Ettie stood. “We should leave.”
“No. Can’t you wait with me until he comes?”
“You want us to?” Elsa-May asked, pulling a face.
Ettie knew Elsa-May wanted to get out of there fast before the detective saw them there. Kelly wouldn’t be too happy with them for what he called meddling.
“Yeah.”
Dave was fidgeting and so nervous Ettie had to agree to wait. “Okay, we’ll stay with you, but as soon as he arrives, he’ll want to speak with you in private.”
He nodded. “Fair enough.”
Ettie recalled Max said he’d worn gloves when handling the knife. “Was Max in the house when Gillespie murdered Alfie?”
“He came soon after and then left in a hurry.”
“Didn’t you think it strange his son-in-law visited him when he hadn't seen him for years?”
“No. His daughter kept away from him, but Max called in every now and again to check that he was okay. Max told Alfie never to tell his daughter he visited—she’s got a temper.”
“Tell us how you found Alfie.”
“When the housekeeper didn’t show with dinner, I went to see if he had any. I was going to order us some pizza. That’s when I found him.” He shook his head. “I should’ve known what had happened when I saw Gillespie there. Last thing I heard about him he was in prison.”
“Why did you tell us about Joe Mulligan selling the drugs when we came here?”
“That happened. I wasn’t making it up.”
* * *
When they saw the detective’s car pull up outside the house, Ettie asked to borrow the phone. She called for a taxi.
Dave opened the door to greet the detective, and then Ettie and Elsa-May hurried past Kelly with him staring open-mouthed at them.
“Hi, and goodbye, ladies. I’ll be in touch,” Kelly called after them as they hurried out into the front yard.
They waited for the taxi at the front of the house.
“What do you make of it all, Ettie?”
“I think he’s telling the truth.”
“What about Max saying he used gloves to hold the murder weapon?” Elsa-May said.
“Yes, that’s odd. Perhaps he was covering up and hid the weapon thinking his wife did it?”
“Hmm.”
Ettie sniffed her clothes. “I can’t wait to get home and out of these clothes.”
“Jah, you stink of smoke.”
“So do you,” Ettie said.
Elsa-May chuckled. "I suppose I do."
Chapter 21
I’d just finished feeding Tom his breakfast when I heard a car. When I looked out the window I saw Ettie and Elsa-May getting out of a taxi.
I turned back to Tom, still eating in the kitchen. “We’ve got visitors. Be a good boy and stay in here.” When I leaned down to touch him, his fur bristled, so I figured I shouldn’t touch him when he was eating. Some cats don’t like that.
When I opened the door, Ettie and Elsa-May stood there smiling, and Ettie held a tray in her hands.
“We’ve brought something to say we’re sorry,” Ettie said.
“Sorry for what?”
“For ruining your night.”
“Oh, don’t you worry about that. Come on in.”
Ettie put a foot in the doorway and looked around. “Where’s the cat?”
“Tom’s closed in the kitchen. Don’t worry, he won’t escape.”
“Jah, that’s what I was concerned about,” Ettie said as she stepped inside. Elsa-May followed behind her.
When Ettie passed me the tray, I lifted the tea towel and saw chocolate chip cookies—my favorite. “Wunderbaar! I love chocolate chip cookies. Sit down and I’ll put the kettle on.” I whizzed into the kitchen knowing Tom would be okay because the front door was shut. He sauntered out to see our visitors while I filled the teakettle and placed cups on a tray and filled the teapot with tea leaves.
“Have you heard anything from the detective?” I asked them when I joined them in the living room.
“Nothing new. We saw him yesterday.”
“And we’re hoping for new developments.”
“Like what? We already know that Max killed Uncle Alfie.”
Ettie and Elsa-May looked at each other.
“What is it?”
Just as Ettie opened her mouth to speak I heard a car. “Who’s that?” I stood up and looked out the window to see Detective Kelly getting out. “It’s the detective.” I opened the door quickly, quite forgetting about Tom.
Tom whizzed between my legs and down the steps at the front of the house. “Quick, catch him!" I yelled to the detective.
Detective Kelly crouched down and Tom stopped running. Soon Tom was rubbing himself against the detective and letting him stroke his fur.
“He likes you,” I said, happy that Tom was calming down.
Kelly scooped him into his arms and carried him inside. Once they were inside, I closed the door and Kelly placed Tom on the floor. When the detective saw Ettie and Elsa-May, he said, “I was hoping you two would be here. I have news.”
At that moment, the kettle whistled. “Hold that thought. Hot tea, Detective Kelly?”
He nodded. “Yes, please.”
When I sat down with them and everyone had tea, the detective relayed a story about how Uncle Alfie was killed.
“Alfie had unknowingly been the getaway driver for a friend, who paid him money after he’d done it. Alfie gave the money to his wife, telling her he’d won a competition and he wanted her to spend the money on herself. She’d bought a diamond, the one the housekeeper now has. Alfie’s son-in-law, Max, secretly used to visit Alfie to make sure he was okay. When he arrived to see Alfie murdered, he was certain his wife had done it so he put gloves on and tried to hide anything that might implicate his wife, and that included hiding the murder weapon.”
Ettie interrupted, “Why would he have put gloves on?”
“To hide his prints,” Kelly explained.
“And how did Max and Marlene’s knife get there?” Elsa-May asked. “Wasn’t that the murder weapon?”
“No. Like Max said he had told his wife, the knife was in his garage waiting for him to get around to sharpening it. He took the bloody knife he found in Alfie’s house and threw it in a dumpster, and he was wearing gloves when he did that.”
“Oh, dear. I feel bad for what I said to him the other night,” Ettie said. “He must’ve got confused and ran out when he thought what he said sounded like he’d murdered Alfie.”
“I’m the one to blame,” Detective Kelly said. “I thought he was guilty and I put you up to it.”
Ettie sighed. “I was wrong when I told you about the knife, though.”
“So Max is innocent?” I asked.
“He tampered with evidence, but once we told him we had the real killer, Bruno Gillespie, he gave us a full statement, and we released him.”
“Have you arrested Bruno Gillespie?” Ettie asked.
“Yes. Thanks to Dave, the neighbor.”
Ettie tapped a thin bony finger on her chin. “Jazeel told us his uncle told him he was hiding evidence about Gillespie.”
“Things get mixed up slightly when they’re passed on from one person to another. The evidence was in Alfred’s head, he could have testified against him. Gillespie admitted to doing a little looking around for the cash he’d given Alfred all those years ago, thinking he might still have it hidden somewhere in the house.”
Elsa-May asked, “What about Gillespie’s rock solid alibi?”
“We checked a little further into that. He was with a parole officer most of the day. When we questioned the parole officer again, he admitted to blacking out. Gillespie had slipped him something, drugged his coffee, and the officer thought his job was on the line if he told us. He only admitted it when he knew we had Gillespie’s confession.”
“So all’s well that ends well?” I said to the detective, hoping that everything was solved.
“I think w
e can safely say that.”
And all was well with me. I had my Tom and God had given me another chance with Jazeel. We were marrying in two months.
Tom jumped onto the couch next to the detective.
“I’ve rarely seen him get on the couch before. He almost always hides under it,” I said.
“He’s such a lovely cat,” Kelly said, smoothing down his fur. “Look at those eyes.”
Tom stared adoringly at Kelly and then leaned against him, purring all the while.
I noticed Ettie and Elsa-May smiling at each other. I knew my new elderly friends were wishing they had a lovely cat like Tom rather than their fluffy, white yapping dog?
Thank you for reading ‘Who Killed Uncle Alfie.’
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Blessings,
Samantha Price
The next book in the Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries
series is:
Lost: Amish Mystery
Accidents or murders?
When Ettie stumbles across some bones in a field, the local detective believes she knows the truth behind the man's murder. In her efforts to prove she knows nothing, Ettie is led to Amish woman, Gertie.
Gertie shares with them a shocking tale of two murders that were deemed 'accidents.' Ettie dismisses the story as nothing more than Gertie's vivid imagination until the day that Gertie goes missing.
Can Ettie remember Gertie's ramblings enough to follow the clues to find her? Or will Gertie become another 'accident?'
ETTIE SMITH AMISH MYSTERIES
Book 1 Secrets Come Home
Book 2 Amish Murder
Book 3 Murder in the Amish Bakery
Book 4 Amish Murder Too Close
Book 5 Amish Quilt Shop Mystery
Book 6 Amish Baby Mystery
Book 7 Betrayed
Book 8: Amish False Witness
Book 9: Amish Barn Murders
Book 10 Amish Christmas Mystery
Book 11 Who Killed Uncle Alfie?
Book 12 Lost: Amish Mystery
Book 13 Amish Cover-Up
Book 14 Amish Crossword Murder
Book 15 Old Promises
Book 16 Amish Mystery at Rose Cottage
Book 17 Amish Mystery: Plain Secrets
Book 18 Amish Mystery: Fear Thy Neighbor
Book 19 Amish Winter Murder Mystery
Book 20 Amish Scarecrow Murders
Book 21 Threadly Secret
About Samantha Price
USA Today Bestselling author, Samantha Price, wrote stories from a young age, but it wasn't until later in life that she took up writing full time. Formally an artist, she exchanged her paintbrush for the computer and, many best-selling book series later, has never looked back.
Samantha is happiest on her computer lost in the world of her characters. She is best known for the Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries series and the Expectant Amish Widows series.
www.SamanthaPriceAuthor.com
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Who Killed Uncle Alfie? Page 11
