Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Box Set 6 Read online

  Elsa-May was gone for some time and came back with a plate of sandwiches for them. Ettie had hoped she was fixing them some food rather than sulking in the kitchen. Once Elsa-May sat back down, she said, “Don’t you find that a little odd?”

  Ettie took a sandwich. “What’s that?”

  “The whole thing. The name change, killing the brother, the son denying visiting the uncle and all of it.” Elsa-May bit into her corned beef and pickle sandwich.

  “Even Kelly is perplexed about the whole thing. I’ve never seen him looking so worried.”

  When they heard scratching on the back door, they realized they’d left Snowy outside and had locked the dog door. “I’ll let him in. I can’t think about any of it right now. If I think about something else, or don’t think about anything at all, when I come back to it, I’ll see it clearly.” Ettie got off the couch and headed over to the back door.

  Elsa-May put her half-eaten sandwich down, popped her glasses on and picked up her knitting. “Good for you.”

  When she unlatched the dog door, Snowy came bounding through giving Ettie quite a fright. He ran around sniffing the floor and then his sniffing led him to the corned beef sandwiches. Once Ettie sat down, she noticed Elsa-May had already eaten her share of the sandwiches. Ettie took some meat out of hers and gave it to Snowy. Then Ettie ate the rest of her share with Snowy’s big dark eyes staring at her all the while.

  Chapter 19

  Saturday came and went with no sight or sound of Stacey or the detective. Ettie was pleased to put the whole thing out of her mind and help with the knitting. She couldn’t knit all day, though, the way her sister could. Even with arthritis coming on Elsa-May was able to knit through the pain.

  On Sunday, for the bi-monthly meeting, they were back to being collected by Ava and Jeremiah just like they had been before Aaron was born.

  Ettie had been waiting by the window while Elsa-May was doing up her boot laces. “Here they are.”

  “I’m nearly finished.”

  Ettie shook her head. “If they can make it here on time and they have a boppli, I think you should be able to get ready in a timely manner.”

  Elsa-May looked up at Ettie. “Be kind. I’m getting older.”

  “You poor old thing. Would you like me to do up your laces for you?”

  A smile spread across Elsa-May’s face. “Jah, denke.”

  Ettie rolled her eyes, got off her chair and hurried over to tie her sister’s shoelaces. “There. Now come on.”

  Elsa-May stood straight. “I’m ready.”

  “Finally.” Ettie looked over at Elsa-May’s sleeping dog. “Are we leaving Snowy in?”

  “Jah. Just leave him in and we’ll leave the dog door open.”

  When they got into the backseat of the buggy, they saw Aaron strapped into his seat fast asleep.

  As Jeremiah turned the buggy around, he said, “Ava was saying something about scratching in your attic?”

  “Jah, there was but it’s gone now.”

  “It could be a racoon or something like that. I can come take a look this afternoon when I bring you home if you’d like?”

  Elsa-May grinned. “Would you?”

  “Of course. I’ll climb up and see what I can see and block off any openings where it looks like something might be getting in.”

  “Denke, Jeremiah.”

  “Jah denke. That will put Elsa-May’s mind to rest.”

  “There is something there, Ettie.” Elsa-May leaned forward. “She doesn’t believe there’s been something scratching in the attic. She thinks it’s all in my mind. Trouble is, she goes to sleep quickly while I wait up and hear the thing crawling around up there. I only hope it’s a sweet woodlands creature and not horrid vermin.”

  Ava giggled. “Don’t worry. Whatever it is, you don't want it in your house. Jeremiah will block off all the holes so it can’t get in anymore.”

  “Denke. At least someone believes me.” Elsa-May leaned back in her seat and then gave Ettie a sideways glance.

  “I never said I didn’t.”

  “Shh. The boppli’s asleep,” Elsa-May told Ettie.

  When Jeremiah parked the buggy at the Grabers’ house for the meeting, Ava walked to the house with the sisters. Aaron was still asleep as Ava cradled him in her arms. “I couldn’t talk in front of Jeremiah but …”

  “What is it, Ava?” Elsa-May asked.

  “I've been giving everything a lot of thought and what you need is to find someone who knew Greville. Did you know he’s got a brother?”

  “Jah, but how did you know?”

  “Greville’s son’s Instagram. I got onto Logan’s social media from the computer in the library and found out all kinds of things. And, did you know Greville and his son have different last names?”

  “Jah, we only found that out recently,” Ettie said.

  “What else did you find out, Ava?”

  “Well, I've already found Greville has an older brother and a younger one. The younger one’s in college up north, from his Facebook. I did find there is an aunty who doesn't live too far from here.”

  Ettie stopped walking and they all stopped. “Greville has an aunty?”

  “Jah, Greville does. Which means she's an aunt to all of them.”

  “That sounds more like it, Ettie. We can ask her some questions. I’d feel comfortable talking to a woman rather than a young man. What do you call not too far away, Ava?”

  “Too far for a buggy, but a friend of mine will drive you. I’ve already asked if she’d take you.” Ava looked over her shoulder at her husband, then turned back around. “You've met her before. She drove you somewhere a couple of years ago. Her name’s Christina.”

  “Have we met her?” Elsa-May asked.

  “Jah, I'm sure she drove you somewhere a couple of years back.”

  “We’ll be happy for her to drive us if she doesn't mind,” Elsa-May said.

  “She insists she owes me a few favors and I'm taking this as one of them. She said she has tomorrow afternoon off and all day on Tuesday.”

  “Tomorrow!” The sisters chorused then looked at each other and laughed.

  “'There's no time like the present,' our vadder used to say, and he'd say, 'Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today.'“ Elsa-May gave a sharp nod.

  “While Jeremiah’s up checking your roof today, I’ll give you Christina’s phone number to make your arrangements.”

  “This is very good of you, Ava.”

  “I would like to help more, but with this little one I’m limited these days.” She gazed down at her baby with a smile just as they reached the door of the house.

  That afternoon, Ava fed Aaron in the kitchen of Ettie and Elsa-May’s house while Jeremiah climbed into their attic. Ettie and Elsa-May told Ava about the wrong man being buried and after Ava recovered from the shock, Ettie took up a pen and paper. “What’s Christina’s phone number?”

  Ava gave the number she knew by heart.

  “We would’ve told you earlier today about the wrong man being murdered, but there wasn’t a lot of time.”

  “I understand. Call Christina soon, so she doesn’t arrange something else for tomorrow.”

  “We will,” Elsa-May said, “Just as soon as you leave.”

  “That sounds awful,” Ettie told her sister.

  “Ava knows what I mean, don’t you? I’m not trying to hurry you off.”

  Ava laughed. “I know.” She put her baby over her shoulder and burped him.

  “How much do the brothers look alike?” Ettie asked Ava.

  “They look very similar. Some of the photos were fairly old, but they had the same square jaw and close-set eyes.”

  “Hmm. Close enough for someone to think they were the same person?”

  “I guess so. From a distance. And especially given he was dead.”

  Ettie nibbled on a fingernail thinking back to the man lying on the floor. She had wanted Elsa-May to check to see if he was still alive. In the end, she had
been the one who felt for a pulse.

  “Ettie, we had no reason to believe Greville was someone else, so we wouldn’t have looked that closely.”

  “That’s right, but Stacey would’ve known. And she said it was her husband—Greville—more than once.”

  “I hope you find something out from his aunt. Tell me as soon as you can, but not in front of Jeremiah.”

  They heard the back door open and Ettie and Elsa-May hurried out of the kitchen toward Jeremiah. “What did you find up there?”

  “I couldn’t see anything in the attic. It all looked pretty clean, no nest-building evidence or anything.”

  “That’s good. We like a clean under-the-roof space.”

  “There were a couple of small gaps that I hit with a bit of filler and another slightly larger one that I blocked off with wood and then sealed the gaps around it.”

  “Denke.”

  “You shouldn’t have any more troubles. It might’ve been a small squirrel or a possum. Well, it could’ve been anything, but it won't be back inside.”

  Ettie made an excuse and pulled Jeremiah aside. “How are things with your carpenter’s business?”

  “So busy. I’m thinking of putting someone else on to help with the workload. I know Ava’s missing me of an evening. Has she said anything?”

  Ettie shook her head. “That’s a great idea. You can’t get the time back you know. Aaron will be bigger in no time. Enjoy your family while they’re young.”

  He put his hand on Ettie’s shoulder. “Denke, for the advise, Aunt Ettie. I’ve got someone I’ve been talking with and I’ll see him tomorrow and tell him he’s got the job. That will free me up to be home for dinner every night. I know Ava’s been missing me, but I want to do the work while it’s there.”

  Ettie smiled at him and nodded. “That will make all the difference.” It made her feel good to be able to help the young family.

  When Elsa-May and Ettie’s visitors left, the two sisters headed to the phone shanty and made their arrangements with Ava's friend. Then they walked home and settled down in the living room. Elsa-May dozed off while Ettie wrote some letters to old friends.

  Chapter 20

  As the two elderly sisters traveled in Christina’s car the next day, Ettie leaned forward from the back seat where she sat with Ettie. “It was good of you to take us today, Christina.”

  “It’s no problem. I wasn’t doing much today. Ava said it would only take a couple of hours.”

  “It will. I only hope the woman we’re coming to see is home.”

  Christina glanced at her in the rear-view mirror. “You didn’t call her and find out?”

  “No, we decided spontaneous might be better. We don’t know her. We’re hoping she’ll talk to us.”

  Christina nodded and looked at the road ahead and Ettie didn’t feel the need to tell her exactly what they were doing.

  “Here we are,” said Christina when she stopped the car in front of a small gray house with white shutters.

  “You’ll wait here?” Elsa-May asked Christina.

  “I’ll be right here.” Christina turned off the engine and picked up her cell phone while the sisters made their way out of the car.

  As they walked to the front door, Ettie got nervous. “Will you do the talking?”

  “Me?” Elsa-May asked. “Nee, you do it.”

  Ettie knocked on the door and as she waited she said a prayer for courage, as well as answers.

  “I’m coming,” they heard a woman call from within the house. A minute later, the door opened to reveal an elderly white-haired lady. “Yes?” she asked as she looked the sisters up and down.

  Ettie opened her mouth to speak, but Elsa-May moved forward. “I hope you don’t mind us visiting, but we knew your grandson, Greville.”

  “He wasn’t my grandson.”

  “I mean, your …”

  Ettie chimed in, “Nephew.”

  “That’s right he was my nephew. Did he owe you money, or promise you something?”

  “No, no. That’s not why we’re here. Could we speak with you for a few moments?”

  The woman frowned. “About Greville?”

  “Yes.”

  “Come inside.” She walked through to a small kitchen and the sisters followed. When she turned to face them, she asked, “Is here okay?”

  “This is fine.” Elsa-May sat herself down at the table.

  “I made some iced tea this morning. Would you like some?”

  Ettie sat as well. “That would be lovely, thank you.”

  The woman opened her fridge and pulled out a jug. “I put mint leaves in it to give it an extra zing.”

  “Good idea. We do that sometimes too. Oh, we didn’t introduce ourselves. I’m Elsa-May and this is my sister, Ettie.”

  “I’m Valda.”

  “Nice to meet you.”

  “We lived next door to Greville and Stacey.”

  Valda made a face when Stacey’s name was mentioned and then continued to pour three glasses of iced tea.

  When she’d poured all three glasses, she sat down at the table with them. “Poor Greville. She was a dreadfully unstable woman.”

  “Stacey?”

  “Yes. Stacey. You’re not a friend of hers, are you?”

  “We didn’t know her that well.” Ettie took a sip of tea.

  “We never knew until recently that Greville had a brother who looked just like him.”

  Valda nodded. “The three brothers all are strikingly similar in looks. But all as different from each other as chalk and cheese, day and night. Do you know about Kevin?”

  “Yes.” Ettie wasn’t sure what Valda meant, but figured they would get more information if she answered yes to that question.

  Valda shook her head. “He's a bad seed. The three brothers were all so different from one another in personality but not in looks. Kevin hasn’t even come to see me.” Valda stared into her iced tea and shook her head. “I’m only glad their parents aren’t alive to see how Kevin turned out.”

  She was talking about him in the present tense, so she didn’t know he was dead.

  “Now, what did you want to ask me?”

  “Were you close with them? The three brothers?”

  “No, not at all.”

  Elsa-May leaned forward. “Yet you expected Kevin to visit you?”

  “Oh yes. He owes me money. That’s the only reason. I’m not going to chase him for it. I’ll leave it to his conscience.”

  “How long ago did he borrow the money?”

  Valda took a sip of tea. “It would’ve been when he was a teenager.”

  “And did you get along with Stacey?”

  She shook her head. “Kindly don’t mention that woman’s name in my house. I’ve never met anyone so odd. It always seemed to me like she was up to something. I never found out what.”

  “In what way?” Ettie asked.

  “I can’t put my finger on it. I just never liked her. Maybe that’s what it was. Some people you like instantly and some, as soon as you meet them, you know you’ll never get along with them.”

  “I guess that’s true,” Elsa-May said. “Did Greville say anything to you about Stacey?”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know. Anything at all?”

  She shook her head. “No. I didn’t speak with them much after their wedding. It’s very sad what happened to Greville.”

  After a few more questions it was clear to Ettie that the woman wouldn’t be able to help them. They drank the last of their tea and thanked Valda for her hospitality.

  As Ettie and Elsa-May walked from Valda’s house to the car, Ettie whispered to Elsa-May, “When will someone tell everyone Kevin is the one that’s dead and not Greville? It was clear Valda didn’t have a clue.”

  “I thought she would have known by now.”

  “Me too. Kelly might not know of her existence.”

  “Could be.”

  “Perhaps we should tell him about Valda. You’d
think if Ava found her easily enough then Kelly could find more relatives of Kevin and Greville.”

  “Nee, Ettie. They just need to inform the next of kin, that’s all.”

  When they got back in the car, Christina turned to look at them in the backseat. “Are you all done?”

  “Yes, thank you.”

  As the car pulled away from the curb, a car slowed down coming in the opposite direction. It was Kelly in the driver’s seat, and he was staring at them. Elsa-May dug Ettie in the ribs. “It’s Kelly.”

  Christina glanced in the rear-view mirror. “Do you want me to stop?”

  “No, no.” Elsa-May shook her head.

  “No. Drive faster, please” Ettie said.

  Chapter 21

  When the elderly sisters had just put their evening meal on the table, there was a firm knock on the door and Snowy ran around acting crazy.

  “Oh no.” Ettie covered her mouth. “Kelly's here to tear strips off us.”

  “You keep the dinner warm in the oven and I'll put Snowy outside.”

  “Coming,” Ettie yelled to the person at the front door that she guessed was Kelly. Once Snowy was outside the two ladies proceeded to the door. Ettie got there first and opened it. It was Kelly, of course, and he was glaring at them as expected.

  “What were you two doing today?”

  “You saw us, didn't you?” Elsa-May asked.

  He folded his arms across his chest. “Why were you there?”

  “To see what she knew about Greville and Kevin.”

  His eyebrows drew together. “What did you tell her about them?”

  “Nothing. We didn’t tell her that Greville was alive and Kevin was buried in his place and now Greville and Stacey are missing. Did you think she was hiding them there?”

  He frowned. “No. She was informed the day we found out about the mix up with the brothers. She didn’t know whether the both of you knew, so she was keeping it quiet. Then I had to tell her that both of you knew.”

  “Oh dear,” Ettie said. “That makes me feel very bad for not telling her.”