Amish Christmas Mystery

by Samantha Price

  Elsa-May shook her head. “Why involve yourself like that, Myra?”

  “I don’t know. I was in shock and everything was happening so fast. I thought Michael killed him and I was trying to help him. Well, not help him exactly but make things not as bad for him.”

  “Is that a car?” Elsa-May said pushing herself to her feet.

  Ettie got to the window before Elsa-May. “Here they are to search the house.”

  “I suppose they’ll find the rope now with my prints on it, or DNA or whatever. I’ll have to tell them what happened.”

  * * *

  After Myra told the officers about the rope, they had her show them where it was and then had her go to the station to make a statement.

  It wasn’t long before Ettie and Elsa-May sat in their living room, still stunned by Myra’s confession and being consoled by Crowley, who had been told the news.

  “It seems everyone had a hand in Earl Fuller’s murder,” Ettie said.

  “Well, covering it up and intending to murder him. We still don’t know who did the final deed. He was by no means a popular man,” Crowley said.

  Elsa-May said, “What about Earl’s brother? Maybe he holds some clues.”

  “We checked into the story he gave us at the funeral and Earl had visited him on three occasions in the past few months. It seems Wayne’s story about his brother visiting him checks out.”

  “But you don’t know whether he’s telling the truth about what Earl told him.”

  “You still think this is all about Myra, Ettie?” Crowley asked.

  “I don’t know,” Ettie said. “I did, to begin with.”

  “I’ll tell you what. How would the two of you feel about visiting Wayne? Unless you’d rather not go to a prison?”

  “We’ve done it before,” Elsa-May said. “I think we should do that. What do you think, Ettie?”

  “We’ll visit him,” she said.

  Kelly was able to pull some strings and get the sisters in to visit Wayne the next day. Crowley drove them there.

  “Are you nervous?” Crowley asked when they were getting out of the car.

  “No, we’ll be okay.”

  “At least he knows us.”

  Ettie and Elsa-May walked up to the visitors’ section through huge gates topped with rolled barbed wire. They’d been to the maximum-security prison before. They knew they would have to wait until all the visitors were together and all had gone through their security procedures. The sisters, along with a group of twenty other visitors, were asked to stand in a straight line. Then a dog was sent along the row, sniffing them. Ettie was glad she didn’t have any of that pork on her from the night before. She held a straight face while thinking about how things would play out if she’d had some meat hidden on her.

  After the dog had done his bit, the visitors filed through the metal detector one by one after they’d taken off their shoes.

  “Please take off your hat,” one of the officers said to Ettie.

  The man towered over Ettie by a good ten inches and his face was hard. “This is a prayer kapp and I’ll not take it off.”

  Deep lines appeared across his forehead. “If you don’t take it off, I can’t let you through.”

  His voice had increased in volume and Ettie could see everyone staring at her.

  Ettie stood as tall as she could and lifted her head high. No one would make her take off her kapp! “I’ve been here before and they let me leave it on.” She stared up at the guard.

  Elsa-May, standing in line behind her, said, “That’s right! They let us through last time and they said nothing about our prayer kapps.”

  He stared at them both. "Okay,” he finally said. “Do you have anything to declare? Any drugs, phones, or valuables?”

  “No.”

  They let Ettie through and Elsa-May came after her. They sat down, placed their boots back on, and joined again with the crowd. Soon the visitors were taken single file into a large area where they sat in booths as directed, and waited to see the prisoners.

  “I thought we were going to get thrown out back there, Ettie.”

  “Me too, but they let us through last time.”

  “I know.”

  “Here he comes,” Ettie said.

  Wayne snorted and laughed when he saw them sitting there waiting for him. When he sat in front of them, he said, “I didn’t know it was you two. They just told me I had a visitor.”

  “Here we are,” Elsa-May said.

  “We’re here to ask you some questions. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “I haven’t got anything better to do.”

  “Is it true that your brother, Earl …. You take over, Ettie. I just forgot what I was going to say.”

  “Wayne, did Earl tell you that my daughter, Myra, stole his business ideas?”

  “Yes, that’s what he said.” He laughed. “Don’t look so worried, Mrs. Smith. I never could believe a thing he said.”

  “So, you think he was lying?”

  “Most likely. He certainly wouldn’t tell me that he stole someone’s idea. Come to think of it, he might, just to brag.” Wayne laughed again.

  Ettie immediately felt better. “Do you have any idea who might have killed him?”

  “If I was Naomi, I reckon I’d want him dead. Then again, he misled so many women.”

  “Did he speak of anyone? A woman?” Elsa-May asked.

  “Only Myra. He had a fixation on Myra. I don’t know if they were friends or what, but that’s all he’d want to talk about. He was complaining about her.”

  “You’d left the community before he ran away with Betsy, is that right?”

  “Yes. I remember I was at his wedding and I left the community a few weeks after that—it might have been months.”

  “And you mentioned other women. Can you name any of them?”

  He sneered. “I didn’t take too much notice what my brother was doing. All I know is what I told you. Mind you, I can’t say for certain that Betsy wasn’t the only one, but it’s my best guess that she wasn’t. I remember thinking that I was surprised that he married Naomi because I was certain he had his eyes on someone else. And, from memory, it wasn’t Betsy.”

  “Thank you. You’ve been a great help. Someone said your brother was going to look after you when you got out?”

  “Don’t worry about me, Mrs. Smith. I’ve got a job lined up already. I’m not coming back to this place and I’ve made myself that as a promise.”

  “If you ever need any help, Elsa-May and I will do what we can.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate your offer.”

  When he stood up, he put his arms out and a nearby guard slapped the cuffs back on his wrists. He gave them a little smile as he was being led away.

  Ettie fought back a tear at the man being treated in that way. He’d made bad choices along the way and he was paying for his crimes. Ettie looked over at Elsa-May.

  “Did you have to say that, Ettie?”

  “What?”

  “He might turn up on our doorstep expecting to stay.”

  “No he wouldn’t. If he did, though, we’d find a way to help him.”

  “I know. Let’s go,” Elsa-May said as she pushed herself to her feet.

  Chapter 23

  That night after the visit to the prison, Ettie tossed and turned. It was then that she decided to read Betsy’s letters from Roslyn. She lit the lantern beside her, and walked over to the box of letters that had been sitting on her dresser for days. After she had pulled out a handful, she slipped back between the sheets. After reading four long letters, she fell asleep.

  “That’s it!" Ettie sat bolt upright in bed when all the pieces of the murder puzzle finally fitted. She could see from the gentle light outside that it was early in the morning. The sound of Elsa-May snoring loudly told her just how early it was. Ettie giggled at the rhythmic sounds.

  Earl’s murder had occurred with a gathering at her house, so the best thing to do, Ettie figured, was to have another
gathering at her house to reveal the identity of the killer. She would run her idea past Detective Kelly when she reckoned he’d be awake.

  * * *

  That afternoon, their small living room was crowded once again. As well as Crowley, there was Detective Kelly, along with Santa, Myra, Michael Skully, the pen pal Roslyn, and Naomi Fuller. Moses Stoll was there with his daughter, Betsy, who was now on speaking terms with him.

  Detective Kelly stood up. “I want to thank everyone for being here tonight. Most of you were present when Earl Fuller was murdered. I know we all want this case to be solved. Is there anyone here who would like to make a confession before we start?” Kelly’s eyes swept across the silent crowd. “Very well. I’ll hand this over to Mrs. Smith.”

  Ettie walked over to where Kelly had been standing. “Thank you, Detective. Myra, you admit to taking away the rope from Earl’s neck, but did you reach him before or after he was dead?”

  “He was dead,” Myra insisted.

  Ettie turned to Michael. “Michael, you say...”

  Michael cut across her. “I don’t say anything without my lawyer present.”

  Ettie tugged on the string of her prayer kapp. “Myra claims she saw your car out front, Michael, and that’s why she hid the rope from around Earl’s neck. It seems your… Myra, thought you capable of murder.”

  “Mother!”

  “Hush, Myra!” Ettie snapped back. “Betsy, you admit to being in a plot with Michael to murder Earl.”

  Betsy hung her head, while her father put his arm around her.

  “She was tested by Gott for many years,” Moses said in his daughter’s defense.

  “Or, could Moses have killed Earl, finally taking revenge for his daughter?” Ettie suggested.

  Moses shook his head and looked down.

  Ettie continued, “Moses, you claim to have seen Naomi go outside shortly before Santa came inside. Naomi, you claim the same about Moses. Which out of the two of you is mistaken, or perhaps covering up for someone else? Perhaps you both saw someone go outside and that person could have been Myra. She might have put on her black coat which would’ve covered her bright dress.”

  Naomi and Moses stared at each other.

  “Santa.”

  “Yes?”

  “Thank you for being here tonight. You saw Michael Skully drive past and look at you.”

  “Yes.”

  “Santa, you told me that you heard two car doors open and close while you were at the first house in the street. Then a few minutes after that, they opened and closed again, and then you heard the car try to start but it wouldn’t kick over. Then you heard one door open and then shut. Which holds true to what Betsy said, that she got out of the car when it wouldn’t start. Which would’ve given Betsy enough time to go back and finish Earl off if he wasn’t yet dead.”

  Santa nodded.

  Betsy stood up. “I didn’t! I went the other way. I just wanted to get out of there before I got blamed for anything. Michael told me to go and save myself.”

  “Betsy, why did you think Earl was already dead when he was lying down?”

  “Michael told me he was.”

  “Being a nurse, didn’t you think to check on him yourself?”

  “I was scared.”

  “Perhaps Earl wasn’t dead at that time and when you left, Michael came back and finished him off?”

  Michael sprang to his feet. “I did no such thing.”

  Ettie held a hand in the air. “I’m far from finished.”

  Michael sat back down.

  When Ettie continued talking, Betsy sat back down as well. “Santa, before you heard the two car doors open and shut, you heard the sound of a buggy?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Which brings me to why you’re here tonight, Roslyn.”

  “I was wondering when you’d get around to me,” Roslyn said with a girlish giggle.

  “I put it to you that Earl promised to marry you and then blindsided you by marrying Naomi.”

  A gasp sounded across the room and all eyes fell on Roslyn.

  Ettie went on, “From the time he met you at your visit to the community, he sought you out, and then he kept you dangling on a string. He told you he was going to leave the community for you, but he married Naomi. After that, he explained he was forced to marry Naomi and then promised you he was going to leave her. But he left his marriage and ran away with Betsy instead of you.”

  Naomi and Betsy glared at Roslyn.

  Ettie continued, “He jilted you, Roslyn, not once but twice.”

  Roslyn hung her head.

  Detective Kelly said, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”

  Betsy stared at Roslyn. “Is what Ettie said true?”

  Roslyn jumped to her feet. “It’s all a bunch of lies. I don’t have to stay here and listen to this.”

  “I think you do, Roslyn,” Ettie said calmly. “You see, it’s all there in your letters.” She pointed at the box of letters. “You were subtly trying to gather information from your pen pal about Earl after your visit to the community. Not only that, but Wayne, Earl’s brother, remembers Earl was keen on you.”

  “That doesn’t mean I killed him.”

  Kelly stood up. “But the DNA evidence on the rope does.” Kelly walked over to the box of letters, and from behind the box he pulled a plastic bag. Inside the clear bag, a blue nylon rope was evident. “You see, we have your DNA and prints in our system from when you were suspected of your mother’s murder.”

  Again everyone gasped and stared at Roslyn.

  Kelly kept going, “This is the same rope that Myra pulled from the victim after he was killed.”

  “I thought you were my only friend, Roslyn,” Betsy said in a small voice.

  Her father tightened his arm around Betsy’s shoulders.

  Detective Kelly pressed a button on his phone and within seconds a flurry of police cars pulled up in front of the house.

  Kelly took Roslyn by the arm and she was placed in handcuffs. Betsy and Michael were then arrested for attempted murder.

  Moses stood in the doorway of Ettie’s house watching his daughter be led away. “I should’ve been able to prevent this somehow.”

  “Nee, Moses. You couldn’t have done anything.”

  Crowley stepped forward. “Betsy gave herself up. I think you’ll be surprised how easy they are on her. This is her first offense, which helps as well.”

  “I see you two are now talking,” Elsa-May said to Moses.

  “Betsy wants to come home after all this time. She's prepared to take whatever the bishop tells her to do. She’ll stand up and confess her sins in front of the congregation.”

  Ettie patted him on his shoulder. “Out of bad things, sometimes good things come.”

  He gave a little smile and nodded.

  Kelly came back into the house. “Michael and Betsy will most likely get bail tomorrow. I can’t say whether Roslyn will or not. Good job, Mrs. Smith.”

  “It was thanks to those letters.”

  “I wonder how she came and went without anyone seeing her?” Elsa-May asked.

  Ettie turned and looked at Naomi who was still sitting on the couch as though she had been stunned.

  “Naomi, I’m sorry to put you through all of this.”

  “It’s good to put it all behind me, once and for all. I’m glad I know what happened to him.”

  Ettie looked at Santa. “Did you hear anything else that would explain how Roslyn did this without anyone seeing her? You were in the street; the only car you saw was Michael’s.”

  He stroked his long white beard. “She had to have been in his car.”

  “Yes! She must’ve driven here with Earl.”

  “That must be how it happened,” Santa said nodding.

  Detective Kelly said, “I’ll see what I can find out. We’ll have to have all the nitty gritty details work out before we go to court. Hopefully, we’ll have some confessions by then.”

  Chapter 24
/>
  It was a week later that Crowley and Kelly visited Elsa-May and Ettie.

  Elsa-May sat on her favorite chair and Ettie was on her couch, while the two men were sitting on wooden chairs opposite the couch. As always, there was hot tea and cake.

  “How’s Myra?” Ettie asked Crowley.

  “She’s doing a lot better.”

  From the look on his face, Ettie knew they were seeing more of one another and she was pleased. If Myra was never going to return to the community, she couldn’t think of a better man for her daughter than Crowley.

  “Tell us what details you’ve found out?” Elsa-May asked Kelly.

  Kelly nodded while finishing a mouthful of chocolate cake. When he'd picked up his full teacup, he began, “Michael wrote those Christmas invitations to give Myra an alibi while he and Betsy killed the man. What Michael didn’t realize was that Myra had invited Earl to your house, Mrs. Smith. That really made things awkward for him.”

  When Snowy heard Kelly’s voice, he lifted his head up. He left his bed in the corner and tried to jump on the detective's lap, but his legs were too short.

  “Oh, dear. I’m sorry, Detective,” Elsa-May said as Kelly was trying to balance his full teacup while he was being pawed at.

  “Put him outside, Elsa-May,” Ettie said, not wanting Kelly to spill his tea everywhere.

  Elsa-May scooped Snowy up and closed him in her room and then joined them once more. “I’m sorry, go ahead. Did I miss anything?”

  “No, we were waiting for you. As I was saying, Betsy called Earl to have a drink with her at a local bar—one of the rare establishments open on Christmas Day. She slipped the Demerol to him, but he only drank half of a lethal dose and then he left. Keen to finish what she'd started, she called Michael, her accomplice, to tell him that she’d been unable to persuade Earl to stay longer and he hadn’t had enough of the poison to kill him. Right then he saw a text message on his phone from Myra asking him whether he was coming to her mother’s house and telling him that she’d asked Earl there too. Bingo! Now they suddenly knew where Earl was headed. Michael collected Betsy from the bar and together they traveled to your house, Mrs. Smith.”