The Screaming Lady, A JEZ Ghost Negotiator Mystery

Chapter Sixteen: FUNERAL

they all smiled and waved back. He then went back to eating his Okra Pancakes with vigor.

Remy said, "Not only is he renting the apartment, he has also agreed to work in the Diner in the evenings after school for meals. It is a plus, plus, I get a border and a worker all in one fail swoop." The girls slid out of the booth and each gave Remy a big hug. He thanked them once again and said, "We are so very busy, I really need to get back into the kitchen." With that, he excused himself.

They then turned their attention to Rosie, who was sipping her soup from her spoon. Elizabeth said, "Betsie's funeral was beautiful, I am sure her Mother would be very pleased." They all had just come from Betsie's funeral; she was laid to rest with a small ceremony in the Wilcox Cemetery. Her headstone read: BETSIE BLANCHARD, A LOVED SISTER AND DAUGHTER, SHE WILL ALWAYS BE MISSED.

Rosie then looked again out the window at the large pile of asphalt and the hole in the road that was once Betsie's grave. How long in death, she wondered, had her mother watched over her in that cavern; did her mother's ghost dig out the space to give her daughter an adequate resting area under the road? Betsie must have died quickly due to the lack of air in that cavern, if she had not drowned initially, she could not have dug that big an area around her.

When the remains were removed from the cavern under the road, a DNA test was conducted against Rosie's DNA; and it was definitely determined that the remains were indeed a Blanchard, and it did not take much to connect the dots and determine that the remains were Betsie.

"I miss her; I did not even know her, and what I knew of her would make anyone run in fear, but I do miss her; she was family." Rosie said in a very sad voice. The triplets all looked at her in surprise. "I too, want to thank all three of you for helping my great grandmother to pass over, also helping her daughter to finally be placed in a resting place befitting her."

Rosie continued, "You must understand, I am alone, I live a very lonely life, by my own choosing, of course. It was just a comfort to actually have family here, even if she was not exactly alive." They all laughed.

Elizabeth said, "You have Josephine and your friends, Remy would be happy to serve you Fried Tomato soup every day, I am sure." She smiled.

Rosie smiled, you are correct, but family; there is something about having family around that is calming to the heart. I hope that you three understand how blessed you are to have each other. Never lose that connection.

They all three blushed, the girls leaned over the table and kissed her on the cheek, and Zakary put his arm around her in a bear hug. The three made their niceties, said goodbye to Remy and proceeded back to the hotel to pack up.

Driving out of town, Jessica turned around in the passenger seat to look to the back seat, and smugly said, "A successful case, if I do say so myself." When she looked to the back seat, Elizabeth was already asleep, her head laid upon a satin pillow; one that she carried with her everywhere she went. She then looked at Zakary, he nodded absently, lost in thought. In a huff, she turned back around, got comfortable and stared out the window at the trees going by wondering what the next case might hold.

Looking in the rearview mirror, Zakary was watching the Blanchard Mansion get smaller as they drove out of town. In one glance, he noticed that there were two rocking chairs on the balcony, the one that was over the large collimated front entrance; in his next glance, in those rocking chairs were two people, a man and a woman both dressed in black. Zakary blinked hard, then looked into his rearview mirror again and the man and woman were hand in hand floating back into the home. Zakary smiled and thought, I guess that Rosie is not as alone as she thinks.