Murder in the Amish Bakery (Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Book 3)

by Samantha Price

  “I see you’ve done some baking too, Ava,” Elsa-May said.

  “I have, but not as much as I’d hoped. I’ve been busy helping Mamm with the dresses for the wedding.”

  “Are your cousins going to be your attendants?” Ettie asked.

  Ava rolled her eyes. “When I asked them, they had their neighbor, Trudy, there. And she asked if she could be an attendant as well. I only wanted two and now it looks like I’ve got three.”

  “Couldn’t you just have said ‘no?’” Elsa-May asked.

  Ava shook her head. “She looked so excited I didn’t like to tell her ‘no.’ I really wasn’t expecting her to ask me. Now we’ve got three attendants’ dresses to make.”

  “Well, you have plenty of time,” Ettie said.

  “That’s true. Mamm is one of the ladies setting out the tables today.”

  When Ettie, Elsa-May, and Ava arrived, they set up their baked goods on the table closest to the refreshment tent. Ava went back to her buggy and brought out two fold-up chairs for Ettie and Elsa-May.

  “That’s very thoughtful of you, Ava,” Ettie said.

  “Hopefully we’ll be selling so many pies we don’t have time to sit in them,” Elsa-May said.

  It was an hour after the pie drive started before the park’s grounds filled with people.

  Ettie suddenly dug Elsa-May in the ribs. “Look over there, that’s Hugh Dwyer.”

  “The man who owns the Amish small goods store?”

  “Jah, that’s the one. I’ve visited him with Ruth.”

  “Looks like he’s heading this way. I think he’s seen you.” Elsa-May walked down to the other end of the table to serve some customers, leaving Ettie alone.

  Elsa-May was right. Hugh Dwyer was heading straight for her. She gave a little smile and waved to him.

  “Mrs. Smith, isn’t it?”

  “Yes it is, but you can call me Ettie.”

  “I remember that, and I never forget a face.”

  “What brings you here today?” Ettie asked.

  “I’m always looking for new goods to add to my inventory. I might find my next pie supplier here.”

  Ettie nodded.

  Hugh continued, “Is Ruth here today by any chance?”

  “No, she should be back at her bakery today.”

  “She’s back in business already?”

  “Yes the bakery was only closed down for a little over a day.”

  “Are you particularly good friends with Ruth?”

  “Yes, I’d say that I am. Why do you ask?”

  He rubbed his jaw. “I just can’t stop thinking about poor old Alan. Do the police have any idea why he was holding a Bible when they found him?”

  “I have no idea what the police think,” Ettie answered.

  “Well what does Ruth think? I’m only asking because it seems strange.”

  “It is, and it’s also strange that he was in the bakery after closing. What would he have been doing there?”

  Hugh chuckled. “It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

  “Is it?” Ettie asked.

  “He would only have been there to find Ruth’s bread recipe. Everyone knew he was trying to buy it from her and she wouldn’t sell it to him.” His eyes fell to one of her pies on the table in front of him. “That looks like a nice pie.”

  “These are my pies and my sisters, and a couple of them were baked by a young friend. Our pies aren’t very good. Not like Clara Yoder’s.”

  “And would Clara Yoder be here today?”

  “Yes. She's directly across there, in the purple dress. She's talking to that man who's wearing the black hat.”

  “Thank you, Ettie. I think I shall go over there and sample one of her pies.”

  When Hugh Dwyer left, Elsa-May walked back and stood by Ettie’s side. “And what did he want?” Elsa-May asked.

  “He asked why I thought it was that Alan Avery was found with a Bible in his hands.”

  “That’s ridiculous. How would you know something like that?”

  Ettie shrugged. “Hugh seemed to think that it was no secret that Alan Avery was there to get Ruth’s bread recipe. The only thing he seemed confused about was the Bible. I wonder if the police have been to see him yet to ask about that knife?”

  “Yes, the knife that was missing from his kitchen when you and Ruth went to visit him. Well it might not have been missing. It could have been placed was somewhere else,” Elsa-May said. “You should’ve asked him to tell you how he got that bruise on his face.”

  “I mentioned that to the police and they didn’t think it was important. They said there was no sign of a struggle in Ruth’s office. It’s only a faint bruise, so it was probably an old one. That reminds me, we must find out why Ruth hasn’t mentioned that Alan Avery’s wife was murdered.”

  Elsa-May shook her head. “Not ‘we,’ you can do that by yourself.”

  “Won’t you come with me? I thought Ava could take us around to see her when we finish here.”

  “You’re forgetting about Snowy.” Elsa-May said.

  “What about him? He’s just a dog. He’ll be alright by himself a little while longer.”

  Elsa-May snapped, “He’s not a dog, Ettie, he’s a little pup. He’s not used to being on his own. He’s used to being with a litter of pups and a mother dog. I’m sure right now he’ll be crying, wondering where we are.”

  “Very well, then. I’ll see if Ava will drive you home and then drive me to Ruth’s. Will that make you happy?”

  “Jah.”

  Ettie wagged a finger at her sister. “But only if you take him for a walk.”

  “I will take him for a walk, but not if it’s too cold.”

  Ettie shook her head knowing that it would probably be colder by the time they got home. “Speaking of Ava, where is she?”

  “Over there.” Elsa-May pointed to the refreshment tent where she was sitting down having a cup of coffee with Jeremiah.

  “Ah,” Ettie said. “Young love. Do you remember what it was like, Elsa-May?”

  Elsa-May chuckled. “I’ve got a dim memory of it.”

  “They do look good together, don’t they?”

  “They certainly do.”

  Ava looked over and saw them looking at her and gave a wave. And then Jeremiah turned his head and smiled at them.

  “They’re probably saying what a couple of old fools we are, Ettie.”

  “I think you’re most probably right. And isn’t that what we thought about the old people when we were young?”

  Elsa-May nodded, and then customers approaching their table took the elderly sisters’ attention.

  Chapter 13.

  Ava delivered Elsa-May and Ettie back to their home when the pie drive was over. In total, the pie drive had raised just over twelve hundred dollars for charity.

  “Ava, you must come in and meet Snowy.”

  “I’d love to. Are you in a hurry to go to Ruth’s, Ettie?”

  “I’m in no particular hurry. A few more minutes will give Ruth time to get home from the bakery.”

  As soon as Elsa-May pushed the door open, the pup came scampering towards her, and then danced on his hind legs for Elsa-May to pick him up. Elsa-May crouched down and picked him up before she moved into the house to let the others in.

  She turned around for Ava to see Snowy.

  Ava stroked his head. “He’s lovely, he makes me want a puppy.”

  “Take him, if you want him,” Elsa-May said.

  “I can’t. He’s your dog.”

  “I don’t want him.”

  “I couldn’t.

  Ettie giggled. “You’d have to run it by Jeremiah anyway, Ava, because you’ll soon be living with him.”

  “He’s already got two dogs,” Ava said.

  Ettie walked further into the house. “Look at this Elsa-May.” Ettie picked up a chewed boot.

  “Nee!” Elsa-May screamed. “That’s my best pair of boots.”

  “They were your best pair of boots,” Ettie cor
rected her. “Looks like he’s only chewed one of them.”

  Elsa-May snapped, “Well one boot’s not much good to me, is it?”

  At that moment, Ettie was pleased that the pup was Elsa-May’s dog and not hers.

  Ava looked over Ettie’s shoulder. “It’s not too bad; it might be able to be fixed up.”

  Elsa-May sighed and said to the dog. “Why did you have to go and do that? Just when I was starting to like you.”

  Ava and Ettie laughed.

  Ettie said, “I’ll put it in a bag ready for the next time we go to the boot maker.”

  “Denke, Ettie.”

  “Can I hold him?” Ava asked.

  “Take him with you if you want,” Elsa-May said.

  “She’s not serious,” Ettie said to Ava.

  Ava took hold of the dog. “She sounds serious.”

  “I never said I wanted a dog. The man next door forced him on me before I had a chance to say anything. It seems Ettie opened her big mouth once again, and told our neighbor that I needed to walk.”

  “It’s not what I said, Elsa-May, it’s your doctor who said you need to walk. I was just telling Bernie that you needed exercise and that that’s what the doctor had said.”

  “Wunderbaar! Now everybody knows my private medical information.”

  “Not everybody, just Bernie,” Ettie said. “It’s not as though he’s going to tell everyone.”

  “Thanks to your big mouth, now Ava knows. And she’ll likely tell Jeremiah, and then he’ll tell his mudder and vadder. The last thing I need is them fussing about.”

  “Give the dog back to Elsa-May, Ava, we’d better get going.”

  Ava handed the dog back. “Jah, it’s time we headed off.”

  Elsa-May took hold of the dog. “You’re a bad, bad dog for chewing my boot. Couldn’t you have chewed Ettie’s boot? It was right beside mine, and I’m sure it was tastier.” The pup licked Elsa-May’s hand. “I suppose you think being cute will keep you out of trouble? Are you sorry? I suppose I can forgive you just this one time.” Elsa-May looked up at Ava. “Are you sure you don’t want him?”

  Ava smiled. “Nee denke; I don’t.”

  Ettie pulled Ava out the door and closed it behind them.

  “Bye,” Ettie called to Elsa-May through the closed door. They didn’t hear a reply.

  “Does she like the dog, or not, Ettie?”

  “She loves him.”

  “She kept trying to give him to me.”

  Ettie shook her head. “She loves him. She just doesn’t want to admit it. And now instead of knitting all the time she has him in her lap. Which I suppose is good because she’s getting arthritis in her fingers and probably can’t knit for too many more years.”

  They climbed up into the buggy, and then headed to Ruth’s house.

  Ava asked, “So why exactly are we going to Ruth’s haus?”

  “I’ve got a couple of things to ask her. I need to know why she didn’t mention anything about Alan Avery’s wife being murdered years ago. You’d think that would’ve been an important thing that she should have told me.”

  “She might not know about it.”

  “She’s known the Averys for a long time. She told me she’s known them for many years. She would’ve heard about it at the time it happened.”

  “Do you think the two murders are linked? Do you think that the same person who killed Alan might have killed his wife as well?” Ava asked.

  “Hard to say since they never found out who killed Alan’s wife. That’s what Brandy told me. Brandy said Georgina, Alan’s wife, disappeared, and then she was found months later, murdered.”

  “So she just disappeared and no one could find her?”

  Ettie nodded. “Jah.”

  When they got to Ruth’s house, they saw Ruth at the front door just about to enter her house. She stepped back, and waved to them.

  “This is a nice surprise,” Ruth said. “Come inside and I’ll put a pot of tea on.”

  They followed Ruth through to her kitchen and sat down at the table. After Ruth put the pot on to boil, she sat down with them.

  “We’ve been to the pie drive this morning,” Ettie said.

  “I totally forgot that was on. I usually go to all the pie drives. How did it go?”

  “Wunderbaar. Together we raised over twelve hundred dollars for charity.”

  “That’s very good. That’s better than last year, isn’t it?” Ruth asked.

  “I think so. The reason I’ve come here, Ruth, is that I’ve just found out something interesting and I have to wonder why you hadn’t told me about it before now.”

  Ruth tilted her head to one side. “What is it, Ettie?”

  Ettie took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I heard that Alan Avery’s wife disappeared years ago, and then months later, she was found murdered.”

  “That’s right. That did happen many years ago.”

  “You knew?”

  Ruth nodded. “I wasn’t keeping it a secret. I didn’t think to mention it. It didn’t come to mind.”

  “Don’t you think it’s strange that a man was found murdered and a few years before that his wife was also murdered? What are the chances of that happening?”

  “Jah. I see what you mean. It does seem odd. And if it was the same person who killed both of them, that means that Alan Avery might not have been after my bread recipe. When Georgina was murdered, no one was after my recipe back then. Although there were plenty of people asking for it, no one was offering to pay for it.”

  Ettie thought about what Ruth had just said. It still left her wondering why Alan Avery was in Ruth’s bakery after closing hours. “Tell me everything you remember about Georgina’s murder, Ruth.”

  Ruth screwed up her face. “It was a long time ago. Hmm, let me think.” Ruth’s gaze shifted to the ceiling. “I remember that she vanished, and everybody was searching for her. When she didn’t turn up for many months, everyone feared the worst, and then she was found dead.”

  “How did she die?” Ava asked.

  “She drowned. To my knowledge, the police never found out whether she disappeared of her own accord, and then accidentally drowned, or whether she was abducted against her will and drowned on purpose. That’s if my memory serves me correctly.”

  Ettie looked across the table. “You’ll be able to find all that out on the library computer, won’t you, Ava?”

  “Jah, I should be able to. If nothing else, there should be some old newspaper records of the murder. How long ago was it, Ruth?”

  “It could’ve have been as long ago as eight or nine years.” Ruth stood up. “Tea or kaffe?”

  “I’ll have tea denke,” Ettie said.

  “Me too,” Ava said.

  As she made the tea, Ruth asked, “How did it go with the realtor, Ettie?”

  “Very good. I’m meeting her back at the house in a few days.”

  “You’re selling Agatha’s haus, Ettie?”

  Suddenly Ettie realized she hadn’t told Ava what she'd found out from the realtor, or even that she'd had the realtor come to look at Agatha's old house. “Jah, well only after you’re married, of course. You weren’t there the other day when I had a realtor give me an idea of what the house is worth. It was disappointing news, I’m afraid, because of the murder. She said that I would get a very low price for it. Also, it would take a long time to sell.”

  “That’s a shame,” Ava said. “It’s such a nice house and I’ve loved living in the grossdaddi haus.”

  Why don’t you and your Jeremiah buy Ettie’s haus, Ava? You’re used to living in the spot already.” Ruth placed the teapot down and sat back down at the table.

  “Jeremiah has got a haus for us already.”

  “The one he’s been working on for years?” Ruth asked.

  “That’s the one. He’s nearly finished.”

  “Brandy certainly knows a lot of people in town,” Ettie said changing the subject.

  “Jah, that’s her business to k
now everybody and everything that’s going on around the place,” Ruth said.

  Ava turned to Ettie. “Ettie, before I forget, will you come with me tomorrow to get some material for the men’s suits for the wedding. I’m making a suit for Jeremiah and he’s got three friends who’ll need suits. We can go to the library after that and use the computer.”

  “I’d love to. I’m sure Elsa-May would too. What about your mudder?”

  “Nee, she’s too busy with too many things.”

  “That is something I would really like to do, Ava. Denke.”

  While Ettie and Ava had been talking, Ruth had poured their tea.

  Ruth said, “That’s something I’ve missed out on by never marrying. I’ve had no wedding of my own and don’t have any kinner to look forward to their weddings.”

  “I remember you had an admirer or two.”

  “There was only ever one, Ettie.”

  “William Yoder?”

  Ruth nodded. “He asked me to marry him, and I wouldn’t give him an answer. I wasn’t sure. How do you know what love is if you've never been in love?”

  “You don't,” Ettie said. “It's a leap of faith. You have to trust Gott to bring you the right man, and to help you make a good marriage.”

  “When I decided I'd tell him yes,” Ruth's head sank, “I found out that he'd asked Iris to marry him.”

  “That’s awful,” Ava said.

  “I heard a whisper that he and Iris moved very quickly to marry,” Ettie said. “It was a surprise at the time for me because I knew he liked you.”

  “And that was the only man you’ve been interested in, Ruth?” Ava asked.

  “Jah, I left things too long. Anyway, he married Iris, and he died five years ago.”

  Ava nodded and the three ladies were silent for a while. Ettie patted Ruth on her arm when she saw that Ruth looked sad.

  Ava said, “My mudder kept telling me I’d better find a man before I was twenty, but I was interested in other things when I was younger.”

  Ettie added, “Jah, and Jeremiah’s parents were worried about him.”

  Chapter 14.

  The next morning, Snowy barked and scampered to the door as Ettie opened it for Ava to enter.

  “No! Bad dog,” Elsa-May said firmly taking the dog away from the door.