I opened the nightstand drawer, hoping to find a letter or note with Rosemary’s handwriting on it. That could also be precious to Hannah someday.

  There was nothing with writing on it in the drawer. However, I found a small photograph of Rosemary holding a baby. The picture was encased in a silver frame with daisies etched around the edges. The baby had to be Hannah. How rare this photo must be. The Amish were staunch believers in not taking pictures of themselves or other Amish people. They claimed that it went against God’s commandment not to create graven images.

  Rosemary had been strict in following Amish beliefs, so much so that she refused to divorce her husband when he left her, but she’d kept this photograph. It was meaningful to her and also would be meaningful to Hannah someday.

  I circled the room again. There was nothing more to be found or to take. All of Hannah and Rosemary’s possessions were in that little Paddington Bear suitcase.

  With the suitcase in my trunk, I drove back to Harvest.

  * * *

  In the village, Margot Rawlings wielded her megaphone as a weapon while she directed the Amish men on the square, telling them how she wanted the concert set up. A person would think she was angry from the sharp tone of her voice. However, I had learned that was just how Margot spoke when in organizer mode. It was as good time as any for me to sneak into Swissmen Sweets undetected. I didn’t want to come under Margot’s steely gaze when she was shouting orders.

  Inside the candy shop, I let out a breath. It was always a small victory when I snuck by Margot without being seen.

  I was surprised to see Deputy Little and Charlotte standing across from each other, gazing into each other’s eyes. When they heard me enter, they jumped apart as if they’d been caught doing something wrong, even though they hadn’t been touching.

  I eyed them.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, even though I had a few guesses.

  Deputy Little swallowed. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “I’m here with Deputy Brody. He’s upstairs with the social worker, Emily Keim, and her husband.”

  I blinked. “Emily is here?”

  Charlotte nodded. Her cheeks were still flushed. “She came to get Hannah.”

  A smile broke out on my face. This was the news I was most hoping to hear. “Do you think I can go up?” I was eager to hear whether the social worker would grant Emily custody of Hannah.

  “Ummm,” Deputy Little said, seeming unsure.

  I didn’t wait long enough for him to decide, but went quietly up the stairs from the candy shop into my grandmother’s two-bedroom apartment. When I reached the top floor, I heard voices coming from the end of the hallway. As I expected, they had gathered in my grandmother’s sitting room at the end of the hallway. It wasn’t a very large room, and I guessed that it was a tight fit with that many people inside.

  Through the door, I heard Vanessa say, “I am happy to hear that you are interested in Hannah. I am reluctant to place her in foster care in an English home. I think the cultural shock would be difficult for her. What I’m going to do is ask a judge if she can stay here with Clara King until her placement is finalized. If that’s all right with you, Clara? There will be some paperwork and classes that you will need to take to be a foster guardian for the child. We can make a request to expedite things.”

  “We love having Hannah here. We would be happy to keep her, and we can do what is needed to make that happen.”

  My heart swelled with pride as I listened to my grandmother speak.

  “Why can’t I take my daughter home today?” Emily asked.

  I heard the tears in her voice. My chest tightened. Emily would not understand all the steps that would have to be taken for Hannah to move to the Christmas tree farm.

  I peeked through the crack in the door. I saw Vanessa perched on the arm of my grandmother’s rocking chair. Maami sat in the armchair holding Hannah in her lap, and Daniel and Emily sat side by side on the love seat.

  Aiden stood in the corner of the room with his arms crossed. He glanced in the direction of the cracked door and shook his head. He knew I was there.

  Vanessa took a moment, it appeared, to gather her thoughts. “I know you want this to go more quickly, but there are steps we have to take. With your permission, we’ll do a maternity test first.”

  Emily looked at Aiden.

  “She means they’ll take a sample of your blood and test it to prove you are Hannah’s mother,” Aiden said.

  Vanessa nodded. “If that comes back showing conclusively you are Hannah’s biological mother, we will do a series of home visits to make sure your family is ready to welcome a child.”

  Daniel stood up. “I do not like the way you are questioning my wife’s ability to be a mother or implying that my farm is unfit for a child.”

  Emily put a hand on her husband’s arm. “Daniel, please. I know Hannah is my daughter. I have waited nearly six years to see her again. I can wait a few more days.” She looked at Vanessa. “Danki for agreeing to meet us like this.”

  “Thank you for giving me the opportunity.” Vanessa stood and smoothed the front of her jacket. “Because you are Amish, there are some exceptions we will make when it comes to the home visit. For one, it will not be necessary for your home to be up to code as far as electricity goes and other modern conveniences that we would examine more closely in a non-Amish home.” She smiled at Emily and Daniel. “Trust that whatever happens, I will not let Hannah go to the wrong home.”

  I hoped that was a promise she could keep. As she came to the door, I hopped away.

  “Hello,” I said with a bright smile as I was caught in the act of snooping.

  Vanessa eyed me as she passed by. “Miss King.” She nodded to me and went down the hallway.

  Aiden walked by me, too. “I’ll stop by your place tonight. We have to talk,” he said under his breath.

  “About what? The murderer?”

  He shook his head. “We’ll talk tonight. I need to collect Little and return to the station. We are drowning in the paperwork caused by this case.”

  I frowned at his back as he followed Vanessa down the stairs. Then I turned and stepped into the sitting room. Tears rolled down Emily’s cheeks. “I knew it would not be easy to get her back, but I did not know that we wouldn’t be able to take her home today.”

  Daniel held her hand. “Maybe not today, but we will take Hannah home. Until then, you know that she is safe and cared for by Clara.”

  Emily wiped the tears from her eyes. “Ya. Clara, thank you so much for taking care of my daughter.”

  “I can’t imagine anything I would want to do more.” She hugged Hannah close and smiled at me. “Bailey, you are back. You were gone for quite some time.”

  “I know. Everything took longer than expected. I overheard some of the conversation. I’m glad Vanessa is giving you a chance to keep Hannah.”

  More tears rolled down Emily’s cheeks. She could only manage one word. “Danki.”

  Then the child wriggled off Maami’s lap and sat on the other side of Emily. She leaned her head on Emily’s arm. Emily wrapped her arms around Hannah and cried. Anyone who saw them next to each other would know that they were mother and daughter. I was certain Vanessa had seen it, too.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  After Emily and Daniel left Swissmen Sweets, we locked up for the night. I stayed and had dinner with Hannah, Charlotte, and Maami. I was surprised that Maami and Charlotte now knew more signs than I did.

  Charlotte must have noticed my expression because she said, “Lois came over while you were gone and taught us thirty of the most common signs.”

  “She brought us a children’s book of American Sign Language, too,” Maami said. “Hannah has been having great fun looking at the book and showing us the signs. We’ve turned it into a bit of a game.”

  “That’s great. When I’m here tomorrow, I want to be a part of the game, too.” I pointed at myself and then signed the word for “game” for Hannah’s benefit.

  Hannah grinned and nodded.

  After dinner, I left the candy shop feeling more optimistic about Hannah’s future than I had since I’d brought her to Swissmen Sweets. I knew that Aiden wanted to speak to me about something—was it the job offer?—but he wouldn’t be at my home until late. This gave me enough time to pop in on Esther.

  The pretzel shop was closed, but before Aiden had left the candy shop, he’d told me the Sheriff’s Department had released the premises back to Esther on Monday afternoon. She was free to go into the shop now, clean it, and get it ready for business. But she had yet to reopen the doors. What could the delay be?

  I knew Esther. She would be in the shop making sure everything was sparkling clean and ready for opening. I peeked through the front windows. The lights were off. I tried the door, but it was locked.

  I went into the alley between our two buildings. Light shone from the back window. I went to the door and knocked.

  “Abel, it’s unlocked!” Esther called from inside.

  I turned the knob and went in. I found Esther on her hands and knees, scrubbing the floor. I had always thought Esh Family Pretzel was a clean shop, but now it positively sparkled. She sat back on her legs.

  “What are you doing here?” She pointed her scrub brush at me.

  “You were expecting Abel?”

  “I’m always expecting Abel. This is his shop, too, even if he doesn’t treat it as such. What are you doing here, Bailey King? I have much work to do and don’t have time for your questions.”

  “You need to make the time. I want to talk to you about Rosemary.”

  She stood up, dropped her scrub brush in the bucket, and dusted off her skirts. The hem of her skirt was damp from kneeling on the floor. “I have nothing more to say.”

  I barreled ahead. “When Rosemary made contact with you in her search for Emily, why did you intervene? You and Emily haven’t spoken in well over a year. Everyone in the district and the village knows the two of you are estranged. Anything that Emily does or did no longer has any bearing on you.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Do you think I wanted it to come out that my sister had a baby out of wedlock? That she sinned? That I wasn’t the sister to her I should have been when our parents died? That I failed? You say it has no bearing on me, but that’s where you are wrong.” She choked on the last words.

  “Why do you think you failed?” I asked.

  “Because I should have warned her, told her what could happen if she fell in love with a disrespectful young man like Gideon Glick. I should have stopped her from being courted so young. I didn’t expect her to be so stupid. I thought she would know the difference between right and wrong.” She brushed back a strand of blond hair that had fallen out of her Amish bun.

  I realized something for the first time. “How old were you when your parents died?”

  She glared at me. “Seventeen.”

  “A lot fell on your shoulders at seventeen. You had to care for the family farm, run this shop, and care for your younger sister. My guess is Abel wasn’t much help, and you had to do it all on your own. You blame yourself for Emily’s pregnancy because you still believe, after all this time, that you could have stopped it if you’d tried harder.”

  She glared at me fiercely, but slowly, almost as if it was happening muscle by muscle, her face began to crumple, and she cried. These weren’t the sweet, silent tears that Emily shed, but gut-wrenching sobs that rocked her entire body.

  Her knees began to bend, but before she could collapse on the still wet and soapy floor at her feet, I grabbed a chair that had been set against the wall and tucked it under her. She fell onto the chair with a wail.

  I patted her shoulder and made soothing sounds like Maami did when I’d cried as a child. Eventually, Esther calmed down. “I’m sorry. I’ve never done that before.” She wiped her eyes with the end of her apron.

  “I think that’s been pent up for the last six years.”

  She took a sharp breath.

  “Tell me about the adoption.”

  She frowned, and for a moment, I thought she wasn’t going to tell me. “There is an Englisch family in Indiana who were friends of our parents. My father knew the husband through work. They both were in construction. When I learned of Emily’s condition, I asked if she could live with them to hide the pregnancy and told them she would give the baby up for adoption. They agreed.”

  “Were they involved in the adoption?” I asked, thinking that, if they were, they could be in some serious trouble.

  She shook her head. “Nee, I did not want to involve them. An Amish midwife delivered the baby and told me of an Amish couple who desperately wanted a child but couldn’t have one. I knew that Emily could not keep the baby. If she did, her shame would come out. The childless woman happened to be the Amish woman who came to our Englisch friends’ home once a week to clean. She knew Emily was going to have a child that she could not keep. She seemed kind, from what I saw of her. I felt she would be a gut fit.”

  I swallowed. Esther had observed Rosemary for a few days and then decided the fate of Emily’s child? I didn’t think she’d had nearly enough information to make that sort of decision.

  “I know what you are thinking,” she went on. “But we could not care for the child. I could barely manage the responsibilities I had already. I told the midwife to take the baby and give it to the couple. I thought that would be the end of it. I never thought the midwife would tell the new mother anything about us. I never thought she would tell her where we lived.

  “I had not thought of that day for years, and then, out of the blue, I received the letter from Rosemary, claiming she was the adoptive mother of Emily’s daughter and asking Emily if she wanted to meet Hannah. I couldn’t allow that! It would open old wounds.” She cleared her throat and sat straighter in her chair. “So I wrote her a note, telling her to stay away. She came to the baby shower, so the note did not work at all.”

  “Did you speak to her at the shower?”

  She nodded. “I did. I asked her to meet me that night at the pretzel shop. I was going to tell her in no uncertain terms that Emily had no interest in the child. She was starting a new family with her new husband. She didn’t want a mistake back in her life.”

  I bristled when she referred to Hannah as a mistake and clenched my jaw to think that she’d tried to take Emily’s chance to meet her daughter away from her.

  “When I got to the shop that night to meet with her, the back door was open, and Rosemary was already dead. I then ran to Swissmen Sweets, and you know the rest.”

  “And where was Abel in all this?”

  She blinked at me as if I’d shaken her out of her memories. “Why do you think any of this has to do with Abel?”

  “Does it?”

  “Nee, Abel is never here enough to do anything.”

  “Because he’s at the racetrack?” I asked on a hunch. She turned pale, and I realized that I wasn’t far off the mark. “I saw Abel earlier, and he had a brochure for the Wayne County Racetrack. Why would he have that?” I asked.

  She frowned at me. “I don’t know, but what does this have to do with Emily or Rosemary?”

  “I just find it interesting because Mason, the son of Rosemary’s cousin, works there. It just seems to be popping up a lot in relation to the case.”

  Her frown deepened.

  She stood up and picked up her scrub brush from the floor. “I need to get back to cleaning.” She got on her hands and knees and began again to scrub the clean floor. “I need this place to be spotless so that we can open tomorrow. There will be much traffic with the concert Margot has planned on the square.”

  “What can you tell me about Abel and the track?”

  “Nix. Nothing. Now leave.” She would not look at me. She ran the stiff bristles of her brush aggressively back and forth over the floor.

  I hesitated in the doorway for a moment, wanting to offer to help, but I knew that she would only find that an insult, implying she was not able to do it on her own. And Esther thought she had to do everything on her own.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Later that night, Puff and I were watching a movie on the small love seat in my living room. Actually, I wasn’t watching the TV at all. Puff was. My white rabbit seemed captivated by the shootout scene on the screen, so I left it on. I was watching the door, waiting for Aiden to arrive.

  When the movie ended, I was about to give up and go to bed. This was not the first time Aiden had said he was going to drop by but didn’t. It seemed his job was always pulling him away. I was thinking about going to bed, but felt too tired to climb the stairs to my bedroom on the second floor. The stress of the week had finally caught up with me.

  Before I could make up my mind, there was a knock on the front door. I jumped off the love seat, and the large white rabbit hopped away from me, looking offended. There would be payback later. I would have to remember to get all my shoes off the floor. She liked to chew the toes off.

  I peered through the peephole and gave a sigh of relief when I saw Aiden. I opened the door. “Finally!”

  He laughed. “I don’t know if I should be happy or offended by that greeting.”

  “Go with happy.” I suppressed a yawn.

  He chuckled, removed his shoes, and sat on the love seat. I curled up next to him, and Puff settled on his foot like a chicken sitting on her precious eggs. My white rabbit had a terrible crush on Aiden. It was clear that I wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to see him go.

  Aiden smiled down at the rabbit. “She sure is clingy.”

  “She likes you.” I kissed his cheek. “I do, too.”

  “Well, that’s a relief.” He sighed.

  “Is something wrong? What’s going on? You said you didn’t want to talk about the murder.” I scooted away from him so I could see his face better.

  “I have a few things to say about the case, but I don’t think you are going to like them.” He sighed. “Little told me about your outing to the racetrack. You shouldn’t have been there.”