Page 35 of Among the Innocent

“He sounds like a good man.”

“He was.” And she’d wanted to follow in his footsteps more than anything. “He and Marge weren’t able to have children of their own. They adopted me and spoiled me rotten.”

A trace of a smile creased his face. “From everything I’ve heard, he was good at his job.”

She nodded. “The law was in his blood. Which was why what happened with Harrison never made sense. I worked cases with Ellis. His instincts were spot-on. It’s almost as if he’d made up his mind about Harrison’s guilt and nothing could change it.”

“And now we have another death and the true killer at large.”

“Yes. Poor Beth.” Because of Ellis’s single-mindedness, Beth had lost her life.

Dalton leaned forward in the recliner, and the sincerity in his eyes held her in place. “It isn’t your fault, Leah. You were just a kid. What Ellis did was wrong but not your fault.”

“Why are you talking about Ellis in such a way?”

Leah jerked toward the door where Marge stood in the entrance, determined to defend Ellis no matter what. Leah had witnessed that fierce loyalty between Marge and Ellis many times.

“We were just discussing a case.”

Marge frowned and came into the room, her hands clenched. “Ellis was a good cop. What happened to that boy wasn’t his fault.”

What happened to that boy? Leah rose and went to her. “What do you know about it?”

Marge stared at her for the longest time, a confused look entering her eyes. “That boy who went missing. Ellis tried to find him in time, but he just couldn’t.”

It dawned on Leah that Marge meant the young kid whohad died from exposure a couple of years back. For a moment she’d thought... “You’re right. Ellis did everything possible to find the boy.”

Tears filled Marge’s eyes. “He was a good cop and a better man. I miss him.”

Leah hugged her close. “Me too.”

Acting on an instinct she couldn’t begin to explain, Leah pulled out her phone and showed Marge the sketch of an older version of John. “Do you recognize this man?”

Leah kept her attention on Marge’s face. Something flashed in her mom’s eyes. “I’m not sure. Who is he?”

“We believe he’s the one who killed Beth Zook.”

Marge handed Leah back the phone. “That poor girl. To lose her family like that.”

Leah had done her best to explain about the young Amish girl’s death, but her mom had confused what happened to Leah with Beth.

“That was me, Marge. Remember? Beth died yesterday.”

Her mom eventually nodded, but Leah wondered if she truly understood.

“I have sandwiches for you both.” Marge’s expression cleared as her coherency returned.

“Thank you.” She clasped Marge’s hand.

As they entered the hall, Dalton’s phone rang. “It’s Henry. You two go ahead. I’ll only be a moment.”

In the kitchen Leah noticed the dishes piled up in the sink, the disorder that she couldn’t associate with her sweet mom. “Why don’t you have a seat and I’ll start cleaning up while we wait on Dalton.”

“Nonsense. I can help.” Marge grabbed a dishcloth while Leah dumped dishwashing liquid into the sink and began scrubbingthe first dish. Her mother insisted on doing the dishes by hand, even though Ellis had installed a dishwasher for her. Marge said she did some of her best thinking while washing dishes.

Nearby, the drawer where Marge and Ellis kept some petty cash stood ajar. When her mom’s back was turned, Leah opened it and looked inside the envelope. Empty. Ellis normally had a couple hundred dollars there in case there was an emergency or someone in need.

There were a few kids in the neighborhood who had been arrested for breaking and entering. Marge would make an easy target. She had a habit of inviting anyone who came to her door into her home.

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