Page 11 of Among the Innocent

Josiah swallowed several times and fought against the tears in his eyes. “What happened to my daughter, Chief Cooper?”

Leah still held the weeping woman. Something akin to compassion shone in her eyes as they met his. She understood the Zook family had now become part of a dark and ugly club. One no one wished to join.

“Your daughter’s death is being ruled a homicide,” Dalton said quietly.

“No!” Another heart-wrenching cry tore from Miriam’s lips. She pulled away from Leah, her eyes red rimmed and swimming with tears. “Who would do this to my child? Who?” she demanded.

Dalton couldn’t tell her that he believed Beth’s death had come at the hands of a serial killer obsessed with one victim. “We don’t know yet, ma’am,” he said. They didn’t have the killer’s identity yet, but he was determined they would in time. “We’ll find the person who’s responsible and see justice served. I promise we will.”

“My poor Beth. My poor little girl.” Miriam sobbed uncontrollably.

Josiah’s keen eyes latched on to Leah. “Chief Petri was certain young Harrison Troyer killed your family back then. Once Harrison died there were no more deaths. Was he wrong?”

Dalton’s expression froze in place. Every time he heard Harrison’s name mentioned in connection to Leah’s family’s case, he wanted to scream. The sweet young kid he remembered was not capable of such violence.

“It’s still very early in the investigation,” Leah said quietly.

Tears fell unchecked from Miriam’s eyes. The sight of them forced Dalton back to the moment. He had an investigation to run. A grief-stricken family in need of answers.

“I want to see my child.” Miriam’s chin wobbled as she struggled to hold on to some control.

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible until we’ve finished with the investigation,” Dalton told her. “But as soon as we are able, we’ll release Beth’s body to you.”

Miriam buried her face in her hands, her body quaking.

“Who would do such a thing to our Beth? We are simple people. We live simple lives.” Josiah’s voice broke.

Everything Josiah said was true. The Amish were pacifists who didn’t believe in harming anyone. Yet someone had brought violence into this community.

“Was Beth having trouble with anyone?” As much as Dalton hated putting the family through the rigors of answering questions, they’d lost valuable time, and the first hours of any investigation were critical.

“Nay.” Josiah’s answer came quick. His stern voice filled with rebuke. “Everyone in the community loved Beth. There was no trouble.”

Katie came back into the room with the glass of water in her hand. She held it out to her mother without response.

“We’ll just put it over here for later.” Leah set the glass on the table next to the sofa. “Katie, we have to tell your parents what happened last night.”

Miriam jerked toward her daughter. “What is she talking about?”

Katie’s bottom lip trembled, her eyes full of trouble.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Leah assured the child gently before facing the parents. “Katie told me she saw Beth climb out of the window last night. She noticed her sister meeting with an Englischer once before, near the barn.”

Anger flashed in Josiah’s eyes. “Why are you telling such lies?” he spat out to his youngest child before addressing Leah. “Beth would not sneak out of the house. My daughter is mistaken.”

Beth’s parents probably didn’t have a clue what was going on in their daughter’s life.

Miriam dragged in a deep breath and sat up straight while wiping her eyes. “This is Eva’s fault. She has led our Beth astray,” she said in Pennsylvania Dutch, unaware that Dalton understood the language.

“Hush,” Josiah warned his wife.

“What about Eva?” Leah asked. The couple had forgotten she’d once been one of them.

The man clamped his mouth shut, refusing to talk.

“Josiah, we need your help,” Dalton urged. “If you have information that will assist us in finding out what happened to Beth, you must tell us.”

Miriam ignored her husband’s stony reaction. “Eva Hostetler. She and Beth are of the same age and going through their rumspringa together. Eva is ... a spirited young woman. She is always encouraging Beth to do things she should not do.”

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