Lancaster County Reckoning. Kit Wilkinson

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       THREE

      “Chief McClendon.” Thomas shook hands with the Lancaster head of police. They had met before during another stressful time in Thomas’s life, when his own niece had been murdered. And while most Amish didn’t have much to do with government or law enforcement agencies of any sort, Thomas had a healthy respect for the chief. McClendon had always kept his family’s confidences and respected their boundaries. Right now, Thomas had a sense that the chief would be helping him again through whatever was going on with Jesse and Jesse’s long-lost daughter.

      “This is Darcy Simmons.” Thomas moved his eyes quickly between her and McClendon. “And she is...well, she is Jesse Troyer’s daughter.”

      “Oh.” McClendon turned to Darcy, taking in her fancy clothes. “I guess you left the fold.”

      Darcy looked taken aback.

      “She was not born or raised Amish,” Thomas answered for her. “Jesse came to the Ordnung later in life.”

      “Oh, I see.” McClendon frowned. “So I understand Mr. Troyer was badly beaten?”

      “We hope he will pull through, but it’s too early to know his status for certain,” Thomas replied quickly, wanting to keep Darcy focused on the positive.

      She looked well past the point of exhaustion. Her hands shook. Her eyes were swollen. She seemed so horribly...alone.

      “I’ll need to ask you a few questions about your...well, about Jesse,” McClendon said to Darcy. “And about what happened earlier today.”

      She nodded.

      “You add in anything in that might be helpful,” McClendon said to Thomas. “I understand you were both there?”

      “I arrived first,” Darcy said, explaining how she and Jesse had planned for her to come at noon. “When I got there no one answered at the door, and I noticed it was cracked open. Then Thomas came. We went in together and found that someone had torn the place apart. Then we discovered Jesse upstairs on the floor. Thomas called 911. And then—then I got this strange phone call.”

      Thomas exhaled a sigh of relief, pleased that she’d overcome her hesitation and decided to share the truth with the police chief.

      “How do you mean, strange?” McClendon asked.

      Darcy quoted the caller verbatim. McClendon scratched his head. “And you have no idea who would have sent you a threatening message?”

      “No.” She shook her head.

      “You didn’t recognize the voice?”

      “It was modified. Computerized. It didn’t sound natural.”

      “Did either of you see anyone coming or going from the area around the house?”

      They both shook their heads.

      “Did you see anything unusual or missing?”

      “It was impossible to tell. The place was wrecked.”

      “Right. We sent a team over to Mr. Troyer’s place to investigate. But they won’t know what or if anything is missing. Then again, based on this phone call you’re telling me about, it seems likely that the caller didn’t find what he wanted at Jesse’s home.”

      Thomas nodded. That made sense. Whatever the man from the phone call was after, he’d probably tried to get Jesse to reveal where it was first. When that hadn’t worked, he’d tried searching the house for it himself. When that failed, he’d threatened Darcy. But how had he known about Darcy? That was still a puzzle.

      “So, you’re from Philadelphia?” McClendon asked her.

      “Originally, I’m from Virginia. But I’ve lived in the Philadelphia area since college. I work as a buyer for Winnefords department store.”

      “You live alone?”

      She nodded. “I have a small town house in the suburbs.”

      “You work in the city?”

      “Mostly. I travel to New York a lot.”

      McClendon flipped through his notes. “Now, what was your relationship with your father?”

      “We...didn’t have a relationship until recently.”

      The chief looked up at that. “None at all? Was it a custody issue?”

      “No, it was... To be honest, I’m not really sure what it was. I was raised by my mother’s parents. They blamed Jesse for my mother’s death, so maybe that’s why they told me my father had died when I was a baby. They didn’t want anything to do with him.”

      “And when did you find out the truth?”

      “About a month ago. Jesse sent me a letter, and we met for the first time a week later.”