Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 3

by Samantha Price

  "Isn't that unusual? To ask for a DNA sample of someone who’s been suspected of drunk driving? What does that have to do with DNA?"

  "It sounds a little unusual, but by then they’d searched his car and found the gun, you see."

  “They searched his car for a drunk-driving charge?” Ettie asked.

  "It seems a little odd that they searched his car. Isn't that illegal to do that without permission?" Florence asked.

  "Not if they're suspicious that there might’ve been drugs or something illegal in the car. Suspicion of illegal activity or of something connected with a crime makes the search legal."

  "Is that what they're saying?"

  Detective Kelly nodded. “Another thing that I think you don’t know, Florence, is that Dustin had graze marks on his face when he was pulled over. They looked to be scratches. I saw the photos. He claims he didn’t know how they got there. They were faint but they were there.”

  Florence’s jaw dropped.

  “That’s not good,” Elsa-May said.

  “Does Dustin have a lawyer, Florence?" Ettie asked.

  "I believe one has been appointed to defend him."

  “A good one?"

  Detective Kelly said, "You know his lawyer, Ettie. You met him a year or two ago.”

  "The only lawyer I'm familiar with is the young man in the baseball cap."

  Kelly smiled. "Yes, that's the one. I can't recall his name off the top of my head, but I recognized his name when I saw it. He seems to be a very efficient fellow."

  Elsa-May brought out the tray of tea and coffee and cake, with Snowy following her.

  Detective Kelly bounded to his feet. "I'll help you with that, Elsa-May." He took the tray out of her hands and placed it down on the low table in between the couch and the chairs.

  Chapter 4

  After Detective Kelly had swallowed a few mouthfuls of coffee and eaten half a piece of cake, he sorted through papers in the file he’d brought with him. “I’ve written out a list of what I want you ladies to do.”

  “Just let us know,” Ettie said.

  Kelly continued, “Florence, I want you to come into the station at midday tomorrow and I’ll give you the dates your gun was used in those two murders. Then you can try to jog your memory as to who visited you on those dates. If the gun is yours, the person would’ve needed to use the gun and get it back to you before you noticed it missing.”

  “Yes, before nightfall. I’ll do that.” Florence nodded.

  “What would you like us to do?” Ettie asked.

  “I’ll try to find out if there was any connection between the two people who were killed in the robberies,” Kelly said.

  “Then we need to find out who else could’ve killed that poor young woman. Who would've wanted her dead?" Elsa-May said.

  "I think that’s something that you need to leave up to the professionals, Elsa-May. I'll see what the investigators have found out so far.” The detective wagged his finger at Elsa-May and Ettie. “Don't you two ladies go poking around. Someone's been murdered and if we don't have the right person in custody you could find yourselves in serious danger.”

  "He doesn't know the girl at all," Florence said. “Dustin told me he didn’t know the girl—the young woman who was killed.”

  "You admitted to only meeting the boy twice, so how can you trust that he's telling the truth?" Kelly asked.

  "I'm a pretty good reader of people, Detective Kelly. He visited me the first time when he started college nearby. Anyway, I haven't reached my age without learning something about human nature.” She pointed to him. “Take you for example."

  Kelly picked up his coffee mug and took a mouthful.

  Florence continued, “You're not married, you live in an apartment where you know exactly where everything is. You’re fanatically clean, and organized to a T. You have no pets; you don't like animals and have no desire to own any of any kind. You thought at one time that you’d like to be married, but you have no time to think about it. You don't look after yourself and you live on fast food."

  He shook his head, grinning as he placed his cup down. "I’m cutting down on the fast food.” Kelly laughed. “Either of your sisters could've given you that information, Mrs. Lapp.”

  "We haven’t said anything to her," Elsa-May insisted.

  "It's a fairly accurate estimation, Mrs. Lapp, I can tell you that, but it's far different from knowing if someone who is looking you in the eye is telling you the truth or a lie."

  Florence laughed. "I have raised eight children—you don't think I've heard it all in my lifetime? I know the signs of a lie—suddenly breathing more deeply, a slight flush in the cheeks, dilated pupils, explaining something too hard or giving too many facts about the situation. There’s more, but I won’t go on.”

  "Okay, I get the picture. Just leave room for doubt, though. I don’t want you to be disappointed if Dustin is found guilty."

  "It doesn't make sense that he would give a DNA sample voluntarily if he’d just murdered somebody."

  "Florence does have a point, Detective," Ettie said, reaching for a piece of cake.

  “What I'm saying is sometimes we’re surprised by people and their actions. He could’ve willingly provided the sample simply because that’s what an innocent person would do. I know you think the grandson of your good friend isn't a murderer and I'm going along with you out of respect for your two sisters.” He nodded toward Ettie and Elsa-May.

  “That’s good of you, thank you,” Florence said.

  The detective added, “But he very likely might be a murderer. I'm going to look into things because I admit I have been wrong in the past myself."

  Elsa-May asked, “Do you know anything about the young woman who was murdered?"

  Her question was directed to the detective, but Florence answered. "All I know is that she went to the same college as Dustin, but he never met her. Now they're saying he did it."

  "Are you sure he’s telling the truth?"

  "Yeah, I am."

  * * *

  “You do realize that Detective Kelly gave us things to do simply to stop us from investigating, don’t you?” Elsa-May said to Ettie.

  “Jah, I was thinking that myself. He’s trying to keep us out of trouble."

  "He didn't want us finding anything out about the two men who were killed, or the young woman who was killed on campus.”

  "What shall we do?" Florence asked.

  "What about that young lawyer, Ettie? Surely he can give us some information?"

  "Excellent idea, Elsa-May. And we’re going to have to find out more about the unfortunate young woman."

  "How do we do that?" Florence asked.

  "We’ll have our friend, Ava, search things on the computer for us at the library."

  "Jeremiah’s fraa?"

  "That's the one."

  "She's found out all sorts of things for us in the past by searching things on the Internet."

  Elsa-May added, "And it's useful that she's got a friend who works at the DMV."

  Ettie said, "I'll call her tomorrow."

  "Tomorrow? Why not right now?" Elsa-May urged.

  "Okay. I'll call her now."

  Florence shook her head. "That poor boy is sitting in the jail cell for a crime he didn't do."

  "He does have a very good solicitor. Elsa-May and I met him once. He was very helpful."

  “Denke to you both for helping me to help Dustin.”

  A few moments later, Ettie hurried to the shanty that housed the telephone that the Amish on their street used.

  "Ava, is that you?"

  "Ettie?"

  "Jah, it's me. I didn't expect you to get to the phone so soon.”

  "I just got home and I’m in the barn right by it."

  “Gut!”

  "What is it?"

  “Do you remember my schweschder and Jeremiah’s ant, Florence?"

  "Jah. She came to our wedding."

  "Well, she's here staying with us because her house
burned down."

  "That's terrible! When did that happen?”

  “About a week or so ago, I think. She didn't exactly say when.”

  “Would you like her to stay here? I know your haus is quite small."

  "That's very kind of you, but that's not the reason I'm calling."

  "What is it?"

  "We need your help with something on the computer."

  "You want me to look something up for you?"

  "Jah, and time is of the essence." Ettie proceeded to give her all the information she had on Dustin and the murder he’d been accused of.

  "Okay, I've got that written down, I'll get onto it tomorrow morning at the library."

  "Can you stop by at our home afterward?”

  “Of course.”

  “We also need all the names that are connected to Allissa Thomas including friends, family, and if you can, the attending officers at the crime scene. And it would be helpful if you could find out what friends she had in common with Dustin Gandara. Dustin claims he didn’t know her at all."

  "I'll do my best."

  "Denke, Ava."

  “Why don’t you come to the library with me?”

  “I could. What time will you be there?”

  “I’ve got a few things first thing in the morning, but I’ll be there by ten.”

  “That might work for us. I’ll have to check with the others, though, so don’t count on us being there.”

  “Okay.”

  Chapter 5

  Ettie headed home and as she walked in the door, her two sisters faced her. “First thing tomorrow we’ll pay a visit to the lawyer.”

  “I want you both to come to my appointment with the detective. He’s going to give me the dates that my gun was used to shoot those two people in the holdups.”

  “Elsa-May and I will go with you, and then we’ll go from there to see the lawyer. I know where his office is, but I don’t know if he’ll be there. If only I remembered his name, I could phone him and make an appointment.”

  “We’ll have to hope he’s there. Anyway, by that time we might have some information from Ava.”

  “Ava said she’d be at the library at about ten. Why don’t we meet her there first, and then we’ll know right away if she finds anything?”

  “We might as well,” Elsa-May said. “So it’s the library, then the police-station and then the lawyer. It’ll be a busy day.”

  “Denke both of you for doing this. I’m glad you believe me. I want to do everything I can for Morrie’s sake.”

  “You’d do the same for us. Now, let’s get the dinner on. And you don’t have to keep thanking us.”

  “You can thank me by giving me my bed back,” Ettie said.

  Florence laughed as though Ettie were joking.

  When Florence made no further comment, Ettie thought it best to drop the subject. The couch wasn’t that bad, but it was annoying that Florence refused to stay with Ava and Jeremiah. Ava even offered that Florence could stay at her house. The three women walked into the kitchen, and then Ettie pulled out some vegetables. They all sat and peeled the vegetables for dinner.

  “Florence, what became of Morrie? You said he went to jail on a murder charge–did he ever get out?” Ettie asked.

  “I’ve been wondering that myself. Who did he murder?” Elsa-May asked.

  “I said he didn’t do it and I don’t want to talk about it.” Florence pushed her lips together firmly.

  “You made it sound like you and he were still together when he went to jail, so when did he have a child? Was it before you and he were together? He couldn’t have fathered one in jail.”

  “He had one boy, he was only a few years old when I took up with Morrie. Morrie was never married to the mother. She had her hand out for money all the time.”

  “Morrie wouldn’t have been short of a dollar, would he? Detective Kelly recognized his name, so it seems he would’ve been well known back then.”

  “He spent money as fast as he made it—probably faster. He had a good lifestyle. To answer your question, Ettie, he’s probably still in jail. I don’t know for certain. I visited him once, but he told me not to come back. I didn’t. I returned to the community, got baptized, and gave up my life of sin. Dustin told me when he turned eighteen he visited Morrie once, but after that Morrie refused all his visits.”

  “So Morrie and Dustin connected at some stage, even though Dustin’s father and Morrie rarely saw one another?”

  “When Dustin’s father became an adult, he visited Morrie in prison, but I don’t know what happened after that. Maybe Morrie told him to stay away too.”

  “Did you ever meet Dustin’s father?”

  “I saw him a few times when he was a boy.”

  “And what of the person Morrie was accused of killing?”

  The potato slipped from Florence’s hand and she stared at Ettie. “He didn’t do it. He was framed. I said I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Ettie was a little concerned. Wasn’t it too much of a coincidence that Morrie was convicted of murder and now his grandson was on a murder charge—could they both be innocent? Ettie felt Elsa-May staring at her and when she looked at her, Elsa-May raised her eyebrows and Ettie knew she had the same concerns.

  “Neither of you believes me now, do you? That’s why I’m keeping quiet about who they say Morrie killed.”

  Elsa-May handed Florence the potato that had skidded across the table.

  “Do you want to talk about it now?” Ettie asked.

  She shook her head. “Nee, I don’t.”

  Now Ettie was intrigued. Since Florence would be with them at the library tomorrow, she’d have to look for a chance to have a quiet word with Ava and ask her to find—without Florence noticing—what she could about Wylie Morris, also known as Willis Gandara.

  Chapter 6

  The next morning, Ettie left Elsa-May and Florence outside the library while she hurried in front of them to talk with Ava alone.

  Ava was sitting at a computer and looked up when she saw Ettie heading towards her.

  "There you are. I thought you weren’t coming."

  "We had to reshuffle a few things to make time. Florence and Elsa-May are just outside. Before Florence gets here, I need to tell you something that I don't want you to let on to her."

  "Okay. What is it?"

  "I need you to find out about a singer called Wylie Morris. He was a popular singer back in the fifties. His real name is Willis Gandara. I don’t know if his name had been changed legally or what. He was in jail for murder and he still could be doing time. I want you to find out where he is.”

  "And this has something to do with Florence?"

  "Florence and he had a relationship many years ago, but then he was accused of murder and went to prison. She then returned to the community, was baptized, and married an Amish man."

  “And I’m guessing she won't be too happy if she knows we’re finding out about a past lover?" Ava’s eyes sparkled, obviously enjoying the intrigue.

  "Exactly. She won’t tell us anything about the murder he was accused of.”

  "Leave it to me. I'll let you know what I find out."

  "Thank you." Ettie looked over her shoulder. "Here they come now."

  After Ava greeted Florence, they all pulled up chairs to look at the computer screen.

  "Now what am I looking up?" Ava asked.

  Ettie unfolded her piece of paper. "I've made a list."

  “Okay.”

  Ettie looked down at the page. "I need you to find out if there's any evidence that Dustin Gandara and Allissa Thomas knew each other."

  "Ettie, he already said he didn't."

  "We have to be certain, though, Florence."

  "Okay, do what you have to do."

  They both went to the same college?"

  "Jah, that’s right.”

  “She attended college—that's what it says here.” Ava clicked through the images on Allissa’s Facebook page.

  “Tha
t’s her?” Florence asked.

  “Jah. All these photos are of Allissa Thomas,” Ava said flicking through several images.

  "That's him!!" Florence pointed to a group of people. “That’s Dustin standing right next to her.”

  "Are you certain?" Ava asked.

  "Of course I’m certain. Why would I say it if I wasn't?"

  "Florence, that means he was lying to you. He did know her it seems,” Ettie said.

  "That doesn't mean he knew her,” Florence said.

  "Keep going, Ava," Ettie urged.

  Ava flicked through more photos and found two more photos of Dustin and Allissa together.

  Ettie shook her head. "It's not looking good.”

  "Are you able to print out those pictures for us, Ava?" Elsa-May asked.

  “I can."

  "Can you search to see if Dustin has a Facebook account?” Ettie asked.

  “It’s not likely. His name didn’t come up when I hovered the mouse over his image and he wasn’t tagged in any photos.”

  “We’ve got no idea what you’re talking about.” Elsa-May squinted at the screen.

  “I’ll search and see if he’s on Facebook.” Ava put Dustin Gandara’s name into the search box. Many people had that same name, but none were the man they were after.

  “He doesn’t have an account,” Ava announced.

  "Are we going to mention to this to the police, Ettie?" Florence asked.

  "They do their own investigations. They can, just as well as us, look this up. They’ve most likely seen this and it’s harming him if he keeps saying he doesn’t know her."

  "I think we should tell his lawyer before the police come across this information," Elsa-May said. “That is if they haven’t seen it already.”

  "I’m sure they would’ve. This would be the first place they’d look these days,” Ava said.

  "Someone should tell, Dustin. We’ll have to tell his lawyer," Ettie said.

  Ava stood up. "I'll just get those photos off the printer.” She came back and handed the photos to Ettie.