“You’re right about that,” I said.
“And they was mean.”
“Of course, they were mean,” John said, and shook his head again. “One of them shot little Amy, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, but I could tell they was mean a-fore that. There was something in their eyes, something you don’t see in no Amish man. These fellars was out to get what they wanted, come hell or high water.”
I shuddered. “Please, dear, watch your language. ‘Fellars’ is such a bastardization of the word ‘fellows’ that it offends me to no end.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Is there anything else you two can think of that set these men apart from real Amish men?”
“No,” said John.
“Their shoes,” Bill said.
“What?” I said.
“Two of them was wearing Amish work shoes-like the kind you might wear if you was gonna plow some field, but one of the men was wearing a fancy foreign type-maybe Eye-talian.”
“Bill is very fashion conscious,” John said, without a trace of irony.
“I’ll make note of that,” I said, without a shred of sarcasm. “Was it the heavyset man who was wearing the fancy shoes, or one of the other two?”
Bill scratched his head as he pondered my brain teaser. “I think it was the fellar with the mustache-yeah, that was him. Them shoes had little tassels on them. I always wanted to get me a pair of shoes with tassels, but my mama said no. Now she’s dead, but I still have to answer to John.”
“Why is that?”
“Because I ain’t so smart, that’s why.”
“I won’t argue that, dear-” I slapped my cheek for being so cheeky. “But why John?”
“Because I’m his older brother,” John growled. “You have a problem with that, Miss Busybody Yoder?”
“Not at all. In fact I stand here chastised.”
“We ain’t Catholics,” Bill said.
Whilst I was intrigued by his enigmatic statement, we hadn’t another moment to waste in idle prattle. “We need to fan out, men, and look for evidence.”
“What kind of evidence?” John said.
“What do you mean by that? What kind were you looking for when you broke in?”
“We were going to look for something we could use as blackmail if we lost our jobs.”
“Yeah,” Bill said. “I told ya John was smart.”
Thank heavens irritation has very few calories, because I had to swallow enormous chunks of the stuff before I could speak. “What we’re going to look for now is something-possibly a letter, or a document-that shows that Pernicious Yoder III is already being blackmailed. That’s why he hasn’t pursued the robbery case any further. Perhaps it was even an inside job.”
“Hmm. What you say makes sense, but we can’t both be helping you.”
“Why not?” I said. “Are you in need of a coffee break?”
“Bill can’t read.”
“Oh. Excuse me for a minute while I eat crow.”
“Ya ain’t really gonna eat a crow, is ya?” Bill asked. The concern in his voice was touching. “Them’s nasty birds that eat roadkill and the like. Mama said that eating them will make ya sick. Except she weren’t right about that-but it still don’t taste good.”
“You ate crow?” John said. “When?”
“When you was off in the army,” Bill said, without a second’s hesitation. “We didn’t have nothing to eat and it was Thanks-giving. I plucked them birds before I brought them home and told Mama they was pigeons.” He started to sob great wrenching sobs that shook his body and made me feel like I hadn’t eaten nearly enough crow.
“Now you see what you’ve done?” John said. “How could you?”
“I didn’t mean to!”
“Miss Yoder, I’d just as soon that you and us don’t work together. You go your way, and we’ll look for stuff on our own. If we find anything I’ll let you know. But if you don’t hear from me, just stay the St. Louis International Airport, Concourse A away from us.”
I gasped. “You’ve heard of that place too?”
“ St. Louis International Airport, Concourse A, yes,” he said. Then, with his arm around his brother ’s jerking shoulders, he led him away from me.
If one deigns to root around in a strange man’s drawers, then perhaps one should not complain too loudly about what one finds therein. That is an opinion I might well have offered before the fact.
“Help, help! Turn on the lights! I’ve been violated.”
To their credit both John and Bill came thundering into the room, and a second later the overhead light came on.
“What is it?” John’s tone was one of pure concern.
“It’s that-that disgusting thing!”
“That thing is a flashlight,” he said. He picked it up, flipped on the switch, and shone it full in my face. “Let there be light,” he said smugly. “Miss Yoder, you have a very active imagination. Anyone ever tell you that?”
“I plead the Fifth. Still, I don’t like searching alone-not when we can search together. I mean, there’s safety in numbers, right?”
“Yinz never makes any sense,” Bill whined.
“Oh, all right,” John said. “But I still think we oughta be looking for something to blackmail that old coot with.”
I sighed. “Separate searches, same room?”
“Works for me,” John said.
And it did. Not five minutes later he found exactly what he’d been looking for: something with which to blackmail Pernicious Yoder III.
25
First layer
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1½ tablespoons instant coffee crystals
Second layer
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or dark rum
½ to 1 tablespoon large crystal sea salt
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a mixing bowl, beat together butter, brown sugar and salt until light and fluffy. Add flour, 1 cup at a time, stirring between additions. Add instant coffee crystals and blend until well incorporated. Pat batter into ungreased 9x13x2- inch baking pan in an even layer. Bake until edges are lightly browned and center is puffy, 12 to 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, in heavy saucepan, stir condensed milk and 2 tablespoons butter over low heat until butter melts. The mixture will thicken and become smooth. Stir in vanilla or rum, remove from heat, and let sit until bottom layer is done baking. Sprinkle nuts over baked bottom layer and pour hot condensed milk mixture evenly over nuts using a spatula to spread.
Return to the oven and bake until top is golden and bubbling, 10 to 12 minutes.
Immediately sprinkle desired amount of sea salt over bubbling toffee top. Cool slightly in pan and cut into bars. Bars can be kept up to one week in an airtight container.
Courtesy http://www.eatwisconsincheese.com/