“Lovely,” Lois muttered and then she shook her finger at him. “You need to learn to respect your elders a little bit better, young man.”
Reuben glared at me. “Did Jeremy send you to spy on me? Is that why you are here, and why he showed up so quickly after you arrived?”
“Hey,” Lois said. “We don’t know any Jeremy, so I’m going to have to ask you to calm down again.”
I shook my head. What she was saying was mostly the truth. I didn’t know Jeremy personally.
“We aren’t here about Jeremy. We are here about Zeke.” I folded my arms and stared him down with my best Amish-aunt face.
Beside me, Lois gasped, but I was tired of talking around the real reason that brought us to the warehouse. The only way I was going to get straight answers from the Amish was to ask straight questions.
“What do you know about Zeke?” I asked.
“I know that he wasn’t who he pretended to be.”
I stared at Reuben. “What do you mean?”
He laughed. “You think I am going to tell some old Amish woman and her crazy Englisch friend what Zeke Miller was like? I know who you are, and I know that you want to help Edith. Maybe you shouldn’t be traveling around looking for answers and stick closer to home instead.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Ask Edith.” His lip curled into an ugly smirk.
I felt a chill run down my back. I had known for the last two days that Edith was the one I needed to speak to the most about Zeke, but I hadn’t had a chance to do so. Actually, if I was honest with myself, I was afraid. I was afraid she knew something, and I wasn’t sure I would like what she had to say. I didn’t know if I wanted to hear it.
I took a step closer to him. Just because I was an older Amish woman, I wasn’t going to let him scare me. “You should give up tobacco just like Lois said. It’s a bad habit. One of many I’m sure you have.”
“What’s going on back here?” a strong male voice asked.
Reuben looked behind him and saw Deputy Aiden and Deputy Little walking toward us. His face paled ever so slightly.
“Busted!” Lois said. “It’s the cops.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Deputy Aiden and Deputy Little stood a few feet away from us with confused expressions on their faces.
Reuben hurried away across the parking lot. His movements were something between a fast walk and a jog. The way he moved triggered a memory. I pointed to his back. “That’s him! That’s the man I saw running away from the greenhouse. He was there the morning Zeke died.” I had never been so certain about anything in all my life.
Deputy Little took off like a shot. I was surprised the deputy could run that fast. He hadn’t struck me as a sprinter. A few yards away from us, Deputy Little jumped and tackled Reuben to the ground.
Lois’s mouth fell open. “It’s like watching one of the cop shows on TV. I didn’t know it was really that exciting. Do you think he will zap him with his Taser?”
Reuben’s lip was bleeding. “You hurt me. I will sue you.”
Deputy Little snorted. “The Amish don’t sue.”
“I’m not like most Amish.”
“I can see that,” Deputy Aiden said, looking down at Reuben. “You are nothing like most Amish I know since you fled when the police arrived. Can you tell me why you did that?”
“What’s going on out here?” Jeremy and Carter came out through the open garage door, followed by a handful of curious Amish construction workers. When the workers saw the police, they turned around and went back into the warehouse. In general, my community was leery of law enforcement. Carter looked over his shoulder wistfully, as if he wanted to hide back in the warehouse too.
Deputy Aiden stepped forward. “We’d like to ask this man a few questions, but when we approached him, he ran away. Deputy Little stopped him. Running away from a sheriff’s deputy is a serious offense.”
Jeremy looked down at Reuben with disgust. “I’m not the least bit surprised that Reuben is wanted by the police. He has been nothing but trouble for me and for my company.”
“He’s not wanted,” Deputy Aiden corrected. “We only want to ask him a few questions. Why would you assume that we had a warrant out for his arrest?”
Jeremy ignored Deputy Aiden’s question. “Then take him away and question him. He shouldn’t be here as it is. I fired him. I want him off my grounds.”
“I take it you are Jeremy Swartz of Swartz and Swartz Construction,” Deputy Aiden said. “I would like to ask you a few questions as well.”
“Me? Why would you want to talk to me? If it’s about him”—he pointed at Reuben—“I have nothing to say. He doesn’t work here anymore. I have a right to keep my opinions about former employees to myself.”
“I used to work here until a few minutes ago,” Reuben spat. “Until you fired me because I could tell—”
“Yes, he worked for me,” Jeremy snapped. “But the man is clearly delusional if he hopes hanging around here will get him his job back.”
Deputy Aiden raised his eyebrows at Carter. “Is that right, Carter?”
Sweat appeared on Carter’s forehead. “Ya, Reuben has been a problem employee for some time. I knew that Mr. Swartz was planning on letting him go. I didn’t know that it would happen today.”
Aiden nodded. “Little, will you take Reuben to the car and ask him a few questions? Mr. Swartz, if it’s not too much trouble, I would like a moment of your time.”
“What about? I don’t know what Reuben does when he’s not here. I never really knew what he did when he was here, which is why I fired him. Nor do I know what you are doing here in reference to a minor employee.”
“I’m not here about Reuben,” Deputy Aiden said. “I came here to talk to you about Zeke Miller.” Aiden glanced at me. “It seems to me I’m not the first one to have the idea of speaking with you either.”
Jeremy’s gaze snapped in our direction. “Who are you?”
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Swartz.” Carter was sweating. “They are—”
“We were just passing through. My friend Millie here was showing me around the county,” Lois said as if she was chatting about the weather. “I have an interest in all things Amish.”
“Why?” Deputy Aiden asked.
“Because I’m writing a book,” she said effortlessly.
I tried to keep my face as neutral as possible, but this was the first I had heard of Lois wanting to write a book about the Amish.
“It’s a novel,” Lois went on to say. “I think the community is fascinating, and I felt that I needed to know more about Amish trades so that I could write about them. Of course, you have the largest Amish construction business in the county. It makes perfect sense for me to want to see the best example of Amish craftsmanship.”
“You’re researching a book?” Jeremy asked.
Lois looked him straight in the eye. “Research is important to me, and I feel I need to be exposed to aspects of Amish culture in order to portray it fairly in story form.” She said all this as if she had really thought about it, and it wasn’t something that she was just making up on the spot, even though I had a sneaking suspicion she was. I remembered that Lois had saved us both from trouble when we were girls because of her fast-talking ways and elaborate stories. I thought, at times, that my parents accepted her stories just so she would stop talking altogether.
Although I couldn’t lie myself, I was grateful that Lois had jumped in.
“Carter, do you know anything about this?” Jeremy asked.
“They are friends of my wife’s. I promised my wife that I would let them see the warehouse. I didn’t see any harm in it. We give tours of the warehouse all the time to complete strangers.”
“You need to clear things like that with me from now on. I don’t want people moving around the warehouse who shouldn’t be there. If they got hurt, we could get sued.”
Carter turned pale. “Ya, okay, I will from here on out.”
&nbs
p; I frowned. The last thing I wanted to do was cause trouble for Carter and Iris. They were a young family and would struggle if Carter lost his job. “What Carter said is true,” I put in. “His wife, Iris, and I are in the same quilting circle. Maybe you have heard of it. It’s called Double Stitch.”
Despite my corroboration, Jeremy narrowed his eyes at his foreman. I had a feeling his discussion with Carter wasn’t over. I also took his response as a no, that he hadn’t heard of Double Stitch before.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the sweat on Carter’s forehead getting more pronounced. It was time for Lois and me to leave. I couldn’t put Carter’s job any more at risk. I pulled on her sleeve. “Thanks so much for your time.”
“I’ll walk you to your car,” Deputy Aiden said.
“No need,” I said, waving the deputy away. “We know that you have many important things to attend to. Lois and I can show ourselves out.”
“No, I insist.” Deputy Aiden fell into step beside me.
Lois made a face. I felt the same way.
Deputy Aiden walked silently with Lois and me to her sedan. “This is your car, Lois Henry?”
Lois put her hands on her hips. “How do you know my last name?”
“I know who you are.”
“How?” Lois asked, clearly surprised. Then her eyes narrowed. “Is this about some outstanding warrant for my first husband, because if it is, I haven’t seen that man in fifty years.”
Aiden opened his mouth, but Lois was faster and snapped her fingers. “No, this is about Rocksino-guy, isn’t it? I can’t shake that worm. What’s he in the big house for?”
“Rocksino-guy?” the deputy asked.
“Husband number four. It’s a very long story, how we met, but my relationship with him is all over. You can check the courts if you don’t believe me.”
The deputy shook his head as if he was trying to process everything Lois was saying and it wasn’t coming together in his brain. I could understand that. I often felt the same way when Lois was speaking.
“I don’t know anything about Rocksino-guy,” Deputy Aiden said. “And I don’t think I want to. I know of you because I visited the Sunbeam Café just a little bit ago and had a nice chat with Darcy.”
“Lots of people go into Sunbeam in the morning to chat with Darcy,” Lois said. “That doesn’t mean anything. She does have the best coffee in the village. I believe she is doing the village a favor by having good coffee instead of that watered-down stuff the Amish drink all day long.” She glanced at me. “Sorry, Millie, but you know it’s true.”
I didn’t argue with her about that.
“Her coffee is good, and I did have some,” the deputy said in measured tones. “But her coffee wasn’t why I was there. I went to talk to Darcy about Zeke Miller.”
“You knew about Darcy and Zeke?” Lois blurted out.
I sighed. If the sheriff’s deputy had been waiting for confirmation that the affair was real, Lois had just given it to him.
“It was a rumor going around the Amish community. I was able to pick up on it. When I told Darcy why I was there, she was quick to mention a visit from her grandmother’s childhood friend who just happened to be Edith Hochstetler’s aunt.”
“I’m going to have to talk to that girl,” Lois muttered just loud enough for me to hear.
“So what are you doing here?” Deputy Aiden asked. “And don’t give me that song and dance about wanting to write a book about the Amish.”
Lois narrowed her eyes. “But I do want to write a book about the Amish. I think I would do very well at it.”
Deputy Aiden raised his eyebrows. “I’m sure you would, but I don’t think that’s the only reason you’re here. Is it, Millie?”
“Nee,” I said. “We want to find out what happened to Zeke.”
Lois groaned at my honest answer.
Deputy Aiden shook his head. “You need to give me time to solve the case.”
“If this situation isn’t dealt with quickly, it might be too late to save the reputation of Edy’s Greenhouse. Who is going to want to shop at a greenhouse where someone was murdered?” Lois asked. “Even more, who’s going to want to buy flowers from a killer?”
“Edith didn’t kill anyone,” I said.
“I know that,” Lois said. “Just like my Darcy didn’t kill anyone, but this could ruin her business too, and it will be worse for her because it’s a new business. My granddaughter has put her heart and soul into that café. If she loses it, especially after losing Zeke, I don’t know what she will do. She’s worked too hard to have it ruined.”
“Well, now that you have Reuben in custody, things might be different,” I said to the deputy. “I know he’s the one who was in the greenhouse the morning Edith discovered Zeke’s body in the cactus room.”
“But you said you didn’t know who that person was,” Deputy Aiden argued.
“I didn’t,” I said, wavering just a tad. “But when I saw him running away today, I just knew in my heart it was the same person. It was how he moved.”
Deputy Aiden pressed his lips together. “We can’t convict someone of a crime based on how he moved. Did you see his face?”
I shook my head.
“You are playing a very dangerous game,” Deputy Aiden said and then nodded to Lois too. “You both are. There is a killer on the loose and you are making yourselves targets.”
Lois pointed at herself. “I’m not making me a target. I don’t want to be a target. No, thank you.”
I swallowed as I remembered my frightening ride early that morning on the way to the greenhouse. Could Deputy Aiden be right? And was that scary experience related to the murder?
“I understand your concern that everything is done right with the investigation,” he went on to say. “And I know you care about your families. That speaks well of you, but you have to understand too that you are putting your own lives in danger and making my job investigating the crime even more difficult.”
“I’m sorry if that’s the case,” I said. “We will do our best to stay out of your way.”
Deputy Aiden pressed his lips together. “I guess that’s the best I can ask for.”
“Really, I don’t want to be a target,” Lois added.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
We got into the car and watched as Deputy Aiden walked back to the warehouse. I glanced at Lois. “A book? That was the best excuse you could come up with for our being there?”
“I didn’t hear you come up with anything better. Besides, when Bryan said he was writing a book, I thought, why can’t I?”
I shook my head. “Who’s Bryan?”
“Bryan back at the café!” She couldn’t keep the exasperation out of her voice. “You met him yesterday afternoon. He’s writing the great American novel, and I figure if he can do it, so can I. There’s no time like the present, so I decided while we were standing there that it was just what I was going to do! Remember when we were young and used to love to write?”
Now that she mentioned it, I did remember Lois writing stories when we were girls. She loved even more for us to act them out in my family’s cow barn. She said the hayloft made a great stage and the cattle a good audience. We performed countless numbers of her plays there until we were too old to see the joy in it any longer.
Lois grinned. “I can tell that you are remembering some of my old plays. My favorite was The Pirate and the Lost Maiden.”
My face broke into a matching grin. “That was my favorite too.”
“I know. You always wanted to be the pirate.”
“Could you blame me? Besides, that maiden was missing for so much of the play, she was hardly on the stage.”
“Good point.” She settled her giant purse on my lap. I hoped it wouldn’t leave a bruise.
“Even though you liked to write plays when we were children, I don’t know how that translates to writing now.”
“Are you kidding? I have the perfect material.”
“What?”
“You!”
“What?”
“Just think of it, Amish Marple Mysteries. They would sell like hotcakes. I bet half the publishers in New York would be interested.”
I scowled at her. “I don’t want to be in a book.”
“Don’t you worry, I will change your name. It will be great!” She rubbed her hands together. “Of course, Amish Marple will have to have a brilliant yet slightly zany sidekick.” She half bowed in her seat. “Ta-da, I’m perfect for the role.”
I sighed.
* * *
The next morning, Lois’s car rolled up my driveway a little before nine. She was late, just as she had been the day before. She hopped out of the car, and the goats ran to greet her. She was quickly becoming one of their favorite new friends.
I walked over to the trio, and Lois grinned at me. I noted that today she wore silver jewelry and pink eyeshadow.
“Where to next?” she asked when I reached the car and the goats began dancing around her.
“I think it’s high time I had a heart-to-heart with Edith over everything that’s happened.”
She raised her fist. “To the greenhouse, it is.”
At the greenhouse, Lois parked her car by the hitching post. There wasn’t a single Amish buggy tethered to the post, and there weren’t any cars in the parking lot either.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Lois said.
I did too. It might be Wednesday, but it was still May, the time of year when people bought the most plants. The greenhouse would have been open for several hours now, but there wasn’t a soul in sight. I got out of the car. Despite the lack of customers, I had at least expected to hear the sounds of children playing somewhere on the property.
The only thing I heard was the rustle of the breeze in the trees and the mooing of a cow at a farm nearby.
Lois stood next to me and twisted one of the many rings on her fingers. “This is creepy. Where is everyone?”
I shook my head. I didn’t know. “Let’s check the house.” I walked up to the front door and tried the doorknob. It didn’t turn. I knocked. No answer. The house was locked up tight.
I stepped back from the front door. “They still might be here. They’re probably all in the greenhouse. Sometimes Edith likes the children to stay in there with her while she’s working, so she can keep an eye on them.”
Matchmaking Can Be Murder Page 18
