Accused (Amish Romance Mystery) (Amish Secret Widows' Society #3) (6 page)

“It’s a bad situation. It seems as whatever way I turn or whatever I tell the police, no
gut
will come of anything.” Robert’s eyes went glassy as if he was close to tears.

Angela put her hand comfortingly on his shoulder.

“It’s been nice talking to you. I’ve had this burden on my own for so long that it’s a relief to speak about it with someone.
Denke
for taking such an interest in us,” Robert said.

Chapter 9.

But as many as received Him, to them

He gave the right to become children of God,

to those who believe in His name

John 1:12

When Angela pulled the buggy up outside Emma’s
haus
, Emma came out to meet her.

“I’ll tend to the horse,” Emma said.

“I’ve got a lot to tell you, Emma.” Angela got out of the buggy.

“Follow me and and tell me,” Emma said while she led the horse into the stable.

“The witness,
Juliana Redcliffe, was Jacob’s biological
ant,
and Robert’s also heard the rumor that the dead man was living with Juliana.”

Emma stopped walking the horse for a moment and looked at her. “Angela that is a huge piece of information. That would have set Ross free if that connection between the two of them was known.”

“Robert said that Ross told him that the birth
mudder
did not want to have anything to do with the child and they had no more contact with her. Juliana was visiting the boy and telling him about his real
daed
on the way home from
skul
and when Ross found out, he told her to stay away. I got to wondering whether the dead man might be Jacob’s birth father.”

“I never even considered that.
Gut
work finding all that out. We should go visit Elsa-May tomorrow and tell her everything. Had Robert know all this for a while?”

“
Jah
, he did, but he kept it from me. He said he wanted to see what Elsa-May would uncover.”

“Be
gut
if he could’ve told you everything from the start. Would’ve saved a lot of time,” Emma said.

“Don’t you think it would’ve been hard for him to tell a total stranger everything? It was awkward at first when I tried to explain who I was and he knew nothing about the letters.” Angela giggled. “He must have thought I was quite mad until he figured out that Jacob wrote the letters.”

“I guess so. He seems to like you.”

“You think he does?”

“I’m sure he does. He’d be doing well to have a fine woman like you as his
fraa
. He would well know it too.”

The next morning after breakfast Emma said to Angela, “I’ll quickly go to Wil’s
haus
to use his phone and have the widows meet together this afternoon.”

Emma wrapped her black shawl around her shoulders and walked the five minutes to Wil’s
haus.

“Emma, I didn’t expect to see you this morning.” Wil stuck his head around the barn door when he saw Emma approach the
haus.

“Hello, Wil. I’ve just come by to borrow your phone if I may. I just need to phone Elsa-May for a minute.”

“Sure, come in.”

The phone was in the barn on the back wall. Emma was sure to keep her voice low so Wil would not ask her questions when she got off the phone.

“Elsa-May, can you organize for the widows to all meet this afternoon? I have news of the witness's identity and we have a theory on who the dead man might be.”

“Who was he?”

“Robert seems to think that it just might be Jacob’s biological father; although he has no idea of the man’s name. According to Angela, Robert knows that the witness is Jacob’s biological
ant.
She even told Jacob that she’s his real
daed’s schweschder.
The police don’t even know the connection.”

Elsa-May was silent for a time.

“Are you still there, Elsa-May?” Emma asked.

“
Jah
, I’m still here. I’m trying to work things out. Did she think that she saw Jacob’s
daed
kill him or did she make the whole thing up, or did she see someone else kill him?”

Emma said, “Maybe she wasn’t at the scene of the crime at all and didn’t see anyone. She could have just made the whole thing up.”

“What reason would she have to make it up? Did she have something against Ross?” Elsa-May asked.

“Robert told Angela that the
schweschder
was talking to Jacob for a time every afternoon as he walked home from
skul.
Ross found out and warned her to stay away. He didn’t want anyone from the outside world talking to his boy.”

“Okay, that might have made her annoyed with him,” Elsa-May said.

“
Jah,
but annoyed enough to have him charged for murder?” Emma glanced up to see if Wil looked like he was listening.

“That’s what we’ll have to find out. I’ll have Crowley come to the meeting as well. He’ll need to know what we’ve found out,” Elsa-May said.

“
Jah,
okay.” Emma looked up to see Wil looking over at her. She remembered she told Wil she’d only be quick. “I’ll see you this afternoon, Elsa-May.” Emma hung up the phone.

“Everything all right, Emma?”

Emma walked toward Wil. “
Jah
, everything is fine.”

“You know, you can tell me things. If there’s any kind of trouble, I’d like to know about it.”

Emma shook her head. “I know you would and if there was any trouble, or if I was in any kind of trouble, you would be the first to know.”

Wil smiled revealing his straight white teeth. “You had breakfast yet?”

“
Jah
, I have. I’d better get back to Angela. I told her I’d only be a little while.”

“I never see much of you when you have visitors.” Wil walked toward her and put his strong arm around her back.

Emma giggled. “I hardly ever have visitors.”

“
Kumm
, I’ll walk you back home.” They held hands until they got out of the barn and then Emma broke her hand gently from his grip. She did not feel it proper to have too much physical contact until they were married; even though she craved his touch, she knew that she would have to wait.

They took the usual short cut through the fields.

“I’ve been giving some thought to where we should live.” Wil looked down at his feet as he walked.

“
Jah
? What have you thought about?”

“We could build a
haus
between the two properties. Half on your side and half on my side. Come here.” He took hold of Emma’s hand and they walked up a little rise. “Right here. What about that?”

Emma looked around about her. The land was slightly higher than the surrounding land and there were
gut
views of both properties. “It seems like a nice place for a
haus
.”

“We could have the porch right here.” Wil raised his arm across in front of him. “We could sit here of a morning drinking
kaffe
and look at all this.”

Emma looked to where he was waving his arms to see the soft yellow wheat blowing in the wind. Clumps of dark green trees in the distance framed the wheat fields. “It’s certainly a pretty site, but is it practical, Wil? We’d have to build another barn, as well as a chicken coup and a …”

Wil laughed. “Listen to you. If I can build you a
haus,
I can certainly build a barn, a chicken coup and whatever else we need. I’ll rent my
haus
out and you can do what you like with your
haus
. Leave it vacant, let friends stay, whatever you wish.”

Emma turned her eyes back to the swaying fronds of wheat and tried to imagine what it would be like to sip
kaffe
there in the mornings in their own new
haus
. “
Ach
, Wil. I’d love it. I’d love it.”

“
Gut,
I’ll get working on the plans right away.”

Emma smiled and tried to still her mind as it tried to wander back to the time when Levi was drawing up plans for their
haus.
Levi’s in the past
, she reminded herself as she consciously blocked out the memories. She knew she had to enjoy the present moments with Wil and not have memories of the past ruin what happiness she could have right now.

Wil put his arm around her waist. “We’ll be happy here, Emma.”

She pressed into his arms and tipped her head up to look into his kind eyes. “I know, I just know we will.”

They held each other tightly for a moment before Emma pulled away. “Angela will be wondering what’s taking me so long.”

As they continued on their way to Emma’s
haus
, Wil said, “You never told me whether Angela and Robert liked each other.”

Emma laughed. “That’s quite a story. It seems that Jacob was writing the letters to Angela.”

“Little Jacob?”

“
Jah
, he was writing to her pretending to be Robert.”

Wil shook his head. “That’s an embarrassment for both Angela and Robert.”

“I suppose so, but it seems they like each other now they’ve met. Angela went back to visit him yesterday. Things look
gut
for the two of them.”

“Must be difficult for Robert to look after the boy by himself. He seems to be spirited from what I’ve heard. I know it can’t be easy for the boy losing both his parents in that accident.”

Once they had arrived at Emma’s
haus
, Emma said, “You coming in for a
kaffe
, Wil?”

Wil looked up at the h
aus
. “
Nee
, I’ve got plans to start on.”

Emma looked into his eyes and smiled. “I’ll see you soon then.”

Wil kissed Emma lightly on her forehead then turned back toward his
haus.

Chapter 10.

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet,

and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret;

and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Matthew 6:6

That afternoon the widows all gathered at Elsa-May and Ettie’s
haus.
Angela told the ladies all they found out before Detective Crowley arrived.

“Thank you for coming, Detective,” Elsa-May said.

“It sounded important.” The detective sat on a creaky, wooden chair opposite the widows. “What can I do for you ladies?” Detective Crowley looked straight at Emma and gave her a glowing smile. Emma looked away because he had a way of making her feel uneasy, as if she had committed some type of crime.

Elsa-May told Crowley all about the suspected identity of the dead man and the identity of the witness.

“When it was mentioned to have Jacob do a DNA test, Robert wasn’t agreeable,” Emma said.

The detective was silent for a while. “The boy would’ve been through enough. I can understand Robert not wanting to put the boy through any more dramas.” The detective scratched his chin and after a moment said, “What we can do is match the boy’s birth certificate records to find his biological father’s name. Once we have his name, we’ll try and find his dental records and match them up to the records from the dead man’s autopsy.”

“
Jah
, brilliant idea,” Elsa-May said.

Detective Crowley smiled at Elsa-May, “I’ll get straight on to that today.”

Silvie said, “If it is proven that the witness did have some kind of relationship to the dead man then would that be enough to clear Ross’s name? Especially since the woman was keeping information from the police?”

“Possibly; it’s not up to me. It seems there’s much more to this whole case than what it first appeared. Why don’t we meet back here the same time tomorrow?” Crowley said. “That should give me enough time to find Jacob’s birth father’s name.”

* * *

The next day, Angela and the other ladies kept the appointment with Detective Crowley at Elsa-May and Ettie’s
haus.

“I found the name of Jacob’s biological father from his birth certificate. His name is Wesley Conrad and he’s still alive and well, living in California. We contacted him this morning. He claims he ceased all contact with his sister some years ago, and last he heard of her she was living in England. What’s more, her description does not fit the description of the witness.”

Crowley pulled a notebook from his pocket and read his notes. “Wesley Conrad is not a pilot and he works for civil service. He has no wish for any contact with the boy that he gave up for adoption. He said that he barely knew the mother of the baby. He continued to say that he suggested to the mother that she abort the baby and she refused. She eventually agreed to adopt. Wesley heard that after she gave the baby up, she tried to get him back.”

“Who is the mother; did you find that out detective?” Emma asked.

“Ah, that’s the bit I was saving ‘til last. The mother’s name is Juliana Redcliffe.”

The widows gasped.

“That’s right. Jacob’s birth mother, the woman who is named on his birth certificate, is the woman who has claimed to witness Ross killing the man.”

Angela asked, “Why would she tell Jacob that she was his
ant
, when she’s really his
mudder
?”

“Most likely she didn’t want the boy to get confused by having two mothers, who knows,” the detective said.

Ettie said, “If the witness is the mother, why would she wish harm on Ross?”

Angela said, “Robert said that Ross warned her to keep away from Jacob. He would’ve known who she was.”

Elsa-May said, “Have you talked to Juliana again now that you’ve got the new information, Detective?”

“Not yet. I’m going to see her tomorrow in the afternoon. Just wanted to check with you ladies first, to see if you’ve found out anything else.” Detective Crowley leaned forward, stretched out his hand and took a chocolate slice. “Mmm, this is very nice.”

Maureen said, “Emma made those.”

Emma glared at Maureen wishing she had not said that. The detective smiled at Emma and Emma managed to force a smile back at him.

“As I was saying, I’ll go and see the woman and see what she says about the whole thing.” The detective continued to bite into the slice.

Ettie said, “Why didn’t all this information come out before? Why wasn’t more investigation done into it?”

The detective swallowed his mouthful. “With no known identity of the deceased and with the arrested man dead, the case came to a stand still. We still don’t know the murdered man’s identity.”

“Convenient wasn’t it? The investigation ceased because Ross died; might not one suppose that Ross was killed to prevent further investigations?” Elsa-May said.

Ettie pushed a bony finger into the air. “Yes, the real killer might have killed Ross off to cover his tracks.”

“Or hers,” Silvie said.

The detective licked chocolate from his lips. “I’ve already thought of that. I checked into the buggy accident that killed Mr. and Mrs. Geiger and there were no suspicious circumstances. None whatsoever.”

“Can you double check, detective?” Elsa-May asked.

“No point. I checked it all again this morning. It was a drunk driver who was already known to the police. He was badly injured and was charged with manslaughter. There’s no connection to him whatsoever.” The detective brushed some crumbs from around his lips and stood up. “I’ll check back in with you ladies after I speak to Juliana Redcliffe tomorrow.”

Ettie pushed her lips tightly together. Emma knew that Ettie was not convinced that there was no connection, particularly when no one knew the connection of the witness and the dead man until very recently.

When the detective left Ettie said to Silvie, “Onto a happier subject. Elsa-May and I have a surprise for you, Silvie.”

“For me?” Silvie smiled brightly. “What is it?”

“Bailey is coming to stay nearby for two days next week. He called us today to let us know. Since you have no phone he would’ve arrived before a letter reached you.”

Silvie clasped her hands together. “He is? He’s coming?”

“
Jah
, and I’d say he’s only coming to see you. He said to be sure and tell you. He was going to keep it as a surprise, but he only has two days here and he didn’t want you to be off doing something else when he got here.”

Silvie’s face beamed for the remainder of the evening.

“Who’s Bailey?” Angela asked.

“Bailey is Ettie and Elsa-May’s nephew; he’s a detective,” Emma said.

“
Ach, jah
, I’ve heard about him from Elsa-May,” Angela said.

“He’s not a relative of yours too, Angela?” Maureen asked.

“
Nee
, I’m related to Elsa-May’s late husband.”

Emma continued to explain who Bailey was. “Bailey stayed with Wil months ago when he was working undercover. He was pretending he wanted to become Amish and he fell in love with Silvie.”

“That’s romantic,” Angela said.

“Well, it wasn’t too romantic when I found out that he wasn’t who he said he was,” Silvie said. “I know it was his job and everything, but it was still deceiving people.”

Emma said, “He was sorry about it. He didn’t intend to hurt anyone. Now, he might even come and join the community.”

“Really?” Elsa-May and Ettie chimed together.

“He said that again, just recently?” Elsa-May asked.

Angela frowned at Emma. “Emma. That was something private I told you.”

Emma’s hand flew to her mouth. “I’m sorry, Silvie. I forgot. I was just excited about it.”

Silvie looked at both Ettie and Elsa-May. “I didn’t want to tell anyone his thoughts unless they didn’t happen.”

“That would be
wunderbaar
if he joined the community,” Ettie said. “It would be a real answer to prayer.”

“We’ll have to wait and see. No
gut
getting excited about something that might not ever happen,” Elsa-May said.

“But it might happen, Elsa-May. Why can’t you ever let me be happy about anything?” Ettie asked.

The other ladies looked at each other and smiled; they were used to Elsa-May and Ettie getting under each other’s skin.

“You can be happy about whatever you want, Ettie. I’m just saying that he might not join us. Why get excited about something that might never happen? It doesn’t make sense. He only said that he might, and he only told Silvie in private. He likely doesn’t want anyone to know his private thoughts, only Silvie.”

Ettie lowered her head. “I won’t say anything to anyone, Silvie.”

Emma said, “
Nee
, we’ll all keep quiet about it. Sorry for mentioning it, Silvie; I was just happy for you.”

“No harm done,” Silvie said.

Elsa-May turned her attention to Angela. “Angela, I had a call from Robert just before everyone arrived just now. He wanted to know if he could call on you tomorrow morning at Emma’s
haus
.”

Angela gasped and drew both hands to her mouth. “What did you say?”

“I said
jah,
of course.”

Maureen said, “Angela, you seem to like Robert quite a bit.”

“I do like him, but he just probably wants to know what I’ve found out so far.”

“
Nee
, he asked me questions. He wants to see you, plain and simple,” Elsa-May said. Elsa-May and Ettie had a telephone in a shanty outside their
haus
. Elsa-May also kept a cell-phone for emergencies that very few people knew about as it would be very much frowned upon to have such a modern convenience.

Angela’s face glowed just as Silvie’s glowed.

“I’m feeling all left out now,” Maureen said. “Everyone’s got
menner
but me.” She looked at Elsa-May and Ettie. “Do you have
gut
news for me? Has any
mann
called you for me?”

Everyone laughed except Elsa-May, who looked quite serious. “Ettie and I don’t have anyone,” she said.

“You two don’t want anyone, do you?” Emma asked.

Ettie chuckled, “I’m too old now. I might have been interested years ago.”

“I’m too old and set in my ways now,” Elsa-May said.

Silvie asked, “What happened with Bob Pluver, Maureen?”

Emma shivered at Bob Pluver’s name. She found him an odd character.

“I went to dinner with him a few months ago.” Maureen’s mouth turned down at the sides. “He hardly said a word.”

“He never says much, Maureen. You never know what’s going on in his head. That’s what unnerves me about the man.” Emma bit her lip. She often spoke without thinking and this was one of those times. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to be unkind.”

“It’s hard to get to know someone if they don’t speak,” Maureen said.

“Do you like him?” Ettie asked Maureen.

Maureen gave a little shrug of her shoulders. “I think I do, a little.”

“He might need a little encouragement. I heard his
daed
was hard on him and used to beat him.
Spare the rod and spoil the child
was his saying. I heard he didn’t spare the rod at all. That has to have affected him and made him unsure of himself,” Elsa-May said.

“I need a
mann
who’ll look after me. I don’t want to be a
mudder
to a
mann
,” Maureen said.

“I agree with you,” Emma said.

“He might have potential in the future,” Maureen said.

“If he changes?” Emma asked.

“
Jah
,” Maureen agreed.

Silvie put her arm around Maureen’s shoulder. “You never know who
Gott’s
got for you.”

“His ways are not our ways,” Ettie said with a smile.

Maureen smiled and nodded.

* * *

Robert said he’d be there at 10 a.m. the very next day. Angela had been ready and waiting since 9 a.m. She was excited to spend time with Robert. Jacob would be in
skul
so they would have no distractions. Angela wondered where they would go.

“Excited I see?” Emma said.

“
Jah
. It’s been a while since I’ve had the interest of a man. My heart keeps beating fast.” Angela put her hand lightly over her heart.

“I suppose you don’t know where he’s taking you?”

“Elsa-May didn’t say. Maybe he’s taking me back to his
haus
to talk some more.”