When Secrets Strike

by Marta Perry

  Eli let out a long breath. “You’re right. We must forgive, but we must also keep him from doing more evil if we can. Will you call? I must tell Sarah and Hannah what is happening.”

  “I’ll call Mac,” Aaron said. “He’ll know what to do.” Quickly, before Eli could have second thoughts, he strode to the phone shanty near the barn.

  CHAPTER NINE

  AARON WAITED IN the kitchen with the Bitler family for the police to arrive. The boys, lured by the noise, had dressed hurriedly and reappeared, managing to evade their mother’s eye as best they could. They wouldn’t want to be sent back to bed with all the excitement going on.

  Sarah was sitting at the table, being fussed over by her mother. He studied her face. Her color was better now, but a red lump had come up on her forehead. Hannah produced cold compresses, and Sarah’s grossmammi brewed a pot of chamomile tea, insisting it would calm her nerves.

  Sarah’s gaze met his for a moment of shared amusement. They both knew it was better to let them fuss over her. It was their way of dealing with their own worry and fear.

  “Shouldn’t we go outside and keep watch, Daadi?” Jonny, the oldest boy, suggested. “He might come back.”

  “I don’t think there’s anything that would bring him back to our place in a hurry,” Eli said. “He’ll know that the police will be coming soon, and he certain sure doesn’t want to get caught.”

  Sarah patted her brother’s arm. “That’s right. That’s why he knocked the flashlight out of my hand. He didn’t want me to see him. I’m sure he’s long gone by now.”

  Maybe Aaron was the only one who saw the faint shadow in Sarah’s eyes when she spoke. It looked as if she needed reassurance on that subject, as well. He wanted to touch her, to promise nothing would happen to her, but he couldn’t. All he could do was join her efforts to ease the children’s fears.

  “He wouldn’t stop running until he knew he was safe. He’s not dumb enough to hang around here and risk being caught,” Aaron added for emphasis.

  “If only you’d let the dogs out first,” Eli said, looking harassed. “They might have smelled the man before you spotted him.”

  “You’re right, Daad.” Sarah seemed to think agreeing was the shortest way out of the conversation. “I should have done that.”

  “Ach, I’m not meaning to scold.” Eli patted her hand. “You did just the right thing, yelling for help the way you did. As soon as you yelled, he’d know there was nothing for it but to run away.”

  “The police are here,” Thomas announced, peering out the window. Jonny and Noah rushed to join him. “Two—no, three cars of them.” He sounded a little awed by the importance of the event.

  “You wait here,” Eli told his family. “Aaron and I will deal with them, and if they need Sarah to answer any questions, they can come inside.”

  The boys’ faces fell, but Sarah looked relieved. Aaron didn’t blame her. She probably didn’t want to relive the experience again when she was just starting to get back to her usual self.

  As soon as the two of them were outside, Eli voiced Aaron’s thought. “I hope they don’t have to talk to Sarah. She’s been upset enough for one night.”

  “You’re right, but the police probably won’t see it that way.” It was only fair to prepare Eli for what he expected would happen. “They’re sure to want to hear her account, even though she didn’t get a look at him.”

  “I suppose, but...” Eli let that trail off as Mac Whiting came toward them.

  Aaron stiffened when he saw who had accompanied Mac. It was Fielding, the arson investigator. The memory of their conversation at the barn raising still rankled.

  Aaron forced the feeling aside and focused on Mac, and it was to his old friend that he told what had happened from his point of view. Then Eli had to tell it from his. And then the questions began.

  Aaron would say one thing about Fielding—he was thorough. Not the tiniest detail escaped him.

  Finally he nodded as if satisfied. “Now if we can see Ms. Bitler, we’ll get her account.”

  Eli seemed ready to object, but Mac beat him to it. “Suppose we have a look at the barn first. We have to do it anyway, and it will give Sarah a little time to compose herself. I’m sure she’s upset.”

  “Ja, that would be gut,” Eli agreed. “This way.”

  For a moment, Aaron thought Fielding would object, but then he nodded. He went to his car and returned in a moment with a case.

  “We’re going to need a lot more light on the scene. Can’t they turn on the outside lights?”

  “No electricity,” Mac said briefly. “We’ll bring the vehicles up close enough to use their headlights.”

  A few minutes later the farmyard was lit bizarrely by the headlamps of the vehicles, probing into the shadows and turning the grass a ghostly white. Mac produced several strong torches from the police cars, and they began working their way over the whole area.

  Fielding gestured to Aaron. “Show me where the fires are laid.”

  Aaron led the way to the barn. His family would be wondering what had happened to him. They’d see all the lights and be concerned. He wouldn’t be surprised to see Jonah show up to find out what was going on. Then he thought of Fielding’s attitude toward Jonah, and said a silent prayer that his brother would stay clear of the place tonight.

  Fielding seemed irrationally pleased with the preparations for starting a fire. “This bird is learning as he goes along,” he said.

  “You mean setting the fire in the doorway?” Aaron had already thought of that. “It’s like he’s trying to make it difficult to get the animals out.” The words left a bad taste in his mouth.

  Fielding shot a sharp glance at him. “You realize that?”

  “Anybody who’s ever tried to get animals out of a burning barn would see it.” He tried not to snap the words. Did the man think he was stupid because he was Amish? Probably.

  “I don’t need you any longer,” Fielding said. “Send that younger patrolman in to help me.”

  “Mr. Bitler would like to take the animals out of here,” Aaron pointed out.

  “Well, he can’t,” Fielding snapped. “Not yet, anyway. I can’t have a bunch of animals trampling over the clues.” He waved his hand in a dismissing gesture.

  Aaron was glad enough to get away from the odor of the oily rags. The smell was noxious enough, but the reminder of what had been intended made him sick to his stomach.

  If the arsonist had had a chance to light the rags, what would have happened? Sarah might still have been the first to discover it, and Aaron had no doubt she’d have tried to rush through the flames to get the animals out.

  Did the arsonist realize that? Was he trying to get someone injured or killed?

  Aaron gave the message to Johnny Foster, grinning at the face the young policeman made over being told to work with Fielding. Then Aaron walked to where Mac stood, surveying the weeds between the farmyard and the woods at the back of the barn.

  “Little hard to see anything in the dark, ain’t so?” he commented.

  Mac shrugged. “I wanted to mark off the place. We’ll come back and have a better search in the morning. Is Fielding done with you?”

  “He has Johnny working now. Fielding seemed very pleased to be looking at the fires the firebug laid. What he finds to be happy about, I don’t know. It’s not as if I caught the man.” Aaron’s fingers curled into fists.

  “Careful,” Mac said. “You believe in nonviolence, remember? What would you do if you did catch him?”

  The rage that coursed through Aaron was a warning of its own. Anger had to be combatted or it would control a man. Mac shouldn’t have to remind him that an Amish person did not resort to returning evil for evil. But while he could turn the other cheek for himself, he was struggling with the idea where Sarah was
concerned. “If I’d seen him, you’d have known who you’re looking for.”

  Mac handed the end of a roll of plastic tape and a few thumbtacks to Aaron. “Here. Take this and attach it to the end of the toolshed.”

  He obeyed, playing the tape out as Mac released it. “Does Fielding have to question Sarah tonight?”

  “He’ll insist on it. The best I could do was delay him.” Mac stretched the tape out to a handy tree and fastened it there, cutting it off with a pocket knife. “I’m afraid he doesn’t think very highly of small-town cops.”

  “He’s not so smart himself, then,” Aaron said. “You know the area and the people in a way he never could. If anyone can catch this man, it’s you.”

  Mac grinned. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

  “I’m right. You’ll see.” He hoped he was right, because Mac knew them all too well to be led astray. Who could tell what idea Fielding might get?

  Too soon, the investigator came out of the barn, moving briskly. “All right. I’ve done all I can in there. I’ve given your man samples to take in for testing. See that he doesn’t lose them on the way. Now I need to question Ms. Bitler.”

  He marched off toward the house, and Mac followed him with a rueful look at Aaron. After a moment’s hesitation, Aaron went, as well. There was probably nothing he could do to help, but Sarah and her family might appreciate his presence.

  Fielding gave him a look when Aaron edged into the crowded kitchen, but he didn’t say anything, probably because Hannah was busy trying to persuade him to have a cup of coffee and a wedge of apple crumb pie.

  Mac grinned, nodding his acceptance. “Never turn down a piece of your apple crumb pie, Hannah.”

  Fielding shook his head firmly, with the air of a man trying to hold on to a situation that was sliding out of control. Aaron sat kitty-corner from Sarah, giving her a reassuring smile when she glanced at him.

  “Now, Ms. Bitler, if you can tell us what you saw, it may be of great help in catching the perpetrator. If you—”

  “But I didn’t really see anyone,” Sarah said, pressing her fingers against her forehead. It was a measure of how stressed she was that she’d actually interrupted the man.

  “Suppose you tell us the whole thing, just the way it happened,” Mac said, his voice friendly. She could hardly be intimidated by Mac, sitting at the kitchen table eating pie as if he were still the little boy she’d played with.

  Sarah visibly relaxed when she focused on Mac. “I went out to give a last look around before I went to bed. I took a flashlight, but I didn’t turn it on right away because the moon was bright enough to see by.”

  Mac nodded, encouraging her.

  “Well, I checked the toolshed first, and then the other buildings. The dog pen is by the barn, and I was going to let the dogs out when I got there.” She paused, and Aaron, sitting so close to her, could sense her tension rising. “I started feeling nervous, like someone was there, over by the buggy. But when I turned the torch on, it was just a field mouse.” She smiled, but it was just a nervous twitch of the lips.

  Fielding moved, as if to speak, but Mac seemed to silence him with a look.

  “You were going to the barn then?”

  “That’s right. I didn’t hear anything from the animals, but it seemed to me that there was something outside, to the right of the barn door.”

  “Your right?” Mac asked quietly.

  Sarah nodded. “It startled me, and then I thought it might be Jonah again.”

  “Jonah again?” Fielding broke in sharply. “What do you mean? Is this Jonah King you’re talking about?”

  Aaron’s heart sank at the look in the man’s eyes. If only Sarah hadn’t mentioned his name... But how could she know what the investigator might make of it?

  She nodded. “Jonah King, that’s right. You see, I’d run into him out by the barn a few nights ago, so I just jumped to the conclusion it was him again.”

  “Jonah and Aaron have been helping us patrol the outbuildings at night, along with Nick and Jim Whiting,” Eli said. “You know that, Mac.”

  He nodded. “That’s right. Most of the farmers in the township are doing something similar. They all help their neighbors at a time like this.”

  Fielding didn’t look convinced. “Was there any other reason you thought it might be Jonah King? The shape, the smell, something you heard?”

  “No.” Sarah seemed warned by the tenor of his questions. “I’ve already said I didn’t see anyone. I started to turn my flashlight on, and someone just burst out of the shadows at me. He knocked the flashlight away and pushed me so that I fell. He was nothing but a dark shadow.”

  “Couldn’t you tell anything? His height? Size? You said ‘he.’ Are you sure it was a man?”

  Sarah pressed her fingers against her temples again. “Nothing. I just said he because it seems likely the firebug is a man. It was dark. The moon was hidden by a cloud.”

  “You must have noticed something,” Fielding pressed. “Think hard.”

  “I didn’t.” Sarah’s voice shook. “I tell you I don’t know anything more.”

  “I think that is enough questioning for now,” Eli said, standing. “If we think of anything else, we will send a message to the police station.”

  “Thanks, Eli.” Mac stood, as well. “We won’t trespass on your hospitality any further.”

  Fielding wilted a bit before his firm expression. “Thank you,” he said stiffly.

  Sarah’s tension eased, but Aaron suspected she was on the verge of tears. She wouldn’t want anyone to see her cry—she never had, even as a child, and this grown-up Sarah would feel the same. He got up, too, murmuring his good-nights, and held the door for Mac and Fielding to go out before following them.

  That hadn’t been as bad as it might have been, thanks to Mac. But still, Aaron couldn’t help wishing Sarah had never mentioned Jonah’s name.

  * * *

  “I HONESTLY COULDN’T even guess who it was.” Sarah was in the middle of telling Allison about it at the shop the next day. She couldn’t seem to help it when her voice shook a little as she did.

  Allison gave a wordless murmur of distress and came around the counter to give her a hug. For just a moment, Sarah clung to her, hating to admit how much she needed the support right now. She’d managed to maintain a fairly calm exterior with her family, but each time she thought of those moments when the dark figure had loomed above her, she could feel herself shake inside.

  But she didn’t want to show her weakness, not even to a dear friend. She drew back, attempting a smile. “It’s ferhoodled to be still upset. After all, no harm was done.”

  Allison squeezed her hand before stepping away. “It’s not ferhoodled at all, whatever that means,” she said. “The arsonist is a dangerous person, and you came too close to him. You shouldn’t have—”

  “Don’t say I shouldn’t have gone out by myself. If I hadn’t...” Her throat grew tight. “Well, the fire was laid, ready to be lit. Maybe even five minutes would have been too late. And with it set right in the doorway, we’d have lost time getting around to the back and trying to take the animals out the small door.”

  Allison rubbed her arms, as if chilled. “That’s really nasty. It’s as if the arsonist wanted to cause the most damage he could, even if someone got hurt.”

  “I guess that’s the whole idea.” Sarah’s fingers, restless, toyed with a spool of ribbon on the counter. “Someone has to be crazy, I think, to do this.”

  “Maybe so. I’ve heard of people torching their own buildings for the insurance money, but this guy is setting fires that have no benefit at all to him. To me, that spells crazy.” Allison frowned a little. “I suppose you had to talk to that man Fielding again.”

  Sarah nodded. “He seemed convinced I could remember something helpf
ul no matter how many times I told him I didn’t see anything. I can’t even be positive it was a man, although I think so.”

  “Well, let’s hope he at least found some physical evidence that will help. There may be some way of telling where the rags or oil came from.”

  “I hope so.” But she doubted it. In a farming community, there were too many possible sources for a bit of oil or kerosene or whatever it had been. And who could keep track of rags? They might even have been taken from someone’s clothesline.

  She glanced at Allison, but her partner had gone back to her computer. Just as well. Sarah didn’t want to confide the other thing that had bothered her about that encounter with the fire investigator.

  Those moments when he’d zeroed in on her mention of Jonah—what had that meant? It meant something; she was certain sure of that. She had felt Aaron’s tension even though he’d given no outward sign of anything wrong. Was it just that he didn’t like her drawing the attention of the man to his brother, even though it had been perfectly innocent?

  She couldn’t help feeling there was more to it than that. Well, if Aaron wanted to tell her, he would. If not, she’d try to forget. But she still wished she hadn’t babbled on the way she had.

  “Look at this.” Allison’s excitement drew Sarah out of her fruitless thoughts. “There’s a detailed account here about a quilt festival out in Oregon that even includes the schedule and the various workshops they held. We can get some ideas for things that work from what they did.”

  Sarah went to stand behind her and peered at the screen. As used to Allison’s reliance on the computer as she was, she was still sometimes surprised at the amount of information one could find with the click of a button. And it was purely a pleasure to focus on the excitement of the quilt festival after the horrors of last night.

  “That really is a good resource.” She leaned a little closer to study the screen. “Can you print out a couple of copies of the schedule? We can look them over with Mamm and also with Esther and Becky. They’d love to help with the planning.”