Secrets Come Home (3 page)

Chapter 5.

Ettie and Elsa-May’s taxi came upon Jeremiah’s buggy just as he was leaving his house.

“Where are you two headed?” Jeremiah asked when the taxi drew even. “I could take you.”

“We’re coming to see you, but you could take us home and we can talk to you on the way,” Elsa-May said.

“Fine.” Jeremiah agreed.

After they paid the taxi driver, the two elderly ladies climbed into the buggy.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” Jeremiah clicked the horse onward.

“We were curious about the body,” Ettie began.

“Jah,”
said Elsa-May. “How would it have been placed there? Would it have been lowered from above? You did say you thought that some of the floorboards were different from the others.”

“What are your thoughts, Jeremiah?” Ettie asked.

“It could have been dragged under the
haus,
but it’s a tight fit and would’ve been hard to do. It would more likely have been lowered from above. And the boards there are different, but I’m not sure that’s the reason. They could have still used the old boards. Lifted the boards up, lowered the body, and then nailed the boards back down.”

“Would the boards normally be damaged when they lifted them up?” Ettie asked.

“Unlikely; not if someone knew what they were doing. It’s not hard to lift some boards up,” Jeremiah said.

“So the person who did it might have split the boards and had to replace them and that’s why the boards are different?” Elsa-May asked.

Jeremiah rubbed his jaw. “It’s straightforward – I don’t think anyone would make a hash of lifting boards up.”

“They were damaged somehow, and because the body was right underneath those replaced pieces of wood, it seems likely that’s when it was done.”

“Jah
, it would be an extreme coincidence – the softer wood being directly over the body, and all,” Jeremiah said.

“Precisely,” Elsa-May commented. “So we can guess that the person who placed the body under the floor was not good at using tools.”

“A woman perhaps?” Jeremiah said, causing the sisters to glare at him. He quickly added, “I mean to say, not all women can use tools, but I’m certain there are many that can.”

* * *

As soon as Elsa-May’s friend, Deidre, came to fetch her for the knitting circle, Ettie hurried along the road and called a taxi. She would go to her new house and gather her thoughts before she headed to Horace’s mother’s place.

The ride in the taxi was a fast one and no sooner had Ettie paid the driver and got out of the taxi than she saw Ava hurrying toward her.

“Ettie, I’m glad you’re here.”

The taxi sped away.

“What is it, Ava? You look dreadful.”

“There was a man hanging around the
haus
last night. I heard some scratching noises, so I looked outside and saw a dark figure. I opened the door and called ‘who’s there’ and he ran off.”

“Did you see who it was?”

Ava shook her head.

“I called the police first thing this morning.”

“What did they say?”

“They said if I’m scared I should get a dog or a personal alarm. That’s after they found out I didn’t have a telephone.”

“What time did you see the man?”

“Around two. I couldn’t sleep and when I got up I saw it was a few minutes past two. I went to light the lamp, but before I could, I saw someone over near the front corner of your
haus.
They were crouching down.”

“The police didn’t come out?”

Ava shook her head. “They might have if I’d been able to call them at the time. Agatha had always talked about getting a phone in the barn, but she never did anything about it. Do you know it’s in the papers?”

“What – Horace’s murder?”

“Jah,
the story was in the paper yesterday. When I gave the police our address, the officer said it was in the paper.”

Ettie tapped her fingers on her chin, wondering if the newspaper article had caused them the unwanted attention.

“You know the police think that Agatha did it?”

Ettie looked up at her. “I thought she was a suspect, but I didn’t think they thought she was a killer. Surely not.”

“I’m convinced of it. They asked me to go to the police station so they could ask me some questions.”

“Did you go?”

“Yes, I went yesterday.”

“What did they ask you?”

“They asked me what kind of things Agatha spoke to me about, how well I knew her, if I knew any of her close friends, and if she’d ever mentioned Horace.”

“Had she ever mentioned Horace to you?”

“She had. She told me there’s no right man and I shouldn’t wait for one. I asked her how she knew and she told me about Horace and that he disappointed her – she thought she loved him. I’m sorry now that I didn’t pay more attention to what she said.”

“That’s sad, very sad. She was waiting for him to come back and he never did. She would’ve thought he didn’t love her when all the while he was right under her feet.”

Ava nodded. “I guess it is sad when you look at it like that. Are you going to move in or are you thinking of selling?”

“I don’t think I could sell. Agatha wouldn’t want me to do that, not when she said she wanted you to stay. I was seriously thinking of moving in until all this happened.”

“Please move in, Ettie. I’m a little scared now. It’d be nice to have you living close by.”

“You’re frightened?”

“More unnerved, I’d say. There’s a dark, gloomy feeling hanging over the place – Agatha’s gone and now this discovery under the boards...”

“Do you want to come inside?” Ettie asked. “I can’t stand for too long before I get tired.”

“Okay.”

Ettie and Ava walked into the house and sat down in the living room. “It’s unfair that Agatha isn’t here to clear her name,” Ettie said.

“Nothing about the law is fair, Ettie. It’s not fair that people who have no money are severely disadvantaged. Some people are in jail who wouldn’t be there if they had money for bail. I heard of a man who was in jail waiting for a trial for three years and he was totally innocent – he just didn’t have the money for bail.”

“That is unfair.”

“The world’s justice system is unfairly slanted to disadvantage areas of… Oh, I’m sorry, Ettie; I’m sure you don’t want to listen to my tirades.”

“Nee,
I do. I’m interested in what young people think.”

Ava leaned forward. “I’ve done a few legal studies. I got my GED and started college, without anyone in the community knowing. It was Agatha who encouraged me.”

“I won’t tell anyone,” Ettie said wondering what Ava’s parents would have to say on the matter.

“I didn’t think you would.” Ava giggled.

“What happened with your studies – you said you started?”

“It’s not a practical thing to do. I don’t want to leave the community; I struggled with what to do for a while, before I decided to stay. I thought I might be able to do a lot of good if I became a lawyer or maybe a case worker, but then Agatha pointed out that a person can do good wherever they are and whatever they’re doing.”

“That’s true enough. She was a smart woman.”

“It’s a loss, for sure and for certain. She became a good friend,” Ava said before giving a sigh.

“I never saw you around when I visited her.”

“I kept in my
haus
when I saw she had visitors. We respected each other’s privacy like that.”

Ettie chortled. “You probably didn’t want to get stuck talking to old people.”

“Nee,
it’s not that at all,” Ava said.

Ettie slapped her hands together. “I was on my way to talk to Horace’s
mudder
to see what I can find out.”

“She’s still alive?”

“Jah
, she’s Doris Hostetler. Horace’s sister, Sadie, never married and she’s still living at home.”

“Jah,
I know Doris and Sadie. I didn’t realize they were related to the man who was killed. There are so many Hostetlers in the community. Can I come? I can drive you in my buggy to save you getting a taxi.”

“That would be
wunderbaar; denke,
Ava. Keep your eyes and ears open. We have to find some clue that will help clear Agatha’s name.”

“I hope we do.”

“Me too.” 

Chapter 6.

When they approached the Hostetlers’ place, Ettie saw Sadie sweeping the porch. “There’s Sadie.”

“How old would Sadie be?”

“She’d have to be sixty, and Doris, her
mudder,
is much older than I am – in her early nineties, I’d say.”

“Sadie always looks so unhappy. In a scary kind of way.”

“She does. She’s a spinster and not to happy about it. She had two men she liked but they ended up marrying other women.”

By the time they got out of the buggy, Sadie had disappeared.

Doris came to the front door and waited for them. “Ettie, Ettie.” She reached out her hands toward her and Ettie took hold of them. “You heard?”

Ettie nodded. “I’m sorry, Doris.”

“That’s why he never came back. I always wondered if I should’ve done or said something different – I always blamed myself. I never could have done anything about him not coming back. I feared something bad might have happened so I reported him to the police as a missing person some years back, but I still heard nothing.” Doris looked over at Ava and then back to Ettie. “Elsa-May’s not with you?”

“Nee
, she’s at a knitting circle. I’m afraid I didn’t tell her I was coming here, but she’ll visit soon, I’m sure. You know Ava, don’t you?”

“Jah,
I do. Morning, Ava.”

“Good morning.”

“Ava lives in Agatha’s
grossdaddi haus.”

“I’d heard that. Come in, Sadie’s got the pot boiling so we can have a nice cup of hot tea.”

Doris had a tight grip on Ettie’s arm as she pulled her inside.

After they made polite small talk, Doris informed them the funeral was set for the day after tomorrow, on Friday. “It will be a closed casket.” The lines in Doris’ face deepened as she frowned and looked up at the ceiling.

“Jah,
of course,” Ettie said, thinking they could do it no other way. “Did the police say anything of who might have done it?”

Doris stared at Ettie for a without answering her, making Ettie regret her sudden question. Sadie placed a tray of tea and cookies on the small table in front of them and sat down. Ettie could see that Sadie was disturbed by her brother’s death. She looked paler than she usually did and her cheeks were drawn in, almost as though she hadn’t eaten anything or even had anything to drink in days. The dark grape-colored dress Sadie wore under her white apron did nothing to improve her complexion.

After everyone had a cup in hand, Doris eventually answered Ettie. “They consider that Agatha was the most likely person to have done it. I told them that was nonsense.”

“I see,” Ettie said before bringing the tea to her lips.

“Don’t you think it nonsense, Ettie?” Doris asked.

“I absolutely do, but do you have any idea who might have done it? He was on
rumspringa
at the time, I believe. Did he come back and visit you?”

Doris and Sadie exchanged glances. “He visited twice early on while he was still on
rumspringa,”
Sadie said, contributing to the conversation for the first time.

“Did he talk of anyone – anyone who had cause to harm him?”

“He did have an argument with Agatha,” Sadie said opening her blue-green eyes widely.

“He did?” Ettie asked.

Sadie nodded. “He said he was coming back to the community and went to tell Agatha, thinking she’d be happy, and they had a terrible row.”

Doris scrunched up her nose.

“Did he tell you that?” Ettie asked.

Sadie nodded. “He came to say goodbye straight after he’d seen her, and told me they’d had a terrible argument. Then he told me he was going away for a long time, heading up north. Before he left, he said he’d go back and try to make amends with her just one more time. That was the last time I saw him.”

“Did you tell the police that?” Ettie asked.

Sadie nodded.

“You’ve never told me that, Sadie,” her mother said looking at her in disbelief.

“I didn’t want to upset you,
Mamm.”

“The police questioned us separately. I wondered why they thought Agatha did it. Now they think she did it because of what you said, Sadie.”

“I had to tell the truth, didn’t I?” Sadie scrunched up her face and looked as though she would cry.

Ettie couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to have a sibling disappear, not knowing if they were dead or alive.

“Jah,
of course you had to tell the truth,” Doris said, trying to calm Sadie.

“You must have missed your
bruder
over all these years, Sadie,” Ava said.

“They got on so well,” Doris said.

“We all missed him,” Sadie said before she gave a sniffle.

“Did the police talk to the rest of your
kinner?”
Ettie asked Doris, trying to recall just how many children she had. She was certain it was six – or was it seven?

“They said they wanted to talk to them, and I gave the police all their addresses. They might have talked to them already.”

“What about friends of Horace? Did you know any of Horace’s
Englisch
friends?” Ava asked.

“There were two boys – well, men – he brought with him the second time he came here. He showed them the farm. I don’t know their names now, but he said he worked with them.”

“Doing what?” Ettie asked, hoping to have a lead.

“Building. Building new homes. It was a construction company.”

“Do you remember the name of it?” Ava asked.

Doris looked at her daughter. “You’d remember it, Sadie; you’ve got such a good memory for names and such.”

Sadie shook her head.
“Nee,
I don’t remember.”

Doris frowned at her. “We were talking about it just yesterday.” Doris’ gaze turned to the ceiling. “It was the name of a bird. Finch Homes?
Nee,
it wasn’t that.”

“Sparrow?” Ettie suggested.

“Wren?” Ava added.

“Nee,
none of those. Starling, that’s what it was Starling Homes. Wasn’t it, Sadie?”

“That’s right it was,
Mamm
. Starling Homes.”

Doris took a sip of tea.

Sadie peered at Ettie. “Why are you asking all these questions, Ettie?”

“Agatha was a good friend and I want to clear her name.”

Sadie asked, “How?”

“By finding out who killed your
bruder,”
Ettie added.

Doris leaned forward. “Perhaps you should leave things well alone, Ettie. He’s gone and nothing will bring him back. No one in the community thinks that Agatha would do such a thing. Leave it well alone.”

“What
Mamm
said is right, Ettie. He’s gone; it won’t bring him back.”

Ettie shook her head.
“Nee,
I can’t. I owe it to Agatha to clear her name. She’d want me to do that.”

Ava turned to Sadie. “Was Starling Homes a local business?”

Sadie nodded. “It was, but I couldn’t tell you where it was located.”

* * *

Once they were in the buggy and driving away from the Hostetlers’ home, Ava said, “That was interesting.”

“Jah,
it was. What part did you think was the most interesting?”

“I haven’t had much to do with them, since they’re so much older. I didn’t know they’d be so nice and friendly.”

Ettie shrugged her shoulders, wishing she’d brought Elsa-May with her instead of Ava. Still, she was pleased she had someone with her. “Now we need to find out what we can about the building company Horace worked for.”

“Are you going to talk to people Horace knew back then?”

“Jah.
We can look it up in a phone book at the local store on the way home. Hopefully the firm will still be in business.”

“Very good.” Ava nodded.

Ten minutes later, Ava returned to the buggy with a phone number and address. “Excellent,” Ettie said, staring at the contact details. “We should visit and find out who they employed all those years ago.”

“Would they tell us that? Wouldn’t they consider that private information? And wouldn’t the police be doing all this?” Ava asked.

“That’s a good question. Let’s go and visit Detective Kelly right now and I’ll ask where he’s gotten with everything.”