Chapter 60
On the side of the dirt road in front of the Grande Funeral Home, there were the Barton police station’s police car and the Barton family’s limo. The banshee Alice stood worriedly in front of the porch, watching Lola being led by the unsmiling butler and sitting in the limo. After all, her last name is Barton, so the girl was treated differently from and other ordinary people who receive subpoenas.
Zach was already neatly dressed, draping his arms around the banshee’s shoulders to confront her: “Don’t worry, she is just going to make a statement.”
The worry on Alice’s face didn’t disappear, but heavier. It took too long for the vampire to recover. When she finally walked out of the basement with Zach, the police had knocked on the door of the Grande Funeral Home and been greeted with Old Hank’s unreasonable complaint. Therefore, the vampire had no time to use the hypnotizing eyes.
Lola didn’t know what was going on, she got back into her family’s car with a look of confusion, waved to Alice behind the car window, so that this nervous friend would not worry.
With the departure of the two cars, the Grande Funeral Home returned to a quiet state. Old Hank closed the door again and returned to his bedroom with a cold face. Old Hank was not adapting to the life that was regularly interrupted by people coming to the Grande Funeral Home recently.
He wasn’t the only one who didn’t adapt. The vampire comforted the banshee for a while, but did not return to the basement and continued to sleep. Being woken up twice today has already made Zach feel irritable. It was estimated that Mrs. Barton would probably call soon, so the vampire went straight back to the office.
The ledger of the Grande Funeral Home was placed on the table, and Zach continued with the work that he had put down the day before yesterday – recording the income of the ‘side business’ as the legal benefit of the Grande Funeral Home.
Not long, the phone rang, and Zach took a few deep breaths to make his somewhat dizzy head awake and answered the phone.
“Zachry Grande.” Mrs. Barton called Zach by full name.
“Yes, Mrs. Barton.” Even if it wasn’t a face to face conversation, Zach still made a respectful smile to make his voice sound calmer.
“Do I need to worry.” On the receiver side, Mrs. Barton’s voice was equally calm.
“Is Madam talking about Connor Hermann’s disappearance?” Zach was playing with the cheque given by Mrs. Barton: “I heard Alice say that Kyle is being grounded.”
There was silence on the receiver side for a while, “Yes, Kyle hasn’t left the house since Friday. He has left Barton now.”
“Then, I don’t think Madam has anything to worry about.” Zach put down the cheque, still smiling.
“Good. But I need to remind you of something.”
“What is it, Madam?” Zach heard a hint of playfulness in the other’s tone.
“I have recommended the Grande Funeral Home to Hermann.” Mrs. Barton said with a smile: “You should treat this as an ‘after-sale customer service’.”
Zach raised his eyebrows. It is normal for Mrs. Barton to have worries. After all, Connor is the protagonist’s name in the ‘plan’ he forged by imitating Kyle’s handwriting.
“Then, I want to thank Mrs. Barton for the recommendation.” Zach’s slightly curved eyes glittered shrewdly, and he was thinking, maybe this is just what he needs, and it’s time to give James Rance a little push.
“Hehe, no need.” Mrs. Barton on the phone smiled: “Hermann is not as generous as he seems. Well, good luck to you.”
The phone was hung up, Zach closed the opened account book, and put it in the drawer. After thinking for a while, he picked up the phone again and called the ‘Mill’ which was still under renovation.
Yes, the hungry vampire was not going to stay at the Grande Funeral Home for another day. The two-days and one-night diet is already his limit. Zach was going to hang around outside for a while, avoiding Benjamin’s transformation. Therefore, he wanted to recall Maddison, who was at the mill, to take care of the closed Grande Funeral Home temporarily.
After entrusting him with the task, he put down the phone, but the phone rang again.
“[Grande Funeral Home]?” The voice of a man who was obviously impatient came from the phone.
“Yes. This is Zachary Grande, how can I help you?” Zach responded.
“Do you know who I am? Hermann! Barton recommended you!” The person on the other end of the phone seemed to have a bad temper: “This is your work phone? What kind of secret private investigating business would use a work phone to talk about things! Is Barton that old woman playing with me? !”
Zach opened his mouth and smiled helplessly, “Mr. Hermann, may I ask what you would like us to do?”
“What?! You do not know?! Barton didn’t tell you?! Uh, I shouldn’t have made this fucking call!”
“Wait! Mr. Hermann!” Zach stopped the call that was about to be hung up in anger: “I know, Mrs. Barton has briefly described what happened.” Obviously, Zach was lying. “Is it because of Young master Connor’s disappearance?”
“Since you know! Why did you ask!” The person on the phone was very irritable, but it was understandable. Did I mention that William Hermann got the only son of Connor at the age of fifty? Uh, no? Then I am telling you now.
“Mr. Hermann, I don’t think you understand what I mean.” Zach thought about the words he should use. Now it seemed that it was not a good time to tell the angry and anxious father that his son had died: “I want to know the specific request. Do you want to find Connor? Or do you want us to punish the person that is behind Connor’s disappearance?”
The voice on the opposite side of the phone paused for a long time, and it seemed that the other party was also surprised at the conversation with the Grande Funeral Home. At least, according to Hermann’s understanding, the other party should ask for more detailed clues to determine whether to take the job. “Uh. Of course, the most important thing is to find my Connor! I still don’t know which son of bitch kidnapped my Connor! I still haven’t received any-”
“Mr. Herman!” Zach interrupted the man who said a lot of meaningless words, “I just need to know what you want us to do. Now I know, I will contact you in two hours, please tell me your contact information.”
“Okay! Fine! I didn’t expect much from you anyway! ”
Zach wrote down the phone number and address on the sticky note, said goodbye politely, and hung up the phone.
“Ryan, Ryan!” The vampire called the name of Earthbound Spirit.
Near dusk, in the dimly lit office, misty Ryan condenses in the air. He held his shoulders, his translucent face was cold: “Why didn’t you tell my father that I am dead, and then ask him to let you deal with those hunters!”
“Your father?” Zach smiled and looked at the earthbound spirit in front of him jokingly, “You have adapted to your new identity surprisingly fast.”
“Look at me!” Ryan waved directly at him: “After my body was burned, Connor is the only thing I have! I am Connor!”
This is the truth, Ryan no longer has anything to do with the former ‘Ryan Gale’, which is why his spirit appears as Connor.
“One step at a time, Ryan.” Zach shook his head. This is an unfortunate child. Zach did not want to provoke him: “Actually, are you really ready to avenge the brother you once admired?”
Ryan was cold and silent.
“As I said, one step at a time.” Zach smiled: “Now, I need you to remember carefully.”
Zach leaned against the back of his chair, two hours, he had enough time. Zach’s lips opened and closed: “Where are you? When you were burned.”
Find Connor. This is William Hermann’s request. Even if it’s a charred corpse.