Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 3 Page 16

  “And yet here you are now, both living in the same house. You didn't write to me and ask me if I wanted to move here too. And don't say the place is too small. We could've all moved into a bigger haus."

  "I think your husband was still alive at the time when Elsa-May and I moved here."

  Florence said, “All the same, it would’ve been nice to have the offer."

  Ettie didn’t know what to say, but saw that Elsa-May rolled her eyes.

  Ettie blew out a deep breath. There was no pleasing some people.

  Ava walked back into the house and came into the kitchen just in time to put an end to that topic.

  "What is it, Ava? You look distressed."

  Ava slumped down into the kitchen chair. "I've just got a lot going on lately."

  "Did you find someone to drive us there tomorrow?" Florence asked.

  "Jah, my friend, Holly. She said she’d do it."

  "Oh, that's great."

  "What time did you make it?" Ettie asked.

  "I asked her to be here at nine o'clock. I mean, I asked her to come to my house at nine and then from there we'll come here to collect you three. Will that be all right? She doesn't wake up very early; she's gotten into a late routine since she hasn't got a job."

  "I think that will be fine."

  "We don't have to be there at any particular time."

  "Now, what has you so flustered, Ava?"

  "It's just that Jeremiah doesn't like me doing things like this and I don't like lying to him."

  "What would you have to lie about?"

  Ava gave a little giggle. "I don't know what I'm saying. I don't lie to my husband, but he's very single-minded about things."

  "You mean closed-minded?" Florence asked.

  Ettie and Elsa-May laughed.

  Ettie said, "I think you've got it right there, Florence."

  "He's just very intent on doing the right thing and that's one of the things I love most about him. Well, I better get home and break the news to him that I'll be spending the day with you tomorrow."

  "Surely he'll be alright about that, won’t he?" Ettie asked.

  "Jah, I think he'll be fine."

  "It's not as though we’re going to be doing anything wrong or anything against the Ordnung," Florence said.

  "Jah, I know that. I'll see you all tomorrow then."

  Ettie walked Ava to the door. “We can forget the whole thing if something’s bothering you.”

  “Nee, it’s not that. I’m just a little tired and still adjusting to being married.”

  “Ah! Compromising.”

  “I guess that’s what it is. Jeremiah and I are very different.”

  “You were older than most in the community when you got married. You’ve done a lot of things and you’ve lived by yourself. Most Amish women would have only lived with their families, and gone from there to being married. You've got your own ways now. There will be a time of adjustment.”

  Ava nodded. “I guess you’re right. We have to learn to compromise on things.”

  “You do.”

  “Gut nacht, Ettie.”

  “Gut nacht, Ava.”

  Ettie leaned against the door and watched Ava get into her buggy. When Ava was seated, she waved to Ettie and Ettie waved back. It was nice to have a young friend to remind her of what it was to be young. When Ava drove away, Ettie re-joined the others.

  “Did your friend not want to do it? Is that why she had a sad face?" Florence asked.

  “Nee, she’s fine,” Ettie insisted.

  Chapter 14

  Ettie woke up on the couch the next morning to Snowy licking her face.

  “Get off!” She pushed Snowy away and when she sat up, she placed him on the floor.

  Elsa-May walked toward her. "What's the matter?"

  "Snowy! He was licking my face."

  Elsa-May giggled. "Sorry about that. Do you want me to have him sleep outside tonight?"

  "Nee, because tomorrow morning Florence will be sleeping here." Ettie chuckled.

  "That's mean,” Elsa-May said.

  "I thought I was being kind to Snowy letting him sleep inside.”

  Elsa-May said, “I know what you're playing at."

  "What time is it?"

  "It's still early. We've got a couple of hours before Ava’s friend gets here."

  "Is Florence awake?"

  "She's snoring her head off."

  After Ettie had pulled on her robe, she headed to the kitchen to boil a pot of water for her usual morning cup of hot tea.

  "Would you like pancakes for breakfast?" Elsa-May asked.

  "I'd love some," Ettie said.

  "Should we let Florence sleep or should we wake her up?"

  "Let her sleep while she’s in my bed. The couch isn’t that good.”

  "I thought you said it wasn't too bad."

  "You can't spread out, other than that, it's alright." Ettie whispered to Elsa-May, “The only reason Florence thinks that the boy is innocent is because she was once in love with his grandfather."

  Elsa-May whispered back, “It's a very real possibility he might be guilty. And I think we have to keep that in mind."

  Ettie nodded. She had been swayed by her sister convincing her that Dustin was innocent, but the reality was, that Florence hardly knew this boy. The relationship that she’d once had with the young man’s grandfather... Ettie bit her lip when she remembered that the grandfather had been convicted of murder. A murder that Florence refused to tell them about!

  While Elsa-May cracked eggs for the pancake batter, Ettie stared off into the distance wondering why Florence was being so secretive. If she wanted their help, the least she could do was to be forthright with them.

  Elsa-May whisked the pancake mixture with a wooden spoon. "Ettie, the water’s boiling."

  "Oh, that didn't take long. Cup of tea?"

  "Jah, I will thank you."

  "I'd like to find out more about the murder Morrie was convicted of."

  "Why? Do you think that has something to do with his grandson?"

  "I don't know; it just makes me uneasy that Florence isn’t telling us about it."

  "She might simply think it's none of our business. Which it really isn’t.”

  “What are you two whispering about?”

  They looked behind them to see Florence.

  “You’re awake!” Elsa-May said.

  “We just didn’t want to wake you,” Ettie said. “Tea?”

  “Jah, denke.” Florence pulled her dressing gown tighter around her and sank down onto one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

  “Are you okay with pancakes for breakfast?” Elsa-May asked Florence.

  “That’s fine. Everything’s okay. Are we late?”

  “Nee, we’ve got plenty of time.”

  “Gut!”

  “How was the bed?”

  “It was fine. Better than the couch.”

  When Ettie placed a cup of hot tea in front of Florence, she had to bite down on the inside of her lip to stop herself from asking questions about Morrie. She reminded herself to wait for a better time.

  “That’ll be Ava!” Ettie called out from her room later that morning when she heard a knock on the door. She had just placed her prayer kapp on her head over her fastened braids. Because Ettie had been left to do the washing up, she was the last to be ready. She tied her apron around her waist, and hurried out to join the others.

  “Hi, Ettie. They’re getting in the car,” Ava said.

  It appeared Ava was the only one in the house.

  “Is there room for all of us?”

  “Jah, there’s plenty of room.”

  Ettie closed the front door behind them and headed to the car. Her sisters were involved in a discussion outside the car.

  “I’ll get in first,” Elsa-May said.

  “Nee, that’ll mean I’ll be in the middle,” Florence said, placing her hands firmly on her hips.

  “Someone has to be in the middle,” Elsa-May said
while sliding into the car.

  Florence turned and looked at Ettie. “You get in next, Ettie.”

  “Nee, I don’t want to sit in the middle either.” Ettie saw that Elsa-May was now sitting smugly by the far window.

  “Neither do I.”

  “I’ll sit in the middle,” Ava offered. “One of you can sit in the front.

  “Nee, Ava, you sit in the front with your friend, I’ll sit in the middle.” Ettie got into the car and when they were all in with the doors closed, Ava got into the front seat and introduced them to her friend.

  “It’s very good of you to do this, Holly,” Elsa-May said.

  “I’m happy to do it.”

  Florence handed over some money. “This should cover the gas.”

  “Thank you.” Holly took the money and put it in the glove box. “Buckle up.” Holly turned and looked at them.

  “We’re all buckled up,” Florence said.

  Ettie looked at Florence. “You haven’t done yours.”

  Florence glared at Ettie while fumbling for her seat belt strap. “I was just about to do it. You’ll have to move over so I can clip it in.”

  Ettie moved closer to Elsa-May while Florence clipped her seat belt on.

  “We all good now?” Holly asked looking in the rear-view mirror.

  “Yes,” Florence said.

  “Do you know how to get there, Holly?” Ettie asked.

  “Yes, I’ve got GPS.”

  Ettie raised her eyebrows wondering what she was talking about. Ava turned around and explained to the three elderly sisters what GPS was while they drove off.

  “How long will it take?” Florence asked.

  “According to the GPS, we’ll be there in one hour and twenty minutes,” Holly said.

  “Good, that’s not too far,” Ettie said.

  Chapter 15

  With some unexpected slow traffic holding them up, they eventually arrived at Reginald and Linda Gandara’s house one hour and fifty-five minutes later.

  “Ava, you and Holly stay in the car. We don’t know what we’ll be facing,” Elsa-May said.

  Ava frowned. “Are you going to be in danger?”

  “No, these people are my friends,” Florence insisted.

  When Florence and Elsa-May got out of the car, Ettie leaned over, and asked in a quiet voice, “Have you got a mobile phone, Holly?”

  “Yes, I have.”

  Ettie tapped Ava on her shoulder. “Don’t hesitate to call 911 if something looks odd.”

  “You can’t do this…”

  “We’ll be okay. I’m just saying that as a precaution.” Ettie got out of the car to join her sisters.

  Elsa-May and Florence stood together at the front door while Ettie stayed behind them. Florence pressed the doorbell and within seconds the door was flung open.

  “Oh, my golly! It’s you, Florence!” An elderly lady leaned forward and kissed Florence on each cheek.

  Ettie knew it must be Linda, but somehow she’d been expecting someone younger. She had fair hair that fell about her shoulders in waves. It was a style appropriate to someone younger, in Ettie’s opinion.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Hello, Linda. These are two of my sisters.”

  Once everyone was introduced, Linda said, “Come inside. I couldn’t believe it when I looked out the window and saw Amish women. Then I thought one of them might be you, Florence. Is everything okay?”

  “Everything’s fine. I’m here to ask you a couple of questions.”

  She laughed. “Sounds ominous. Come and sit down.”

  Ettie remained silent and sat down with the rest of them.

  “Where’s Reginald?” Florence asked when she'd sat.

  “He’s out of town at a friend’s funeral. I didn’t want to go, so I stayed home.”

  “Linda, I’ll be blunt and come right to the point of the visit. Two of the times you visited me, two people were killed in armed holdups and my gun was used. I’m thinking that Reginald took the gun from under my bed, and used it in these robberies and killed those two people. The police know all about it.”

  “The police know? What do they know?”

  “It’s only a matter of time before they knock on your door,” Elsa-May said.

  “People were killed?” Linda asked, looking shocked.

  “On each occasion, one person was killed making two in total,” Elsa-May said.

  Linda shook her head as tears came to her eyes. “I didn’t know anyone was killed.”

  “You knew about the robberies, though?” Elsa-May asked.

  “Yes, I did. Oh, this is awful. We were so broke.” She looked at Elsa-May, and asked, “Have you ever been broke?”

  Elsa-May nodded. “I have—very much so.”

  Linda continued, “We hadn’t been that short of money for literally years. It’s an awful feeling.”

  “I thought you were wealthy. You’ve got that huge campervan and everything,” Florence said.

  “We’ve got many debts. We don’t own the van. We needed the money. He said he knew an easy way to get money and it wouldn’t be traced back to us. At first, I didn’t know how he got the money, but I knew he most likely stole it from somewhere. It was only a few hundred dollars a time. Later on, he told me he stole the money from places that didn’t have CCTV cameras.”

  “I think he must’ve been wrong about that,” Ettie said.

  “You haven’t had a visit from the police yet?” Elsa-May asked.

  Linda gasped and her eyes widened. “He’s been caught on tape? Do you think that’s how they know he did it?”

  Elsa-May persisted. “The police haven’t come to arrest him yet?”

  “No, they haven’t.”

  “If you come forward and tell the police, they’ll go easy on you, I’m sure,” Elsa-May said. “But you might have to get in first and tell them about your husband. I think that’s how it works.”

  “Do you think so? What will happen to him?” Linda asked.

  Ettie was pretty sure Linda knew exactly what had gone on even though she claimed to have no knowledge of the murders—only the robberies.

  “They’ll most likely go easier if you come forward and admit everything you know,” Elsa-May said. “It’s only a matter of time before they arrest him, and maybe you too.”

  “You could be charged as an accessory to murder and covering up a crime—two crimes,” Ettie said.

  “Why don’t we call our Detective Kelly and have him work some things out?” Elsa-May suggested.

  “Yes, Linda, my sisters have a good friend who is a detective. He’ll help you.”

  Linda nodded. “Thank you. I appreciate you going to all this trouble for me. I can’t believe he killed two people. I had no idea. You believe me, don’t you, Florence?”

  “If that’s what you say, then I believe you,” Florence said.

  “I didn’t know. I only knew about the gun and that he wanted to use it to get money.”

  “How did you know that Florence had a gun?” Ettie asked.

  “Reginald found out from his brother.”

  “Did you have my house burned down?” Florence asked, now frowning.

  “What? I didn’t even know your house was burned down. How could you think I could do such a thing?”

  Florence shook her head. “I don’t know what to think any more. The gun was missing—it wasn’t found after the house burned down. The firemen said that it wouldn’t have been destroyed and it wasn’t found.”

  “I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

  “Another thing you mightn’t know, seeing you haven’t mentioned it since we’ve been here, is that Dustin has been arrested,” Florence said.

  “Yes, we heard about it.”

  Ettie stared at Linda. She didn’t seem too upset that her husband’s grandnephew was in prison. Ettie stood up. “Can I get myself a glass of water?”

  “Yes, of course. The kitchen is straight down there.”

  Ettie
had suddenly remembered about Dustin’s brother—the missing twin. Since Darrin was also related to Reginald Gandara, there was a chance he might have been staying with him and Linda.

  Chapter 16

  Before Ettie entered the kitchen, she looked around for any signs that Darrin might be staying in the house. She looked back over her shoulder to see Linda busily talking to her sisters.

  Trying to be as quick and quiet as she could, Ettie climbed the stairs. When she got to the top, she peeped into each bedroom. In one of the rooms, the bed was unmade, there was a small television on a table by the bed, and a laptop computer was plugged into the wall. They certainly have someone staying with them, Ettie thought.

  Ettie went back down the stairs and joined the others.

  “She’s agreed to let us call Detective Kelly,” Elsa-May said to Ettie.

  “Yes, but I must make a phone call first,” Linda said standing up and reaching for her mobile phone on the coffee table.

  Ettie sat down. There was nothing they could do to stop Linda from making that call. Was she calling her husband to warn him and tell him to make a run for it, or telling her grandnephew not to come back to the house?

  Linda walked out of the room to make the call.

  Elsa-May glanced out the window. “I hope Ava and her friend don’t mind waiting in the car.”

  “They’ll be fine,” Florence said.

  Ettie leaned forward and told Elsa-May that there was a possibility that Darrin was staying in the house.

  “What?” Florence asked.

  Elsa-May leaned over and whispered what Ettie had just told her.

  Five minutes later, Linda sat back down. “Okay, call this detective you know.” Linda passed her phone to Ettie who handed it to Elsa-May.

  “You call him, Elsa-May.”

  “I don’t know his number off the top of my head.”

  Ettie told her the number and after Elsa-May had pressed the numbers into the phone, she stood. When she got through to the detective, she told him where they were and that Linda Gandara had some vital information to tell him about her husband and the gun that had been kept at Florence’s house.

  When Elsa-May ended the call, she sat back down.