19 The musketeers’ probe

Entered the ghost-busters.

The Lee's were having breakfast when Jan and Fr. Robert came. Josh invited them. He told them about the maids' stories which Aaron, David, and Dante found "outlandish" and "outrageous."

Jan and Fr. Robert read the newspaper story, they said, specifically, the two police quotes of their guns melting and saying that two women did it. They wondered if the two stories were connected. Aaron was in a hurry to go to his regular job. Suzy was also preparing to leave. But Josh—he thought he would talk to the maids. He promised his father that he would come to work—he'd be late, he said. He did not know about Josh inviting the two to come that morning. Isabella was preparing Michael—they'd go out for their usual morning walk, together with Zen and they'd go to the market. Dante would drive them.

Everyone left except the musketeers.

Ellie and Eleanor took turns retelling their story. They stumbled on words as they tried to recall what happened.

Jan, Fr. Robert and Josh were convinced by the two. --that the culprits were not men or "thieves" but "women." The investigators were unable to inquire further, stopping on the "burglary" theory because they ran away.

The three went out to the garden, brought their ghost catcher with them and began their own detective work. There were footsteps—but they found several—these could not just be the work of two persons, they thought. Incredible—was how they described what they found, but they couldn't explain the mystery—not yet—not at the moment—they'd have to probe more. They found about the trees—they were in their places—but there were signs of uprooting as the soil around the trees moved.

Then, they were looking at Jackson and Zoraida. They used to be active in the past. But now, they both sat in their places quietly. When Josh mentioned the two women, Jackson and Zoraida shrieked in their corners. They were anxious—maybe they had traumas, they thought.

They found out, too, that there was nothing that was missing inside the house. How could Aaron and Isabella miss this important piece of information? Jan and Fr. Robert asked. Did they really miss, or they ignored, for some or whatever reason. What really happened that day was a big question mark for the three musketeers.