Amish Winter Murder Mystery

by Samantha Price

  Chapter 21

  “What are you saying, Ettie?” Elsa-May asked, her eyebrows all but disappearing beneath her prayer kapp.

  “It’s true.” Helga sighed and clasped her hands in her lap in a vain attempt to stop their obvious shaking. “We were sure no one would ever find out. Ebenezer and Levi both thought it best. They were never close and—”

  “Wait! What’s this about?” Elsa-May asked.

  “Ebenezer and Levi were brothers, Elsa-May. They both had the same last name of Swarey.”

  “How do you know, Ettie?”

  “I worked it out. I remembered that Levi came from around that same vicinity where we found out Ebenezer was from. Also, they looked quite similar. They had the same shaped ears. You can tell a lot by a person’s ears. Ebenezer wasn’t the only one who changed his last name was he, Helga?”

  “You’re right, Ettie. When I first met Levi, he was Levi Swarey and then when he decided to start courting me he changed his name to Smucker and moved here before we married. He didn’t want it known he was Ebenezer’s bruder. Then the worst thing happened. Ebenezer moved close to us. He’d married that dreadful woman and brought shame to the Swarey family. To get away from everything, he moved away and changed his name. That’s why he lived as a recluse the way he did.”

  Elsa-May said. “That aside, you told us no one was ever at Ebenezer's place and now we know that to be a lie.”

  Helga breathed out heavily and then put her hand to her forehead. “The trouble is, when you tell one lie you have to cover it with another.” Helga licked her lips. “When I said no one, I meant hardly anyone was there. Sometimes there were people. I just didn’t want to be questioned about them. I don’t want to get involved in all this. It’ll be too hard on Levi. He still hasn’t recovered from seeing our neighbor bending over his brother's lifeless body.”

  Ettie folded her arms across her chest. “Don’t want to be questioned about them? Who is ‘them’?”

  “There were a number of people there from time to time.”

  “How often was the nurse there?” asked Elsa-May.

  Helga stared across the room.

  Ettie asked, “What is it about the nurse? Do you think that the nurse killed him, Helga?”

  “Ach nee. I wouldn't think that—is that what you think, Ettie?”

  “I notice she wears gloves even when she’s inside. Kelly told us the murderer most likely has cuts on their hands, did you know that? Maybe she’s covering her wounds.”

  “Nee, Ettie. She has a cut on her hand because she was here having tea, she dropped it and then cut her hand. It was a small cut. Nothing at all.”

  “She was here, in this haus?”

  Helga sighed. “That's right. She was here and cut her hand on the broken glass.”

  “Glass?” Elsa-May asked. “Glass or a cup? You said tea, and then you said glass. You don’t drink hot tea from a glass. No one I know does that, anyway. I’ve never seen it done.”

  “Errr …. A glass. She asked for a glass of water.”

  “Was that on the day he died?” Ava asked.

  “It could’ve been.”

  “Think hard, Helga!” Elsa-May leaned forward.

  Ettie said, “Maybe she came here after he died. Maybe she was covering her tracks. Covering up the truth and giving herself an alibi and a convenient excuse for her cut.”

  “Oh, Ettie, you cannot think that.” Helga frowned.

  “Was she wearing gloves when she arrived?”

  Helga was silent for a moment and crossed one leg over the other under her full dress. “I can't remember if she was or not.”

  “Did you see the cut?”

  “Nee. She left right away saying she had a first aid kit in the car. I looked out the window a few minutes later and she was gone.”

  “What I want to know is why was she here? Are you two friends?” Elsa-May asked. “Why was she having tea, or water, or whatever, here in the first instance?”

  “I barely know her. I’ve done nothing wrong. Why are you asking these things?”

  Elsa-May said, “You have done wrong, Helga. You lied by covering up the fact that Ebenezer was your bruder-in-law.”

  Her mouth turned down at the corners. “I had nothing to do with his death.”

  “No one thinks you did, but were you friends with Patricia?”

  “Just tell us the truth,” Ava said, in her soft and kind voice.

  Helga stared at Ava. “I wasn't going to mention it because I do have a few English friends and I know that’s not acceptable to some people.”

  “How close a friend was she?” Ava asked.

  “She’d come over here after she had been to see Ebenezer. We’d have a cup of tea and talk. She’d keep me informed how he was getting along. I did care about him.”

  Ettie was pleased that finally they were hearing the truth. “What kind of person did she seem like to you?”

  “Very kind. She was very caring and concerned about Ebenezer.”

  “I think we should go, Ettie. Ava probably needs to get home.”

  “Jah, I do.”

  Helga moved in her seat. “You're welcome to stay for a bite to eat. Levi should be home soon, but I can give you something to eat first if you're in a hurry.”

  “That's quite all right. We have somewhere else to be, and Ava needs to pick up her son.” Ettie smiled at Helga hoping they hadn’t upset her too much.

  * * *

  As Ava’s buggy traveled away from Helga’s house, Ava said, “Why would the nurse befriend Helga?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think we’ve gotten to the bottom of it. I’m shocked that Helga didn’t tell us her husband and Ebenezer were kinfolk. Levi let Ebenezer go to his grave without admitting to anyone that they were closely related. Not even the bishop knew.”

  “It’s unbelievable,” Elsa-May said.

  “Also, when I called Kelly, he told me that the neighbor cut his hand on the murder weapon when he found the body. That’s what the man’s claiming. It wasn’t a horse bite like he told us.”

  Elsa-May shook her head. “So many lies.”

  Ava nodded. “Jah, but they’re all coming out.”

  “They always do in the end.”

  Elsa-May sighed, and then quoted, “For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.”

  Chapter 22

  Two days later Ettie decided it was time to visit Detective Kelly again, after hearing nothing from him. She’d have to tell him Ebenezer and Levi were brothers. He seemed sure he’d gotten his killer, so it probably wouldn’t matter to him.

  When they got to the station, they were greeted by a glum-looking Detective Kelly who showed them into his office.

  “What’s happened with Ebenezer’s wife?” Ettie asked.

  “Did her blood match your samples?” Elsa-May asked.

  He shook his head. “We had to let her go this morning. I still think she’s guilty, but these days a jury is reluctant to convict anyone without undisputed forensic evidence.” He shook his head. “It shouldn’t be like that.”

  “What about the handwriting?”

  The wrinkles in his forehead deepened. “Our experts tell me they don’t match. What makes it worse is that it looks like someone was imitating her writing. It wasn’t Elaine’s, but it was a good effort.” He shook his head. “We can’t have strong evidence for each and every case. The system’s letting too many go free. I long for the good old days.”

  “If it wasn’t her blood or her handwriting, then why do you still think she did it?” Ettie asked.

  “We have other evidence, Mrs. Smith.”

  Ettie said, “But she cut her hands and went to the hospital on that day. If she’d cut them while she was murdering her estranged husband, surely the blood from her hands would be there. Wouldn’t it?”

  He ignored her question. “I’m asking people who knew him to volunteer for DNA samples.”

  “You
mean us?” Ettie asked.

  He shook his head. “I already have yours on file from another case. Anyway, what can I do for you ladies today?”

  “It’s what we can do for you. Tell him, Ettie.”

  When he stared at Ettie, she took a deep breath. “Levi and Ebenezer were brothers.” She cringed expecting him to have a bad reaction.

  “I know. We found that out when we had a familial DNA match for one of the blood samples we found. Meaning it was from a close family member. It immediately brought to mind the similarities in the two mens’ appearances. I confronted Levi Smucker with my suspicions yesterday and he confessed.”

  Elsa-May gasped and held her head. “Levi killed him! Ach, Ettie, it’s just like Cain and Abel. One brother killed another.”

  “No, Mrs. Lutz. Sorry. He confessed to being Ebenezer’s brother and that’s all. When he found his brother stabbed, he picked up the sharp murder weapon and somehow managed to cut himself with it.”

  “So, that’s two now who cut themselves with the murder weapon? How can that be?”

  “The neighbor found Ebenezer, picked up the knife from near the body, and then Levi came across him at that moment, saw the knife in Mr. Simpson's hand and pulled the weapon out of Simpson's hand, thus cutting the neighbor’s hand and his own at the same time.”

  Elsa-May scowled. “That means you have three lots of blood at the scene—besides Ebenezer’s?”

  “Four. On the second sweep, we found yet another inside the house.”

  “That’s funny, because the nurse came to Helga’s on that very day, asked for a glass of water, dropped it and cut her hand on it, also.”

  Kelly huffed in exasperation. “Drop it with the nurse, Mrs. Smith. She’s not guilty and staying focused on her will blind you to other possibilities.”

  “I’m just saying that—”

  “Let's hope we’ll be further enlightened when further results come back.” He shook his head. “I was so sure it was the wife.”

  “The poor thing. Where is she now?” Elsa-May asked.

  “It’s not for me to give out personal information.”

  “We just want to introduce ourselves and say how sorry we are about Ebenezer. That’s all,” Ettie said. She reached forward and took hold of a file on his desk that had a small photo clipped to the front. “Is this her?” Ettie asked.

  Kelly lunged for it and grabbed it from her. “Mrs. Smith!”

  “Let us talk with her, please,” Elsa-May said to him.

  “I can’t give you that information. I'll be back in touch when I have something I can share with you. Meanwhile, keep on with asking questions of anyone and everyone. See what you can turn up.”

  “We’ll show ourselves out.” They walked out of the station, and when they were safely up the road, Elsa-May asked, “What did you think of that, Ettie?”

  “I don't know. He doesn't give much away, does he? The last time Elaine was staying here, she stayed at Deer Inn. That’s what Kelly mentioned. Deer Acres, I mean.”

  Elsa-May’s face brightened up. “Jah, so there’s a good chance she’s staying there now.”

  “Right. People are generally creatures of habit. Let’s go. I know exactly where that place is.”

  * * *

  The sisters got a taxi to the guest house and walked in through the double doors. They were faced with a reception desk and a middle-aged man behind it. He looked up at them and smiled. “Looking for a room?”

  “We’re looking for our friend, Elaine Greene.”

  “That’s not her last name, Ettie, remember?”

  “Oh, how silly of me. What is her last name?” Ettie looked up at the ceiling trying to remember. “It’s a short name.” Normally, her memory was good, but she’d had so much on her mind this ... week. "Oh! It's like 'week' but not exactly that. Or Weeks, I'm pretty sure."

  He tapped a few keys on his computer. “Yes, I have an Elaine Wicks.”

  “That’s her. That’s her new name. Thank you. It would have come to me, but these days it can take a long time.” She gave a little giggle.

  “Where can we find her?” Elsa-May asked.

  “Second door on the left.”

  “Thank you.”

  They headed down the ornately wallpapered hallway with its thick multi-colored carpet under their feet. Ettie felt like the walls were caving in on her, like she was sinking in quicksand. “I hope she’s nice,” Ettie said.

  “There’s one way to find out.” Elsa-May moved beyond Ettie and knocked on the mint-colored door.

  They heard someone say, “I'm coming.”

  They waited a couple more minutes before the door opened. The woman was elderly, around the same age Ebenezer would’ve been. Her hair was covered in a plastic shower cap and she was busy doing up the belt of her pale blue dressing gown.

  “I'm sorry. I’m coloring my hair.” She looked down at their clothing.

  “We knew your husband, Ebenezer,” Ettie said. “We hope you don’t mind us coming to say hello.”

  “Oh. Come in.” She stepped aside and the two women sat down on a small couch while Elaine sat down on the bed. “They think I did It.”

  Elsa-May said, “We heard you were arrested and then released. We were just at the police station.”

  “You were close friends of Ebenezer’s?”

  “We knew him well enough.” Ettie did her best to tell the truth without revealing too much.

  Elaine put a hand to her head. “We had a terrible row. It was just the day before he was killed.”

  “Who do you think killed him?” Elsa-May asked.

  “I have no idea. I hope the police find them, though, or they might come after me again.”

  “Do you know Ebenezer’s neighbors?”

  “I know the ones who’re trying to buy the land from me.”

  “You own the property Ebenezer’s house was on?”

  “I do. I own the house, the land, the whole lot. It’s been in my family for close on two hundred years. My grandfather once owned all the land around there. Bit by bit, he sold it off. He gave this parcel to me.”

  “Did you and Ebenezer divorce?” Ettie asked, trying to find out as much as she possibly could.

  “No. He was my first love and I was his. I loved him but I just couldn’t live with him. I had to leave him. I told him he could move to the land I’d inherited and he moved there and stayed on. I only meant him to live there six months or so, just until he found somewhere else.” She shook her head. “He refused to move. Right up to the day he died he was still unwilling to budge.”

  Then it clicked with Ettie that Elaine was the person trying to force him off the land. “Is that why you fought? Do you want to sell to the neighbors?”

  “That’s right.” She held her head. “I'm making little sense. I've hardly slept and I feel sick to my stomach. I can't wait until I get back home. I’ve been told to stay around for a few more days.”

  “Who told you?”

  “Detective Kelly.” A buzzer sounded. “Ah, I have to rinse the color out of my hair. Do you want to wait? It’ll only take me a couple of minutes.”

  “Go ahead. We’ll wait.”

  “You can make yourself coffee or tea.” She pointed to the shelf above the fridge where an electric teakettle sat, along with an assortment of mugs and tea bags and coffee fixings.

  “We'll be fine,” Ettie said.

  Five or ten minutes later, Elaine came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head. “I like to keep ahead of the grays. I used to be dark blonde, so I stick with that.” She sat back on the bed. “I do envy you both. You don’t have to worry about your hair because you keep it covered.”

  “I hadn’t ever thought much about it. Mine went gray many years ago. I don’t mind it like that.”

  “Me neither,” Elsa-May said. “Getting back to Ebenezer, Ettie and I came here to pay our respects and to offer our condolences.”

  “Thank you. That’s so thoughtful. That’s the first
touch of humanity I’ve found since I arrived here in the police car. I think that's what attracted me to Ebenezer at first. It was his goodness and calmness and his quiet personality. Very different from the people I grew up around.”

  “And you grew up in Walker County?”

  “That’s right. Close to an Amish community.”

  “Can I ask something?”

  “Go ahead.”

  Ettie said, “When you married him, did you have plans of joining us?”

  “No. I'd made that very clear beforehand. Ebenezer left for me.”

  “Oh.”

  “Then when we found we couldn’t live together, I left and he went away. That’s when I found him living in squalor and I offered him the house on my land here. I knew the house was liveable, and he took up my offer. It seems he re-joined the community when he arrived.”

  “Did you know his brother?”

  “Levi? I knew him. Turns out, he was living less than a mile from my land. That I didn't know.” She yawned. “I'm sorry, ladies, but is it possible for you to come back tomorrow? I’m in need of sleep.”

  “Certainly. And we will come back tomorrow, if you don't mind.”

  “Very well. It was nice to meet people who were close with Ebenezer.”

  * * *

  They walked down the road. “Did you hear what she said about the neighbors, Ettie?

  “Jah. Ebenezer was in their way because he wouldn’t move.”

  “But that takes the suspicion off the nurse, doesn't it? And he was in Elaine's way too.”

  “That's right. “

  “I would’ve liked to learn more, but all the questions left my head. She was very casual. She didn’t mind us seeing her dying her hair like she was.”

  “We knocked on the door when she was in the middle of it. She had no choice.”

  Elsa-May sighed. “I suppose. But she could have sent us away. We still don’t know who killed him. We’re no closer. It could’ve been some stranger that Ebenezer managed to upset.”

  “Kelly is adamant it wasn’t a stranger.”