trees. “He’s over there. I put him in the ground, like I do the dead chickens.”

  My eyes drifted to the shadowy place under the trees. I swallowed
. “Did Jonas come to you after that happened?”

  Marissa shook her head. “Jonas went away—went away.”

  The sadness in her voice pulsated. I exhaled slowly, trying to steady the pounding anger that grew inside of me.

  I stood up, taking Marissa’s hand into my own. “Your grandmother is waiting for you back at the house. Go on.”

  Marissa’s expression changed to happiness once again. “Going to the house—I’m going to the house—going to the house,” she sang. Her steps were light and quick as she made her way back around the pond.

  She seemed to have forgotten Jonas and everything else. For Marissa, ignorance really was bliss. It was probably for the best.

  When the flash of Marissa’s dress disappeared around the corner of the house, I turned back to Daniel.

  “I didn’t see that coming,” Daniel said, rubbing his face.

  I lifted my chin and stepped under the branches of the trees.

  “No—you’re not serious.” Daniel caught up to me and grasped my arm.

  I looked up at him. “Because of Marissa’s state of mind, her statements won’t be taken seriously by a judge. We need proof that she’s telling the truth.” I clucked under my breath. “Are you going to help me or is this too much for you to handle?”

  Daniel half rolled his eyes and sighed. “This is a little above and beyond the call of duty for the average boyfriend,” Daniel quipped, but he stepped in front of me, taking the lead.

  “Is that what you are—an average boyfriend?” I said.

  Daniel stopped, turning abruptly.

  He pulled me into his arms and brought his mouth down hard on mine. I was too surprised to pull back. After Marissa’s jumbled story, Hannah’s desperate situation and visions of Fannie’s pale, dead form, Daniel’s kiss blotted out the icky feeling that had taken hold of me.

  Daniel’s tongue explored my mouth as his hands rubbed up and down my back. I melted into his chest. For a brief time, I forgot about the Amish women and their pregnancies, but as Daniel’s hands became bolder, cupping my breast, thoughts of Jonas doing the same thing to Marissa invaded my thoughts. She was a woman on the outside, but mentally, only a child. For her to have a miscarriage, barely even understanding what had happened to her was beyond awful. My stomach rolled and I pulled away, staring back at him.

  At first he frowned, then the look shifted to resolve.

  “Let’s get this over with,” he said, turning back to his original course.

  He stopped at a small pile of rocks and I stared down at them. They were too orderly to be the random placement of nature.

  I rolled up my sleeves. This is the part of the job that really sucked.

  22

  SERENITY

  “I made a call to the local sheriff in Ohio. He’s aware of the situation,” I said, handing the box to Bobby.

  Bobby shook his head. “You don’t want to bypass protocol, Serenity. If it comes to a court case, the way you handled that simple woman.” He held up the box. “And this could mean the difference of a conviction or acquittal.”

  I flopped down in the chair, spreading my arms wide. “I know. When can you let me know for sure that it’s human remains?”

  “Give me an hour with it.” Bobby dipped his head to peek over his glasses. “If it turns out to be a fetus, where are you heading with the investigation?”

  I gazed out the window in my office. A stiff breeze was bending the tree branches along Main Street. The sun was bright, but the skies were full of dark clouds to the west. The feeling of foreboding was heavy and dark, and grim thoughts occupied my mind. The skeletal remains in the box were only a few inches long with a small amount of dried tissue clinging to the bones. The dirt and decomposition made it difficult to judge what it belonged to at a glance. If it wasn’t for Marissa’s story and her direction to the grave, I would have thought the remains were of a small woodland animal.

  “If that’s a fetus, I’m going to nail Jonas Peachey to a wall.”

  Bobby made a huffing noise and took the seat across the desk from me.

  “Procreating isn’t a crime,” he said.

  I leaned over the desk, crossing my arms beneath me. “Are you kidding me? Marissa has a child’s mind. What Jonas Peachey did to her was wrong on every level.”

  Bobby nodded. “Let me play devil’s advocate here. Marissa might be mentally challenged, but she is still an adult. She’s living in a woman’s body and she’s allowed the same freedoms with that body that everyone else has.”

  “He’s Amish.” My voice rose. “He shouldn’t have been bothering her in the first place.”

  He held up his hands. “I’m not disagreeing with you—just trying to get you to see the entire picture, all the angles. When you can wrap your mind around the entire scene, you’ll see so much more.”

  I stood up and paced the room. “If those are the remains of a fetus, I’m arresting Jonas Peachey for Fannie’s murder. There might be enough circumstantial evidence to make a case if it looks like he left Black Willow at about the same time Marissa miscarried. The timing of his departure could be coincidence, but I don’t think it is. He was running away from a problem—one that his community there wouldn’t tolerate.” A picture of Hannah popped into my mind. “I’m afraid that as long as he’s free, another girl might be in danger.”

  Bobby rose from his chair. “Give me an hour.”

  I was just about to follow Bobby out the door, when Todd came in.

  “I thought you’d want to go on this call with me,” he said, smirking.

  I rolled my eyes. “I’m waiting on something important from Bobby. I think I should stick close to office.”

  “Even if the call involves Arlo Thomas and Eli Bender?”

  I paused. “Okay. I’m listening.”

  Eli leaned up against the cattle pen, staring at the bull. His lips twisted stubbornly. The black and purple bruising on the side of his face was darkening. Several drops of blood marred his ivory, button-up shirt. His suspenders were pulled down over his shoulders, resting on his hips.

  I glanced across the pens at Todd, who was talking to Arlo. Ethan Rent, Davie Chambers and Otis Green were standing a few away.

  “Four to one. Not very good odds, if you ask me,” I commented.

  Eli looked up. Even with his battered face, the kid was still good looking. His lips rose in a wary smile. “I held my own just fine,” he snapped.

  “I wonder what your parents are going to do to you when they hear about this. Or better yet, the bishop.”

  Eli sagged against the pen. When he glanced back, the defensive look was gone. “I came to watch cows sell—see what the market was bringing. Da wants to sell part of the herd soon. I didn’t come here asking for a fight.”

  “So why did it happen?”

  Eli was silent. I grew impatient and pushed a little more. “Was it because of Hannah Kuhns?”

  His body stiffened, confirming my suspicions.

  “Arlo doesn’t care about her—he’s only using her. I simply told him to leave her be.” The words shot out of his mouth.

  I relaxed a little. Eli had the habit of picking the wrong girls to fall for. First Naomi and now Hannah. Both girls had a wild streak and a penchant for English boys, and both became pregnant.

  “I understand that in your community freedom is not expected, but Hannah has the right to see whoever she wants to.”

  Eli stepped away from the pen and closer to me. “She’s dealing with a lot right now—her sister’s death and—”

  He snapped his mouth closed. A shaky breath followed and my heart jumped. Perhaps Eli knew about the pregnancy.

  “And then there’s Jonas Peachey bothering her,” Eli said.

  “What does Jonas have to do with Hannah?” I leaned forward.

  “He’s a pervert—likes younger women, especially the ones who are kind of shy,” Eli spit the words out. “He was hanging around Fannie before she died and now he’s coming around Hannah.”


  My cell phone rang.

  “Are you done with me?” Eli snapped.

  Todd was walking away from the Arlo and his friends. I flicked my finger in their direction. “Avoid that crew. The next time something like this happens, you’ll spend a night in jail,” I warned.

  Eli stared at me with hard eyes before he turned on his heels and was gone.

  I brought the phone to my ear. “Hello.”

  “It was the remains of a fetus. I’m sending it for rushed lab work. There’s a chance toxicology might pick up something, an indication of anything Marissa might have ingested to cause her to abort.”

  “Good work, Bobby,” I said and hung up.

  “I think I put the fear in those boys,” Todd said when he reached me.

  “Do you want to take a drive out to the settlement?” I asked, shoving my phone back into my pocket.

  “What do we have?”

  “I’m bringing Jonas Peachey in for formal questioning.”

  “Do we have enough for an arrest?” Todd rubbed his head.

  “Are you willing to risk Hannah’s life?”

  When Todd and I stepped onto the Peachey’s front porch, the late afternoon sun was still warm. Todd rapped on the door and I stared at the newly planted pansies in the flower garden below the porch. The dark brown dirt around them was clear of weeds and moist from a fresh watering. It amazed me how Amish women found the time to tend the plants when they had so many other things to do without modern conveniences to help them.

  My gaze drifted to the wooden board snugly affixed into the window opening where the glass had been shot out. I was half surprised that it wasn’t already replaced as quickly as the Amish attended to such things.

  Esta opened the door. Her eyes passed quickly over Todd to settle on me. She smiled brightly.

  “Hullo, Miss Serenity.”

  “Hi, Esta. Is your father home?” I asked. My skin crawled with my friendly deception. Esta wouldn’t understand why her father was being taken away in a police cruiser. She’d already lost her mother.