Pray for Silence

“Then why didn’t you tell me Billy was at the Plank farm the night of the murders?”

Alma gasps, sets her hand against her breast.

William opens his mouth, closes it without speaking. When he finally does, his lips tremble. “Why do you say these things about Billy?”

The Amish are generally honest to the extreme. But as with any group of individuals, they are not immune to human frailties. That is particularly true if they are protecting someone they love, especially a child.

I tell them about the video. “It’s him. He was there. I need to speak with Billy. Right now.”

William stares at me, looking stubborn and afraid, his jaw fixed. “He has the mind of a child.”

“He might have seen the killer,” I say. “He might be able to identify him.”

Neither of them denies my accusation, but the door doesn’t open.

“The evildoer is dead,” William says. “I do not see how your speaking to Billy now will help.”

“We think the killer had an accomplice.” I look past him. Alma stands to one side, wringing her hands. “I need to speak with Billy. Please.”

The Amish woman lowers her gaze, deferring to her husband.

“We have nothing more to say.” William starts to close the door.

I thrust my foot into the jamb, stopping him. “I need your help.”

“You are an outsider,” he hisses. “Dem Teufel und allen seinen Engeln ubergeben.” You were cast off from the church and committed to the devil and his angels . . .

It’s a personal jab I should have expected, but even after all these years, the words make me feel somehow diminished. I remind myself William is only protecting his son. I don’t want to force the issue, but I can’t walk away.

“I’m not leaving,” I say.

“He saw nothing,” William says harshly.

“Have you talked to him about it?” Glock asks.

William doesn’t answer. His expression turns stoic. I see him shutting down. I know neither parent is going to cooperate. The last thing I want to do is go back into town and get a warrant. While that will gain me access to Billy, it could take days to accomplish and would further strain relations between the Amish and my department.

I play my ace. “If the killer saw Billy, he could be in danger.”

William pales all the way down to his beard. Next to him, Alma looks like she’s going to be ill. I see their brains working this bit of information over, and I realize it’s the first time they’ve considered the possibility.

“Please,” I say. “I’ll do my best not to upset him. I just need to know what he saw.”

William opens the door and steps back. “Come inside.”

Glock and I enter the living room. I see the same dirty rug. Plywood floors. Even from twenty feet away, I can feel the heat coming from the kitchen where pots rattle on the stove.

“Billy is a good boy.” Alma stares at her hands as she wipes them against her apron. “But . . . Er is weenich ad.” He is a little off in the head.

I nod. “I understand.”

William and Alma exchange a look that tells me I do not understand, and I get the feeling things are about to take a strange turn.

William runs his fingertips over his beard. “Billy is coming of age. In the last year or so, he expressed . . . interest in Mary Plank. He still speaks of her as if she is alive.” His voice falters. “Just yesterday he asked me if he could take her to the singing after worship on Sunday.”

A “singing” is an Amish social function for young people. Usually held after Sunday worship, teenagers sit around a table and sing and socialize.

William looks anywhere but at me. “His games are harmless, but they are not proper.”

“What games?” Glock asks.

Alma’s cheeks color. “He has become curious in the way that boys get. About the womenfolk, you know. Sometimes in the evening he will go off on his own. Last August, Mrs. Zimmerman down the road told me she caught Billy looking in her window.” Another flush, darker this time. “Last weekend at worship, Bonnie Plank said she caught Billy looking in the window there at the farm. I talked to Billy. I told him the game was unfitting.” She shrugs. “He was embarrassed and upset. I thought he understood. . . .”

“His games are against your English laws,” William says.

“I don’t care about the window peeping,” I say. “I just want to talk to him about what he saw.”

Alma glances at her husband. William jerks his head, turns away from the door. His boots thud dully against the floor as he crosses to the stairs. “Billy! Come down here please.”

Giving me an uncomfortable smile, Alma sighs. “I asked Billy to confess to Bishop Troyer. The bishop urged us to keep Billy busy with chores. He said the extra work would help with the looking in. William has plenty of work and has done his best to keep him involved. The chicken coop. Feeding the hogs. Repairing the pens.” She shrugs. “Billy prefers to be inside.”

Footsteps on the stairs draw my attention. Billy notices Glock and me, and stops midway down. His gaze goes to his father. “Datt?”

His voice sounds small and scared. I see fear and guilt on the boy’s face. He thinks he’s in trouble. At that moment, I realize that while Billy Zook is mentally challenged, he’s got the intellectual wherewithal to consider consequences.

“It is all right, Billy,” William says. “You’re not in trouble. Chief Burkholder just wants to ask you some questions.”

The boy’s eyes remain wary. He descends the remaining stairs with the caution of a deer approaching a river full of alligators. He’s about my height, five feet six inches with the slumped shoulders typical to skinny teenaged boys. I notice he’s got patches of acne at the base of both cheekbones. Stubble the color of a peach on his chin. He looks upset, so I do my best to put him at ease. “Hello, Billy.”

He sidles up to his father and stares at his shoes.

I glance at William. He gives me a nod.

“Billy, I want to ask you a few questions about something that happened at the Plank house.”

The boy doesn’t move. He doesn’t look at me or acknowledge my question.

“You’re not in any trouble,” I say. “I just want you to answer some questions for me. Do you understand?”

The boy looks up at his father. William Zook gives him a nod. “Ich had nix dagege.” I don’t object.

Billy makes eye contact with me and nods. “Ja.”

“Your mamm was telling me you like to look in the windows of other people’s houses sometimes. Is that true?”

His eyes skate away. Raising his hand, he nibbles on a fingernail, then gives a reluctant nod.

“Do you look in the windows of the Plank house sometimes?”

Billy looks at his mother. “Am I in trouble?”

“No, Billy,” she says. “Just answer Chief Burkholder’s questions.”

“Billy?” Tilting my head slightly, I make eye contact with him. “Do you look in the Plank’s windows?”

“Sometimes.” He drops his head, puts his hands behind his back. “I like to see Mary. She’s pretty.”

“Did you look in the window Sunday night?”

He nods.

“Can you tell me what you saw?”

His eyes dart from his parents to me. His left knee begins to shake. He lifts his hand, tears at the ragged nail with his teeth. Tears fill his eyes.

“Did you see something that scared you?” Glock asks.

For the first time, the Amish boy looks at Glock. “Ja.”

I lower my voice to sooth him. “Tell us what you saw, Billy.”

“An Englischer.”

“What did he look like?”

“The devil.” His voice trembles on the last word.