“Is he a suspect?” Wil asked.
“At this stage Mr. Jacobson, everyone is a suspect.”
“Surely Emma isn’t a suspect?” Wil asked.
Emma swallowed hard, but quickly hid her guilty expression as the detective swung around to look at her. “Where were you last night between six and ten o’clock?”
“She was with me,” Wil answered as quick as a flash.
Emma felt her blood heart pump wildly, yet she had to maintain a cool exterior.
“Is that correct, Mrs. Kurtzler?”
Emma nodded and forced a smile. She wished Wil hadn’t said that; Emma was dragging so many people into this whole mess with her. First there was Maureen and now Wil. That reminded her, she had to get to Maureen fast to tell her – well, to tell all the widows about the detective and that she was most likely a suspect.
“Is that a ‘yes’ Mrs. Kurtzler?” He asked again, apparently waiting for a verbal response rather than a half-hearted nod.
“Yes.” Emma hated to lie and now she was a liar, but she had done no wrong and for the purposes of the investigation she was innocent. Surely a small fib would not affect the detective’s work – she was innocent after all. If the detective knew she and Maureen had found the body that would not help him in his investigations one little bit. They knew nothing of who killed Pluver.
As the detective left, Wil and Emma stood on Emma’s front porch and watched the police car speed up her driveway back to the main road.
Wil clapped his hands against his thighs. “Looks like we’ve got another funeral to go to.”
Emma nodded and thought about Pluver’s widow. She was a very disagreeable woman and Emma was sure she’d never seen her smile – not once. Now she would have absolutely no reason to smile with her husband gone. “Wil, why did you say that you were with me?”
“I knew it wouldn’t look gut to say you were alone here in the haus.”
“Why? I’m not guilty of anything.” In the back of Emma’s mind she wondered if perhaps Wil was giving himself an alibi by saying he was with her. Nee, that’s ridiculous; I’m getting too carried away, she thought.
“Of course you’re not, so what harm would it do for me to say that you were with me?”
Emma nodded. “I suppose so. Denke.” Once again, he’s come to my rescue, she thought.
“Are you okay, Emma?”
Emma realized that she’d been staring off into the distance. She laughed a little. “Jah, I’m okay. Lost in my own little world.”
Wil put a warm comforting hand on her shoulder. “Do you want me to stay a while?”
Emma knew she was in dangerous territory as his touch sent tingles throughout her body. “Nee, I think I might go and visit one of the girls.”
He put his other hand on her shoulder and faced her directly. “I can drive you there. You look like you’re a bit weary.”
She had to get away from him fast. She stepped back from his hands. “Nee, I’ll go alone.”
“You stay here; I’ll hitch the buggy for you.”
“Denke, Wil.” Emma smiled as she watched Wil walk toward the barn. He was fine to look at; he was tall with wide, strong shoulders and strong arms. She wondered whether the detective thought it odd that they were together so late at night as Wil had fibbed. Being an Englischer, the detective probably thought nothing of it.
Her attention was taken again with Wil’s strong frame. It’s a wonder he’s never married, she thought. Having Wil do something simple as hitch her buggy felt good. It was nice to have a man around.
Emma hoped that she wasn’t doing the wrong thing in going straight to Maureen’s haus to fill her in with what just happened with the detective. Surely the detective wouldn’t follow her or anything like that. She would surely notice someone following her anyway, because the cars go much faster than the buggies. There she was, being too suspicious again. First she thought that Wil was using her as an alibi and now she thought herself so interesting to the detective that he would have her followed. Maybe she was losing her mind with all that was going on.
She pulled up the buggy outside Maureen’s haus and ran to the front door. As she put her hand up to knock, Maureen opened the door.
“What happened? You look terrible,” Maureen said.
Chapter 9.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
Maureen ushered Emma inside her haus and they both fell into the soft couch in the middle of Maureen’s living room.
“Oh, Maureen, it was terrible. I went there this morning to McAllister’s office and there was a detective there, and he started asking me questions.”
Maureen interrupted, “You didn’t tell him anything, did you?”
“Nee, hush and just listen. He said the man who was killed was Amish and I’m Amish and since I was the first person to show up there, there must be a connection. Then he came to my haus and asked me a lot of questions.”
“Okay, slow down. Breathe. Now, what did he ask you?”
Emma battled hard to remember what the detective had asked her. Her head was all muddled. “Well, Wil was there too and the detective asked me how long ago my husband died and how I knew Pluver – that’s really all I can think of.”
Maureen patted Emma’s leg. “See. Nothing to worry about.”
“Oh, he did ask me where I was last night.”
Maureen’s eyebrows flew up and nearly met her hairline. “He did?”
“Jah, but Wil said that he was with me.”
Maureen’s eyebrows lowered into a frown. “Why would he do that?”
“I’ve been thinking about that. I think it’s because he knew I’m alone every night and he wanted to give me an alibi.”
Maureen nodded and looked thoughtful. “Maybe.”
“Oh, it was awful. My heart was beating so fast the whole time he was there.”
“Did Wil say anything else?”
“Nee, not really. He doesn’t suspect a thing. He did ask me what I was doing at McAllister’s office this morning and I just said that I wanted to know more – things like what my farm would be worth. He seemed to believe that.”
“That’s good.”
“Maureen, who do you think killed Pluver? Do you think they might try and kill me?”
“I don’t know. We have to find out who killed him and why. You should go and talk to the vulture, Mr. McAllister and find out if he knew Pluver at all.”
Emma pulled a face. “What makes you think that he’d tell me?”
Maureen shook her head a little. “I don’t know, but at this stage that’s all we’ve got. Unless...”
“Unless what?”
“Unless you go and visit Mrs. Pluver.”
Emma squealed. “Me? I don’t even like the woman.” Emma bit her lip. That had come out before she could think. She never liked to speak ill of people. “I shouldn’t have said that, but she always looks so disagreeable. I’ve never seen her even smile. She scares me a little.”
Maureen gave a little sound from the back of her throat. “You don’t have to be polite around me. I agree with you; she never looks happy.”
Emma put her hand on Maureen’s arm. “Why don’t you come with me?”
Maureen covered her face with her hands.
“Oh, come on please, Maureen?”
Maureen chuckled. “All right then.”
Emma pushed her head into the high back of the couch. “So, what kind of things can we find out from her? See if she knows the vulture, I guess. That would be the first thing. We’d have to wait a few days wouldn’t we? Should we wait until after the funeral to visit her?”
“Most likely that would be best. But nee, we should go soon. We’ll go first thing tomorrow and maybe take Mrs. Pluver some fresh baked bread and some beef casserole.”
“Good idea,” Emma said.
“You bake the bread and I’ll make the cas
serole. I’ve got some nice beef already. Now, let’s pick up Silvie and we’ll go to Ettie and Elsa-May’s haus so we can tell everyone what’s going on.”
* * *
After visiting with all the widows Emma arrived home as the sun was going down. None of the ladies in the widows’ group had any better idea than the plan she and Maureen had come up with – to go and visit Mrs. Pluver. She would bake the fresh bread in the morning. Tonight she was too tired to do anything.
* * *
Somehow Emma managed to get a little sleep and she had no bad dreams. She woke early and as she waited for the bread to bake, she heard someone at her door.
“Hello?”
She knew that the deep voice belonged to Wil. Emma flung the door open. “Come in, Wil.”
“Mmm, I smelled the bread and came for breakfast.”
Emma laughed. “Well, it’ll be ready soon. I’ve baked a few loaves; I’m taking some over to Mrs. Pluver’s haus later today. I’m going there with Maureen.”
“That’s nice of you.”
“Sit down and I’ll make a pot of tea.” When Wil was comfortably sitting at the table, Emma asked him, “Tell me Wil, how long was your lease to Pluver?”
“No idea. I’d have to look it up. It’s a five by five lease, I know that much. We’re into the second lot of five years, but I’ve no idea how far along it is.” He leaned back in the chair. “Why do you ask?”
“Pluver told me the day before he died that he wanted out of the lease.”
“Did you agree?”
“Apparently I had no choice. With Levi gone, that left Pluver with a loophole to get out of the contract.” Emma shrugged her shoulders.
“I wonder what he was doing in McAllister’s office,” Wil said.
Emma remained silent hoping to find out more about McAllister from Wil. When Wil offered no further information, Emma said, “Did Pluver ever tell you that he didn’t want to farm your land anymore?”
“Nee, but he was still on the lease; I’m pretty certain it goes for quite a while. He made no mention of wanting to end the lease. I would’ve let him out of the lease if he didn’t want to farm the land anymore. It was he who wanted the lease papers drawn up rather than a handshake agreement, so he could be secure in his farming.”
“I guess that’s understandable.” Emma could be silent no longer about seeing Wil with the vulture. “Wil, I have to tell you that I saw you with the vulture the other day.”
Wil looked confused. “Really, where?”
“I saw the two of you talking and then I saw you having lunch together. You looked pretty cozy.”
“I didn’t see you anywhere. Anyway, I asked him to keep away from you. Then I thought I’d make friends with him in an effort to have him keep his distance.” Wil looked at her. “You do believe me, don’t you? What other business would I have with the man? He did agree to keep away from you; we even shook hands on it.”
Emma pursed her lips. “Well, did he say anything to you?”
“About what?”
“Well, what did you talk about?” Emma asked.
“He wants to buy up a lot of land. He even asked me if I wanted to sell.”
Emma poured the hot water over the specially made tea bags. “Is he buying it himself or is he acting as an agent for someone?”
“I’m not sure. The way he spoke, I would think that he was buying the land for himself; I couldn’t say for sure, but he is a realtor.” Wil fixed his gaze intently on her. “Emma, you don’t think I’m deceiving you in any way, do you?”
Emma placed two teacups on the table. “So many things have happened in such a short space of time. I guess I don’t know whether I’m coming or going sometimes. I just want to feel safe again.” She slumped into one of her kitchen chairs.
Wil moved from where he sat to sit beside her and reached out his hand. Emma knew it was a friendly gesture, not a romantic one, so she placed her hand in his. “I’ll always be here to look after you, Emma.”
That’s exactly what Levi used to say to me and he wasn’t always there to look after me, she thought. Levi had left her alone; whether he wanted to or not, he had left her alone.
Wil suddenly looked up. “Smells like the bread’s ready.”
“Oh goodness me.” Emma jumped up. “Just as well you said something or it might have burned.”
Emma wrapped her hands in dishtowels and pulled the loaves of bread out of the oven.
Wil sniffed the air. “Mmm, they smell gut, don’t they?”
“They smell delicious. I’ll cut you some pieces.”
“I’ll do it.” Wil rose to his feet, took the large bread knife out of the drawer and cut some slices of bread.
As they sat and ate warm bread and butter together, Emma felt it comforting to have a mann in her kitchen, sitting and speaking with her.
Maureen’s buggy pulling up out the front disturbed the two of them.
Wil jumped up and looked out the window. “It’s Maureen. I’ll be on my way then. Denke for the fresh bread.”
Emma followed Wil to the front door. “Bye, Wil.”
“Won’t be a moment,” Emma called to Maureen.
Minutes later, Emma hurried to Maureen’s buggy with the fresh baked bread under her arm.
“You two looked very cozy when you were saying goodbye. Come to think of it, he was over at your place very early.”
Emma laughed. “Stop it. He smelled the bread and came over to have a few slices. That’s all. He’s a gut friend, and nothing more.”
“All right. You don’t need to convince me so thoroughly. Now, let's go over our plan with Mrs. Pluver.”
“I do feel a bit awful going to see her, since I don’t really like her. I do feel sorry for her of course – who wouldn’t? It’s just that under normal circumstances I wouldn’t visit so soon after her husband’s death.”
“Relax, Emma. You think too much. We’ve got to do this; there’s no other way around it. We’ve got to find some things out.”
As they drove down the Pluver’s driveway, a police car was driving the other way. Emma saw Detective Crowley in the passenger’s seat. The police car stopped and the detective got out and flagged the buggy down.
“Stop, Maureen. It’s the detective.”
Maureen pulled the horse up quickly and Emma got out to greet the detective.
“Ah, Mrs. Kurtzler, we meet again; that’s an odd coincidence.”
“Yes, I was just heading to the haus to pay my respects to Mrs. Pluver. That’s what we Amish do.” Emma hoped she hadn’t sounded too cheeky.
“Carry on then.” The detective got back in the car and the police car continued back down the driveway toward the road.
“He looks intimidating. I don’t like the way he looked at you,” Maureen said.
“Jah, I know. He seems to be suspicious of me for some reason. I wish I hadn’t gone there that morning, to the vulture’s office.”
“It’ll all work out in the end; I’m sure,” Maureen said.
Mrs. Pluver stood at her front door and waited for them to get out of the buggy.
Maureen was the first to speak to Mrs. Pluver as they walked toward her. “We’re so sorry to hear the news, Ethel.”
Emma nodded in agreement, and said, “We’ve brought you some food.”
“Denke, come in.” Ethel Pluver stepped aside to let them enter the haus.
Ethel made them tea and they sat down together.
“Was that a detective that we passed?” Maureen asked.
“Jah. You may as well know that they think that Henry was murdered.”
Maureen and Emma kept silent.
“I suppose you’ve heard the talk already?” Ethel asked.
Both women nodded and Emma said, “I’m afraid I found out fairly early on. I went to McAllister’s office early that morning to talk to him. The police were there.”
“I see.” Ethel dropped her gaze away from the ladies.
“Did your husband tell you that h
e didn’t want to lease my farm anymore?”
Ethel turned to Emma. “Nee, he didn’t tell me anything about his dealings. When did he tell you that?”
“It was about a week ago.”
Ethel Pluver looked into her tea and then set the teacup back on the table. “He was acting quite strangely, but I thought nothing of it.”
Maureen cleared her throat. “Do you know Mr. McAllister?”
“Nee, I don’t know him at all.”
Maureen and Emma exchanged looks without Ethel Pluver seeing them. They knew they had asked enough questions. They stayed a little longer talking with her and made sure she had all that she needed. Just before they left, the bishop and his wife came to Mrs. Pluver’s house to visit.
On the way back to Emma’s home, Maureen said, “So what do you make of it all?”
“She said that Pluver was acting funny, ‘strange’ is the word she used, I think. I wonder what that was about?”
“Mrs. Pluver doesn’t know McAllister, but obviously Henry Pluver knew McAllister or why would he be at his office?”
Chapter 10.
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Matthew 7:7
Maureen called for Emma to take her to Mr. Pluver’s funeral. They were silent for a while as they traveled in the buggy before Maureen said, “I heard whispers that Mrs. Pluver was being unfaithful.”
Emma laughed. She thought that Maureen was telling her a joke. When Maureen did not join in with her laughter, Emma turned to see her with a serious look on her face. “You can’t be serious.”
“Well, I’m just saying what I heard.”
“Unfaithful with whom? The vulture?”
“I don’t know, Emma, but you should keep an open mind about things. Where there’s smoke there’s fire. Have you ever heard of that saying?”
“Jah, but Mrs. Pluver? Cranky old Mrs. Pluver? She hardly seems the type of woman to be unfaithful. I mean, what sort of man would be interested in a cranky old lady?” Emma asked.
“Don’t know. A cranky old man perhaps?”
Maureen and Emma giggled. Before too long, they pulled up the buggy at the cemetery. Maureen pulled on Emma’s arm. “Look, that’s the vulture, isn’t it? Over there.”
The Amish Widow (Amish Romance Mystery) (Amish Secret Widows' Society Book 1) Page 7
