Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 2 Read online

  Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set: Amish Murder Too Close: Amish Quilt Shop Mystery: Amish Baby Mystery

  Cozy Mysteries

  Samantha Price

  Copyright © 2020 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 book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The personal names have been invented by the author, and any likeness to the name of any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Contents

  Amish Murder Too Close

  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

  Chapter 26

  Amish Quilt Shop Mystery

  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

  Chapter 26

  Amish Baby Mystery

  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

  ETTIE SMITH AMISH MYSTERIES

  About Samantha Price

  Amish Murder Too Close

  Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Book 4

  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 book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The personal names have been invented by the author, and any likeness to the name of any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Chapter 1

  “Don't they make a lovely couple, Ettie?”

  When Ettie took a while to answer, Elsa-May dug her in the ribs.

  “Did you say something?” Ettie turned and stared at her sister.

  Elsa-May scoffed. “I'm not the one going deaf. I just said, ‘Don't you think they make a lovely couple?’”

  “Jah, they certainly do. A wunderbaar couple indeed, and who would have thought it—the girl who was leasing my grossdaddi haus and our Jeremiah?”

  Jeremiah was Elsa-May’s grandson and Ettie’s great-nephew.

  “We thought so, and that's why we had them to dinner a few times.” Elsa-May couldn’t stop a giggle that escaped from her lips, but she froze when the bishop peered at her.

  Both Ettie and Elsa-May looked back at the front of the room and remained straight-faced. They knew it was a pet peeve of the bishop that people were rude enough to whisper while he was talking. After a few more words from the bishop, Ava and Jeremiah were pronounced married. They gazed into each other’s eyes.

  Ettie tilted her head toward Elsa-May, and whispered, “There's nothing like young love.”

  “It’s so long ago, I’m barely able to remember it, but I think I enjoyed it at the time. The glow won’t last; after a few years of marriage, the glow wears off.”

  The two sisters hadn’t been that close when they were young wives and both busy with their own families. It was only after their children had grown and their husbands had died that they each sold her farm, and they bought a small house together, rediscovering an adult version of the closeness they’d had as children.

  Elsa-May noticed Ettie grimaced, so she quickly added, “Everybody knows that the bloom of new love fades, Ettie, and you can't pretend that your feelings stayed the same after you were married for years.”

  “I see what you're saying. That warm fuzzy feeling doesn't last, but it’s replaced by different feelings as husband and wife grow together.”

  Elsa-May rolled her eyes. “If that’s what you want to say. You’re sugar-coating things again.”

  “I don’t think I am. I’m just saying how things are to me.”

  Everyone around them stood and moved outside Ava’s parents’ house where the wedding had taken place.

  “Come on, we’d better head outside with the rest of them,” Elsa-May said in a firm tone.

  The elderly ladies walked outside and joined the crowd forming in the yard. Because the weather was fine, the meal after the wedding was to be held in the yard under large spreading trees. Ava and Jeremiah were already sitting down at the wedding table.

  “Shall we go over and talk with the happy couple?” Ettie asked.

  Glancing over, Elsa-May said, “Let other people talk with them. Let’s just sit down here for a moment.”

  After they sat, Ettie could see through to the kitchen where the women were bustling around preparing the food. “They consider us too old to help with the food these days.”

  “We’ve done enough of that in our time, so we are entitled to the rest,” Elsa-May said with a wide smile. “I don’t mind that the younger women are taking over what we used to do. It suits me to have a rest.”

  “I guess we’ve done our part,” Ettie agreed.

  “In a minute, we’ll get up and go and talk with people. I’ve seen so many people I haven’t seen in quite a while.”

  “Jah me too. Seems everyone’s come to the wedding.”

  “I wonder how Brandy will do at the open house,” Elsa-May said.

  Ettie had decided to sell the home her friend, Agatha, had willed her. Agatha had requested that Ettie allow Ava to stay on in the grossdaddi haus as long as she wished. Now that Ava was married to Jeremiah, that
left the grossdaddi haus vacant, or it would be as soon as Ava moved her things out.

  “We’ll find out tomorrow unless I call her tonight. She gave me her cell phone number. When the taxi takes us home, we could get the driver to stop at the phone down the road. Then I can phone her. A short walk from the shanty to the haus would do us both some good.”

  “We won’t be going home by taxi. I’m certain there will be someone here who can take us home. And besides, that’s not a long enough walk. Snowy and I go much further than that two times a day.”

  Ettie remained silent. Sometimes the best way to deal with Elsa-May’s older-sister bossiness was to do just that.

  “Anyway, I thought Brandy advised against an open house. Didn't she say people would be turned off that a body was under the haus for so long, and an open house would just attract time-wasters?”

  “Jah, you’re right. That's what she said originally, but then she said she’d send emails out to her investors. She’s sure one of them will snap the house up, and to make sure one of them did she had them all turn up at the one time to create competition. I think the open house is mainly for the investors.”

  Elsa-May laughed. “Sounds like something Brandy would do.”

  “She seems competent at what she does, don’t you think?”

  “Maybe. I do hope you get some decent money for it. Agatha would have wanted you to get something out of it.”

  “I miss Agatha.”

  “We all miss the people who are gone. Ever notice our friends are getting fewer and fewer? Ten years ago it would’ve been a whole different crowd here.”

  Ettie looked thoughtful and nodded. “We have to make friends with younger people. That’ll keep us lively and keep our brains ticking over.”

  “I guess that’s what we’ve had to do. Ava’s a good friend of ours now. And I think I have to thank you, Ettie, for getting me Snowy. Now, I’ve got no excuse not to go for a walk. He does love his walks.”

  “It wasn’t me who got him for you it was Bernie from next door.”

  “I guess that's right. I’ll thank him next time I see him. Bernie didn’t get the best welcome when he knocked on our front door with Snowy in his arms. He’s a cute dog, but I forgot how much work dogs are.” Elsa-May’s mouth remained in a thin straight line.

  “Snowy's not that much work, and it does give us something to do.”

  “Getting back to your haus, Ettie, I wonder if Ava will be happy living in the haus Jeremiah built for them.”

  “A brand-new house would be a pleasure to live in. He would’ve built it how she liked it; I’m certain about that. Still, I suppose Ava is a person who gets into the habit of things, and she loved living in the grossdaddi haus.”

  “And she had her stable right outside and a yard for her horse; everything was right there. I suppose part of the attraction of living near Agatha was independence from her parents. Most girls her age are married,” Elsa-May said.

  “Jeremiah has made sure everything is perfect. Elsa-May, I’ve just had a thought, when we leave here let’s go past the haus; the open house should be just about finished by the time we leave.”

  “Okay, let’s do that. I don’t want you to get your hopes up that the house will get sold quickly. I know Brandy sounds confident, but you have to remember she wasn’t enthusiastic about it at the beginning.”

  Ettie shrugged her shoulders. “It makes no matter to me. With the money Agatha left me it’s never cost me a dime to keep it. When I sell it, I’ll keep a little aside and divide the rest amongst my kinner.”

  “Still, it seems Brandy is telling you different things all the time. At one time she's doubtful about getting a sale quickly and another time she isn’t. You sure she's not just telling you what you want to hear?”

  “We’ll soon find out, won't we? She’s an experienced realtor; she's been doing it for years and years. From reports I’ve heard, she has a good reputation.”

  “She’s a sales person, and they tend to tell people what they want to hear. They’re trained to do so.”

  Ettie smiled. “When we get there, someone might be signing a contract.”

  “We’ll soon find out,” Elsa-May finally agreed.

  “Denke, Elsa-May, that will ease my mind. And if she’s already gone by the time we get there, I’ll call her later tonight.”

  Elsa-May nodded.

  Ettie looked up to the sky. “When I sold the farm I had my sons to help me with it all.”

  “They’re busy now with their own families. You can’t trouble them with simple things you can do for yourself.”

  “I know; I don’t like to bother them.”

  Chapter 2

  As the taxi got closer to Ettie’s house, she noticed only one car parked outside. “Looks like we’ve missed Brandy and the open house. I would’ve expected there to be signs directing people here, and there’s only the For Sale sign.”

  “Nee, she’s still here. Isn’t that Brandy’s car?”

  “That’s not her car. It’s the same color, but a different model. Hers is a new sports car and that one’s a sedan.”

  “I didn’t know you knew so much about cars, Ettie. I’d have to take your word for it, then. If it's not her car, then who would have such a fancy car in this neighborhood? And it’s parked right outside your haus.” Ettie saw horror spread over Elsa-May’s face as she rolled down the window, and yelled, “There’s someone lying beside the car.”

  The taxi driver stopped, and the three of them got out of the car and hurried to the woman who lay face down in the gutter.

  The driver reached her first. “I know first-aid.” He felt for a pulse.

  “Is it Brandy?” Elsa-May turned to Ettie.

  Ettie couldn’t speak and looked on as the taxi driver turned the woman over to feel her neck for a sign of life.

  The woman had blonde hair strewn over her face and underneath the hair, her face was a nasty color.

  “It’s not Brandy, but she looks an awful lot like her.”

  The taxi driver stated, “No pulse; she’s dead. I’ll call 911.”

  While he walked back to his car, Ettie and Elsa-May stood either side of the body staring down at the lifeless woman.

  “I wonder what she was doing here,” Ettie said.

  “You’re wondering what she was doing here and not who killed her?”

  Ettie remained silent while she stared at the woman. Then she glanced up at her house wondering if the woman had been there. Her gaze darted to a book two paces away closer to the house. After she had hurried to the book, she leaned down, being careful not to destroy any evidence. “Elsa-May, this is an open house list. She must be a realtor. It seems she worked for the same office as Brandy because the papers here have the same company name on them.”

  “She must be one of Brandy’s associates.”

  “It seems like it. Why don't we call Brandy to see what's going on?” Ettie suggested.

  “Good idea. I wonder if she saw anything.”

  “There’s one way to find out. We’ll call and see who the woman is, or was.”

  The taxi driver walked over to them. “I’ve called 911.” He wrote something on a slip of paper and handed it to them. “Here’s my number. The police will want to talk with me, but I can’t hang around here all day. I’ve got to make money; I’ve got five mouths to feed. Tell them to call me if you don’t mind.”

  Elsa-May nodded and looked down at the number now in her hands. “Do you think you might call a realtor for us? Her name is Brandy Winnie. Please tell her what’s happened.” Elsa-May pointed to the number on the For Sale sign.

  “Certainly,” he said. “I’ll call her from the car.”

  After he had driven away, Ettie and Elsa-May sat on the steps of the house waiting for the authorities.

  “See, this is what happens when you get old, Ettie. The driver didn't think we had anywhere better to be.”

  Ettie nodded. “That's right; he said he had mouths to feed. What if we had peo
ple relying on us to do something or other? When you’re old like us, people don't think you’ve got anybody relying on you. We’re supposed to rely on other people.”

  “Jah, you’re right.”

  Ettie looked at the body in front of them. “Such a waste of a young life. I wonder if she had children, a husband or a family. If she wasn't married, she’d most likely have sisters and brothers and other people who’ll miss her.”

  “Did you see those marks on her neck?”

  Ettie nodded. “Strangled.”

  “I thought so too, but I wonder why someone would’ve done that?”

  “Did you see the third finger of her left hand?” Ettie asked.

  “I noticed. That’s where the Englischers wear their wedding rings.”

  “It must be significant that the third finger on her left hand is red and swollen. Someone’s pulled her ring off.”

  “Wedding ring—a token of affection,” Elsa-May said.