Chapter 14
“Oh, Bailey.” Juliet waved to me from across the square. “Bailey.” She came to an abrupt stop in front of me. Her usually perfect hair was disheveled and her eyes red-rimmed.
I placed a hand on her shoulder. “Juliet, are you all right?”
She grabbed my hand from her shoulder and clasped it in both of hers. Tears brimmed in her eyes. “I’m so sorry to have dragged you into this mess with Josephine! If I’d never asked you to help me find Jethro, you would have had nothing to do with this. I feel just horrible about it all. Now, you’re a suspect in a murder again, and it’s my fault.”
A woman walking by us stopped and stared. I forced a smile. “We are practicing lines for a play.”
She narrowed her eyes as if she didn’t believe me.
I removed my hand from Juliet’s tight grasp. It took some doing. “Juliet, you might not want to announce to the world I’m a murder suspect.”
She clamped her hand over her mouth. “I’m so sorry. What was I thinking?” Her words were muffled because her hand was still over her mouth.
“Don’t worry,” I said, keeping my voice low. “How did you find out I was a suspect?”
“Aiden,” she said, barely above a whisper. “Of course, you know he doesn’t talk to me about his cases, but when I said that he couldn’t possibly suspect you of any wrongdoing, he got very quiet. That’s how I knew.” She shook her head. “That boy! He should know you well enough by now to know that you are incapable of such a terrible act.”
“Aiden has known me for only a few weeks, really,” I said, automatically coming to her son’s defense. I didn’t know why I was defending him when he considered me a murder suspect. I couldn’t stop myself from doing it.
“But he’s known your grandparents for most of his life. That should be enough for him.” She placed a hand on my arm. “I hope this doesn’t have any impact on your future together.”
Future together? What future together? There wasn’t one, as far as I knew. I thought it was best that I not ask Juliet those unspoken questions. “In any case, I don’t think it’s your fault I’m a suspect. Even if I had not been there when Charlotte found the body, I would still be a suspect. Because of how Josephine died, all the candy makers at the ACC are suspects.”
She nodded. “Maybe this is true.” Juliet pressed a tissue to the corner of her eye. “But I still can’t believe he would think that about you. What happened to Josephine is just awful. She wasn’t the kindest woman in the world, but to be shoved into the organ like that? It’s just so awful.”
A couple walked by and glanced at us in surprise. Clearly, the middle of the square was not the best place to have a conversation about murder. Time to change the subject. “Any news on Jethro?”
She shook her head. “No. He’s still missing. It’s almost been a full day. I’m just heartbroken over it.” She removed a tissue from her purse, dropped the tissue in the grass, and clasped a hand over her mouth. “I can’t believe I said that. You must think I’m a horrible person. Here I am crying over my pig being missing while Josephine . . .” She dissolved into tears again.
I patted her arm. “Jethro is important to you. A member of the family. There is no reason for you to feel bad about missing him.”
She lifted her head and looked up at me with tears in her eyes. “Yes, that’s exactly it, and he’s never been away from me for so long. I rarely let him out of my sight. He must be terrified.”
“What can I do to help?” I asked.
“I can’t ask you to do anything else. Not after what happened this morning.” She shook her head like a stubborn toddler who had made up her mind.
I laughed. “Sure, you can. If you can’t ask your friends for help, who can you ask?”
She smiled, gripping my hands a second time much more tightly than the first. “You are my friend, aren’t you, Bailey? I never had a daughter. I love my son, of course, but part of me always wanted to have a girl too. I think that’s what most mothers want, whether they admit it or not. And now I have you. You will be like a daughter soon.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but she was faster.
“I knew when you moved to Harvest that it would be good for Clara, but I’ve quickly learned that it’s good for the whole town.”
I felt myself blush.
“If you have the time, there is a way that you can help look for Jethro.”
“Name it.” I glanced over my shoulder at the table. I knew that I needed to get back to it. Emily would worry about me missing the judging again if I took too long. When I turned, I saw her brother Abel standing in front of our table. Abel was a large man. Like his sister, his hair was blond and almost as light as Emily’s from countless hours in the sun.
“Reverend Brook is such a dear man,” Juliet said. “Of course, the poor reverend is beside himself because Josephine’s body was stuffed into his organ, but even with that extra stress, he’s organized a search party for Jethro.” As she spoke, her southern accent became thicker. I had noticed that tended to happen when she spoke of the good reverend.
“How very kind of him.” I did my best to keep the smile out of my voice.
“He’s so sweet to be concerned about my missing pig with all that is going on.” She wiped a tear from her pale cheek.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, I found myself smiling. For some reason, Juliet and the reverend seemed to believe that their affection for each other was a big secret, but as far as I could tell, everyone in town knew that they cared about each other. Honestly, I didn’t know what she saw in the ineffectual little man, but she was smitten. That was plain to see.
“The search party will go out this evening. As you can guess, Margot is being very unhelpful and won’t let us search while all the tourists are around. We’re all meeting at the gazebo right after the competition ends for the day. The church choir will be there and several other church members.”
“That sounds like a great idea. We can cover more ground with more people. I’m happy to join in. I want to find Jethro too. I’ve grown to like the little guy even if he does bite me.”
“Bailey, those are love nips. I told you that!”
I laughed. “I know. I shouldn’t tease you when you are so worried about him. I’ll help in any way that I can.”
She clasped her hands again. “Oh, would you? We’re looking for all the volunteers we can gather. But I don’t want to put you out.”
“You aren’t putting me out,” I reassured her. “I will feel better when Jethro is safe at home again.”
She glanced at the silver watch on her wrist. “I must go. The reverend and I were going to make some calls to gather up more volunteers for the search.” She gave me a final hug and jogged across the square with her skirt flowing behind her again.
I turned and headed to my own table, hoping that Abel had left in the meanwhile. No such luck.
Emily and Abel spoke softly together at the table in Pennsylvania Dutch. Even though I couldn’t understand the words, Abel’s tone was obviously disapproving.
“Hello, Abel,” I said.
He turned and made a sound close to a grunt.
“Bailey,” Emily said with obvious relief, “I’m so glad you’re back.” She had placed the newly wrapped taffy into a basket for display.
“This looks great, Emily. I can always count on you.”
She blushed, and her brother glared at me. I suspected that Abel had been glaring at me ever since I was ten years old. I just didn’t know it. Abel had a crush on me back then, but I was much more interested in climbing trees and learning to make my grandfather’s famous fudge. After Abel tried to kiss me in the shadow of the gazebo and I jumped away, he never forgot it. I went back to Connecticut and my busy suburban life and never gave the Amish boy another thought until I met him again as an adult. As far as I could tell, he had never forgiven me for the rebuke, even though so much time had passed.
I cleared my throat as Abel continued to stare at me without speaking. “Emily told me that you are helping the ACC with setup and maintenance. That’s nice of you.”
“It’s a job,” he said.
“Umm, right.” I glanced at his sister, and her eyes went wide. I just couldn’t win as far as Abel was concerned. “I’m sure Margot and the other judges appreciate all your work.”
He scowled.
“Abel, I will be home just as soon as the competition is over for the day,” Emily interjected. “You can tell Esther that.”
He nodded.
“Abel, before you go,” I said. “Did you happen to see anything odd outside of the church this morning when you were helping with the setup?”
“You mean the missing pig?” There was the smallest smile on his face when he said this, and his reaction caught me off guard. I don’t think I had ever seen him smile before, not even when we were children.
“Well, yes, and I wondered if you happened to see Josephine around the time you arrived and were beginning to set up.”
The tiny smile disappeared. “I didn’t see the pig, but yes, I saw Josephine.”
My pulse quickened. “Was she with anyone?”
He shook his head. “She was alone.”
I felt my face fall. I should have expected this answer. It was very likely that Aiden had already asked Abel if he’d seen Josephine that morning outside the church.
“She was alone,” Abel said. “But she seemed to be waiting for someone.”
“For who?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I know nothing about how she died,” he said and scowled a little bit more. I wouldn’t have thought that was possible. “This is what you want to know, is it not?”
“Well, maybe you saw something that will help the police.”
“I didn’t.” His tone left no room for argument.
“Did you speak to her?”
“Nee, why would I speak to her? She is not a member of my district,” he said as if that was reason enough not to speak to someone.
I gave him a half smile. “I’m not a member of your district either, but you are speaking to me.”
“And I should not be.” He turned and said something to his sister in their language and stomped away.