Assaulted Pretzel

by Laura Bradford

  “Yah.”

  “But the Amish don’t take photos,” she reminded.

  “I did not take pictures. My Dat—I mean, my father sent them to me with his last letter.” Isaac’s gaze remained on the book even as Claire set it down on the desk and flipped the cover open. “They are pictures of his life. So I can know about him in a way I did not know.”

  She directed him to a folding chair resting against her office wall and then sat back down in her own chair once again. “He made this for you?” she asked as she stared down at a black-and-white photograph of Robert Karble as a baby.

  “He did. With Miss Simon’s help.” He opened the metal chair and positioned it alongside Claire’s. “I have looked at it many times since it arrived.”

  Page by page she leafed through the pictures collected and arranged in a way to introduce a grown man to the father he never knew he had. “Why would you want to give this up, Isaac? I mean, he put this together for you. Don’t you think you should keep it?”

  He kneaded his eyes with his fingertips then let his hands fall to his lap. “I lost a father I did not know I had until four weeks ago. His wife lost a husband she loved for years. These pictures should go to her, not me.”

  She continued to flip her way through Robert’s life, stopping at a picture of a twentysomething version of the man who’d been murdered behind the Schnitz and Knepp stand at the annual Amish Food Festival. Beside him stood a young woman with light brown hair and a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. Here, like in all the pictures before, Robert smiled out from the picture with emerald green eyes that twinkled and sparkled.

  “That is Mamm. On the night I came to be.”

  At the audible crack of the man’s voice, she rested her hand across his arm. “They look happy, Isaac.”

  “Mamm’s life was hard because of me.”

  “Your mother’s life was wonderful because of you, Isaac.”

  His head bowed forward beneath his hat but he said nothing. Instead, she peeked at the next five or six pages in an effort to ease the sadness that hovered around the man like a heavy storm cloud. “Oh, these are pictures of him at work.” She pointed toward one on the right-hand side of the page that showed Robert attaching a set of wheels to a toy car. “I think it’s neat that you gravitated toward the same work your father was in and you didn’t even know it.”

  At his nod, she turned the page, her gaze falling on a photograph that depicted a company milestone of some sort, based on the cake and balloons in the foreground. She leaned forward in an effort to make out the words on a framed certificate to the left of the cake but gave up when she realized the writing was too small.

  “I wonder what they were celebrating,” she mumbled before turning the page to reveal even more pictures of the men and women behind the success of Karble Toys. The faces, of course, were unfamiliar except for Ann’s and—

  She sat up tall, pulling the album closer to her face for confirmation. “Oh my gosh, Isaac! Do you know who that is?”

  Isaac leaned across Claire’s arm for a closer look, the brim of his hat obscuring her own view. “That is Mr. Watson. The man who brings the tour bus to our workshop each day.” Pulling back, he turned to look at Claire. “Why is Mr. Watson in my father’s picture book?”

  She refrained from answering until she could study the picture more closely, the name tag the man sported providing the only words she could muster. “He worked for Karble Toys.”

  Chapter 28

  She looked from the picture to the clock and back again as she grabbed the phone and dialed her aunt’s number. Beside her, Isaac continued to stare at the photograph while Claire began counting rings.

  One.

  Two.

  Three.

  Four.

  “Come on, Diane. Please, please, please pick up the phone,” she pleaded before launching into her request the second the call was answered by her aunt’s cheery voice. “Diane, I need to speak to Ann. Now.”

  “Is everything okay, dear?” Diane asked.

  “I’m not sure but I need to talk to her. Please.”

  A slight pause was followed by the sound of Diane moving through the inn and stopping outside Ann’s door. “Ann?” she heard her aunt say. “Claire is on the phone right now and she says it’s important that she talk to you.”

  A moment later, Ann’s tired voice came over the line. “Claire? It’s Ann. What can I do for you?”

  “Do you know a man named Keith Watson?” It was a rhetorical question really, especially in light of the fact she was staring at a picture that also happened to show Ann in the same frame.

  “I do. Why do you ask?”

  She leaned back in her chair and looked down at the picture once again, the surprise at spying the familiar face inside Isaac’s picture book slowly dulling into more of a nagging sensation. “He worked for Karble Toys, didn’t he?”

  “He did. He was the man Melinda replaced,” Ann explained. “He was in charge of our public relations team.”

  Public relations…

  Suddenly all of the little tasks Keith took on for the Lighted Way Business Owners’ Association made perfect sense. He didn’t raise his hand when Al was looking for someone to paint porch railings or pass out flyers about upcoming events. No, his interest was confined to getting the word out to the local media and painting the town in the best possible light.

  “Why did he leave?”

  “Robert let him go.”

  She bolted upright. “Robert let him go? Why?”

  “Because he could get Melinda cheaper, although we had to sugarcoat that fact by saying it was due to company-wide budget cuts.”

  Before Claire could comment, Ann went on in almost rambling fashion. “But Keith was smart. He knew he was being pushed out for someone younger and cheaper. He just couldn’t prove it thanks to the crackerjack law team we have at Karble.”

  “Okay…”

  Ann’s voice grew a bit louder as Claire imagined her moving the phone closer to her mouth. “Why are you asking all these questions about Keith? Do you know him?”

  Yeah, I think he murdered your husband…

  It was a thought she couldn’t share aloud. Not to Ann, anyway. Instead, she closed Isaac’s picture book with a thump and stood. “Ann, I’ve got to go. I’ll explain all of this to you later.” Then, without waiting for a response, she closed her cell phone inside her hand and met Isaac’s questioning eyes.

  “Isaac, I need to borrow this album for a little while. Is that okay?”

  For one brief heart-stopping moment, she thought he was going to refuse, but, in the end, he merely nodded, the sadness in his voice tugging at a familiar place inside her heart. “You will show Jakob, no?”

  “I have to, Isaac.”

  “Is it for my father?” he asked quietly.

  “It is.” She tucked the album under her right arm and reached for Isaac with her left. “But it’s also for you and for Ann, too.”

  * * *

  She studied the whiteboard on the far wall of Jakob’s office and noted how many of the suspects on his list had been present on her own, as well. Aside from the name of another Amish man or two with a vested interest in the notion of the Back to Basics line being manufactured in Heavenly, their lists were remarkably similar.

  Except, of course, for the one name that had found its way onto Claire’s list over the past two hours and simultaneously erased all others in the process. Suddenly there was no longer a need to worry about Sarah and her children if Daniel was guilty, because he wasn’t. And there was no longer any concern for Isaac’s brother and sister, because he hadn’t done anything wrong.

  Neither had Melinda, who was nothing more than an overachiever who’d tried her best to help Robert deal with the shock of unexpected fatherhood.

  And Ann? She was exactly what she should have been—a grieving widow and nothing more.

  Jakob drummed his fingers alongside the picture of Keith Watson, Robert and
Ann Karble, and a host of other Karble employees. “And why didn’t Mrs. Karble or Ms. Simon tell us Keith had worked for Karble Toys?”

  “Because they never saw him. They had no reason to think he was here in town and therefore no reason to bring him up.” She left the safety of her chair for the window that overlooked the field where Robert Karble had been murdered five days earlier. “I was so busy looking at the memo’s impact on Daniel and Isaac that it never even dawned on me that others outside the toy realm could be impacted by its words, as well.”

  “Like Keith…”

  “Exactly. Keith said many times that the tour stop at Daniel’s place made all the difference in the world for his business. That it was the thing that set him apart from the other tour companies in the area. So Daniel and Isaac being forced out of the toy business stood to create a major ripple effect across Keith’s livelihood, too.”

  “And when you consider that the memo basically pointed to cost as the reason behind manufacturing the new toy line in-house, it stands to reason Watson could have snapped.” Jakob closed his eyes momentarily. “I mean, can you imagine losing two careers to the same company?”

  “But the only thing that doesn’t make sense is why he would have ransacked the Karbles’ room,” she mused.

  “Actually, that makes perfect sense. The only thing missing was the toy plans Robert had gotten from Isaac. Without plans and without Robert, the likelihood of Karble Toys going ahead with a line Ann questioned to begin with was pretty much nil. Stealing the plans was probably Keith’s way of making extra sure Heavenly Tours wouldn’t be affected by Karble Toys.”

  She turned from the window in time to see Jakob holster his gun and pocket his cell phone. “I thank you for bringing this to me, Claire. Without this, I’m not sure we would have figured this out so quickly.”

  “Then I did the right thing.” Avoiding his gaze, she pointed at the album, her throat suddenly weighted with the kind of emotion she wasn’t ready to try and decipher. She knew enough to recognize it had something to do with the distance she felt between herself and Jakob and the gnawing fear that it was only going to get bigger over time. “Do you have to hang on to that or can I take it?”

  “Do you need it?” he asked.

  “I don’t, but I know someone who does.”

  Jakob studied her closely. “Oh?”

  She inhaled slowly and deeply only to release the same breath from between pursed lips. “Someone who needs to feel connected to their past in much the same way you do, Jakob.”

  Chapter 29

  There were many things Diane had said to Claire over the years that had propelled her to make major decisions in her life…

  Leaving Peter.

  Moving to Heavenly.

  Opening Heavenly Treasures.

  And keeping Benjamin from making a choice her heart may have wanted but her head knew he’d one day come to regret.

  Along the way, though, other things her aunt had said had left an impact on the way she looked at things in general. Like what constituted a healthy relationship and the importance of connections with family and friends.

  Connections made you feel whole, Diane had said, and deep down Claire knew that was true.

  Her connection with Diane gave Claire a sense of safety and unconditional love. Her connection with Esther reminded her of the benefit of innocence and the importance of friendship. Her connection with Benjamin and Jakob helped her see that just because Peter hadn’t valued her in the way she’d valued him, that didn’t mean she couldn’t hold appeal for someone else.

  Each connection and its contribution to her life was different from the next, but they all worked together to make her feel whole. And because of them, she knew that one day, when the time was right, she would be ready to love again.

  Ann Karble was a long way from being able to love another man the way she’d loved her husband. But just because she wasn’t ready for a mate didn’t mean she wasn’t ready to love and be loved again. In fact, after their countless conversations over the past few days, Claire knew how badly the woman wished for the comfort and strength each glance at her husband’s eyes had yielded during their years together.

  Her husband’s eyes.

  Her husband’s emerald green eyes that twinkled like stars every time he smiled…

  Drawing her shoulders upward in an act of courage, she knocked on Ann’s door with the one and only picture of Isaac Schrock tucked inside her sweater pocket. “Ann? It’s me, Claire. Do you have a moment? I’d like to talk to you about something.”

  Ann flung open the door and pulled Claire in for a hug. “Claire! Claire! Detective Fisher told me what you did! He told me that Keith Watson was apprehended for Robert’s murder because of you! I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

  When she felt Ann’s grip loosen, she stepped back. “There’s nothing to repay. I just put two and two together and now justice will take over.”

  “And I’m grateful.” Wandering across the room, Ann plopped herself down in the middle of her mattress and drew her knees to her chest. “In some ways, knowing Robert’s killer is behind bars paves the way for me to move on to the next step in the grieving process. But at the same time, I’m not sure I want to. I mean, for whatever reason, this is the last place I ever saw Robert. And the thought of leaving here is harder than I expected it would be.”

  “You miss him, don’t you?”

  “More than I can ever express.”

  She glanced down at her pocket and contemplated the various ways news of Isaac could impact Ann.

  It could go either way and she knew that. But something about Diane’s talk the other night gave her the courage to share what she knew. After all, Ann was without her husband and the child they’d hoped to share, and Isaac was without the mother who’d raised him and the father he’d been robbed of knowing.

  “Remember what you said a few days ago? About wishing you and Robert had had a child together?”

  Ann nodded. “If we did, I’d still have a part of Robert here with me.”

  Slipping her hand into her pocket, Claire retrieved the picture she’d taken with her camera and printed off her computer earlier that morning. She looked down at it one last time, the sunlight streaming in through the window of Isaac’s kitchen making his eyes twinkle beneath the rim of his Amish hat. “There’s a way you still can,” she whispered.

  She sat perfectly still as she felt Ann’s gaze drop to Claire’s hand. “Claire? Who is that?”

  “His name is Isaac.”

  She released her hold on the photograph as Ann’s fingers closed around its edge. “He—he has Robert’s eyes.”

  It was now or never…

  “That’s because he’s Robert’s son,” she whispered.

  With hands that suddenly trembled, Ann stared down at the new, yet familiar face smiling tentatively back at her. “Isaac,” Ann repeated. “Isaac.”

  “Isaac is why Robert came to Heavenly. He wanted to meet the son he never knew he had.” Then, as Ann listened intently, Claire filled her in on everything she knew about Isaac and his recently discovered tie to Robert. When she was done, she took both of Ann’s hands in her own and held them tightly until one by one, the tears Ann had managed to keep at bay began to fall, forging a steady path down both sides of her pretty face.

  “He is so handsome…just like Robert.”

  “Yes he is.” It was such a simple response, but considering everything that had been said already, it was all that was really needed. The only thing that remained was whether Ann would want and need the connection with Isaac that Isaac wanted and needed with her.

  “I want to meet him, Claire. I want to meet my stepson.”

  * * *

  Dinner that night was a quiet affair with Ann the only guest still remaining at the inn. But that was okay. Because sitting there in the dining room next to Diane, Claire couldn’t help but feel as if she was witnessing a miracle of sorts playing out on the other side of the table.r />
  How else could you explain two people who’d been without a family only hours earlier suddenly finding and forging one of their own? There were stories of Robert that made both Ann and Isaac laugh, and stories of Robert that brought tears to Ann’s eyes and an awkward yet touching burst of compassion from Isaac toward his newfound stepmother.

  It was like Diane had said in relation to Jakob, connections made a person’s life brighter. And in return, set them on a course toward a brighter and more fulfilling future. Which in Isaac and Ann’s case meant a second chance at a family for both of them.

  “Claire? Would you mind getting that, dear?”

  She swung her gaze to her left to find Diane studying her with a look she couldn’t quite identify. “Getting what?”

  “The door. Someone just knocked.”

  “Oh, sorry, I didn’t hear that.” Excusing herself from the table, Claire pushed her chair back and headed in the direction of the quiet yet persistent knocking she’d somehow missed amid the excitement that was Ann and Isaac’s reunion. So much had gone wrong in the past few days her heart and her psyche had needed a healthy dose of joy.

  Did she wish things could be different with Benjamin and Jakob? Of course she did. But even so, her life in Heavenly was good. The only way that would change was if she let it change.

  Squaring her shoulders, she opened the door to find Jakob holding a plate of food in her direction while the smile she’d come to love crept its way across his handsome face.

  “Claire Weatherly, I think it’s high time you finally tried that Schnitz and Knepp you got cheated of at the festival the other day, don’t you?”

  Turn the page for an excerpt of the first book in

  Laura Bradford’s Amish Mysteries…

  Hearse and Buggy

  Available in paperback from Berkley Prime Crime!

  Chapter 1

  Claire Weatherly looked around the empty stockroom, kneading the small of her back with stiff, tired fingers. Three hours earlier she’d been almost convinced it would take an act of God to clear away the last of the handmade furniture left behind by the previous tenant. Bed frames, tables, chairs, chests, and cribs had claimed the much-needed space for weeks, a glaring reminder of one more task that needed to be completed before Heavenly Treasures would finally feel as if it were truly there to stay.