When Florence and Ettie drove up to John’s house the next morning, Ettie saw a police car there.
“Keep driving,” Ettie said.
“I wonder what happened.”
“They’d be telling John the results of the new autopsy.”
“I wish we knew too.” Florence guided her horse and buggy past Levi’s cottage.
“We’ll have to wait and see. You said there were four people that Levi mentioned who might have killed him?”
“That’s right. Eric from next door, John, the nurse, or—”
“Tony Troyer,” Ettie said.
“That’s right, Tony Troyer.”
“Why don’t we pay him a visit while we’re filling in time? We can come back to Levi’s haus soon and hope John will tell us what happened.”
“You mean John’s haus.”
“Jah, I suppose it’s his now.”
“Tony only lives fifteen-minutes up this road. He wasn’t at the funeral,” Florence commented.
“Not many people were.”
Florence chuckled. “I always told Levi to be nicer to people.”
“He was set in his ways, I suppose. I wonder if he made a good profit from his apples. I think he might have and that’s why John wanted to keep the orchard.”
“I don’t know. With Levi, it was hard to tell. I think he saved money by being mean and cutting corners wherever he could.”
“I hope Tony’s at home.”
“What does he do with himself nowadays?” Florence asked Ettie.
“He’d be most likely retired by now. Last I heard of him, he was doing odd jobs here and there, filling in for workers when they were sick or had time off.”
When Florence turned the buggy up the narrow lane that led to Tony’s house, they saw him sitting on his porch. When they got closer, he stood and his large red dog made his way toward the buggy.
“Rusty, come back. Heel!”
The dog stopped, turned slowly, and went back to Tony. “I’m sorry about that. I’ll put him inside.” He grabbed the dog and pushed him into the house. “He’s not much of a watchdog. He likes people too much.” He moved toward them. “How are you ladies today?”
Ettie and Florence stepped down from the buggy.
“How are you, Tony?” Florence asked.
“Jah, I’m good, and how are you two ladies?”
“Good,” Ettie said.
“Have you recovered from what happened the other day, Florence?”
“With Levi?”
“Jah.”
“Sort of.”
“It was a dreadful shock for her,” Ettie said. “Very traumatic.”
“I had intended to go to Levi’s funeral, but something came up at the last minute and I wasn’t able to go. I know he was a particular friend of yours, Florence.”
“I suppose he was in a way. Do you mind if we ask you a couple of questions about Levi and his orchard?”
“Of course, I don’t mind. We can sit on the porch rather than go inside and be licked by the dog. Rusty’s a little too friendly. He’d jump all over you and lick you to death if he could.”
Ettie laughed. “The porch is fine.”
Once they were all seated, Florence said, “It’s about Levi.”
Tony nodded. “Did he say I owed him money, or something?”
“Nee, not at all.”
“Well, I don’t. I thought it might be something he’d do—to take a last parting jab at me.”
Florence cleared her throat. “It was nothing like that. That’s not why we’re here. We’re hoping you might be able to give us some information. He predicted his own death, in a way. I don’t know if you know this, but I was the last person to speak with him before he died.”
He nodded sympathetically. “I know.”
“He told me that if he died and it looked like an accident, it wouldn’t be. He said someone was out to kill him.”
Tony leaned back. “He didn’t say that I was going to kill him, did he?”
“Not in so many words.” Ettie didn’t want to reveal too much. “Did you have any recent dealings with Levi?”
“I hadn’t talked to him in years. Ever since we were going into partnership and he changed his mind.”
“He did?”
“Jah, he did. I’d nod to him whenever I saw him and that was it. He went back on his word and I’ve got no time for anyone who does that.”
Ettie said, “I might as well tell you that you were one of the people Levi named who wanted him dead.”
Tony frowned and then spluttered, “You’re joking, aren’t you?”
Ettie shook her head. “I’m afraid not.”
“It’s true,” Florence said. “He told me himself.”
“Who were the other people?”
Florence shook her head. “I’d rather not say.”
“I knew he’d do something like this. That’s just the way he was. I don’t know why he didn’t like me. If I did anything to upset him, I’ve got no idea what it was.”
Ettie tried her best to figure things out. “When you two had the idea of going into business together, that was many years ago, wasn’t it?”
“That’s right, and like I said, I’ve had nothing to do with him since. I can’t believe he’d think I’d kill him.”
Ettie figured that part was true because Florence always said he had few friends and she thought no one visited him. “If you can think of a reason why he said that, will you let us know?”
“I will. Is that why you stopped by?” Tony asked.
Florence nodded. “Jah, we’re trying to find out who killed him.”
“Florence believes he was killed, and it wasn’t just a heart attack.”
“I hope you find your answers.” The dog barked from inside the house and then they heard scratching sounds. “Stop it!” Tony yelled out. Then there was silence.
“Denke,” Ettie said as she rose to her feet.
As they got into the buggy, Tony called out, “Don’t be surprised if you never find an answer. A lot of things Lousy Levi did and said never made sense.”
Florence smiled and gave him a wave before turning her horse to face the road.