Epilogue
Jessup stepped out of the car and faced the memorials. The city had ordered that they be taken down tomorrow and he figured he'd better stop by.
There were flowers, most of them had wilted some, and there were notes and such. Gary had done a lot for the people of this city and it was clear they appreciated it. Beside his brother's memorial was a less attended to memorial.
Laura had only met Gary a few months ago, the newspapers hadn't even caught on that their relationship was anything more than business. Not that they would be getting married now, anyway.
As he stood there contemplating the two memorials Jessup noticed that the freshest flowers weren't those beside the little stand with Gary's name and dates, but the bouquet set at the bottom of Laura's little cross. Jessup lifted the flowers and got a better look at them. Powdery pink snapdragons with a single white rose in the center, Jessup was floored. Nobody but Gary and himself had known Laura's favorite flower, who could have possibly left these?
The mystery seemed unsolvable.
Jessup replaced the flowers in their rightful place. As he did so he frowned, seeing what looked like graffiti on the little white cross. One person who leaves a special gift and another who dishonors the dead, New York was one heck of a city.
On second thought…
Jessup flipped out his camera phone and snapped a shot of the graffiti. He sent it to a business friend who had a friend in Japan. A few minutes later the phone vibrated and Jessup pulled it out, smiling when he saw the translation for the kanji. One mystery solved. One task to finish.
He dialed a number and held the phone to his ear. "Hello, I'm calling about Ms. Thompson's headstone…yes this is Jessup Grant…I was wondering if you had finished it yet…do you have anyone who can engrave kanji?...Yes, kanji as in Japanese…you can hire someone? That's great!...I don't mind the extra fee…" Jessup knelt down and ran his fingers along the mark on the memorial. "yes…"
Jessup shook his head, he knew Laura had had a daughter, a runaway, but he figured that the girl was just like thousands of others who didn't understand what they had and went off looking for bigger things.
He felt like a fool, Laura had always insisted that her daughter wasn't like that, maybe she was right.
"Yes, I want it to read, 'Beloved Mother'."