Murder, Served Simply (24 page)

I
parked in the closest spot I could find to the hotel and carried Oliver through the swirling snow to the hotel. The front edge of the promised winter storm was already hitting the county. A large black minivan was parked right in front of the hotel's main doors. Blake stepped out of the hotel with a large crate filled with wires. Blake smiled at me as he loaded it into the back of the van with even more gear from the play.

“Are you packing up to leave?” I asked.

“Yep. I have to say I'm ready to go. The play can't very well continue without a director or the leads.”

“Leads? What happened to the leads?” I asked.

“They took off. This morning Lena and Ruben were gone. The sheriff came by last night to ask them some more questions, and this morning they were gone.”

Mitchell had come back to ask about the letters; I just knew it. The trustees wouldn't be happy about it when they heard the news. Head Trustee Cramer had better think of another way to raise money for that playground, because the progressive dinner and play idea was a bust.

“Have you seen Junie?” Blake asked. “I wanted to say good-bye to her.”

“You're friends with Junie?”

“Yeah. She's a cool girl. We've had a couple of good
talks. Junie and I get each other. Neither of us wants to be in the spotlight, but we do want respect.”

Respect. That was a funny concept for an Amish person to fixate on.

“Did you have these talks at the hotel?”

“Sometimes, but most of the time, she came to see me when I was alone in the barn, working on the set. Jasper is not a hands-on stage manager. He had me do all the grunt work. She brought me snacks while I worked. I am going to miss the food. The food here is killer.”

I shivered when he said “killer” in reference to Junie. The wheels were spinning in my head faster and faster. “What did you talk about? I mean other than your mutual need for respect.”

“She was really interested in my job. I showed her around backstage.”

My brow creased. “You showed Junie around backstage? Why? It just seems like an odd thing for an Amish girl to be interested in.”

Blake blushed. “Yeah, well, she showed an interest in how everything worked backstage. She really saw how our job was even more important than the actors'.”

“When was that?”

He thought a moment. “I don't know, maybe the day before the first show.”

My pulse quickened. My suspicions couldn't possibly be right, could they? Another shiver ran down my spine.

Blake started back toward the hotel. I hurried and followed him.

“She's a really nice girl. It's a shame she is Amish. She gave me the idea that she might leave the Amish and wanted to get to know me better. Another signal from a girl I completely misread. I don't understand women at all.”

I grabbed his arm. “Blake, listen to me. Did you show Junie the swing?”

“The swing that Eve used?”

I dropped my hand. “Yes, the one that she fell from.”

“Sure, it was the most important part of the stage until the sheriff took it away. It's a really great prop and took me weeks to make. I made it myself. I can't tell you how upset I was when the police took it. Do you think they will give it back to me? I mean, I could really use it for a future production. I'm not going to be Jasper's assistant forever. I've got bigger dreams than that.”

“That's great. If you see the sheriff come in, tell him I am wherever Junie is.” I cut him off and ran into the hotel.

“Where's that?”

“I don't know yet. That's what I'm going to find out.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed the sheriff.

“Mitchell.”

“Hey, it's me.”

“I was just about to leave for your house.”

“I'm not at the house. I'm at the hotel. I think—I think Junie cut the rope.”

“What?”

“Junie. She did it because she was jealous of her sister, her sister whom everyone loved more than her.”

“What are you doing at the hotel?” he asked.

“I came here to ask her.”

“You are just going to walk up to her and ask if she murdered her own sister,” Mitchell yelled into my ear.

“Uh, yeah. Got a better idea?”

“Yes, stay there and do nothing. I'm on my way.”

“But—”

“I said I am on my way.” He hung up.

I spun around in the center of the lobby toward the registration desk and was relieved to find Bethanne there.

“Yes, sir,” she said into the phone. “Your reservation is confirmed. We will see you on January ten. Thank you for making a reservation.”

“Bethanne, hang up the phone,” I ordered.

She gave me an alarmed look. “That's right, sir. We look forward to seeing you.”

“Hang up the phone now.” I made an “end it” signal.

She yanked it away from me. “Good-bye.” She glared at me. “Angie, what has gotten into you?”

“Where's Junie? I need to talk to her. It's urgent.”

She blinked at me. “She's home by now. Her shift ended more than an hour ago.”

“Did you see her leave? Are you sure she left?”

She twisted the tie from her prayer cap around her finger. “Yes, I saw her walk toward the back of the hotel. That's where the employees' exit is. She can't just go waltzing out of the front door like she is a guest of the hotel.”

“How did she seem?” I asked.

“I don't know. Why do you have so many questions about her?”

I couldn't share my fears because there was still a chance that I could be wrong. It was one thing to tell the sheriff, but I couldn't tell Junie's coworker. “Can Oliver stay here with you while I check the dining room and kitchen for her?”

She smiled. “Of course. But I really do think she left. Why would she want to stay around here on Christmas?”

“Thanks,” I said, and dashed into the dining room. It was deserted. I went through the employee door to the kitchen, which Junie had taken me through just the day before. I found the English women in the kitchen again, baking and cooking Christmas dinner for the hotel guests.

“Can I help you?” one of the women asked.

“I was looking for Junie,” I said. “Have you seen her?”

“Junie? Junie's shift ended well over an hour ago. I bet she's at home now. You can find her there.”

I thanked the women and went back into the dining room. Maybe I should heed the sheriff's advice for once and wait until he showed up to keep searching for Junie. I went back through the dining room to the main lobby.

Bethanne stood behind the registration desk.

“I'll take Oliver,” I said. “We will go wait for the sheriff in the sitting room.”

“He's not here,” she said.

“What do you mean, ‘He's not here'?” I demanded.

She blinked at me. “Junie stopped by the desk—I guess she was somewhere in the hotel after all—and I told her that you were looking for her. She said that she would take Oliver with her and go find you.”

“What?” I snapped.

She pulled back. “Did I do something wrong?”

Give my Frenchie to a possible murderer? Yes, that was wrong. Very wrong. I couldn't tell Bethanne that.

“Where did she go?”

“I—I think I saw her walking toward the barn,” the girl stammered.

“Call the police. Tell them where I am, and that Junie is the one who killed Eve Shetler.”

“Junie?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yes, now call them!” I ordered as I fled the lobby.

T
he stage's back door slammed against the wall as I barreled through it. “Oliver!” I cried.

There was a bark in return, and it was from above. I craned my neck and looked up. Oliver and Junie stood on the platform. Junie was precariously close to the edge.

My heart pounded against my sternum. “Junie, what are you doing? You and Oliver need to come down from there right away. You could get hurt.”

She looked down at me. A single tear fell from her cheek and landed on the stage like a fat raindrop. “I can't come down. I have to make amends for what I did. I have to face my lot in eternity.”

I didn't like the sound of that. I didn't like it at all. And I hated the thought of my beloved pooch up there with a crazy person.

I put my foot on the first rung of the ladder.

“Don't take another step. I will kick him off, I will.” She lifted her foot as if to demonstrate.

I froze. “Okay, okay, don't hurt him.” I stepped down from the ladder and took two giant steps backward.

High above, Oliver whimpered. He lay as flat as he could on his belly.

Holding up my hands, I moved around the ladder, so
that she could see me better. “What are you going to do?”

“The only thing I can do.” She turned her back to the open air and crossed her arms over her chest. In her Amish clothes she looked like a pilgrim at the gallows. The back of her heels hung over the edge of the landing. A light breeze would topple her backward.

“Wait!” I cried. “Think about what you are doing.”

“I have thought about it. I have thought about it from the moment Eve hit the stage. I knew there was no going back then, and I won't.”

Oliver had the good sense to belly crawl farther away from her.

“Why, Junie? Why did you do it?” My neck began to hurt from looking up, but I would not take my eyes off her. How was I going to get her down? Where was Mitchell?

“It went just like I knew it would be when Eve returned. She showed up here and, all over again, it was like I didn't exist. Everyone fawned over her, even my mother, even when she shouldn't because Eve had abandoned our ways.” She hit one of the wooden support beams with her hand. The entire platform shook.

Oliver yelped.

Junie didn't seem to notice. “I thought when she went to New York, I was finally rid of her, but she came back and I was nothing again.” She started to cry. “I told her
over and over that she should leave, that our parents and our community didn't want to see her. But she refused. I had to make her go, so I cut the rope.

“I thought she might be hurt. I thought she might break her arm. Maybe if she got hurt, it would show everyone that Eve was human, just like me. I wanted her to leave again. I never thought she would die.”

“Oh, Junie,” I said.

“I know I didn't think it through.” More fat tears hit the stage. “I was so angry.”

I had my eye on the backstage door. “What do you mean to do now, Junie?”

“I have to do this. It's almost worse now that she's dead. She's all I hear about.
Mamm
cries all night long over her. So does Mimi. So does everyone. I can't stand it.”

I waved at her. “Let's go to the sheriff and explain what happened. That her death was an accident gone wrong.”

“I can't go to prison. I can't. I'm scared of what may happen to me there.”

For good reason. I shivered to think how an Amish girl would fare in prison. Maybe she could claim insanity by jealousy and avoid it that way.

Oliver whimpered. I prayed Oliver would be quiet and not draw attention to himself.

Across the stage, I could see someone moving in the wings, but I couldn't see who it was. I hoped it was Mitchell. Maybe he would be able to negotiate with her. Why wasn't he coming to help? Should I call out to him?
Would seeing the sheriff make Junie jump that much faster?

My mouth was dry. I desperately needed water. “Junie, please don't do this. Please. You made a mistake. Don't take your own life. Please.” I knew I was begging, but I didn't care.

“I try to be a
gut
Amish girl, but Eve was always better. Even when she left the Amish, she was better to my mother, to Nathan, to Mimi, to everyone. She was a star and needed all the attention.”

I skirted the platform from below. She needed to look at me. When I wheeled around to where I could see her face, I saw her eyes were shut. “Junie, listen to me. Please. This is not how to deal with this. Talk to the sheriff. He can help you.” My eyes flitted across the stage. The person I thought I saw there earlier was gone. Had I imagined it?

“Why would he help me? He doesn't even notice me. No one does. He cares about Eve like everyone else. He's trying so hard to find out what happened to her, isn't he?”

“He cares about Eve because he is investigating her case. He has to.”

“Would he try as hard if it were me?”

“Of course he would,” I said. “I am certain of that. The sheriff is a good man and treats all of the citizens of Holmes County equally.”

She shook her head like a kindergartner refusing peas at dinner. “
Nee
, he would not. I'm not as worthy as everyone else. I'm not as important as Eve. Even after I am
dead, I won't be as important. She will be the one who is remembered and missed.”

Covertly, I slipped my hand into my pocket for my cell phone. I dialed 911 and stuck it back into my pocket, hoping the operator would at least hear some of our conversation.

Junie spoke in Pennsylvania Dutch. The only word I caught was
Gott
. Was she praying? Was that a good sign or a bad sign?

“Junie, listen to me. God would not want you to do this.”

“
Nee
, he would not,” she said, and with that she leaned all the way back and fell.

Oliver jumped up and grabbed onto the front of her apron with his teeth, but she was too heavy and her momentum was too great. He couldn't hold her, and her dress tore from his mouth. Her skirt floated around her like a cap, and her legs kicked in the air. I screamed as she fell, running as fast as I could to the place where she'd hit the stage. I didn't know if I could break her fall, but I had to try.

But someone else was faster. Thud, thud, thud, the sound of running feet thundered across the stage. Blake sprinted toward Junie's falling body. He made it there just in time.

“Oomph!” Blake cried when Junie fell on top of him.

Junie cried out in pain.

Oliver came away with a long piece of black cotton in his mouth. He looked over the edge of the landing with mournful eyes. I didn't follow his line of sight. I had to get him out of danger first. I climbed the ladder in record
time and scooped up Oliver. The Frenchie licked me up one side of the face and down the other.

“Okay, okay, you are okay.” I kissed his head before I peered over the side of the landing.

Below, Blake held Junie as she cried on his shoulder. “I noticed you,” he said, barely loud enough for me to hear.