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“Yes. It was funny, though.”
“What was?” Jamison said quickly.
“Well, we practice communal living here. And with a lot of Anabaptist colonies, everyone usually lives in little houses next to each other or attached. I know this because my second cousin is a Hutterite, lives in North Dakota, too, only not near here.”
Decker was now eyeing her steadily. “And your point?” he said.
“Well, here there’s enough land for all of us to have our own place, and we each grow some of our own crops. We contribute most of it to the Colony, but we get to keep some for our own use. And folks can grow different things that they might like, that the Colony doesn’t grow collectively.”
“And your point?” Decker said again.
“I told Ms. Cramer about that. And it was just funny what she said. She said to maybe not do that. To maybe not grow our own food.”
“Why would she say that?” asked Jamison, glancing at Decker.
“I don’t know. She never said.”
Decker said urgently, “Where did she teach class here?”
“In the little schoolhouse next to the building where we have the egg production,” said Robert.
“Did she have an office there?”
Judith nodded. “In a room in the back.”
Decker rose. “Can you show us? Now?”
DORIS, THECOLONY TEACHER, answered their knock. She was in her fifties and dressed like the other women at the Colony but with a different color and pattern for her skirt and scarf. Behind her they could see students ranging in age from six to teens, sitting in separate clusters in the middle of the large room. They all looked at the visitors with both interest and puzzlement.
After Judith introduced Kelly, Decker, and Jamison, Doris explained she was filling in for Cramer.
“It was so terrible about Irene,” she said in a low voice.
“Yeah,” said Decker distractedly. “Look, we need to see Cramer’s office.”
“Oh, all right. It’s this way.”
She led them past the students. Several of the younger boys looked up at the giant Decker in awe, while several of the teenaged boys watched the pretty Jamison every step of the way.
Doris opened the door to a small room and ushered them in.
It was ten-by-ten with one window. A small desk sat in the middle of the room with a straight-back chair slid into the knee-hole. Two metal file cabinets were set against one wall.
On the desk was an ink blotter, a Rolodex, a stack of books, and what looked to be some student journals.
Doris and Judith left them there to look around.
“What are we looking for?” asked Kelly.
“Anything that will help us,” replied Decker.
“Well, that’s kind of vague.”
“Decker thinks that Cramer’s murder might be tied to something in her past. Before she came here.” Jamison glanced at Decker. “Old sins cast long shadows, or something to that effect.”
Kelly looked intrigued by that. “So, before she came here, then? Which is maybe why the Feds are interested?”
Decker nodded. “Yes. I think finding out the reason she came here in the first place will go a long way toward helping find who killed her.”
