Chapter 3

Emmett fell silent. He didn't answer.

The officer looked at him. "Mr. Emmett, please cooperate with inspecting the body in the casket."

Emmett's throat bobbed.

After a long moment, he finally spoke.

"Fine."

Just those two words, spoken with weight.

Lydia broke first. She threw herself at the casket, pressing down hard on the lid.

"No! Claudia's already suffered so much. You're going to open her casket too?"

Mira also knelt beside the casket, her shoulders shaking with sobs.

"Officers, Claudia loved being beautiful more than anything."

"She fell from such a height. She's unrecognizable."

"Please, don't make her be stared at in the end."

The officer's tone remained steady.

"We're not doing this publicly. We're just verifying the condition of the body in the casket. Please step aside."

Lydia still tried to block them.

Emmett said quietly, "Mom."

Lydia whipped her head toward him. "Emmett!"

Emmett closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he looked at me.

That gaze held hatred, and a trace of panic he couldn't suppress.

"Open it."

That one word fell, and Lydia's crying stopped.

Mira's face went deathly pale.

Venue staff stepped forward. The casket lid was slowly pushed open.

Everyone in the funeral hall held their breath.

I didn't crowd forward. My gaze fell on the outer side of the body bag inside the casket.

What hit first was a pungent smell of disinfectant.

Inside the casket lay a black body bag. A white label was stuck to the outside of the bag.

It read: Claudia.

Gender: Female.

Age: 26.

Transfer Unit: Simpson Group Partner Medical Center.

No hospital wristband, no police seal, no funeral home identification number.

Only the Simpson family's own label.

The officer frowned. "Who put this on?"

The lawyer responded immediately. "The medical center."

The officer asked, "Where's the transfer document?"

The lawyer paused.

I looked at that label and smiled slightly.

Mira's head snapped up. "What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing." I said. "First time learning that identity confirmation after death relies on stickers."

Mira's expression stiffened.

The officer put on gloves and lifted the outer layer of the body bag to inspect it.

Venue staff tried to step forward to block him but were stopped by another officer.

Lydia turned her head away, unable to watch.

Mira lowered her head, but her fingers clutched her clothes desperately.

Only Emmett was still watching the casket. His face showed no grief, only tension.

A few seconds later, the officer looked up.

"The body is severely damaged."

"Visual identification at the scene is not possible."

"Subsequent sampling and verification will need to follow procedure."

Lydia seemed to finally grab an opportunity, crying out, "It's already like this. What more verification do you need?"

The officer looked at her. "Identity verification."

Lydia's crying caught. Mira's face also went pale for a moment.

I looked at their reactions and said softly, "What's wrong?"

"It's just identity confirmation. Are you afraid of that too?"

Emmett finally spoke. "Iris, that's enough."

I looked at him.

"Emmett, when proving I drove Claudia to death, one suicide note was enough."

"Now asking you to prove the person in the casket is Claudia—why is it so difficult?"

He stared at me hard. "I just want to let her leave quietly."

I looked up. "Leave? A dead person—what does she need to leave?"

Emmett's eyes darkened. "Leave behind these humiliating questions."

The officer continued inspecting the outside of the body bag.

Soon, he pulled out a folded piece of paper from the side.

The lawyer visibly relaxed when he saw it.

"That's the transfer document. It should explain the procedure."

The officer unfolded it. The paper was very new, so new the creases were still stiff.

It read:

Simpson Group Partner Medical Center Temporary Body Transfer Statement.

Receiving party: blank. Transfer person signature: blank. Time: blank.

Only a red stamp.

The officer looked up at the lawyer. "This is a blank form."

The lawyer's shoulders, which had just relaxed, immediately stiffened again.

"Perhaps the staff were too rushed and forgot to complete it."

I looked at that blank form.

"Every step is missing. Every step is waiting to be completed after the fact."

I looked up at Emmett.

"Seems like you're not handling a funeral. You're racing through procedures."

Emmett said nothing.

Lydia said tremulously, "Officers, can't you just let Claudia go to the funeral home first?"

"She's already so pitiful..."

The officer interrupted her.

"The body can be transferred."

"But it must be supervised by police, and transfer procedures must be completed."

"At the same time, records from the venue, hotel, and medical transport will be sealed."

"The Simpson family may not handle this privately."

Lydia's face went completely pale.

Emmett looked at the officer.

"The hotel records need to be sealed too?"

The officer said, "The incident location was at the Simpson Group hotel. Of course it needs to be sealed."

Emmett asked too quickly.

I looked at him. "Why are you so afraid of procedures?"

Emmett looked at me coldly. "Stop trying to smear me."

I didn't respond to him, because the lawyer's phone rang again.

Since the casket opened, it had rung three times.

He glanced down and immediately declined the call.

The officer looked at him. "Answer it."

The lawyer froze. "It's just a work call."

The officer looked at him. "Answer it. On speaker."

Sweat appeared on the lawyer's forehead again. He had no choice but to answer.

The moment speaker turned on, a man's lowered voice came through.

"Mr. Howard, we've been waiting at the back entrance for twenty minutes."

"You said earlier it had to leave tonight. Now there's police tape. Are we still going with the original plan?"

The funeral hall went deathly silent. The lawyer's face went sheet white.

The officer's voice deepened. "What original plan?"

The person on the phone was clearly stunned. "Didn't you say the paperwork would be completed later?"

The lawyer abruptly hung up, but it was too late.

The officer looked at him. "Who told you to arrange vehicles at the back entrance?"

The lawyer's lips moved, but no words came out.

I looked at Emmett.

"Paperwork completed later—seems like it's not just the transfer form, is it?"

His expression was frighteningly dark. He didn't answer me.

Mira instinctively glanced at the casket, then quickly looked away.

I noticed, and said slowly, "Don't worry. Once police seal it, no one can touch that casket."

Her face went even paler.

"Iris, don't make baseless accusations."

"Then don't be afraid." I looked at her. "As long as the person in the casket really is Claudia, no one can wrong her, and no one can wrong you."

Mira's shoulders visibly trembled.

The officer had already called for backup to seal the venue's back entrance and related vehicles.

The Simpson Group lawyer still wanted to explain.

But as soon as he opened his mouth, a staff member rushed in—someone from the venue's concierge.

When he saw the police, his expression immediately changed.

"Mr. Emmett."

Emmett shot him a cold glance. "Get out."

The concierge stood frozen, unable to advance or retreat.

The officer looked at him.

"What is it?"

The man swallowed. "It's... it's Miss Claudia's luggage that was stored at the venue last night."

Mira's head snapped up. Emmett's expression also changed in that moment.

I looked at the concierge. "What about the luggage?"

His voice grew quieter and quieter.

"It was originally arranged to be sent to the airport tonight."

"But the driver's been stopped in the underground parking by the police tape. He's asking if he should still deliver it."

The funeral hall fell so quiet it was as if the air had been sucked out.

I slowly turned my head and looked at Emmett.

"The airport?"

"Didn't you say Claudia was dead?"

"Why is her luggage being sent to the airport?"