Who Killed Uncle Alfie?

by Samantha Price

  Molly said, “It’s a good idea to leave tomorrow, and in the meantime I’ll keep calling Uncle Alfie’s number, but, Elsa-May, will you still be able to babysit Tom for me tomorrow? He doesn’t like to be left alone.”

  “The thing is that Snowy’s an inside-dog. He goes outside to do his business and then comes back in. As we already know, Tom doesn’t like dogs.”

  “Oh, Elsa-May, dogs shouldn’t live inside. They belong outside; everyone knows that,” Molly said. “Would you please babysit him, Elsa-May, just this once?”

  “It won’t hurt for one day, will it?” Ettie asked her sister.

  Slowly Elsa-May nodded as her head dropped slightly and her lips downturned.

  Ettie smiled. “Okay, that’s settled. I’ll find out the bus timetables and we’ll leave first thing tomorrow.”

  “Denke. I knew you’d both be able to help me. I appreciate you looking after Tom, Elsa-May. It’s a huge weight off my mind that he’ll be in safe hands.”

  When Molly had called a taxi and left, Elsa-May and Ettie canceled their taxi and headed back up the road to their house.

  “That was mean, Ettie.”

  Ettie didn’t have to ask what she meant. “Well, do you want to swap and be there when Jazeel and Molly see each other and get all sloppy and romantic?”

  “I see what you mean.” Elsa-May sighed. “I suppose it would be easier to stay home with Tom. I just hope he doesn’t take a swipe at me.”

  “Stay away from him. And we’ll have to get fresh meat since he’s allergic to everything else.”

  Elsa-May’s eyes twinkled.

  “Cut it out.”

  “What?”

  “I know what you’re thinking. Don’t you dare give him anything he’s allergic to.”

  “Okay.”

  “The cat might have some redeeming qualities once you get to know him.”

  Elsa-May chuckled. “As long as he stays away from me and my knitting that’s probably all I can hope for. I don't know what I'll do with Snowy and Tom to keep them apart. You won't be staying the night will you?"

  "Nee. We’ll go up and back, and we’ll be back by evening.”

  "I'll make a nice dinner and have it ready for you."

  "Denke, Elsa-May."

  "I’ll have to keep Snowy outside, I suppose. I could put him in my bedroom for some of the time. He likes to sleep on the bed."

  "Just make sure they don’t get near each other or Tom will scratch Snowy to pieces."

  * * *

  Molly and Tom arrived at Elsa-May and Ettie’s house the next morning. She’d been calling Uncle Alfie’s number every couple of hours, but there was still no answer.

  Ettie and Molly said goodbye to Tom and Elsa-May and then they headed to Reading.

  From the bus stop, they got a taxi to Uncle Alfie’s house.

  Just as the taxi turned into his street, Ettie saw police cars and white vans. “Oh dear! That’s never a good sign.”

  Molly looked at her. "What do you mean, Ettie?"

  She nodded her head toward the police cars. "That's never a good sign," Ettie repeated.

  The taxi stopped in front of the house. Ettie took a deep breath and looked up at the house, while Molly clutched onto her arm.

  Ettie said, "Do you want to stay here and I'll go and see what this is all about?"

  "No, I'll come with you."

  As they approached the house, they were directed to stand back as the police stretched yellow crime scene tape around the perimeter of the house.

  "What happened here?" Ettie asked one of the policemen.

  "I'm afraid we can't release that at the moment."

  "Has someone been hurt?" Molly asked.

  "Yes, but we can't release any names at the moment."

  Ettie said, "We know the two men who were supposed to be here.”

  “Mrs. Smith!”

  Ettie knew that voice. She whipped her head toward the front door of the house and there he was. It was Detective Kelly.

  Chapter 5

  "What are you doing here, Mrs. Smith? Are you following me?" The detective looked at Ettie and then stared at Molly.

  “No, I’m not.”

  Detective Kelly shook his head as he looked back at Ettie.

  "This is my friend, Molly Miller, and we’ve come to see if Jazeel's okay because he came here to look after his Uncle Alfie and when no one answered the phone, we got worried."

  "That's right," Molly added. “Is he here?”

  He took the notepad and pen that he always had in a coat pocket. "Who was supposed to be here?"

  Molly answered, "Jazeel Graber. He's a good friend of mine."

  The detective looked far too interested as he scribbled Jazeel’s name on his notepad.

  Ettie added, "Uncle Alfie wasn't well and Jazeel came here to watch him for a few days."

  "Well I’ve got bad news for you. The neighbor has identified the deceased as Alfred Graber. There’s no sign of anyone else here.”

  "I'm sure you're mistaken, Detective," Molly said.

  "I'll need to jot down some details about Jazeel Graber if you don't mind."

  Molly proceeded to give the detective Jazeel's address.

  "Isn't this out of your area, Detective? It’s a long way from where you normally work."

  "This is still in my jurisdiction for this type of crime."

  "Crime? You think Uncle Alfie was murdered?" Molly asked.

  "I don't think so, Mrs. Miller, I know so."

  "Oh dear, that's not good. I think I need to sit down."

  "Why don’t you sit in my car for a moment and you can tell me more about Jazeel Graber."

  Ettie and Molly followed the detective to his car and then got into the back seat. When the detective got into the front, he swivelled to face them.

  "I'm assuming Jazeel Graber is Amish?"

  "That's right," Ettie said.

  "He was wavering in his faith since his wife died, but we were both going back on Sunday to rededicate our lives to God."

  "Well, that's marvellous," Kelly said.

  "Yes, it’s a good thing. I left the community to become a teacher, you know."

  Detective Kelly frowned. "The Amish have teachers, don't they?"

  "I'm talking about a college-educated teacher at a school that goes beyond the eighth grade. I couldn’t do that while living in the community."

  "How well did you know Jazeel?" the detective asked.

  "After I retired just recently, I bought a house back in my old community, the same community as Ettie and Elsa-May. The house needs many repairs and that has kept me occupied. I was doing the repairs myself. One day on the way to the hardware —"

  When Ettie saw Detective Kelly's eyes glaze over, she knew she had to intervene. "I think all the detective needs to know is that you knew Jazeel as a teenager and you reconnected with him just recently, in the last few month. Isn't that right?"

  "That's right, thank you, Ettie."

  "And you've got no idea where he is?" the detective asked.

  "As I said, he was supposed to be here looking after Uncle Alfie."

  "Did you know Uncle Alfie?" Detective Kelly asked Molly.

  "I remember him from years ago."

  The detective looked at Ettie. "Did you know him?"

  "Yes, but I haven't seen him in quite some time. Didn’t the neighbors mention that Jazeel got here the day before yesterday? Um, today is Wednesday, so he most likely should’ve gotten here on Monday."

  "I’ll question them again. The neighbor grew concerned when he hadn’t seen Alfred in some time."

  "Oh dear, Jazeel’s gone missing. I had a sinking feeling in my heart that something was wrong."

  "Can we report him as a missing person?" Ettie asked the detective.

  "He’s certainly become a person of interest and we’re as keen as you are to find him, Mrs. Miller."

  "It's not Mrs. I never married. Jazeel asked me when I was younger and I said no and I never forgot him. And
then I was involved in my career.”

  The detective gave a little grunt, and then said, "Will you ladies excuse me? I have a few calls to make.” He stepped out of the car before they answered.

  "Molly, do you realize that they think Jazeel might have had something to do with Alfie's murder?"

  "Really? I never had any idea."

  "Think hard, do you have any idea where else he could be, seeing as he isn't here?"

  "No. He stated in his letter he was catching the bus to his uncle’s house."

  "Where is that letter?"

  She tapped the bag she had brought with her. "I have it in here."

  "Give it to me," Ettie ordered.

  Molly opened the bag and handed the letter over. Ettie took hold of it and got out of the car.

  “Where are you going with my letter?”

  “Stay there.” Ettie found the detective pacing up and down outside the house making phone calls. She waved the letter at him and he ended his call.

  "What's that?"

  "It's the letter Jazeel wrote to Molly. He tells her he’s going to Uncle Alfie's house to look after him. Isn't that proof enough he didn't do it?"

  "Mind if I hang onto this letter?"

  "I suppose Molly won't mind, if it’ll help you find Jazeel."

  "Leave it with me. We’re just as interested in finding Jazeel Graber as you are. I can assure you of that."

  Ettie glanced over at her friend, hoping that the letter didn’t implicate Jazeel further. "Can you tell me how Alfie died?" she asked the detective.

  "He was stabbed."

  Ettie gasped. "Who would do that to an old man who was not long for this world?"

  "We'll do our best to find out. He put up a fight and as soon as the forensics finish their job, we’ll do our best to establish if there’s anything missing. The place was destroyed, like someone was looking for something. Now, if you'll excuse me, Mrs. Smith, I’ll carry on with my job."

  "Certainly, Detective."

  Ettie headed back to Molly.

  "Mrs. Smith?"

  Ettie turned around when she heard Detective Kelly’s voice. "Yes?"

  "Would you like someone to drive you home?"

  "That would be wonderful."

  "If you can wait ten minutes, I’ve got a young officer heading back that way."

  “Oh yes. We'll wait."

  When Ettie got back to the police car she found Molly in tears.

  “Oh, Ettie! It’s just dreadful. I’ve waited so long to find the right man. I never thought I would, but then I did, and now where is he?”

  At first Ettie had thought she was upset about Alfie, but then she realized Molly was upset about Jazeel being missing. “Don’t worry. The detective said he’ll find him. We’ll go home and let them do their jobs. Detective Kelly has arranged for someone to drive us home.”

  All the way home, Ettie did her best to console Molly. It was only when they got back to Ettie’s house and she was reunited with Tom that Molly calmed down.

  Ettie opened her front door with Molly not far behind her. They closed the door quickly behind them so the cat wouldn’t get out.

  Then Ettie saw a peculiar sight. Elsa-May was sleeping on the couch with her mouth open, and the cat was curled up asleep at her feet.

  Molly and Ettie silently laughed at the sight of them.

  “They’ve become friends,” Ettie whispered.

  As they stared, Elsa-May slowly opened her eyes and moved her feet slightly causing Tom to wake. He hissed at Ettie and Molly.

  “He’s upset we woke him,” Molly said. “He likes his sleep.”

  Elsa-May sat up and swung her legs over the side of the couch, careful not to upset Tom. “What happened?”

  Ettie and Molly stared at each other and then they sat down and told Elsa-May about poor old Uncle Alfie.

  “That’s dreadful. Does Marlene know?”

  Ettie had forgotten about Alfie’s only daughter. “I don’t know. I suppose she knows by now.”

  “If Jazeel wasn’t there, where is he?” Molly asked.

  “Detective Kelly’s on the job. I’m sure he’ll find him.”

  “Kelly’s looking for him now?” Elsa-May asked.

  “Ettie thinks the police now think that Jazeel had something to do with Uncle Alfie’s murder. Oh, Ettie, is that our fault for telling the detective that Jazeel was supposed to be there?”

  Shaking her head, Ettie said, “I don’t think so.”

  “They’ll find him, don’t worry, Molly. And you'll be pleased to hear that Tom was well-behaved.”

  “Jah, he’s always been a good boy.”

  “I’ll put the evening meal on. All I have to do is heat it up. Would you like to stay, Molly?”

  “Denke, but no. Tom and I should go home in case Jazeel comes back and looks for me there.” Molly stood up.

  “Shall we do the same thing as last time to get Tom in the basket?”

  “Jah, denke,” Molly said, heading over to the basket.

  When Tom was in the basket, Elsa-May and Ettie stood at the door and waved Molly off.

  Once they shut the door, Ettie said, “What do you think, Elsa-May?”

  “What?”

  “About Kelly thinking Jazeel killed Uncle Alfie?”

  “If you two hadn’t gone sticking your noses into things, Kelly would never have known he was meant to be there. Now it looks suspicious that he’s not there.”

  “Oh dear.” Ettie nibbled on a fingernail.

  “We have to pray that Kelly finds the right person and that Jazeel is found.”

  “Jah, you’re right, Elsa-May.”

  Elsa-May nodded. “As always. I’ll heat the dinner.”

  “I’ll let Snowy in.”

  Chapter 6

  “Ettie, it's Detective Kelly. He’s just stopped his car outside," Elsa-May called out to her sister, who was in the kitchen washing the breakfast dishes.

  "Good. Let him in."

  "That's exactly what I was about to do."

  It was the morning after Ettie and Molly had been at Alfie’s house.

  When Elsa-May opened the door, Ettie was right behind her.

  "Detective Kelly, come in," Elsa-May said.

  "Thank you. I have some news for you ladies."

  "About Jazeel?" Ettie asked, following him through to the living room.

  "Yes." He sat down on the couch and then Snowy woke, leaped out of his bed in the corner of the room, zipped across and started pawing at Kelly’s leg.

  Ettie said, “Elsa-May, put him outside.”

  “Stop that, Snowy. I’m sorry about that. He’s taken a liking to you.”

  “Well, I’m not a lover of dogs.” The detective stood up and Elsa-May swooped Snowy into her arms and took him outside. "I'll make you a cup of tea," Elsa-May said as she’d shut the door on Snowy and clipped the dog door shut.

  "I don't have time for tea," the detective grumbled.

  When both ladies were seated, Detective Kelly continued, "It looks like your friend, Jazeel Graber, is on the run."

  Ettie raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

  "We found him in a jail up north. He’s been arrested.”

  Ettie and Elsa-May stared at each other.

  “Do you have the right Jazeel Graber?” Ettie asked.

  “Yes, he’s been accused of assaulting a bus driver at the Canadian border. He was taken into custody and the best we can surmise is he was trying to get into Canada with insufficient documentation. Looks like he was heading up there to make a new life for himself. He was pretending to be disoriented, but a medical examiner said there was nothing wrong with him. I had a talk with them and told them he was wanted back here on murder charges so they dropped the assault charges. One of my officers is heading up there to bring him back.”

  “Jazeel would never assault anyone. You’ve got the wrong man,” Ettie said. "Or else there's a lot more to the story."

  He held his hands up. “Now before you say anything
more, his prints were in our system and we found them all over Alfred Graber’s house.”

  “How did his prints get in the system?" Elsa-May asked.

  “From a traffic offense. You tell me he was Amish, yet two years ago he was driving a car.”

  “He left the Amish after his wife died.”

  “Well, he was kind of in and out,” Elsa-May said. “Anyway, prints would be at the house because that was his uncle who died.”

  “Mrs. Lutz, he was making a run for it and that’s something innocent people do not do."

  Elsa-May leaned forward. "What kind of traffic offense?"

  "Nothing too bad. I didn’t take much notice.”

  "I know he didn't murder his uncle. You should know by now, Detective, that we aren’t violent people."

  The detective raised his eyebrows. “It seems nothing was missing in the house, so it wasn’t a robbery. When we rule out robbery, it’s likely the victim was killed by someone close and more often than not, the perpetrator is a family member," he said, "in roughly twenty five percent of murders ”

  “We'll have to find out who really did it," Ettie said.

  “No! This is something you have to stay out of. I know you like to play detective, but it’s far too dangerous. Someone has been murdered. Can I trust you to keep out of things?" The detective glared at Ettie.

  "Yes, of course we will," Ettie said quietly.

  "And what motive do you think Jazeel had for killing his uncle?" Elsa-May asked.

  "They could've had a disagreement, or they could've secretly always hated one another. Things like that happening all the time in families. It’s not unusual.”

  "Where is Jazeel now?"

  "He’s being brought back here."

  "What did he say?" Elsa-May asked.

  "He wasn’t making much sense and that’s all I know. So much for your friend’s future with him. What was her name again? Molly?"

  "That's right, Molly Miller. I'm sure there’s some other explanation. You need to talk to Jazeel, or I should say listen to him, and find out what’s really going on.”

  “We’ll be talking to him, don’t you worry about that!” The detective stood. “I’ll leave you ladies to it, and I’ll keep you up to date since Jazeel Graber is a friend of yours.”