I slapped my forehead. “Okay. Thank you for your help. Looks like I’ll be solving this mystery on my own.”
Ruth brushed her hands. “What are you talking about?”
“The ghost that the guy who ate grits mentioned. First of all, the female spirit showed me where her body was, but I didn’t get her name. I know nothing about her. There’s a good chance she’s still in that house.”
I shook my head and kicked my feet up onto an empty chair. “I don’t like this. I don’t like any of it.”
Alice pointed to the newspaper. “But it’s your greatest achievement. You’re everywhere, Blissful. You helped find a body.”
I nodded. “I know all that, but the real issue is still this ghost who summoned me. It wasn’t the girl.”
Ruth gasped. “Why didn’t you say that?”
“Oh. I thought I did.”
“No, you didn’t.” Ruth ate another piece of shortbread. She spoke between chews. “How do you know that?”
I shrugged. “Just a feeling.”
“I think you should recheck your feelings,” Alice said.
Ruth and I shot her surprised looks.
“What?” Alice slumped into her chair. “Blissful, you are now famous, and you’re running from it. That’s all this is. You helped find a possible missing person.”
“I would say she’s definitely missing or else she would’ve had an actual burial,” I argued.
“Still. Now you’re all worked up about some ghost you didn’t even see.” Alice worried her lips. “I think your job is done and you’re looking for something that doesn’t exist.”
“What’s wrong with her?” I said to Ruth.
“I think she’s angry because you stole her shortbread.” Ruth handed the tin to me.
I handed it back to Alice, who took a square. “I’m not angry about the shortbread; I’m just pointing out facts. Fact, we found a body. Fact, now you’re making things up.”
My jaw dropped. “I’m not making anything up.”
“You have no proof there’s another spirit who wants you.”
“The guy who liked the grits so much said I’d meet the other spirit and that he wouldn’t allow this guy—Grits Guy—to leave.”
Alice shook her head. “What do you think’s going to happen? This ghost is going to appear in your room?”
I scoffed. “No. God, I hope not. What a pervert.”
Ruth poured herself another cup of coffee and slurped it. “I say we did our job and now let the police do theirs. Besides, I haven’t gone to the shop yet. I’m sure the phone will be ringing off the hook by the time we arrive. Folks will all want to know if you can find bodies in their homes, too.”
I shivered. “That’s creepy. Let’s hope not. If anyone asks, tell them I don’t make it a point to find bodies. Period. I’m not going to anyone’s house or backyard to dig for anything. This was a one-time event. One time.”
I glanced at both ladies. “Understood?”
“Understood,” Ruth said. “Don’t worry, Blissful. I will tell folks you don’t go to their houses to find bodies.”
“Thank you.”
Alice’s expression filled with wonder. “But can we tell them that if there is a body, Blissful will find it?”
Before I could answer, Ruth clapped her hands. “A marvelous solution. Now Alice, let me do the talking. If anyone asks, that’s the answer and I’ll be the one to give it.”
