A Plain Malice: An Appleseed Creek Mystery (Appleseed Creek Mystery Series Book 4) (17 page)

“I’m happy to help,” I said.

The deacon moved a few paces
closer to me. “
Ya
. You seem to always want to
help
our community.”

Timothy stepped closer to me as if to block the deacon’s
glare.

“Now, Deacon
.” Bishop Hooley forced a laugh. “You know Chloe did help us this time.”

The deacon scowled but said nothing
more.

“Bishop, can I ask you some questions about
this morning?” I asked.

He smoothed his beard, and his eyes slid over to the deacon.

“I don’t know what the bishop can tell you,” Deacon Sutter said. “He was with me the entire time. We know nothing.”

“Then maybe you both can answer my questions since you were there that morning.”

The deacon shook his head, but the bishop held up a shaky hand. “It is
gut
, Deacon. We can answer her questions.”

“We have already spoken to the police. That is enough,” the deacon argued.

The bishop frowned. “I will answer her questions.”

Before Deacon Sutter could say more, I asked, “Did you speak with Dudley when he arrived with the tour?”

“
Ya.
He was the one I had been in the most contact with to bring Blue Suede Tours to Knox County.”

“Did he seem upset or nervous?” I asked.

“
Nee
.” He paused. “He was frustrated that the schedule had to be changed because of the Zugg’s sheep getting loose.”

I had forgotten that. “How did the sheep get out?”

“There was a hole in the fence. Z-Zugg was lucky only one animal slipped away.”

“Did he find it?”

“
Ya.
She hadn’t gone very far.”

“Did you see anyone near the milk?”

“All the
Englischers
were around the milk,” the deacon jumped in. “It would be difficult to see if anyone tampered with it. That’s what you are implying, aren’t you?”

I nodded.

“It is getting l-late,” the bishop said. He looked at me. “Please tell the passengers that we hope that they enjoy the r-remainder of their stay.”

The deacon nodded at me. “Be careful as you ride along with the bus tour. We would hate it
if anyone else was harmed.”

Was that a threat?

After the buggy rocked out onto the street, Timothy said, “I hope you have the deacon on your suspect list.”

“You bet I do.” I squeezed his hand. “He just jumped up a few notches.”

That night in my room at the inn, the events of the day played like a movie reel in my mind. The image that struck me the most was the shock and dismay on Mr. Troyer’s proud face right after Ruby and Dudley fell. Coming in a close second was Deacon Sutter’s satisfied expression when the bishop said there would be no more Amish bus tours in the district.

Chapter Seventeen

I woke up in the middle of the night and wondered where I was, and then I remembered. I hadn’t shut my curtains before falling into bed. Moonlight streamed in through the windows in the French doors and shone on my face.

I held a hand over my eyes to block the light. That didn’t work. Then
, I covered my face with a pillow and felt like I was suffocating. I wriggled out of my cozy cocoon and stumbled to the French doors and opened them. The water of the Kokosing River glimmered like a line of liquid silver under the light of the full moon. A lone doe drank from the water’s edge. The sight took my breath away. The crisp spring night air floated into the room. The smell of the lilacs and muddy ground washed over me, bringing me fully awake.

I groaned as I shuffled back to bed. I needed sleep. I had a full afternoon of tour guiding the next day. Thankfully, because
tomorrow was Sunday, the tour wouldn’t begin until after lunch in case any of the guests wanted to attend local church services.

My
cell phone made a binging sound. I grabbed it from the night stand. I had an incoming call through Skype.

On the tiny screen, I saw Tanisha sitting
at her desk in her classroom in Milan, Italy. Her long black braids fell over her shoulders and she wore plastic-rimmed glasses “for style” even though her vision was twenty-twenty. I had to admit the purple glasses did look good on her, but then again everything looked good on Tanisha. “Hey, you’re up. I didn’t really expect you to answer,” she said.

I rubbed my eyes.

“Did I wake you?” She sounded worried.

I dropped my hand.
“No, can’t sleep.”

“Turn a light on. I can’t see you. You look like
the shadow of death.”

That was cheerful.
I reached across the bed and turned on the lamp at the nightstand. “Better?” I asked.

“Much.” Tanisha moved her head back and forth as if
trying to find a better angle to see me. “Where are you? That doesn’t look like your bedroom.”

“I’m staying at the Dutch Inn.”

Tanisha sipped espresso from a tiny coffee cup. “Did you go on vacation?”

“No
t exactly. I’m still on Appleseed Creek. I guess you would say I’m on an assignment of sorts for Chief Rose.”

Tanisha had met the chief when she visited me over Christmas. “Tell me everything.”
Tee rubbed her hands together. “This will be good.”

“Where do I start?” I rubbed my other eye. Maybe I should close the French doors. As much as I loved the lilac scent in the room, I think I was having an allergic reaction to it.

“At the beginning, don’t skip anything.”

“I was at the Troyer farm
…”

She wiggled in her desk chair. “I knew this would have something to do with Timothy.” She
pretended to fan herself. “Mr. Amish Hotness.”

I laughed
, thinking of Gertie. “You have some competition.”

“You?”

“Oh no, not me, a hundred-year-old woman.”

“You’d better start at the beginning. I have ten minutes left in my free period, so hurry up.”

After I had told her the story, she said, “Chloe, you are like a magnet for dead people.”

That wasn’t exactly a title to be proud of. “I just happen to be
at the wrong place at the wrong time.” I paused. “A lot.”

“No kidding.”
She twirled one of her braids around her index finger. “I wish I could help you. You know I’d be there in a minute if I could.”

I smiled, wishing I could give my best friend a hug.
“Timothy, your hero, is here.”

“That’s true. I can count on him to take care of you. Let me tell you I gave him a talking to about how special you were when I was there.”

I knocked the heel of my hand on my forehead. “Tee…”

She laughed. “
As your best friend, it’s my job. It wouldn’t have mattered if I had given him the talk or not. He already knew. He’s smitten.”

“Smitten?”

“It’s a vocabulary word this week,” she said. “Timothy is staying there too?”

“He’s on a different floor,” I said
dryly.

“That is so sweet. He’s your
Amish knight in shining armor. I need to find me a Timothy too. Not too many hot former Amish guys running around Milan. I’ve looked.”

“What about Rocco?”

Tanisha had started dating an Italian teacher at the school she taught English as a second language at. She groaned. “Rocco is history. More importantly, how could there possibly be another murder in Appleseed Creek?”

That was an excellent question.

* * * * *

Sunday in Amish Country was a quiet time. According to the itinerary, the travelers could have
the morning to sleep in or go to church, so I assumed I was free to go to church myself. Before Timothy and I left, I knocked on Hudson’s door. The only answer was snores. I decided waking him up was a very bad idea.

Jane
was again at the desk that morning. I wondered if she ever got a break from it. It was the only place I have seen here the entire time we had been at the inn. She chatted with Timothy about the weather.

“
Jane,” I said. “Can you tell Hudson whenever he emerges from his room I went to church and will be back by lunchtime?”

She straightened up.
“Yes, I’ll slip a message under his door. The children and I will be leaving soon for the Sutter farm. That’s where the district service will be today.”

I thanked her and
was about to open the inn’s front door to meet Timothy at his truck, when it flew open. A figure stomped into to room and knocked into my shoulder, sending me stumbling to the side. He had his head bent. “Excuse me.”

“Mr. Kepler,” Jane said. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Earl said without looking up. He went straight for the elevator and jabbed at the button.

Timothy appeared in the doorway. “
Chloe, are you ready to go?”

“I--,” I stared as the elevator doors closed on Earl’s face. He looked like he had been crying. “Yes, I’m ready.”

Timothy and I arrived at church early because he was in the choir. Becky was a member too. She’d walked from our house and waited for us on the lawn. I was disappointed to see Hannah Hilty and her two henchwomen, red-cheeked Emily and rail-thin Kim, waiting on the lawn with Becky. Becky didn’t appear pleased with the company.

Hannah ignored the girls and only had eyes for Timothy.
“Timothy,” Hannah crooned. “We were just talking about you.”

I bet
.

Becky sidled up to my sid
e and rolled her eyes.

“Hi
, Hannah,” I said.

“Oh, hello, Chloe.”
She pretended to be surprised to see me with Timothy. “How are you?”

Becky smoothed
an imaginary wrinkle in her A-line skirt. “Where’s your boyfriend? Shouldn’t he be out of school for the summer?”

Hannah
’s boyfriend played basketball for Kentucky State.

Hannah sighed. “
He’s back home, but we are no longer together. I don’t know what happened. It was going so well.”

“He went running for his life,” Becky muttered under her breath.

I stepped on her foot.

She
suppressed a cry and scooted away from me.

“Maybe it was t
he long distance,” Timothy said.

I inwardly groaned. Timothy’s natural concern for other
s played right into Hannah’s clutches.

“I don’t know,” Hannah said in a pathetic,
‘please come rescue me’ voice.

Becky opened her mouth as if she was going to offer up another suggest
ion. I shook my head just once. She closed her mouth and grinned. It must have been a whopper.

Hannah reached out and touched Timothy’s
arm. He didn’t recoil from her touch as I would have liked him to. “He just didn’t have substance. He wasn’t the right guy for me.”

“Chloe, I heard you
were leader of the bus tour that killed those people,” Kim, who towered over me, said.

I didn’t even bother to ask how
Kim knew this. Appleseed Creek was small and everyone knew everything about everyone, English, Amish, Mennonite, it didn’t matter. Also, Hannah and her friends took a particular interest in finding out information about me.

“The bus tour didn’t kill anyone
. But, yes, two people on the tour died under suspicious circumstances.”

“It seems like you always find your way into trouble.” Hannah blinked innocently at me.

“It happened at our farm,” Timothy said with a frown.

“Oh, Timothy.”
Hannah backpedaled like a champ. “I would never, ever imply your family had anything to do with what happened to those poor people.” Hannah glared at her friends. Kim and Emily inched toward the church.

Hannah cleared her throat.
“Chloe.” She pointed over my shoulder and into the church parking lot. “Someone is waiting for you.”

I glanced back and saw Curt in the parking lot leaning against his green truck.
He waved at me. My gaze flitted back to Timothy. The skin around his eyes tightened.

Hannah hooked her arm through Timothy’s. “
Curt loves to talk about you, Chloe. I overheard your name when he spoke to the pastor a little bit ago. It was so darling. Someone has a crush.”

“Hannah, that might be the dumbest thin
g you’ve ever said,” Becky snapped. “Curt knows Chloe and Timothy are together.” She leaned closer to Hannah. “And so do you.”

For a millisecond, Hannah’s right eye narrowed
, but then her face cleared. “Becky, you are too cute.” She tugged on Timothy’s arm. “We’ll just be off to choir and let you and your
friend
visit.”