Hidden (Amish Romance Mystery) (Amish Secret Widows' Society Book 2) (5 page)

“What exactly are we looking for, Elsa-May?” Silvie asked.

“I don’t really know. Tell me if you find anything, anything at all.”

They were immediately disturbed by a knock on the door. Elsa-May opened the door to see Thomas Graber, Frank’s next-door neighbor. “Hello, Thomas.”

“Hello, Elsa-May. What are you ladies doing in here?” Thomas seemed jittery as he shifted his weight between his feet.

“We’ve come to give the place a
gut
cleaning,” Emma said.

“Sad news about old Frank, wasn’t it,” Thomas said.

“
Jah,
that it was,” Elsa-May said.

Thomas tipped his hat slightly back on his head. “Wonders me that anyone would have anything against old Frank and wish him harm.”

Emma knew that the two men had many disagreements, the last one being about a fence that Thomas wanted to build between the two houses, but did that mean that Thomas would wish him harm? Surely not.

“Did you notice anything unusual in the last few days? Any strangers or visitors hanging around?” Elsa-May asked.

Thomas scratched his cheek. “Can’t say so. Except the day he died, I heard some kind of ruckus. Someone was yelling I’m sure of it.”

“I see, did you tell the police that?” Emma asked.

“
Jah
, there was a detective who questioned everyone in the street. I’m sure no one heard or saw anything, just me and the yelling.”

“Okay, well thanks for popping by.” Elsa-May tried to close the door and Thomas put his hand up against the door to hold it open. “Are you sure you ladies are supposed to be here?”

“Of course we are. Did you want to help us clean? We’ve got a spare scrubbing brush and soap. We could use some muscle power on the floors, especially the dried blood that’s still there on the kitchen floor,” Emma said.

“
Nee
, I’ve got to be somewhere soon.” Thomas stuck his head through the door and had a good look around. “Carry on then.”

When Elsa-May closed the door, Emma joined her in a fit of giggles. “What would you have done if he said he’d help with the dried blood only to find that there was none?”

“I was sure he wouldn’t help,” Emma said.

Elsa-May and Emma walked into the kitchen where Frank was found. “Found anything?” Elsa-May asked Ettie and Silvie, who were on their knees.

“
Jah
, a long strand of pale hair, could be gray or could be blonde, and a flake of red.”

“Did you bag it?” Elsa-May asked.

“
Jah
.” Silvie held up two plastic bags in her gloved hand.

“Wouldn’t forensics have found everything?” Emma asked.

Elsa-May shook her head. “Not necessarily. Where’s Maureen?”

“She’s talking to Bob Pluver and then coming here, remember?” Ettie said.

“
Jah
, that’s right. Now, Emma, let's think, what would the murderer do, where would he have gone?”

“Seems that he went right through the entire
haus
.”

At that moment, Maureen came through the front door. “Well, I have some news.”

“We’ll sit at the kitchen table,” Elsa-May said.

When everyone was seated, Maureen began. “Bob said that he arrived here on the Thursday, at the time of his normal visit, and Frank seemed shaken by something. He had Bob drive him to the bank. Then Bob watched him as Frank walked to another bank. Then he had Bob drive him to a lawyer’s office.”

“Which lawyer?” Ettie said.

“I wrote it down, but I left it in the buggy. I think from memory it was Wagners & Sons, or something like that.”

“Winters & Sons?” Silvie asked.

“
Jah
, that’s the one.”

Silvie sat up very straight. “I know George Winters. He comes into the bakery every single day
.
”

“Okay, so seems like old Frank may have taken his money out of one bank and put it in another? Then he changed his will?” Elsa-May looked at all the other widows.

“He could have taken something out of a safe-deposit box,” Maureen said.

“Did you ask Bob which banks he went to?”

Maureen shook her head.

“You’ll have to go back and find out which banks. Not all have safe-deposit boxes and we need to know what he did at each bank.”

“Couldn’t the detective find that out?” Emma asked.

“
Ach
,
nee,
we can’t tell him that Bob was here the day he died,” Maureen said.

“Maureen’s right, Emma. We don’t want innocent people to get blamed for things they didn’t do,” Elsa-May said.

Emma nodded.

“Silvie, you will have to find out from George, what Frank was doing there that day, the day that he died.”

“
Jah
, I’ll do that today,” Silvie said.

“Off you go now then,” Elsa-May said.

Silvie looked down at her clothes. “I’m a mess. I’ll have to go home and change first.”

Elsa-May lowered her head and glared at Silvie. “Nonsense, you look fine. Go now.”

“Okay,” Silvie said as she headed quickly to the door.

“We’ll wait for you; come straight back here,” Elsa-May yelled after Silvie.

“Do we know anything of Frank’s will?” Ettie asked.

“
Nee
, not that I’ve heard. Andrew was to have Wil let a realtor through to put a price on it, but he hasn’t done that yet. Maybe that means that the
haus
is not left to Andrew? I’m not sure,” Emma said.

“He only had Andrew and Clive and I’m sure he wouldn’t have left something to one son and not the other,” Maureen said.

“Maureen, you go back right now to Bob and find out what two banks Frank went to.”

“Do I have to go back now? I don’t want him to think that I like him,” Maureen said.

Ettie giggled.

“That’s the least of our problems, Maureen. Just go and find out those two things, hurry,” Elsa-May said.

Maureen headed out the door with a most reluctant look on her face, which caused the three remaining widows to giggle.

“Poor Maureen,” Emma said, “I do think that Bob is keen on her?”

“He’ll be pleased to answer her questions then,” Elsa-May said with a grin on her face.

“Well, come on girls; this place isn’t going to clean itself,” Ettie said.

Half an hour later, Maureen arrived back. After she told the widows which banks Frank went to, it was clear that he hadn’t gone to the banks to take something out of a safe-deposit box, as neither bank had safe-deposit boxes.

“
Gut
work, Maureen,” Elsa-May said.

“
Jah
, now I have to have dinner with him next week,” Maureen said.

“He’s the strong silent type, Maureen. There’s nothing wrong with that boy and now he’s inherited his
daed’s
business, he’s quite a catch,” Ettie said with a twinkle in her eye.

“I hear a buggy, must be Silvie back,” Emma said.

A minute later, Silvie burst through the door, quite breathless. “Phew, it took me a while and two cups of coffee, but old Mr. Winters told me that Frank insisted on changing his will there and then, so his ‘useless’ sons would get nothing.”

Elsa-May leaned forward and asked, “So who did he leave his money to?”

“Bob, Bob Pluver. And Bob’s to see that Growler is looked after.”

Emma covered her mouth. “Bob.”

Elsa-May said, “That means that Bob is now our prime suspect. That’s not
gut
. It means that we can’t listen to what he told us. If he killed Frank, he could’ve made up the entire thing he told Maureen.”

“He was right about going to the lawyer, though,” Maureen said. “He didn’t lie about that.”

“
Jah
, That’s right, Maureen.” Ettie laughed. “But that was to his advantage to know where the most recent will was kept.”

Maureen shook her head. “I don’t believe that he did it.”

“Neither do I, but he does move to front place as far as the suspects are concerned,” Elsa-May said.

“Are you going to tell the detective, Elsa-May?” Maureen said.

Elsa-May narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know. I think we should sit on the information for now.”

The widows had been silent for a moment, before Ettie asked, “You’ve got the cat, haven’t you, Emma?”

“I’m afraid so. He just ignores me all the time; I don’t know how the old man got so attached to him. He just sleeps, eats, and he’s taken over the whole
haus
.”

“You must look after him well, Emma. That was Frank’s wish,” Silvie said.

“I will. He already has the run of the
haus
.” Emma gave a little giggle; she was not brave enough to tell the widows that the cat slept on her bed. They would consider her far too soft in the head.

“Why would Frank suddenly decide to leave all his money to Bob on that very day? What had him so shaken?” Elsa-May drummed her fingertips onto her chin. “Ettie, go out to the buggy and get me my writing pad.”

Ettie came back into the
haus
within moments with a pen and Elsa-May’s writing pad.

Elsa-May began writing. “Suspects? We have the old man next door, the two sons and Bob.”

“
Nee
, not Bob,” Maureen said.

Elsa-May glanced up at Maureen and then set her eyes once more to her writing pad. “As I was saying, Bob, and who else would have had something to gain from the man’s death?”

“When Andrew and his girlfriend were here the other day, he mentioned something; he thought his
daed
had in a safe-deposit box somewhere,” Emma said.

Elsa-May pushed out her lips. “Maybe he did have something in a safe-deposit box somewhere. Did we find a key anywhere?” The widows all shook their heads. “Perhaps the detective found a key. I’ll pay him a visit and give him what we found and ask him a few questions.”

Elsa-May scribbled down a few more things on to her writing pad. “Let’s re-cap. Frank was upset by something –most likely to do with his sons, because he had Bob drive him to town where he went to two banks and then changed his will at the solicitor’s. And that’s only if Bob was telling Maureen the truth.”

“He was, I’m sure of it,” Maureen said.

“Did Bob come into Frank’s
haus
on the Thursday, the day that Frank died?” Silvie asked.

“He said that he didn’t,” Maureen said. “He had to go back to work.”

“So we can’t say at what time Frank’s home was broken into and wrecked. Frank was upset, went to banks, solicitor, back home, and that’s all we know until Emma came later in the day and found him poisoned on the floor,” Elsa-May said as she studied her writing pad.

“
Jah
, seems to be all we know so far,” Ettie said. “His boys had to have been upset with him because he changed his will. That part is obvious.”

“Would one of his sons have killed him if Frank told them what he’d done about changing the will?” Emma asked.

“
Nee
, because then he’d never be alive to change the will back,” Elsa-May said. “It’s pointing more and more to Bob.”

“Can’t we rule out the man next door? It’s a bit weird to think someone could kill someone over just a fence,” Silvie said.

“Ahh, but it’s never just a fence. The fence could be the last straw, as the expression goes; the last straw that broke the camel’s back. We can’t rule anyone out.”

Chapter 8.

Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love;

in honour preferring one another;

Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

Romans 12:10-13

It was on the Saturday after the funeral that Silvie heard a knock at her door. She opened it to see her younger
schweschder
, Sabrina, with a suitcase in her hand. Silvie looked up the road to see a taxi driving away. “Sabrina, what are you doing here?”

Sabrina pushed past Silvie into the
haus
. “
Mamm
sent me.”

“She did? How did you get here?”

“I came on the Greyhound.” Sabrina put her bag down just inside the door and took off her coat.

Silvie took her coat from her. “I don’t mean to sound rude, but why are you here?”

“
Mamm
heard that you were very friendly with an
Englischer
at a funeral.”

Silvie was surprised how fast news traveled. “There is a man, but he’s staying in the community because he wants to become Amish, that’s all. There’s nothing going on with me and him.”

“Really?” Sabrina raised an eyebrow and stared at Silvie. It reminded Silvie of how her
mudder
had always stared at her when she’d done something wrong
.
Silvie’s
mudder
was a dominating force and Silvie had escaped that domination when she married John. At that moment, Silvie realized that getting away from her
mudder
might have been a major factor in her decision to marry John.

“Why do you come to my
haus
and question me? I’m a grown woman and can do as I please,” Silvie said as she hung up Sabrina’s coat.

“Do what you want.” Sabrina laughed. “I just had to get away for a while and this was a
gut
excuse. Besides, it’ll give me a chance to meet the
menner
in the community. Is there anyone who might suit me?”

Silvie reached for Sabrina’s suitcase. “I’ll take this up to the spare room. Come, I’ll show you where it is.”

“Silvie, you didn’t answer me. There are no
menner
for me in Ohio so I’m hoping there might be someone here for me. You’d like to have a
schweschder
here, wouldn’t you? It must be lonely out here all by yourself.”

Her
schweschder
or for that matter, any member of her
familye
staying in Lancaster County, was far less than an ideal situation for Silvie. “It’s the second Sunday tomorrow so there’ll be a meeting; come see for yourself.”

Sabrina clapped her hands together. “Goodie. You don’t mind me staying a while, do you?”

“Of course not,” Silvie said as she heaved the heavy suitcase onto the bed. “I’ll be pleased of the company.” Silvie wondered who there might be for Sabrina. “There are a few single
menner
you might like.”

“
Ach
, I can’t wait for tomorrow to see for myself.”

“
Mamm
sent you to spy on me?”

“She sent me to make sure that you don’t make a mistake. She was worried when she heard about the
Englischer
.” Sabrina sat down heavily on the other side of the bed. “Who is he, the
Englischer
?”

“No one important. Just someone who might become Amish soon, that’s all, but I’m a grown woman and can make my own choices; I wish
mamm
would realize that. Apparently, I’m not far enough away from her.” Silvie wondered who it was who reported back to her
mudder
.

“Silvie, that’s a terrible thing to say.
Mamm
would be so upset to hear you say a thing like that about her.”

Silvie laughed. “You only just said that you needed to get away too.”

“I didn’t say it was because of
mamm
. I mind what I say.” Sabrina pouted.

“Okay, then I’ll mind what I say as well. You get settled, unpack your clothes and you can help me with the chores.”

“Chores? I’m a guest. I don’t want to do any chores; I have to do chores at home.”

Silvie shook a finger at Sabrina. “If you stay here, you’ll be doing chores.”

Sabrina pouted once more. “If I’d known that, I would not have come.”

Silvie turned and walked toward the bedroom door. “If you want to stay with me, you have to do chores. I’ll give you fifteen minutes to unpack.” Silvie walked out of the bedroom pleased with herself. If her
mudder
had sent Sabrina to spy on her, she had to turn things to her advantage in the best way that she could.

As Silvie finished washing the dishes, she looked out the window and remembered her prayer of just days ago. She shared with
Gott
that she did not want to be alone. Was this
Gott’s
answer, to send her Sabrina? She meant she wanted a
mann
in her life, not her spoiled
schweschder
to come and stay with her. She would have to be more specific with her prayers in the future.