Page 17 of Among the Innocent

“She was murdered,” Leah added quietly. “You and Beth are friends, aren’t you, Eva?”

Eva pressed a hand over her mouth, yet a sob escaped as she settled beside her mother. Gertrude put her arm around the girl.

“Eva and Beth have beengutfriends for many years. How could this happen to Beth? She is the sweetest thing.”

Like Ruth and Elijah.

The questions she was asking reminded her of the ones Ellis had asked her once she’d been released from the hospital.

Leah pulled herself together. “We’re hoping Eva might shed some light on Beth’s movements over the past few days. Maybetell us if she was having problems with anyone?” She glanced at Dalton, who watched both women’s reactions carefully.

“Eva has not seen Beth since the service,” Gertrude answered for her daughter. “The girls no longer work together.”

This news came as a surprise. Beth’s mother had told a different story. “I thought you and Beth worked at the Mission General Store?”

Eva shook her head slightly, her eyes on the floor.

“Eva has decided to give up her rumspringa and return to the Amish life. She will be baptized soon and become a member of the church,” Gertrude said proudly.

“What did you and Beth talk about the last time you were together?” Leah believed the only way they were going to get answers was to get Eva away from her mother.

Gertrude’s stern attention turned to her daughter.

“Nothing.” Eva’s face colored. “We did not speak of anything.”

“Mrs. Hostetler, may I trouble you for a glass of water?” Dalton asked, and Gertrude’s hawk-like gaze jerked his way.

She slowly nodded. Gertrude rose and looked to Leah.

“Nothing for me, thank you.”

Gertrude tossed Dalton a troubled look when he followed her to the kitchen. Being alone with a strange man was not something an Amish woman would find acceptable, yet she held her tongue.

There wouldn’t be much time. Leah claimed the seat Gertrude had left. “Please, if you know something that will help us find out who hurt Beth, you have to tell us.”

Eva’s startled eyes flew to the doorway as if expecting her mother to reappear. “I do not know anything. Beth didn’t tell me everything.”

“That’s not true, is it? She told you about the Englischer she was seeing.” Eva jerked back as if Leah had struck her. “You’re not in trouble,” Leah assured her. “But we believe this man killed your friend and possibly others.” The words were hard to say. The idea that the person responsible for her family’s deaths had been waiting for just the right moment to return was unimaginable.

“Please, Eva. Help us. Tell me what you know. Even if it doesn’t seem important, let me decide.”

Tears glistened in Eva’s eyes. “I don’t know who he is, but I am certain he would not harm Beth. He’s agutman—according to Beth,” she added almost as an afterthought.

“Okay,” Leah forced herself to say. Was it possible Eva was seeing this man? Was it John? Her heart raced. “What did Beth say about him? How did they meet?”

“He stopped into the store one day.”

“Were you there?”

Eva shook her head. “Nay.” Her answer came out a little too sharp. Eva twisted her hands in her lap. Her anxious behavior seemed to confirm she wasn’t telling the truth.

Leah realized she was getting nowhere. “How long has Beth been seeing this man? Did she ever mention his name?”

Eva grew increasingly nervous. “Nay, and she hadn’t been seeing him long. I believe they may have been having trouble.” There was a hint of something in Eva’s tone bordering on satisfaction. It had Leah wondering if Eva might have been jealous of Beth’s relationship with the Englischer.

“Why do you say that?” Leah pushed harder when she heard Dalton talking to Gertrude.

“Beth told me she was worried he might be growing tired of her.”

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