Secrets Come Home (9 page)

Sadie shook her head. “They stole him from me. They agreed to look after him for six months. That’s what the arrangement was, but then when Horace went to collect him after the six months was up they wouldn’t hand him over.”

Ettie took a deep breath. All this happened right under her nose all those years ago and she hadn’t known a thing about it. She’d always thought she knew all that happened in the community.

“At first, I didn’t believe Horace. I thought he was lying because it would’ve been easier for him not to be bothered with the baby and to pretend he wasn’t the boy’s father. I went there myself, to the Settlers’ house, and they wouldn’t talk to me. They said that he was theirs now. I told them I was going to go to the police.”

“And did you?” Ettie asked, trying to imagine large Bill Settler as a baby.

“No, because they told me the baby would end up in a home for unwanted children if I did that. Then they asked if I had money to fight a court case. They said it would cost me thousands and take years, and all that time William would be in the care of strangers who might treat him poorly.”

“So they kept William and brought him up as their own?”

“They did. Horace was so angry. He said if he couldn’t get the baby back for me legally, he’d play ‘their game’. He knew the Settlers were into illegal goings on. He’d heard about their robberies and at one time they’d tried to get him involved. Mr. Settler told Horace that all his workers did ‘jobs’ for him. Horace refused to do anything of the kind. But then he stole from Mr. Settler and told him he could have the goods back when they gave William back, but they never did.”

“And that’s when Horace asked you to open a safe deposit box at the bank? To keep the goods he stole?”

Sadie nodded. “That’s right. He came by one night, knocked on my window and handed me a black velvet bag. I opened it, the bag, to see what was inside. There were big diamonds and other stones. I thought they were too big to be real, but he assured me they were. There was a big diamond necklace, and packets of smaller diamonds and so many large ones. Then there were pretty red and green gems. They were so pretty; I couldn’t take my eyes off them. I spread them all over my bed, I held them up to the light – they were beautiful things I’d never seen the like of.”

“What did he have you do with them?” the officer asked.

“He said to go to the bank. He gave me a bundle of cash and said it would be enough to keep the box for a long time if need be. Then he told me exactly what to do and say when I got to the bank.”

“And you followed his directions?” Ettie asked.

“I told him he should never have gotten involved with people like that. All of it was my fault.”

“No, it wasn’t. It wasn’t your fault at all. Sometimes things happen and then bad things just follow and we’re powerless to stop them.” Ettie wasn’t sure what she was saying, only that she was trying to comfort Sadie and help dull the pain that she’d obviously lived with for years. “Who was the man who pointed the gun at me? You seemed to know him.”

“I haven’t told you, have I?”

Ettie shrugged. “There’s more?”

Sadie’s mouth turned down and she took a deep breath. “Bill found out he wasn’t a real ‘Settler’ and he set out to find Horace and me. Bill sought me out about three years ago. We meet every so often. He knows about the box at the bank – about it being in my name. He was trying to protect me by stopping the police from finding out. He wanted to get the key before the police found out the stolen goods were under my name at the bank.”

“How was he trying to do that? By sending someone to get the key from me, from the house?”

Sadie nodded. “I guess so. I knew Bill would do something silly to protect me – we’ve developed a bond. Well, I’ve always had the bond, the connection with my child, but now it’s different when he feels the same pull toward me.”

“How did Bill know I had the key?”

“Eyes and ears, Bill calls them. He says he has them everywhere thanks to his
vadder
– I mean, father.” Sadie corrected herself so the police could understand her.

Ettie knew that someone at the police station must have overheard mention of the key connected to Horace’s murder.

Sadie continued, “I told Bill everything, about those people he calls his parents and how they tricked Horace and me.”

Ettie wondered if Bill wanted that key for himself since the box held possibly half a million dollars’ worth of gems, according to the Internet search.

“But they’re the people who raised him, so I didn’t want to say too many bad things about them,” Sadie said.

“It must be hard for you, Sadie.”

“It was heart-breaking. I used to sit outside his school whenever I had the chance. I watched him grow up from a distance.”

The female officer asked, “You think that Bill, your biological son, was trying to protect you from the police? He had someone come to this lady’s house with a gun? Is that correct?”

Sadie nodded. “I had stolen goods in that box.”

“Why keep the stolen property all these years when the people refused to give the baby up?” the officer asked.

“I didn’t,” Sadie blurted out. “I didn’t have the key. Horace told me that without the key you can’t get into the box, and that’s what they told me at the bank. They said if I lose the key they have to go through all kinds of legalities to get the box opened. I gave the key to Horace straight after I placed the goods in the box and I never saw him or the key again.”

“Bill knew that there was a key somewhere, and knew what the box contained?” Ettie asked to confirm the events.

Sadie nodded.

The officer reminded her that she must speak her answers for the recording.

"Yes," said Sadie.

Ettie pulled her mouth to one side while she tried to figure it all out. “Horace took the diamonds as ransom so they’d give your baby back. If that had worked, you were going to take the baby back to the community, raise him yourself and tell everyone he was a close relative?”

Sadie nodded, caught herself, and then said, “Yes.” She turned her attention to the female officer. “Will I go to jail?”

“I can’t answer that.” The officer stood. “I’ll get Detective Kelly – I’m sure he’ll have some more questions for you. I’m now leaving the room, and the recorder will be turned off.”

When the officer walked out the door, Sadie leaned over and clasped Ettie’s hand. “It’s such a mess, Ettie, such a mess.”

Ettie patted her hand. “Don’t worry. It’ll all get sorted out.” Ettie heard the door open behind her. She turned to see the policewoman come back into the room.

“Detective Kelly is down at the bank.”

“The warrant came through, then?” Ettie asked.

She nodded.

“Do we just wait here?” Sadie asked.

“You can wait here or wait in a cell.”

Sadie grimaced. “Here would be better.”

Ettie frowned at the officer. “Is Sadie going to be charged with something? She’s free to go, isn’t she?”

“Not until Detective Kelly comes back.” The woman turned and left the room.

Ettie looked back at Sadie and patted her hand again, wondering why the female officer had been so rude. She had seemed sympathetic earlier when she heard Sadie’s sad story. “It’ll all work out.” Ettie held her mouth tight, hoping it would. “Do you have any idea who might have killed Horace?” Ettie asked Sadie.

“Agatha would’ve been angry to find out about the baby. Then there were Terence Wheeler and his people. Horace said that his boss had stolen the diamonds from Wheeler and his lot. They were the rightful owners of the diamonds. Well, not the rightful owners, because the goods were stolen.”

“How did Horace get a hold of them, then? Wouldn’t they have been in a safe or something?” Ettie asked.

“I don’t know, I can’t answer that. That’s as much as I know.”

“You best tell Detective Kelly all that when he gets back.”

Sadie nodded. “Oh, do you think I’ve got William into trouble now?”

“I guess they’ll bring him in for questioning. I’m sure there’s a law against sending someone somewhere with a gun.” Ettie grimaced; Sadie sure did have a way of finding trouble.

Half an hour later, the detective walked through the door looking as though he’d been sucking on a lemon.

Both ladies waited for him to speak.

He planted both hands on the table and leaned over to Sadie. “We went to the bank, opened the box that was in your name and what do you think we found, Ms. Hostetler?”

“The diamonds?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. The box was empty.”

Chapter 15.

Sadie’s face contorted. “That’s not possible. I placed the diamonds in there myself and they said that no one but me could access it.”

“Could Horace have taken the diamonds out? He had the key, after all,” Ettie said.

The detective straightened up. “There’s a lot you’re not telling us, Ms. Hostetler.” He pulled a piece of paper from his inner coat pocket. “I have here evidence that you accessed the box one month after you opened it.”

“But that’s not true. I didn’t. I opened the box, paid the money and never went back. I gave the key to Horace straight after.”

“I put it to you that Horace stole the gems from his employer, had you open the box, then you killed him and kept the stolen goods for yourself.”

Ettie jumped to her feet. “Detective, that’s not possible. It’s simply untrue.”

Sadie put her head in her hands and sobbed.

“Keep quiet, please, Mrs. Smith. You’re only here out of respect to Detective Crowley.”

“Yes, well, Detective Crowley would know to trust what I say.”

“Sit down, Mrs. Smith,” he said through gritted teeth. “Or you can wait outside.”

Ettie sat, finding it hard to keep quiet.

Sadie sniffed back her tears and said, “It’s not true. What you’re saying is not true. I told Ettie the truth of what happened. He took the gems from Mr. Settler so they would give us our baby back, but they still wouldn’t give him up. I went to the bank like Horace said to, then I gave him the key.”

The detective sat down. He looked at both women, and said, “You had a baby with your brother that was brought up as a Settler?”

Ettie realized he must have missed some of Sadie’s confession while he was at the bank with the warrant. “They weren’t brother and sister, not by blood. Bill Settler, from Starling Homes, is Sadie and Horace’s child. That’s why Horace took the gems from Settler, so he would give him back the baby in exchange for the gems. The Settlers had agreed to look after their baby for six months, only then they wouldn’t give him back.”

The detective pulled his head back as though trying to absorb all the information. Then he looked at Sadie. “What Horace did was illegal, and you’re an accessory to his crime.”

Sadie pushed her lips together and then looked at Ettie with pleading eyes.

Ettie remembered from the Internet that the police couldn’t make charges stick to Wheeler all those years ago due to lack of evidence. “An accessory to what, Detective? You said yourself the box was empty.”

The detective glared at Ettie for a moment before his eyes traveled to Sadie. “This is by no means over, Ms. Hostetler, but I think we’ve kept you long enough today. We’ll need to speak to you again.”

The detective stepped back. Ettie put her arm around Sadie while she stood up. “Let’s go, Sadie.”

While Ettie and Ava ushered Sadie out of the police station and into a taxi, Ettie recalled that the detective had forgotten about her looking at the mug shots and she still hadn’t made a statement. Then she wondered what the detective would do now. Old Mr. Settler, the man who’d raised Bill, was dead, and so was Terence Wheeler.

On the way back to Sadie’s house, Ettie’s thoughts drifted to Bill Settler and the visit to his office. When Ava and I went there to find out about Horace he must have known all the while we were inquiring about his birth father. That also explains why his mother was irate to see him talking to us Amish folk since Sadie and Horace had been trying to get baby Bill back from her and her husband. She must have known that Bill had learned who his parents were.

When the taxi stopped at Sadie’s house, Ettie asked Sadie, “Does your mudder know the truth of everything?”

“I told her some things years ago, but not everything. I couldn’t hold the truth in any longer. It was my hope that by telling the truth Horace might come home.”

“Truth of what?” Ava asked.

Sadie looked at Ava, then back to Ettie. “You can tell her, if you want. I suppose everyone will find out soon.”

Ettie nodded. “Didn’t you say that someone told you about Terence Wheeler? And something about hiding Horace’s body and the key along with it?”

Sadie hid her face in her hands. “I made that up. I didn’t want anyone to find out about the jewels in the bank. I don’t want to talk about it anymore today.”

Ettie was a little upset with Sadie. Here she was trying to help her and she wasn’t helping herself. “Do you want me to come inside with you?” Ettie asked.

“
Nee. Denke
for everything you’ve done today, Ettie. Goodbye, Ava, and Ettie.”

Ettie and Ava watched until Sadie disappeared into her house.

“Where to now?” the taxi driver asked.

Ava looked at Ettie who let out a long slow breath. “Ava, what’s the address of Starling Homes?”

“Really?” Ava raised her eyebrows.

Ettie nodded and then Ava gave the address of Starling Homes to the driver.

Ettie gave a laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“You’ve got a good memory.”

Ava smiled. “I do for some things. What do you hope to find out by going to Starling Homes?”

“I’m hoping to talk to Bill.”

“I guessed that much, but about what? And what did Sadie say you were allowed to tell me?”

Ettie took a deep breath and wondered where to start.

* * *

Bill Settler was locking his office when Ava and Ettie pulled up in the taxi. When he saw it was them, he gave a wave.

They hurried toward him as he gave a final turn of his key. When he spun to face them, he placed his keys in his pocket and said, “How can I help you ladies today?”

Ettie walked close to him. “Did you send someone over to my house to get a key? A man with a gun?” Ettie looked into Bill’s face. She couldn’t see any resemblance to Sadie, but he did have Horace’s eyes, and his heavy frame. When he hesitated in answering, Ettie added, “Your birth mother seems to think that you did.”

Bill’s mouth fell open. He closed his mouth. “You’d better come inside and have a seat.” He turned around, unlocked the door and pushed it open. “After you.”

Ettie and Ava sat down.

When Bill was seated he asked, “You’ve spoken to my mother?”

“Which one?” Ava asked.

Ettie said, “We spoke to Sadie and she told us some interesting information.”

“What do you want to know from me if Sadie’s told you everything?”

Ettie bit on the inside of her mouth while she wondered how to get some information out of him. “Did you send someone with a gun to get the key to the deposit box?”

He looked down at one of his large hands and dusted something off it with his other hand. “Guilty.” Then he looked at Ettie. “She told me the box was in her name. I knew what was in the box because she’d told me about it.”

“Do you mean what was supposed to be in the box?”

Bill drew his eyebrows together. “What do you mean?”

“The police got a warrant and when they opened the box today there was nothing inside. It was empty. They had a record of Sadie accessing the box a month after it was opened.” Ettie could see he was genuinely surprised by the news. She hoped that meant his intentions had been good.

They all heard the sound of a car driving right next to Bill’s office. He jumped to his feet when he saw it was the police. Ettie drew her mouth in a straight line and bit her lip. She knew they wanted to ask him about sending someone to her house with a gun. Sadie had said she was certain he’d sent that young man, and Bill had confirmed it.

“I’m sure they just want to ask you a few questions,” Ettie said as she stood and pulled Ava to her feet. She knew Detective Kelly wouldn’t be pleased about them being there. To Ettie’s relief, it wasn’t Detective Kelly that stepped out of the vehicle, but two uniformed officers.

“William Settler?” one of the uniformed officers asked as Bill stepped out of his office.

“That’s me. What’s all this about?”

“We’ve got some questions, and we’d like you to accompany us to the station.”

“Very well. Give me a moment?” The policeman nodded. “I’ll have to lock the office. Do you ladies want me to call you a taxi?”

“Yes, please,” Ava said.

After Bill called for a taxi, he locked his office before heading to the police car with the policemen on either side of him.

As Ava and Ettie strolled to the front entrance, Ettie whispered, “Looking at Bill walk away, I see he looks just like Horace. He’s got the same large frame, and the same square shoulders.”

“They’re being polite to him. He doesn’t look like he’s in too much trouble.”

“Not yet,” Ettie said.

While they waited out the front for the taxi, Chad walked up to them. “Hello, again, Mrs. Smith.” He nodded at Ava.

Ettie smiled. “Hello, Chad.”

“Did my father just get taken away by the cops?”

“The police have some questions for him.”

Ava added, “Yes, it’s nothing to be concerned about.”

Chad frowned. “Questions about what?”

Ettie breathed out heavily. “I’ll let your father tell you.”

Chad pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. “I’ll call him and see what’s going on.”

Ettie looked up the road willing the taxi to hurry. “Let’s go to my old house before we go to our place. I haven’t seen Elsa-May in a while.”

Chad had his head down still talking on his phone when the taxi arrived. Ettie looked back at him when she got inside the taxi but still, he didn’t look up.

While Ava gave the driver directions, Ettie hit her fist on her forehead.

“Ettie! What are you doing?”

“What aren’t we seeing, Ava?”