Lost

by Samantha Price

  “As soon as she gets back, we’ll encourage her to talk to you.”

  “Thank you.”

  While Kelly talked to Ettie near the door of his office, Elsa-May put her glasses on and tilted his writing pad on his desk toward her. She read that the funeral was on in two days time, at St. Andrew's Church as they'd been told by Mrs. Quinn, at eleven thirty in the morning. They already knew where it was going to be held, and now they had the time.

  Kelly glanced over at Elsa-May. “Thank you both for coming in, and I’ll talk to you after your wandering friend returns.”

  “Very well,” Elsa-May said as she walked out of his office with Ettie.

  As the two sisters walked down the front steps of the police station, Elsa-May said, “I saw the time of the funeral. It’s on Friday at eleven thirty at St. Andrew's Church.”

  “We’ll have to go.” Ettie sighed.

  “Kelly won’t like it.”

  “Maybe we shouldn’t go. We should keep out of things.”

  “It’s up to you. If you don’t want to go, we won’t go,” Elsa-May said.

  Ettie nodded. “I'll think on it. Now, however, let’s go to that coffee shop up the road and have a nice piece of cake.”

  Elsa-May chuckled. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard in some time.”

  “You know, we probably should find out more about Carl, Earl’s brother.”

  “And exactly how do we do that?” Elsa-May asked.

  “By visiting Julie, the first wife.”

  “Good idea. She should know what’s going on since she would’ve known Carl, having married his brother.”

  “Hmm.” Ettie thought some more. “She’d know Carl, but she might not know anything else.”

  “It’s a start. It’s important that we find out who killed Earl so Gertie can be safe.”

  “If only there was a way of finding out who was staying in that house back then.”

  “Gertie said there was no paperwork and it was all paid with cash.”

  “I know.” Ettie frowned hoping everything would work itself out soon.

  Chapter Twelve

  It was a rare treat for Ettie and Elsa-May to sit down for cake in a coffee shop. They almost never ate anywhere other than their own home. Ettie's face lit up as she eyed the three rows of various cakes in the glass display cabinet.

  "Everything looks so good. I'd like to try a little of everything."

  "You can only have one, Ettie."

  "What will it be, ladies?

  They looked up to see the café worker.

  "I'd like a black coffee and an orange cake please."

  The worker fixed her eyes on Elsa-May after she gave Ettie a nod.

  "And I'll try the coffee cheesecake and —"

  "Oooh, that sounds good. Can you change my order to a coffee cheesecake, please?"

  "Of course."

  "As I was saying, I'll have the coffee cheesecake and I'll have a lemon tea with a dash of honey in it, please."

  "That sounds good, too. I'll have the same as her, please?"

  "So, no coffee for you?" the waitress asked.

  "No, that's right. I’ll have the coffee cheesecake and lemon tea with a dash of honey."

  "Take a seat and I'll bring it over."

  Ettie and Elsa-May made their way over to a table by the window.

  "I suppose I should've had something different from you so we could have tasted each other's?"

  "That would've been the sensible thing to do."

  "Never mind. We can do that next time. I do hope Gertie’s okay," Ettie said.

  "It's still a bit of a worry with her missing under the circumstances, even with the news about the taxi picking her up."

  "The thing that bothers me about everything is that she was so convinced that all the deaths were linked, going back to Aaron's drowning."

  "It simply can't be possible, Ettie. She's wrong. She's one of those people who thinks everything revolves around her and she is the center of the universe."

  "That's a little harsh, Elsa-May."

  "I'm not being nasty, I'm just saying that some people don't see the broader picture. They can only see their own little world and what's happening in front of their eyes. And that's why she thinks that everything that happens around her is happening because it's got something to do with her."

  Ettie remained silent, not wanting to disagree with her sister.

  "Well, don't you agree?"

  Ettie shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really know."

  "It's quite a simple thing, Aaron died when she was a teenager, when he was a teenager, too. Gertie is around seventy so that would make it fifty-some years ago. How could that death be related to her witnessing a murder of an Englischer ten years ago?"

  Elsa-May stared at Ettie.

  "I don't know. Perhaps Gertie has some reasoning behind that thinking that she didn't tell us."

  "I just don't see it. It's not plausible." Elsa-May straightened her prayer kapp and then the top of her dress.

  The waitress brought over their tea with a small container of honey on the side, and two large pieces of coffee cheesecake with whipped cream and dark chocolate sprinkles. "There you go, ladies."

  "Thank you. This look so good." After the waitress unloaded their items on the table in front of them, she left them alone. Each drizzled some honey into her cup, and they poured the hot tea from two small teapots.

  "We should do this more often," Ettie said.

  "Jah, it's nice to sit here, and we don't have to do any baking or any of the washing up."

  "That's the best part. We just walk out of here and someone else does the cleaning up." Ettie took a sip of tea. "This is really good! So, what do you think; are we going to the funeral?"

  "Of course we are. There’s no doubt about it.”

  "Perhaps that's where we should talk to Earl's first wife. If she’s there."

  "Only if we get a proper opportunity. I don't want to do anything inappropriate at the funeral."

  "Nee, of course, that would be terrible." Ettie pulled a face.

  "How are we going to know who Julie is?"

  "I think we'll be able to work it out when we get there." Elsa-May broke off a portion of the coffee cheesecake and popped it into her mouth. Ettie could see by the look on her face that the cheesecake was delicious. "It's very rich," Elsa-May said when she finished swallowing the bite.

  "Perhaps we should have just had one piece and gone halves?" Ettie said.

  "I've lost weight from all that walking I've been doing, so I think I can have a little cheesecake now and again."

  "I didn't say you were fat. I'm just having second thoughts myself of whether I can get through all of my piece of cheesecake or not."

  “Oh, okay. Now, Amos wasn't living in that house when Simon was alive."

  "That's right. After the man who was living there killed that other man, Earl, the killer left the house and disappeared without a word."

  "Amos moved there after Simon died. Obviously hoping that Gertie might marry him after all those years," Elsa-May said.

  "I feel so sorry for him. Being so in love with her over all these years, and she probably never looked twice at him in a romantic way.”

  “At the funeral we can maybe find the brother, Carl, and talk to him. Were you listening to anything I just said, Ettie?”

  “Jah, I heard you.”

  “I feel sorry for Amos too, but there’s nothing either you or I can do about it. If she doesn’t feel that way about him, then that’s that. Now, what do you think about what I said about Carl?”

  “You think he might have had something to do with his brother’s death?” Ettie asked.

  “Maybe. Perhaps it was Carl who rented that house from Gertie and Simon.”

  “If Kelly could show Gertie a photo of him then we’d know.”

  “I hope she comes home soon.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Ettie and Elsa-May knocked on Amos' door, glad to be able to t
ell him some good news they found out about Gertie getting a taxi.

  He appeared from around the side of the house.

  "Good morning again."

  "Amos, there you are. We've got some news."

  "Good news?"

  "We still don't know where she is, but we have some hopeful news."

  "Let's sit down."

  He walked past them and opened his front door. They followed him into a small cluttered living room and past various pieces of half-made furniture. He indicated a pair of newer-looking chairs for them, and took a seat on an older chair.

  "What is it?" he asked, leaning forward.

  "The day she went missing, a taxi collected her from the house early in the morning."

  He rubbed the back of his neck.

  "It must've been before I woke."

  "So at least we know she's gone somewhere of her own accord," Ettie said, trying very hard to stop staring at all the odd things he had around the house. It looked as though he'd never thrown anything out. On the floor was a threadbare rug that had seen better days, yet a seemingly-new one was rolled up in the corner of the room. Several embroidered Scripture samplers were hung on the walls, and curious items covered the mantelpiece over the fireplace.

  "That's all we know so far but the detective is keeping us informed," Elsa-May said.

  "I didn't make much of a good impression on the detective. I think he thinks I've got something to do with her disappearance."

  "Nee, I'm sure he doesn't think that," Ettie said.

  "I think he does. I could tell by the way he looked at me. I have trouble with my words and sometimes I say the wrong ones. Can I make you a cup of kaffe?"

  Elsa-May looked over at Ettie. "Nee denke. We should be getting home; we haven't been there enough lately and there are many things to do around the place. We just wanted to let you know about the taxi."

  Ettie stood up and her eyes wandered again to the peculiar things on the mantelpiece. There was a dark-colored notebook that was severely blackened on the edges, a few pretty rocks that he probably had found in the stream that ran at the back of the property, and a glass vase of the kind that one would put flowers in. They made their way through all of the odd pieces of furniture and back to the front door, and said goodbye.

  Amos stood and adjusted his straw work hat. "Denke for telling me the good news. Now we have hope, but we must keep praying."

  "We’re doing that, too. Goodbye, Amos."

  They called for a taxi and waited down by the road.

  "Well, that was a strange haus."

  "There was nothing strange about the haus."

  "What was inside was strange," Ettie said correcting herself. "He needs to put half those things in the barn."

  "Perhaps all of those things hold special meaning to him."

  "Maybe, although I can't say why."

  Elsa-May heaved a sigh. "I’ll be so happy when Gertie returns."

  Ettie and Elsa-May decided to enlist Ava’s help at the funeral. They collected her in a taxi on the way to St. Andrew's Church. Since Earl was being buried in the cemetery directly behind the church, Ettie thought they might have a good chance to talk with some people.

  "So what's the plan?" Ava asked.

  “We need to mingle,” Ettie said.

  "And who do you want me to mingle with?"

  "There's Julie, his first wife and then there's Carl, Earl’s criminal brother. Well, according to Earl's second wife, he’s a criminal, but we don't know that for certain. Although Kelly said he knows him, which makes it pretty certain."

  "And you know that he’ll be there at the funeral?"

  "I should imagine his brother would be there," Elsa-May said.

  "We don't even know what they look like yet, so that’s why we've got to mingle around with people and find out who's who.”

  “Ettie, do you know how many times you've said ‘mingle’?" Elsa-May asked.

  Ettie chuckled. "Well, that's the word for it, isn't it?"

  “Just say ‘talk to people.’ Mingling is a word that if you use it more often than necessary it becomes annoying."

  "Maybe to you, but it didn't annoy Ava. Did it, Ava?" Ettie looked over at Ava.

  "Let's just focus on what we’re about to do," Ava said.

  Elsa-May raised her hand. "Don't say it, Ettie."

  "I wasn't even going to say we’re about to mingle."

  Elsa-May cringed. "You just said it."

  "I was just answering you."

  Ava leaned toward the taxi driver "Are we nearly there?"

  "Around about five minutes away," he said.

  Ava leaned back in the seat. "That's the last time I'm sitting between the two of you."

  "That's fine. I'll sit by myself at the funeral and you two can sit somewhere else," Ettie said. “Anyway, with us spread out we’ll have a better chance of… talking to a lot more people."

  Ava sighed.

  * * *

  They walked into the small stone church and all three slid into the back row. Ava found herself between the two sisters once again.

  "Weren’t you going to sit somewhere else?" Elsa-May whispered to Ettie as she leaned across Ava.

  "I was, but I didn't know how small this place would be."

  The church was already half full, and a few minutes later, Detective Kelly walked through the door with a plainclothes policeman. When he saw them his lips twitched and he gave a slight raise of his eyebrows before he sat a few rows in front of them.

  Ettie whispered, "He didn't look too pleased to see us."

  "Nee, but he didn't look too annoyed or surprised, either."

  "I suppose that’s something."

  Ava whispered, "Who's who?"

  "That lady in the dark blue dress, up at the front, with the straight brown hair is Mrs. Quinn."

  "The second Mrs. Quinn, the one he was married to when he died," Elsa-May added. "And I guess the teenagers sitting beside her are their two daughters."

  The coffin was at the head of the church with a large spray of white lilies resting on top. Two more white flower arrangements stood there, one on either side. To the right was a large white-framed photograph of Earl Quinn.

  A minister stood and opened the proceedings by having everyone stand to sing a hymn accompanied by the church organ. It was a slow depressing song, and the organ music made it more so. Ettie was pleased the singing at their Amish gatherings was unaccompanied by musical instruments. Although, she thought, it might have helped a few of their folk sing in tune.

  After the hymn, one of Earl's daughters said a few words about what she remembered of her father. Ettie thought she was remarkable the way she stopped as though she were about to cry, managed to control herself, and then kept going. When she sat down, a man said a few nice words and it was then that the ladies learned he was Carl, Earl’s brother.

  Ettie looked again at Detective Kelly. Throughout the proceedings, he’d kept looking toward someone to the left of him. Ettie finally worked out he was looking at an elderly gentleman in a dark blue suit. It had to be Appleby. She could only see the back of his head, but she’d know as soon as she saw his face if he was Harold Appleby.

  When the door behind them opened, the man turned to see who had walked in. It was Appleby. Somehow Ettie would try to talk with him, but she couldn’t do it while Kelly was around.

  Ettie stared back at Kelly. He’d been keeping things from them; she was surer than ever given the way he kept glancing at Appleby.

  When the minister got up and began to preach, Ettie wasn't listening because she was busy devising a plan. She would target Appleby while Elsa-May and Ava talked to Julie and Mrs. Quinn. Something told Ettie that Julie, Earl’s first wife, was the woman sitting directly behind wife number two. For a start, she was the right age, and Ettie noticed that Mrs. Quinn was friendly with her but not over friendly.

  Ettie had a good look at everyone else there. All told, there were roughly fifty people in attendance.

  Wh
en the funeral service was over, everyone was invited to an adjoining room for refreshments. It was announced that the body would be buried later with only family present.

  Ettie kept her eyes fixed on the man Kelly was watching so closely. When Kelly and the man headed into the other room, along with most everyone in the church, Elsa-May poked her, prompting her to move off the pew. Being on the end of the row, the others couldn’t get out until she moved.

  Without waiting for Ava or Elsa-May, Ettie stood and walked into the adjacent room, heading straight to the food table. There were already people helping themselves to the small sandwiches and cupcakes. Ettie took a sandwich, and as far as she could tell, it only had lettuce between the bread. When she turned away from the table, she saw Mrs. Quinn walking toward her.

  "It was nice of you to come, thank you. How is your friend?"

  "She still hasn't come home. Hopefully, she'll come home soon."

  "I hope so, too. I hope she hasn’t fallen victim to anything bad."

  Ettie nodded. “We’re praying she’s just gone visiting and forgot to tell anyone. Were your daughters the young women sitting next to you?"

  "Yes. I don’t see them much these days. They’re both in college now.”

  “And that was Julie sitting behind you?"

  "Yes. You never got to see her when you left my house that day?"

  "No. We went there but she wasn't home and we never made it back."

  Mrs. Quinn turned around and glanced at wife number one and then looked back at Ettie. "We don't talk much. We’re civil, and generally we keep out of each other's way. Life is simpler that way."

  "Yes. It must be awkward."

  "You Amish people wouldn't have that problem would you?"

  "No. We only marry once and can only marry again if our husband dies. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to mention that on a day like this."

  "I'm not offended. And at least it's good to know where he is after all this time. It’s comforting and we’ll feel better yet when the police catch the person who killed him.”

  "I'm sure.” Ettie nodded her head toward the man she was sure was Appleby. “Do you know who that man is over there, the one that's talking to the detective?"