Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 3 Read online

  Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries 3 Books-in-1

  Betrayed: Amish False Witness: Amish Barn Murders

  Samantha Price

  Copyright © 2016 by Samantha Price

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Scripture quotations from The Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.

  This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Contents

  Amish Mystery: Betrayed

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Amish False Witness

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Amish Barn Murders

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  ETTIE SMITH AMISH MYSTERIES

  About Samantha Price

  Amish Mystery: Betrayed

  Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Book 7

  Copyright © 2016 by Samantha Price

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Scripture quotations from The Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.

  This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Chapter 1

  “Glen.”

  Elsa-May turned away from the pancakes she was cooking to look at her sister. “What did you say, Ettie?”

  “I said ‘Glen.’ It’s a man’s name and I think it also means a forest or woodland.”

  Elsa-May’s brow furrowed deeply as she continued to stare at her sister. “Who cares?”

  “Anyone with the name of Glen would care.”

  “Why are you prattling on about the name ‘Glen’? Do you know anyone by that name?”

  “Nee.”

  Elsa-May huffed and turned back to the pancakes. “To be accurate, a glen is more of a ravine or a valley.”

  Breathing out her own huff of air, Ettie knew her sister was unable to refrain from correcting people so she let her words pass without comment. “What shall we do today?”

  “Why don't you ask Glen what he's doing?”

  "I don't know anybody called Glen, I just told you that."

  Elsa-May chuckled. "What do you feel like doing?"

  "I just want to get out of the haus and enjoy the sunshine. Should we go and visit someone? And don't say 'Glen.'"

  "We could visit Ava and see what they’ve done with your old haus."

  "Why don't we go and visit someone we haven't seen in some time?"

  Elsa-May flipped a pancake over. "This one’s nearly ready. Well, hmm, let's see. We could go and visit Paula, the new woman."

  "I suppose we could. I haven't seen her for a few weeks; I wonder if she's alright."

  "We haven't heard that she’s sick or anything.” Elsa-May placed a pancake on a plate and handed it to Ettie.

  "Denke, Elsa-May. This looks mighty good.”

  "Start now; don't wait for me." Elsa-May had turned back toward the stove and hadn’t noticed that Ettie had already poured syrup and started right in.

  "Paula—didn't she have her Englischer bruder visiting her recently?"

  "Jah. A couple of weeks ago; it could've been two or it could've been three. I haven't seen her since then."

  Ettie said, "I do hope she is okay. Surely other people would’ve checked on her.”

  "I don't know why we didn't think to visit her sooner. She could be lying in bed sick."

  “Or maybe she’s left us already,” Ettie suggested.

  “Surely not. She’s been in the community about nine months now, or is it longer than that?”

  “It must be nearly a year now.”

  “Remember Sheila Hanks and her familye?” Elsa-May asked.

  “Jah. They were in the community for a year and then left just as suddenly as they had arrived.”

  “Not everyone’s the same, Ettie. I’m just saying that you can’t tell. We’ll visit her, but you’ll have to wait until I take Snowy for a walk.”

  "Haven't you done that already?” Ettie asked.

  Elsa-May frowned. "I woke up and came straight out here, and made the breakfast. When exactly do you think I would’ve found the time? I normally go right after I eat.”

  “I was only asking a question."

  "It won't take long. You can come with us."

  Ettie scoffed at the idea. "This is the only peace I get from you two all day. I thought I’d missed my break today, but now I’ll be awake to enjoy it. Off you go."

  "How about I eat my pancakes first? Is that alright with you?" Elsa-May loaded pancake on her fork.

  Ettie giggled. "If you must. I’ll clean the dishes while you're walking the dog and then we can leave right away."

  "Snowy! Not ‘the dog.’"

  Ettie rolled her eyes. "Okay ‘Snowy’—who just happens to be a dog."

  Elsa-May and Snowy had been gone for fifteen minutes and Ettie had just finished straightening up the kitchen when a knock sounded on the front door. Silly old girl locked the door on herself. “Why did you lock…” Ettie opened the door, but instead of Elsa-May and Snowy, it was Detective Kelly. “Oh, it’s you!”

  “Nice to see you too, Mrs. Smith.”

  “I was expecting Elsa-May.”

  “Does she usual
ly knock on her own door, or did you two have another spat and you locked her out?”

  “Not at all. She’s walking Snowy, and when I heard the knock I thought she’d locked herself out.”

  “Ah, yes, I just passed her and the dog down the road.”

  “You mustn't call him ‘the dog’ in front of Elsa-May—it's Snowy." Ettie chuckled, but when the detective’s face didn't crack a smile, she cleared her throat. “You’d better come in. I take it this isn’t a social visit?”

  “I’m afraid it’s not.”

  “Come in and sit down."

  “Thank you.” When he'd sat down, he continued, “Something's happened. There's been a brutal attack on a young Amish woman. That’s why I’m here.”

  “Who? Not Paula Peters?"

  The detective’s eyebrows flew upward. "How did you know?"

  “It’s Paula?”

  “Yes!”

  A breathless Elsa-May hurried through the door with Snowy, and Ettie and Detective Kelly turned to look at her.

  “Detective Kelly, I saw your car. What is it? Is anything wrong?"

  Ettie spoke before the detective could. "Quick come in and sit down. You'll never believe what Detective Kelly just told me. There's been a death and we were just talking about the person only moments ago."

  Elsa-May gasped and covered her mouth. "Not Glen?"

  "Of course not Glen! We’ve established that we don't know anybody called Glen."

  Not wanting to be wrong, Elsa-May added, “Well, we were just talking about him."

  “And the fact that he doesn’t exist.”

  Detective Kelly frowned and looked between the two of them.

  Elsa-May said, "You're just trying to make me look silly in front of the detective."

  "I wouldn't do that! I don't know what you're talking about.”

  Detective Kelly raised his hand in the air. "Is it too early to drink?"

  "Not at all. I'll make you a nice cup of hot tea." Ettie pushed herself to her feet.

  "Don’t trouble yourself. That's not the drink I was thinking of.”

  Ettie sat back down. “Put the dog outside, Elsa-May, and when you’re sitting down I’ll tell you what's just happened."

  “The young woman’s not dead, Ettie.”

  “She’s not? I thought you said she was.”

  “Who are we talking about?” Elsa-May asked, still standing there. “Wait! I’ll put Snowy outside.” When Elsa-May returned, she sat down and stared at Kelly. “Okay, continue.”

  “I was just telling Ettie that Paula Peters, a woman from your community was brutally attacked and left for dead.”

  “We were just going to visit her today,” Elsa-May said.

  “She’s not dead?” Ettie asked Kelly.

  “No, she was brutally attacked is what I said, I never told you she was dead. And I’m afraid, Elsa-May, she won’t be getting any visitors for some time. She’s in the hospital in critical condition and may not pull through.”

  “That’s dreadful. What happened?” Ettie asked.

  “We know what happened but we don’t know who. That’s why I’m here.

  I need your help once more, Mrs. Smith.”

  “Okay, I’ll help if I can.”

  “What do you know about Ms. Peters?” he asked.

  “She’s only been in our community for at most twelve months. I don’t know much about her past before she joined us. All I heard is that her family is wealthy and they were dreadfully upset that she came to us. I know she has a brother because I heard he had visited her recently. When she first came to join our community, the bishop placed her with the Lapp family.”

  “Yes,” Elsa-May joined in, “she stayed with the Lapps for three months and then she bought her own place.”

  “She’s single?”

  “Yes, single.”

  “We thought from her house that she was, since there was no evidence of anyone else living there. I haven’t spoken to the neighbors yet. I came here as soon as I could. I’ve got officers interviewing everyone in the street to see if anyone saw or heard anything.”

  “She probably wouldn’t have remained single for long because there were a few men interested in her, I’m certain. She’s a looker.”

  “Ettie means she’s an attractive young woman.”

  “Yes, I gathered that. I’ll need the names of any young men who were keeping company with her; also anyone who took an interest in her. She would’ve formed some close relationships within the community I assume?”

  Ettie nodded. “We’ll see what we can find out.”

  “Did she work?” Kelly asked.

  Ettie opened her mouth to reply.

  The detective said, “No; don’t tell me now. Can you come down to the station this afternoon? I’ll have more information by then and we can work out how best to approach things. I’ve got the evidence technicians at Paula’s house right now.”

  “Ettie and I were going out today, so we’d be happy to stop by the station later in the day.”

  “Good.” The detective rose to his feet.

  “Can’t we visit Paula in the hospital?” Elsa-May asked.

  “She’s unconscious and in critical condition. We’ve got an officer stationed by her door. There are strictly no visitors allowed until she regains consciousness. And she’ll have to speak with me before anyone else.”

  “Not even the bishop? Can’t he visit?”

  “No, Ettie.” He scratched his head. “We’ll see what we can arrange. Come to think of it, you could give me the bishop’s address. He might be able to help me with a number or address for her family.”

  “Yes, of course. I’ll write it out for you.”

  While Ettie was writing the address out, Elsa-May walked him toward the door. “Do you have any idea at all who might have done this?” Elsa-May asked.

  “We found some evidence, but it won’t mean anything until we find out whose it is.”

  “That sounds intriguing. What kind of evidence?”

  “A piece of jewelry, a locket on a chain, that must’ve been pulled off in the struggle.”

  “Struggle?” Elsa-May asked.

  “Poor Paula. I hope she’ll be okay.” Ettie joined them and handed the address of the bishop to Detective Kelly.

  “You could pray for her,” Kelly said quietly. “The news I’ve heard is that she might not pull through.”

  “We’ll be praying for her,” Elsa-May said.

  “We’ll see you later this afternoon, Detective.”

  He nodded. “Yes, I’ll see you then.”

  Elsa-May closed the door and turned to Ettie. “He seemed distracted.”

  “He’s probably just upset. It must be hard to be faced with tragedy and upheaval every day.”

  Ettie nodded. “I keep telling him he needs to take a break. He works far too hard.”

  “What’s your plan for today?”

  “Why don’t we stop by Paula’s haus?”

  “Okay, but Kelly said there were forensic people all over her home. They’ll have taped it off and we won’t be allowed near it.”

  Ettie pushed her lips together. “I think we need to start there. Even if we can’t get in.”

  Elsa-May shrugged. “Okay, if that’s what you want to do.”

  “I wonder who would want to hurt her.”

  “Could she have been escaping a dark past? Is that why she joined our community?”

  “You could be right.”

  “We need to talk with the people who knew her before she came here, as well as the new friends she’s made.”

  “We’ve got a big day ahead of us.”

  Chapter 2

  “Did Detective Kelly say there was a locket found?” Ettie asked Elsa-May.

  “Jah, a locket, which is jewelry. Women wear lockets with the photo, or the hair, of a loved one inside.”

  “I know what a locket is, Elsa-May. So the detective must think a woman attacked her?”

  “Yes, unless it was Paula’s k
eepsake and got ripped off her neck in the struggle.”

  “She wouldn’t have brought anything with her like that from her old life. She would’ve had to put her old life behind her.”

  Elsa-May leaned forward. “She might have, except for the locket.”

  “It’ll be easy enough for the detective to find out who owns it if there’s a photo inside the locket.”

  “That’s true. I do hope Paula will be okay.”

  “We didn’t even ask Kelly how she was found—I mean, who found her. She lives alone. I wonder if someone visited her just like we were going to visit her today.”

  “That’s one of the questions we can ask when we see him this afternoon.”

  “Come on, Ettie, let's go."

  "I'm ready." The two women hurried down the road to the shanty that housed the telephone used by the residents on their street, and Ettie called for a taxi.

  While they waited for the taxi, Elsa-May said, "Are you sure we should go to Paula's haus?"

  Ettie nodded emphatically.

  "They'll have tape across the place and the forensic people might still be in there looking for things. You know how long they take. They’ll be there all day and half the night."