Hearse and Buggy

by Laura Bradford

  “I wonder if he hurt her, too.”

  “He did. Everything about those love letters to Ruth had to hurt Nellie terribly.”

  “No,” Esther corrected gently. “I mean her wrist. Like mine.”

  A vague memory poked its way into her conscious thought and made her forget about everything except Esther. “You mean when he was in here that last day?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why was he angry again?”

  “I do not know. He spoke only of things I could not answer.”

  “And you didn’t tell Eli, right?” The details of that day were starting to assemble themselves in her brain although the overall picture was still fuzzy.

  “He was with Benjamin. On the bake-shop porch. That was the day Ruth got the hate note.”

  Any cloudiness that remained as to the details of that day began to lift, enabling her to fill in a few gaps of her own. “So you just waited in here for me to come, right?”

  “I … Yes.”

  Something in the way Esther hesitated sent a chill down her spine. “Esther? What aren’t you telling me?”

  All color drained from Esther’s face as Claire repeated her inquiry.

  “He came back,” Esther whispered as tears began to stream down her cheeks.

  She felt her stomach lift toward her throat and fought it back down. “Did he hurt you again?”

  When Esther did not answer, Claire grabbed hold of the young woman’s shoulders and gave her a gentle shake. “Esther! You have to tell me.”

  Slowly, and with great effort, Esther walked her through Walter’s return, his encore performance very similar to the first except for one point. “He grabbed me like this”—with a shaky hand, she reached around the back of her neck and lurched it forward, the memory as much as the motion intensifying the pace of her tears—“and pulled me close. He said he would hurt me more if I did not tell where the chest was.”

  “Chest? What chest—”

  “And that is when I heard the noise outside the window.” Esther pointed toward the shop’s westward-facing window and its view of the alley between Heavenly Treasures and Shoo Fly Bake Shoppe. “He heard, too. And that is when he ran. He did not come back.”

  “Do you know who was out there?”

  Esther began to shake uncontrollably as the tears turned into gut-wrenching sobs. Pulling the young woman close, Claire simply held her until the sobbing stopped and her breathing steadied. “You think it was Eli, don’t you?”

  “I do not want to believe that.”

  Neither did Claire. But more than any monetary injustice, Eli was a protector. He proved that on a daily basis with his sister. Knowing what she now knew about Eli’s feelings for Esther, coupled with the strong likelihood he’d witnessed the scene that had just been described, any and all doubts about Eli’s’ innocence came screaming to the forefront.

  The motive may have changed from the one Jakob had written on the whiteboard, but the opportunity and the strength to carry out the crime were all there vying to be noticed.

  “Will you tell Jakob?” Esther asked between hiccups.

  She knew what Esther wanted to hear, knew what she wished she could say. But she couldn’t.

  “I think I have to,” she whispered.

  Chapter 32

  She could feel Jakob’s eyes watching her every move as she handed out graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate to Diane’s guests. And although there was a small part of her that wanted to pretend it wasn’t happening, a larger and more unexpected part found the attention to be oddly comforting.

  She’d stopped by the station after talking with Esther and told him everything she knew and even more that she feared. He’d listened to every word she said and even took some notes, but in the end he’d managed to make her feel as if there was still a chance Eli wasn’t the one.

  How much he truly believed that, she couldn’t say. But for that moment, it had been enough. Like seeing a life raft on a ship and taking comfort in the fact that it was there if needed.

  Despite the heaviness she felt in her heart over Esther, Claire had still managed to find a moment to apologize for downplaying their time together in front of Ben. She hadn’t offered a reason for what she said, and she hadn’t tried to explain it away. Instead she simply told him what she felt in her heart—that although she’d enjoyed their brief time together, she was still trying to discover who she was inside. Hearing that Jakob not only understood but could also relate erased any residual tension she felt between them. And when he accepted her invite for that night’s bonfire, she’d known their friendship was intact.

  What, if anything, was ahead for them in the future would remain to be seen.

  “How about you?” she asked, as she waved the plate of s’more fixings inches from his nose. “Care to make one, too?”

  “Absolutely.” Jakob leaned forward, his hand finding its way around the plate like an old pro. “In fact, I’ll even make you one if you just want to sit back and take it easy.”

  “That sounds wonderful.” She took the empty beach chair to Jakob’s right, balancing the plate on her legs as the guests swarmed their way toward the roaring fire.

  He gestured toward the flames with his cooking fork. “If it’s okay, I’ll give the troops a little space before I start trying to push my way into position.”

  “I understand.” She leaned her head against the chair and looked down at her hands. “I guess by now you know about Nellie’s arthritis, right?”

  Jakob rolled his marshmallow between his fingers and gave a slight nod. “I do. It’s so severe, we didn’t even need the statement from her attorney putting her in his office at the approximate time of her husband’s demise.”

  “Too bad Eli is too young for arthritis.”

  “I know what you mean. Although, if you think about it, there are lots of things that could impact the mobility of a person’s hand.”

  “Like what?” she asked.

  “Like a neurological disease of some sort or maybe a third-degree burn. You know, that sort of thing. Breaks, too.”

  “Oh. So nothing about being Amish then, huh?”

  “You mean other than the fact that violence of any kind is against everything the Amish stand for?”

  “Touché.”

  He poked the tongs of his cooking fork through each of their marshmallows and carried them to the fire, the rest of the guests seemingly oblivious to their conversation. “Hey, you’ve gotta know that I’m hoping just as hard as you are that Eli isn’t our man. I really am. But it’s not looking all that good for him right now.”

  All she could do was nod and stare at the flames lapping around her marshmallow as something Jakob said teased at her subconscious.

  “Heck, we can’t even place him anywhere but the bakery for the bulk of that day.”

  “I know. I saw him there, too.”

  “What do you remember about those times that you saw him?” Jakob asked from his spot in front of the fire.

  She thought back over that day, remembering her surprise at the notion that someone would target Ruth with a nasty letter taped to the front door of the bakery, warning people to eat elsewhere. But as clearly as she remembered the things that were said, she couldn’t really picture Ruth. No, the people she most remembered that day were Benjamin and Eli …

  Eli pacing across the porch with one hand in a fist and the other sporting splinted fingers.

  And Benjamin dressing him down again and again for his outbursts.

  “Wait a minute!” she hissed. “That’s it!”

  He pulled their marshmallows from the fire and brought them back to their chairs. “What’s it?”

  “His hand! Eli had hurt his hand not more than one or two days before the murder!”

  With help from the chocolate and graham cracker, Jakob slid the marshmallow from the stick and handed the finished product to Claire, her words seeming to have little effect on the detective.

  She tried again. “Don�
��t you hear me? Eli had broken his fingers when he punched the wall over the stolen pie boxes. I told you about this when we were out at the swimming hole, don’t you remember? He hurt his hand so badly, I had to help him pull a milk jug from the box outside the bake shop on the very day we’re talking about!”

  Jakob stopping working on his own treat as he seemed to finally hear what Claire was saying. “How come I haven’t noticed any splints?”

  “Because he’s taken to wearing gloves in what I suspect is an effort to downplay his temper around people like Esther’s father. You know, kind of an out of sight, out of mind thing, I guess.”

  “And his hand was that bad?”

  “Yes! In fact, that same day, after Benjamin went off to show the nasty note they’d found to Mr. Glick, Howard had to split a few pieces of wood for Ruth’s cooking stove because Eli couldn’t grasp the ax with his fingers all messed up like that!”

  “Are you absolutely sure of this?” he asked.

  The first full-fledged smile of the day made its way across her face. It was going to be alright. Esther and Eli were going to get to be together. And all because Eli had punched a wall …

  “I’m positive.”

  “So I’m minus yet another suspect, yes?”

  She couldn’t help but laugh at the sheer joy she felt. “It sure looks that way.”

  He hung his head in mock defeat only to right it at the telltale snort of a horse. “Are you expecting someone?”

  “Not necessarily expecting but certainly hoping, yes.” She rose from her chair and turned toward the open field behind them, the sight of Esther in Eli’s open-top buggy bringing a mixture of relief and anticipation. “Can we tell them?”

  She saw Jakob’s nod out of the corner of her eye. “I’d like to be the one to say it, if that’s okay. I’d like to bring at least one good thing to my niece’s life.”

  An unexpected lump rose in her throat as Jakob made his way over to the young couple. She didn’t need to hear what he was saying. Just watching the way they hung on his every word and the way they looked at one another was enough. But it was the gratitude in Esther’s face toward the uncle she’d never known that affected her most deeply.

  “What’s that chump doing here?”

  Claire turned toward the voice beside her, the disappointment in Arnie’s face almost painful to see. “You mean, Eli? Esther asked him to come and I’m glad he did.”

  “Pardon me if I don’t share that same sentiment.”

  For the first time since they’d met across the dinner table at Sleep Heavenly, Claire found herself willingly reaching out and touching the socially awkward man with a calming hand. “Please, Arnie. Jakob needs this time with his niece. It’s important … to me.”

  “Here they come.” As they approached, Arnie stepped forward to greet Esther, extricating her from her date and the detective with surprising ease. Claire watched as he led her around the far side of the fire, his hands joining in on whatever he was saying to the object of his affections. And as always, Esther was herself—quiet, sweet, and kind.

  “Claire?” The whispered touch of fingers on her bare arm brought Eli into view. “Jakob said what you have done.”

  “I didn’t do anything except remember.”

  “That is enough.”

  She followed his gaze as it left her face, traveled across the soaring flames, and settled on the woman he loved. “You should tell her how you feel, Eli.”

  A hint of sadness rippled across the young man’s face. “I can not. Esther must make a choice, just as Jakob did.”

  Confused, she looked to Jakob for the explanation he was unable to give, either. “You’ve made that statement before, Eli. But I don’t know what choice you’re talking about.”

  “Between worlds.”

  Jakob sucked in a breath. “Is Esther thinking of leaving the Amish?”

  “No, of course not,” she insisted as she too looked over the top of the flames to study her friend. “I … I don’t understand why you’d even think she was considering such a thing, Eli.”

  Slowly, deliberately, Eli raised a hand and pointed toward the freckle-faced redhead who was doing his best to curry favor with Esther King. “He is English. I am not.”

  “You mean Arnie?”

  Eli could only nod.

  “You think Esther is interested in Arnie?”

  Again, Eli nodded, only this time he shared the true reason he’d failed to tell Esther of his intentions. “He comes to the shop many times. She spends much time talking to him.”

  Taking his hands in hers, Claire held them tight until she had Eli’s complete attention. “He is a graduate student in anthropology, Eli. He is studying the Amish. He talks to Esther to learn more about you … your beliefs … your customs. She is helping him because she is kind.”

  Again, his eyes drifted to the other side of the fire although his verbal attention remained focused on Claire. “He likes Esther.”

  Jakob stepped forward and into the conversation playing out between Claire and Eli. “Eli, all that matters is who Esther likes.”

  “He stands at the window. For hours sometimes. And she does not like—”

  “Stop right there,” Jakob said. “Say that again.”

  “He stands at the window. For long times. I do not know if she looks back.”

  “What window does he stand at, Eli?”

  “The window in the alley.”

  Jakob cupped his hand over his mouth, then let it fall to his side. “Was he there that day? The day Walter Snow was murdered?”

  “I do not know,” Eli said woodenly. “I do not remember.”

  Claire stood silently, trying to make sense of what she was hearing while comparing it to what she knew. “I know he wanted to talk to Esther that day, but he said she wasn’t able to talk—oh my gosh! Jakob, that’s it! Arnie must have seen Walter yelling at Esther. He must have seen him grab her by the arm and neck!”

  Eli stiffened. “Mr. Snow grabbed Esther?”

  She looked again at Arnie and nodded. “Knowing how he feels about Esther, he must have been incensed. I certainly would have been.” Yet even as she voiced her thoughts aloud to Jakob and Eli, she knew the freckle-faced man on the other side of the fire wasn’t strong enough to strangle a flea, no matter how enraged he may have been. “On second thought, it can’t be Arnie. I mean, look at him. There’s not a muscle anywhere on that body. And he’s as lazy as they come. He can’t even walk to a garbage can that’s six inches from his feet to throw a candy wrapper away. But when it comes right down to it, it’s really no wonder he’s lacking strength of any kind when his greatest form of exercise is talking endlessly on one of three subjects.”

  Jakob crossed his arms in front of his chest, his eyes trained on no one but Arnie. “And what subjects might those be?”

  “Everything Amish, everything Esther, and oysters.”

  Jakob’s gaze cut to her face. “Did you say oysters?”

  “That’s how he paid for grad school.”

  “By eating oysters?”

  She laughed. “No, by shucking them, silly.”

  A beat of stunned silence was soon followed by the snap of Jakob’s phone as he flipped it open and pressed a single, solitary digit. “I think we’ve got our man.”

  Chapter 33

  If there was one thing that defined her walk to work that morning more than anything else, it was the sound of whistling.

  From pedestrians …

  From her fellow shopkeepers …

  And from one very happy Eli Miller.

  In fact, virtually every single person she’d come in contact with so far was either whistling or smiling. The fog of uncertainty that had settled around Heavenly with the discovery of Walter Snow’s body had finally lifted.

  Justice had been served not once, but twice—with the discovery of Nellie’s wrongdoings and the arrest of Arnie Streen for murder. In fact, the relatively swift resolution to both problems seemed to lessen the lin
gering sting of Walter Snow’s thieving ways.

  The man had been a bad apple, plain and simple.

  The best thing they could do now was move on—like Eli was trying to do, if his presence in Claire’s store rather than Ruth’s was any indication.

  It wasn’t that she minded the volunteering hands every time she needed to go to the trash bin or climb to the top of a shelf to retrieve a customer’s sought-after item, because she didn’t. At all. But she was also smart enough to know that the young man’s presence had absolutely nothing to do with Claire and everything to do with the happier-than-ever Amish girl beaming up at him as if he was the greatest thing in the world.

  That kind of adoration and that kind of respect and belief was sure to keep Eli on the straight and narrow, maybe even pave the way for him to become the same respected member of the Amish community that his older brother, Benjamin, had been for quite some time.

  She knew that Benjamin had been looking for her before she arrived; Esther had already clued her in on that little fact, but it was okay. Diane was right. Benjamin was a wonderful man for someone else.

  Someone Amish.

  Now it was just a matter of her heart getting on board with her head. Whatever feelings he’d stirred inside her needed to remain a mystery—one that would be forever locked away in some corner of her soul.

  As for Jakob and the way he made her smile from the depths of her being, that too would remain a mystery. At least until she figured out a little bit more about herself—her likes, her dislikes, her hopes for the future. Until then, she’d simply count him as one of the many blessings she’d been given since moving to Heavenly.

  Like owning her own shop …

  She shook herself out of la-la land and grinned at the Amish couple making puppy-dog eyes at one another across the register. “Earth to Esther, earth to Esther: come in, Esther.”

  A hint of crimson rose in the Amish girl’s face, but the love-struck smile remained. “I am here.”