Lancaster County Reckoning

McClendon looked to Thomas, who hoped the questions were nearly over. Darcy looked ready to collapse.

“She’s told you everything as it happened,” Thomas said, hoping to head off any more questions.

“Has she?” the chief asked. “So you can confirm what she’s said about the letter and meeting with Jesse? He told you about his daughter?”

Thomas flushed. “Well...no, actually, today was the first I heard of it.”

“Do you consider yourself close to Mr. Troyer?”

“Ja, of course. We have been neighbors for twenty years.”

“And he never mentioned a daughter? Not even in the past few weeks?”

“No,” Thomas admitted. “He has spoken of his wife and I knew she had died, but there was never mention of a daughter.” Thomas couldn’t deny that the situation was strange. There were so many things that didn’t make sense. And the only people with answers were the threatening man from the phone call and Jesse, who might never wake up again.

But Thomas believed that Darcy was being honest with them. Her shock and horror at Jesse’s attack had been real. And so was her fear at the phone call.

“It must be related—the beating and the phone call,” Thomas said. “Don’t you think? It was almost like the caller was watching us. Like he knew exactly when to call.”

“So what’s your theory on why anyone would want to beat up a nice Amish man and threaten his daughter?” McClendon asked.

Thomas shook his head slightly. For that he had no answer. “I cannot even imagine who would want to hurt Jesse. He’s just a sweet old Amish fellow who minds his own business.”

“You said he’s been your neighbor for twenty years. Where did he live before?”

Thomas took off his hat and scratched his head. “I don’t recall. That would be a question for the bishop.”

Could all this be tied to Jesse’s past? Jesse’s life before he came to Willow Trace? But that was so long ago. Even if he had enemies from decades in the past, why would they come to trouble him now?

Thomas shifted his weight and kept one eye on the door. He was on the lookout for his friend Elijah. Earlier he had asked the ER staff to notify not only the bishop and leader of the Ordnung about the beating, but also his friend, who had spent many years in the Englisch world working as a police detective before returning to his Amish roots. Thomas hoped Elijah’s experience with police investigations could help them.

McClendon continued questioning Darcy. “Do you give the police permission to track your incoming phone calls? In the case this happens again?”

“Of course. You can have my phone if that helps you find whoever did this to Jesse,” she said, handing over her phone.

Thomas saw Elijah Miller enter through the waiting room doors and walked over to greet him. He met his good friend with a hearty handshake. “Are you a sight for sore eyes. Here. Come. McClendon is speaking to her.”

“Chief,” Elijah said as they joined Darcy and McClendon. “And you must be Miss Simmons. The whole Ordnung is praying for Jesse. And I’m here to help in any way I can.”

Darcy seemed confused as she looked over Elijah and took in his Amish dress but somewhat Englisch mannerisms and speech, which Thomas had learned that his friend could turn on and off depending on what the situation might call for.

“Eli is a former detective,” Thomas explained.

“Well, I’m just a farmer now, Miss Simmons. But I worked for ten years on the force in Philly, before coming back home,” he said.

Darcy nodded.

“I just came from the cottage,” Elijah said. “There was a team of investigators. So far, they seem to have no leads on who attacked Jesse. Jesse lived plain. Very plain. There was nothing in his home that anyone would want to steal. But there was a business card with Miss Simmons’s personal information and number. We found that on the floor with a few papers and some old pictures.”

“Well, that could be how they got your number,” McClendon said, turning to Darcy. “But that doesn’t explain how they would know you’re Jesse’s daughter.”

“There was a letter there from Darcy,” Elijah said. “I didn’t read it. I think it was marked into evidence with the photos.”

“Photos?” Thomas repeated. “I can’t imagine Jesse having photos. It’s verboten.”

“Forbidden,” Elijah said, translating. “But if they were his only tie to his daughter for all these years maybe he kept them anyway. Or maybe he just got them recently.”

Still, pictures? Thomas’s head spun with doubts and confusion. This did not sound like the Jesse that he knew.

“In the morning,” Elijah continued, “a few of us are planning to meet up at Jesse’s and help put the place back together. It’s quite a mess.”

“I’ll be there.” Thomas shook Elijah’s hand.

“Miss Simmons—” Elijah tipped his hat “—I hope you hear some good news very soon.”

“Thank you.” Darcy nodded and finished up answering a few more questions from the chief.

Thomas walked Elijah from the waiting area.

“Thank you for coming.” He shook his friend’s hand. “It is gut to have someone who can help us make sense of these things. Not that I can see any sense in the harm that was done to Jesse. He was really beat up. And you heard about the phone call to Darcy?”

“No.” Eli looked grim. “What phone call?”

Thomas filled Elijah in on every detail. “If only Jesse could tell us what this is all about.”

“I think Darcy should take that threat seriously after what happened to Jesse. But what could Jesse have that would be worth nearly killing him over?”

“That is what I keep asking myself over and over,” Thomas said. “Do you remember when Jesse moved here? You and I wanted to go to his cottage every day after chores and play baseball or lawn croquet.”

“I remember.” Elijah laughed then stopped abruptly.

“Do you remember if he ever said where he came from?”

“No. I don’t guess I ever really thought about it too much. He always just fit in. Like he’d been here forever.”

“But he wasn’t,” Thomas said. “And he’s got a full-grown Englisch daughter to prove it.”

“Maybe the Elders know. They must know something about his past from when they accepted him in to the Ordnung. I could ask my father.”

“Would you? But would he even be able to tell you anything?” Thomas wondered if that was the right thing to do. “I mean it’s one thing for us to know he has a daughter. It’s another for us to know the whole story behind their past and their separation.”

“I’m sure if Jesse thought that his daughter was in danger, he’d want us to help, no?” Elijah patted him on the back. “And we can help a lot more if we know more.”

“But if we interfere then are we leaving it up to God?”

“God will work through all of us. We will either get the answers or we won’t.”

“Okay. I’ll see you at the cottage at noon tomorrow.”