Amish Winter Murder Mystery

by Samantha Price

  Amish Winter Murder Mystery

  Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Book 19

  Samantha Price

  Copyright © 2018 by Samantha Price

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  ETTIE SMITH AMISH MYSTERIES

  Also by Samantha Price:

  About Samantha Price

  Chapter 1

  From the warmth of her house, Ettie pulled aside the curtain and, with the end of her apron, rubbed off the condensation from the glass to clear a circular patch. Now she could see out, and she stared through the softly falling snowflakes at the empty house next door. It sat in stillness, unlived-in, unloved and uncared for. The colorful flowers that had once spilled over the stone borders of the garden had months ago been choked by scraggly weeds. All things in life, Ettie had noticed in her eighty-plus years, came full circle. Just as the weeds had arisen in the fall and smothered the flowers, the winter temperatures were pushing those troublesome weeds to the brink of their own demise.

  It saddened Ettie that the house was empty when there were people who needed a home. Any kind of wastefulness was bothersome. The house had been unoccupied since a grizzly murder had taken place there some months ago. She’d known from the moment the Charmers couple had moved in next door that there was something odd about them, and she’d been right. At the time, Ettie’s sister, Elsa-May, had said she was being overly suspicious. Elsa-May had been proven wrong and that was satisfying to Ettie in more than a small way.

  “Come away from the window, Ettie. You told me you wouldn’t do that anymore.”

  Ettie looked over at her bossy older sister. Being the age she was, Ettie had thought no one would be telling her what to do, but, like other things she’d expected in life, it wasn’t reality. “Don’t you mind what I’m doing. You just keep on with your knitting. You might slip a stitch if you don’t watch out.”

  Elsa-May chuckled. “I haven’t done that in years. I’ve reached a certain skill level.”

  Ettie screwed up her nose and took the opportunity to niggle a bit. “Sounds like someone’s prideful.”

  “Nee I’m not. I’m just confident that I know what I’m doing. Confidence and pride are two different things.” Elsa-May dropped her knitting into her lap. “It’s irritating, you looking out at nothing. What is it you see?”

  Ettie let go of the curtain she'd held bunched in her hand. “Just snow, and snow, and then some more snow.” Snowy, Elsa-May’s small fluffy white dog, raised his head off his dog bed. “I’m not talking about you, Snowy. I’m saying there’s snow out the window. Go back to sleep.”

  “He can’t understand you, Ettie.”

  “I think he understands more than you know. He’s clever.” When Elsa-May stayed silent, Ettie knew her next comment would raise Elsa-May’s hackles. “I wonder when we’ll get new neighbors.” Ettie wasn’t disappointed; Elsa-May stared at her, frowning.

  “You’re scaring them away. Every time that poor realtor brings people over, they see you staring out the window at them. No one likes to be gawked at and no one wants to live next door to someone like you who’s going to be watching everything they do.” Elsa-May shook her head and made tsk tsk tsk sounds.

  “That’s not true, Elsa-May. I only look at them after they’ve looked through the house and when they’re on their way out to their cars.”

  “And how would you know when they’ve finished looking if you’re not spying?”

  Ettie pulled her mouth to one side. She’d been caught out. It was interesting watching what people were doing, and soothing too, in a strange kind of way. She did observe the strangers who came to look through the house next door. What kind of people were they? Why were they thinking of buying the house? Did they know what had happened there? Making assumptions about them had been Ettie’s sole entertainment during the silent winter days. “I won’t look at all next time. Will that make you happy?”

  “Jah. At least it would go a long way to it.”

  Ettie flopped down onto the couch. It was nearly bedtime and she was bored from staying home for days on end. She had what she'd heard some people call "cabin fever." Nothing ever happened in the wintertime. “It’s nearly Christmas again. Another year’s coming to an end.” She looked up at Elsa-May who continued knitting without saying a word. “How’s your arthritis?”

  “Not too bad.”

  “It’s cold, isn’t it?”

  “It usually is this time of year.”

  Ettie got up and peered into the fire, then picked up the poker and skilfully rearranged the logs.

  “Ach, leave it be, Ettie! It’s fine. I did that not long ago. I had it just right.”

  “I know, but I’m making it better.”

  When the noise of hoofbeats and buggy wheels reverberated through the house, they stared wide-eyed at one another.

  “Who’s that?” Elsa-May snapped.

  Ettie hurried to the window and pulled the curtains aside. The round peephole she’d made moments before had alreadyclouded over. “I don’t know. I can’t see in the dark. All I can see are the lights of the buggy.”

  Elsa-May didn’t even finish her row before she stuck her knitting needles into the ball of wool and pushed herself to her feet. Since Ettie was already up, she managed to beat Elsa-May to the door.

  A black-hooded figure wrapped in a cloak came bustling toward them.

  “Helga, is that you?” Elsa-May called out.

  Ettie squinted at the black figure wondering what made Elsa-May think it was Helga, one of their friends.

  “Jah, it’s me,” came the voice, to Ettie's surprise.

  Elsa-May stepped outside. “What are you doing out this way?”

  Helga walked up their two front steps and stood before them. “I just came to deliver some dreadful news.”

  “What is it?” Ettie asked.

  “It’s too dreadful. I can hardly say the words.”

  “Just say it, Helga!” Elsa-May ordered as she dusted flakes of snow from Helga’s shoulders.

  Ettie was just about to tell Helga to come inside when Helga spoke. “It’s old Ebenezer Fuller, he … he’s been stabbed.”

  “What? Are you sure?” Ettie asked completely forgetting Helga was standing in the cold.

  “Who did you say?” Elsa-May asked.

  Ettie grabbed Helga’s hand. “Is he …?”

  “He’s dead, Ettie,” Helga wiped a tear from her eye.

  “Ach, that’s dreadful.” Ettie let go of Helga’s hand. “Who would’ve done such a dreadful thing?”

  Elsa-May frowned. “Ebenezer?”

  “Ebenezer Fuller, Elsa-May,” Helga wailed.

  “How awful.” Elsa-May looked down and shook h
er head. “I can’t believe it.”

  “No one can.” Helga wiped another tear away. “There was a note.”

  “This is the very last thing I expected to hear.” Elsa-May bowed her head and sighed.

  Ettie took hold of Helga’s arm. “What did you say about a note?”

  Helga couldn’t get a word out before Elsa-May reprimanded her sister. “Ettie, that’s insensitive. The man’s been stabbed and you’re worried about a silly note.”

  “I’m sorry.” Ettie looked back at Helga. “Have the police been called? Who found him?”

  Helga’s teeth chattered together. “Can I come inside?”

  “Of course.” Elsa-May looked at Ettie. “Where are your manners, Ettie?”

  “I’m sorry, Helga. Come sit in front of the fire and warm yourself up. Elsa-May will make you a nice mug of hot chocolate.”

  Elsa-May raised her eyebrows and stepped back inside the house in front of Ettie. Helga bustled past them, took off her hooded cloak and handed it to Elsa-May, who hung it on the peg by the door. Once Helga was seated on the couch, she glanced at Snowy as she rubbed her hands together. “Still got the dog, I see?”

  “He’s part of the family.” Elsa-May sat down in her chair.

  “Elsa-May, the hot chocolate,” Ettie reminded her.

  Elsa-May grunted and then she pushed herself up off the chair. “Well, don’t say anything until I get back, Helga. I want to hear about it at the same time as Ettie.”

  “Denke.” Helga said. “I do need some warming up. I don’t have a heater in the buggy like some people and it was so cold on the way here.”

  While Elsa-May headed to the kitchen, Ettie sat down beside Helga. “Tell us everything from the beginning.”

  “Wait, I said, Ettie,” came Elsa-May’s booming voice from the kitchen.

  “Okay.” Ettie looked at Helga trying to keep her questions inside. The woman’s skin was paler than normal and she was understandably distraught. Even though Helga was ten or so years younger than Ettie, they’d grown up in the same community. When Helga had married a man from another community, Helga had told him she’d move to his community once they married. When she refused, he’d had no choice but to stay on. That was only a rumor, but that story always popped into Ettie’s mind whenever she saw Helga.

  Helga put her hand up to her mouth. “It was dreadful, Ettie.”

  “I know. It would’ve been.” Ettie patted her hand, and then whispered, “Before she comes back, just nod once if you were at Ebenezer’s haus just now.”

  Helga’s brown eyes grew wide and she gave one nod.

  “I heard that, Ettie,” Elsa-May called out.

  Ettie clamped her lips together. Elsa-May’s hearing was excellent only when it came to things she wasn’t meant to hear. With a flick of her wrist, Ettie whisked the crocheted blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around Helga’s shoulders. “There. You look nice and warm now.”

  “Denke. That feels good."

  A few minutes later, Elsa-May came out of the kitchen carrying a large tray with two mugs and a plateful of cookies and cake.

  Ettie saw there were only two mugs. “You didn’t make me one?”

  “I could only fit two on the tray, Ettie. You have one of those and I’ll fetch the one I left in the kitchen. It would’ve been faster if you’d helped.”

  Ettie stroked Helga’s blanket-covered shoulder. “I had to look after Helga.”

  “Denke,” Helga said. “You always were kind and thoughtful.”

  Ettie smiled. “And nothing’s changed.”

  Elsa-May shook her head at her sister before she headed back to the kitchen.

  When they each had a mug of hot chocolate in one hand and food in the other, Elsa-May gave Helga permission to tell them what had happened.

  Helga’s bottom lip trembled. “I hardly know where to start.”

  “The beginning is always a good place.” Ettie bit into a piece of lemon cake that Elsa-May had baked the day before.

  “Some time back, and I can’t tell you exactly when, the bishop asked Levi and me to keep an eye on him since we live the closest to him.”

  “And by him, you mean Ebenezer?”

  “Who else would she mean, Elsa-May?”

  “She could’ve meant anyone.”

  Helga continued, unfazed, “I never knocked on his door, but every time I drove past, I’d see him sitting there on his beaten-up old chair on the porch. For two days now, his door has been closed, and there’s been no smoke rising from his chimney. I had Levi visit with me to see what was going on. We thought he might be ill. We never expected what we saw when we opened that door.”

  “Ach nee. You saw him lying there?” Elsa-May asked leaning in a little closer.

  “Nee.” Helga shook her head. “The house was neat as a pin. Fresh flowers sat on the kitchen table as though they were picked today. Who would’ve thought a man living by himself would bother making the place nice with a vase of flowers? They had to be store-bought too. He had none in his garden.”

  “Then what happened?” Ettie asked.

  “We called out but there was no sound. That’s when I sent Levi to the barn.”

  When she hesitated, Ettie asked, “And that’s where you found him?”

  “Nee.” Helga shivered.

  “Stop interrupting, Ettie. Go on, Helga.”

  “He wasn’t in the barn either. When we came back inside wondering what to do, that’s when we saw the note. It seemed someone had said they wanted to meet with him. Since he hadn’t taken his buggy, we knew he’d set off on foot—if he was meeting the person who wrote that note. We both walked in different directions to find him. We thought he might’ve fallen and not been able to get back up. Then I heard Levi holler that he’d found him. He was dead. Levi found him not far from the house, in the trees behind the barn. Jack, the man living in between us found him just at the same time that Levi came upon him. Jack picked up the knife and then Levi grabbed it from him.”

  “Did the neighbor kill him?”

  “Nee. He said his dog found him. His dog was there with him. He said his dog wanted to walk over by the fence and then his dog ran away. He ran after the dog, and that’s when he found Ebenezer at the same time as Levi found him.”

  Ettie and Elsa-May looked at each other. “And you called the police?” asked Ettie.

  “We did. Ebenezer had no phone in his barn, so the neighbor called them from his house. A detective came. He didn’t have much to say and asked if I knew you, Ettie.”

  “Oh?”

  Elsa-May finished her mouthful. “That’d be Detective Kelly.”

  “That was the name, jah. He said he’d stop by here. Does he think you killed Ebenezer, Ettie?”

  “Nee.”

  “Of course not, Helga. From time to time Detective Kelly comes to Ettie for help when a crime involves someone from our community.”

  “I could’ve helped him. Why would he need to involve Ettie?”

  “Why would someone have killed him?” Ettie tapped on her chin.

  Helga told Ettie, “The detective thinks it had something to do with the note.”

  Ettie stared at her. “Is that what he said?”

  “What did the note say?” Elsa-May asked.

  “Not much.”

  “Well, what?” Ettie asked.

  “I don’t remember exactly, but it was something about someone meeting him somewhere.”

  “Do you have any idea who would’ve killed him?” Ettie asked Helga.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Did he have enemies?” Elsa-May slurped on her hot chocolate.

  “He hardly ever talked to anyone, so he can’t have upset anybody. There were never any visitors and we must pass by there at least twice every single day.”

  “Have you told his kinner?” Elsa-May asked.

  Ettie stared at her sister. “Your memory can’t be failing you that badly. The man never married. He was known for his bad temper and I don�
��t think any woman wanted to risk a lifetime with him.”

  Elsa-May looked over at Helga. “So, he has no one?”

  Helga sneezed. Then she took a mouthful of hot chocolate. “How about we talk about this tomorrow? You can come to me. I have to get home to Levi. He’s shaken about this.”

  “We’ll do that. We have to get a few things from town. We’ll stop by on the way home.”

  “It was such an awful shock for Levi. I’ve left him alone while I came to tell you two about the policemen looking for Ettie. I was worried since one of the policemen mentioned your name.”

  “I think I’ll be okay. Denke for coming to tell us.”

  “It was a detective, Helga,” Elsa-May corrected her.

  Helga shrugged her shoulders. “Same thing.”

  “Not really.”

  Ettie patted Helga on her shoulder. “You get home and keep yourself warm.”

  “I will.”

  “Take the blanket with you for the buggy.”

  “Nee denke. I have one in there to put over my knees.”

  The elderly sisters walked Helga to the door. While Elsa-May opened the door, Ettie helped Helga back into her cloak.

  When Helga navigated her way toward the porch steps, Ettie called after her. “Mind the stairs. They can be slippery.”

  When Helga got to the gate, she turned around and waved. The two sisters stayed put and watched Helga get into her buggy and drive away. When the buggy was a speck in the distance, they closed the door.

  “Now all the cold air’s in the haus,” Elsa-May grumbled. "We're heating the outdoors."

  “It’ll warm up in here soon.”

  Once they were seated again, Elsa-May picked up her knitting. “What do you think of that? Old Ebenezer’s been murdered.”