Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 6

by Samantha Price

  “Nothing.”

  Looking over the top of her glasses, Elsa-May said, “Something must’ve.”

  Ettie sat down on the couch closer to her sister. “I thought people couldn’t see in, but that man saw me. He looked right at me.”

  Elsa-May chortled, lowering her knitting. “I’ve been telling you that for several months. People can see you spying on them.”

  Ettie’s fingertips flew to her mouth. “That means Greville and Stacey might’ve seen me watching them.”

  “Jah, I told you so.”

  Ettie sighed and sat down on the couch, well away from the window. “Oh, well. That’s too bad.”

  “Next time, you might listen to me.”

  Their eyes met when they both heard a horse and buggy. Ettie jumped up. “Just when I leave the place where I can see all the goings on.” She pulled the curtain aside. “It’s Ava.”

  Elsa-May moved her knitting off her lap. “We should’ve gone to see her. It would’ve been such an effort for her to come to us.”

  “It’s a good thing your cold’s better again.” Ettie opened the door and Ava was standing there holding her six-month-old son, Aaron. “Ah, here he is. Hello, Ava.” Ettie glanced at the reporter and saw him snooping around outside Stacey’s house while the photographer was taking photos of the house.

  “Hello,” said Ava. “I decided this was a good morning for us to visit you two.”

  Elsa-May pushed Ettie aside and stretched out her hands toward her great grandson. Ava passed him over with a smile and then they all walked into the house.

  “I heard something happened next door.” Ava looked at Ettie since Elsa-May was busy with Aaron.

  “Jah, let's all sit down and we’ll tell you.” Elsa-May was making faces at Aaron while she was speaking, trying to make him smile.

  “Care for hot tea, Ava?” Ettie asked.

  “Nee denke. I’ve only just eaten.”

  Ettie rubbed her head once they were seated. “I don’t know where to start. You know our neighbors were always a little strange.”

  Ava smiled and nodded. “I remember.”

  Ettie told Ava the whole story from the beginning, from when she was awakened by Elsa-May in the middle of the night, to going next door and finding Greville lying there, to Stacey finally admitting she’d killed him.

  “What do you think about all that?” Elsa-May asked, carefully leaning the baby against her shoulder and patting him on his back.

  “It sounds confusing. Why wouldn’t Stacey admit to it in the first instance and then she changes her story now?”

  “There could be a number of reasons. She might have been too scared at first, and then she realized she couldn’t get away with it. Besides that, it seemed clear no one believed her story that there were robbers.”

  “She hasn’t been back home yet. Elsa-May thought Stacey would get bail, but she hasn’t.”

  “Not yet, Ettie. She might have to wait awhile. I was expecting her to come home today, but she could be out by tomorrow.”

  “She might’ve gone to her sister’s place,” Ava said. “Didn’t you say she was staying with her?”

  “That’s a point. Anyway, tell us about you, Ava. What have you been doing?” Elsa-May asked.

  “Nothing much. I’ve just been home with Aaron most days.”

  “How’s Jeremiah?”

  “He’s been busy with work. We hardly see him these days. He leaves early and comes home late. Mamm comes over a lot to help me with Aaron. It’s nice to have the company of a grown-up.”

  “Is he too busy to come and look at the cause of the rustling in our roof?”

  “He’s never too busy for the two of you. What’s happening in your roof?”

  “It could be Elsa-May’s imagination, but she’s sure she can hear scratching sounds at night.”

  Elsa-May pouted at Ettie. “You’ve heard it too.”

  “Nee, I never have. I've only heard you tell me about it. It must wait until I’m asleep, whatever it is.” Ettie tittered, wondering if it wasn’t in Elsa-May’s imagination.

  Ava smiled at Elsa-May. “Don’t worry. I’ll let him know and he’ll stop by and take a look.”

  “Gut, denke.” Elsa-May gave a nod.

  “There’s always something going on with you two.”

  Ettie rubbed her head. “It seems so.”

  “We long for a quiet life,” Elsa-May said.

  Ettie didn’t want a boring life knitting, as her sister did. She liked to keep her brain active and have something exciting going on; it kept life interesting. “You might like things quiet, Elsa-May, but mysteries and unexpected happenings are like a dash of color on a cream or a white wall. Life is boring without them.”

  “Who’d want color on a white wall? It wouldn’t be white then, would it?” Elsa-May chuckled.

  “Well, a wall is brightened with a colourful scripture sampler. If life were all white walls wouldn’t that be boring?”

  “It would, Ettie,” Ava agreed. “There’s nothing worse than living the same day over and over again.”

  “I think we need to be grateful for every day Gott gives us.”

  Ettie nodded, not wanting to get into an argument with her older sister. She wasn’t saying she wasn’t grateful. “That’s true.”

  “Don’t you think so?” Elsa-May asked.

  “I agree with you.”

  “Hmm. Well, that’s the first time today.”

  “Now, don’t you two start.” Ava chuckled.

  “Start what?” Elsa-May asked.

  “Squabbling. You’re like children sometimes.”

  Elsa-May’s jaw dropped open. “Ettie and I get along fine.” Elsa-May stared at Ettie. “Don’t we?”

  “We do. Just like honey and peanut butter.”

  Elsa-May’s mouth turned down at the corners. “Couldn’t you have expressed yourself better than that?”

  Ettie giggled. “Have you tried honey and peanut butter?”

  “I wouldn’t want to. Are you saying it’s good or bad?”

  Ava interrupted them. “I might take you up on that cup of tea, Ettie.”

  “Coming right up.” Ettie pushed herself up from the couch and headed into the kitchen. She’d let Elsa-May ponder on that one.

  Chapter 14

  A meeting of the two knitting groups had been arranged. It was unavoidable even though that’s the last thing the sisters felt like doing when they had Greville’s murder on their minds. At the end of the three-hour event, the groups had been merged and every woman had been assigned her knitting projects, and peace had been further restored between Michelle and Elsa-May.

  Michelle was the last to leave, and as Ettie walked her to the door, she took the opportunity to ask more about Stacey. “Michelle, did Stacey, our neighbor, say anything else to you when you met her that day?”

  “Hmm.” Michelle’s gaze turned upward to the ceiling. “Jah, she did. She talked about life and whether Gott punishes. She asked me what I thought.”

  “And what did you say?”

  “I told her He sifts the wheat from the chaff.”

  “Did she say why she was asking?”

  Michelle shook her head. “Not that I remember. Do you think it has something to do with her husband’s murder?”

  “I don’t think so. I was just curious, that’s all.”

  That night as the sisters were going to bed, Ettie went into their kitchen and put out the light. She was in the process of pulling down the blind over the sink when a flicker of light caught her eye. She squinted then, and was sure there was a light emanating out of one of the windows in Stacey’s house. “Elsa-May, what’s that?”

  Elsa-May took two steps in the dark to stand next to her. “That’s someone with a flashlight inside the Charmers’ house. I can see that even without my glasses.”

  “Who would it be? If Stacey was home, she’d just turn on the lights. She’s not home—her car’s not there.”

  “She’d still be in jail
, arrested, since she’d turned herself in. Who is it? And why are they there?” Elsa-May peered out the window.

  Ettie pulled her mouth to one side. “They might be looking for a clue to the murder, something hidden within the house. The police would come in daylight. And if not, they'd have no reason to avoid turning on a light. It’s not them. What should we do?”

  Elsa-May shook her head. “I don’t know. We could run down to the phone in the shanty and call Kelly.”

  “Elsa-May, neither of us can run.”

  “That’s true. What was I thinking? We’ll have to see who it is for ourselves. You were always suggesting that I go over and peep in their windows with you; now I say yes. Let’s go.”

  Ettie shook her head. Now was the worst time to do anything like that. “That was only when I thought he’d killed her, not now that there might actually be a murderer in the house. I haven’t survived this long only to be killed. I was hoping to die in my sleep.”

  “Stop complaining, Ettie. Are you coming with me or not?”

  “Nee and you shouldn’t go either.”

  “I’m going.” She looked down at herself. “Just as well I’m still in my day clothes. We’ve got to find out what’s happening over there and how else are we going to know? We’ll regret it if we let this opportunity pass. I’d reckon it’s the person Stacey’s protecting and when they go they’ll be gone and we’ll never know who it was.”

  Ettie pulled on Elsa-May’s sleeve. “It’s safer if we don’t.”

  “We might be able to save Stacey from going to jail if she didn’t do it.” Elsa-May stared at Ettie. “I’ll go by myself. Keep the lights off, so we don’t alert them that we’ve seen them.”

  “Okay.”

  “Come along, would you?”

  “Nee. I’ll stay here. It’s too dangerous.”

  “Suit yourself. I’ll go alone.” Elsa-May set off out the door and then a few seconds later, Ettie changed her mind. She couldn’t let her sister go alone, so she followed her as quietly as she could. Just as Elsa-May had her hand outstretched to open their gate, Ettie tapped Elsa-May on the shoulder. Elsa-May jumped and then swung around. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

  “Shh. I decided to come with you,” Ettie whispered.

  Elsa-May put her hand over her heart. “Follow close, then.”

  As they shuffled in the pitch blackness toward their neighbor’s house, through one of the windows of Stacey’s house they saw another flicker of light. They were just past the fence line when they heard the Charmers’ front door squeak open. Ettie pulled Elsa-May back and they crouched down and knelt behind the bushes that separated the front of the Charmers’ property from theirs.

  Quietly huddled on the ground, they saw a man run past them heading down the road. In the dark, Ettie had a fairly good look at him. He wore a hooded jacket with the hood pulled low to cover most of his face. He was tall, too tall to be a woman in men's clothing. When he was out of sight, they heard a car start. Ettie half stood and in the distance saw the headlights of the car as it moved away. Ettie stood fully and then helped Elsa-May to her feet.

  “Did you recognize him?” Elsa-May asked.

  “Nee, did you?”

  “It could’ve been the son, but it was too dark to see.”

  Ettie took a deep breath to calm her nerves. “That’s what I thought. He seemed young and agile by the speed at which he moved.”

  “Dash it all! I wish we’d got a better look at him and we might’ve if we’d been faster out of the haus.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. We would’ve come face to face with him. We both might be lying dead right now if I we’d left the house a few seconds earlier. It's true we might have gotten a good look, but it would have been our last look this side of heaven.”

  Elsa-May started walking home. “We should call Kelly, and he could get the place fingerprinted.”

  Ettie shuddered. “I’m too scared to go to the shanty now to call him. That man might come back.”

  “It’s just down the road, Ettie.”

  Ettie frowned at Elsa-May. “You go then.”

  “Not alone I won’t.”

  “We’ll go first thing in the morning.”

  “Okay,” Elsa-May agreed.

  Ettie stopped still and looked back at the Charmers’ house. “Whoever it was must’ve known Stacey was in jail and not coming home.”

  “Many people would know that. Even the reporters knew she confessed to killing him. It wouldn’t be hard to find out if she was still in jail.” Elsa-May pushed their gate open. “If she is guilty, maybe she sent someone back to hide some evidence.”

  “That makes no sense. She confessed to it, so she wouldn’t be worried about evidence. Anyway, she had plenty of time to hide things.”

  “Oh, that’s true. Then I don’t know what to think.” Elsa-May pushed on their front door and turned back to Ettie. “Did you leave the door unlocked?”

  “Jah, we always do.”

  “Not anymore we don’t. From now on, we lock it. All right?”

  “Okay, suits me fine. But then we'll have to remember to carry the key with us.”

  Once they were inside the house, they double checked all the doors and windows to make sure they were locked. Then, too scared to sleep alone, Ettie slept in Elsa-May’s bed until her sister’s snoring became unbearable. In the early hours of the morning, Ettie forced herself to be brave and went back to her own room.

  Chapter 15

  Ettie only had a light sleep and was glad when the morning light streamed through her window. She changed into her clothes, then walked into the kitchen. Elsa-May was nowhere about, so Ettie put the teakettle on the stove and sat down to wait for Elsa-May to wake. Just as she was in the middle of brewing her first pot of hot tea for the day, Elsa-May staggered into the kitchen yawning with Snowy close by her side.

  “Did you sleep well?” Ettie asked, remembering Elsa-May’s snoring blitz.

  “I didn’t sleep a wink. How about you?”

  A giggle escaped Ettie’s lips. “I tried to sleep but you wouldn’t stop snoring. I ended up going back to my room.”

  Elsa-May frowned. “I was snoring?”

  “Jah.”

  “Are you sure it wasn’t Snowy? He snores a lot.”

  “He was snoring too, but not as loud as you.”

  Elsa-May raised her eyebrows. “I never knew I snored.”

  “That’s because you’re always asleep when you do it.”

  “I must’ve had some sleep then, but I don’t feel like I have. It was such a shock, what happened last night. As soon as we have breakfast we’ll phone Kelly and tell him what we saw.”

  “Agreed. I wonder what’s happened to Stacey.” Before Elsa-May could comment, Ettie spoke again. “The other brother wasn’t at Greville’s funeral. His younger brother who was said to be in college.”

  “That’s true. Nothing much has been said about him. Kelly will be able to tell us.”

  “Hmm.” Ettie poured Elsa-May a cup of tea. “He’s not being very forthcoming these days.” Ettie sliced bread for toast, and then popped some slices under the griller.

  “Once we tell him what happened last night then we’ll ask him about the younger brother. For all we know it could’ve been the younger brother there last night.”

  “Could’ve been any one.” Ettie sat down and drank her tea while she waited for the toast to brown.

  After breakfast, Elsa-May had just snapped the lead onto Snowy’s collar before they headed to the phone down the road when a loud knock sounded on their door. Snowy jumped up onto his hind legs, bounded for one step, and then strained at the leash trying to get to the visitor.

  “That's Kelly now by the way Snowy’s carrying on. He saved us a walk.” While Elsa-May unclipped the leash and put Snowy out the back, Ettie opened the door. Sure enough, it was Detective Kelly.

  “Good morning, I have something to tell you,” he said.

  “Come in. We have
something to tell you, too.”

  His eyebrows shot up, as he walked to the living room, just as Elsa-May hurried back to her chair.

  “Sit down. Would you like some coffee?” Ettie asked.

  “No thank you. I'm trying to cut down.” He patted his stomach. “I’ve already had coffee and a doughnut this morning.” Detective Kelly sat down on the chair opposite the couch and then looked at the two ladies. “What is it you have to tell me?”

  Elsa-May cleared her throat. “There was someone in the house next door last night.”

  “It was late, about ten o'clock, and they had a flashlight,” Ettie added.

  “Did you get a look at him?” Kelly asked.

  Ettie pushed out her lips. “It's funny how you assume it was a man.”

  His eyes grew wide. “It was a woman?”

  “No.” Ettie shook her head. “We’re positive it was a man.”

  He clamped his lips together.

  “Elsa-May made me go outside with her. He passed us and we had to hide in the bushes.”

  His mouth fell open in shock. “That could’ve been very dangerous. You shouldn’t have gone outside.”

  “Do you think it was a reporter?” Elsa-May asked.

  Ettie added, “We can’t think who it could’ve been.”

  Kelly crossed one leg over the other. “Unless it was their son. Looking for something perhaps? If he wasn’t getting along with them, he wouldn’t want to ask if he’d left something at their house.”

  “Yes, the son. That could be right. We were just getting ready to call you because we were too scared to do it last night in the dark. We thought you could send your team in to have a look around and take some fingerprints.”

  Slowly, he nodded. “We’ll see. Are you sure now? You both saw this fellow?”

  “We did!” Elsa-May insisted while Ettie nodded.

  Ettie knew that every time Kelly said, ‘we’ll see,’ it meant he probably wouldn’t.

  Elsa-May said, “Why have you come to see us today, Detective?”

  “Oh, yes. You said you a reason for this visit,” Ettie said.

  “It seems Greville had an extensive stocks portfolio, and just a tad over three hundred thousand in life insurance.”