“Can you put him on the phone for me?”

“Sure can.”

I put my hand over the phone and glance at Tomasetti. “I’ve got Aaron Plank’s bishop on the line from Lancaster County.”

“Nice work.”

I smile and then Bishop Fisher comes on the line. I greet him in Pennsylvania Dutch, identify myself and then I ask him about the Plank family.

“It pained me greatly to hear about the passing of Amos and Bonnie Plank and their children.” The bishop has the slow, thick accent characteristic to many Midwestern Amish. “But I know they believed in the divine order of things and the will of God.”

“Did you know them well?”

“Yes. I conducted their wedding ceremony. I spoke to them many times over the years.”

“Do you know why they left Lancaster County?”

For the first time, he pauses. “There were some problems a few years back with their son, Aaron. An Englischer was involved. Problems developed between Bonnie and Amos. Some members of the community could not condone Aaron’s . . . relationship with this outsider, nor the way Amos and Bonnie handled it. In the end, Amos decided a fresh start in a new church district would be best, so he moved the family.”

“What can you tell me about the problems?”

“Bonnie loved her son very much. She was a very tolerant woman. Willing to abide by almost anything to keep her son. Amos was not as tolerant. Neither was the community as a whole.”

“So it caused a rift between them?”

“Between Bonnie and Amos as well as the Plank family and some of the community. Aaron was not repentant and refused to confess his sins. The Ordnung prohibited this relationship, particularly with an outsider.”

“The community objected to a gay relationship?”

“There was a lot of talk.” The old man’s sigh is tired. “Wer lauert an der Wand, Heert sie eegni Schand.” If you listen through the wall, you will hear others recite your faults.

It’s not the first time I’ve heard the old adage. If the Amish as a whole have a fault, it is that at times they can be judgmental. “So the Planks left for a fresh start?”

“A fresh start in a new church district in Ohio.”

“What can you tell me about Aaron’s relationship with his family?”

“It was a stormy union. Troubled. Amos was a good father, a hard worker who provided well for his family. But he was not a patient man. Aaron was headstrong.”

“Did they argue?”

“Often.”

“Did either of them ever become violent?”

Another tired sigh. “There was a fight or two.”

“Tell me about that.”