The Funeral Was Built Around One Deadly Lie

CHAPTER 1 - THE SOUND INSIDE THE COFFIN

"Dad! Dad!"

I crashed through the funeral home doors with tears covering my face.

My father's coffin rested beneath black drapes and white lilies.

Maria stood beside it in a dark green dress, her fingers wrapped around the pearl necklace at her throat.

"When did this happen?" I demanded.

"Last night."

"Why didn't you call me?"

"Everything happened too quickly."

I gripped the coffin's polished edge.

Only three days earlier, my father had left me a message asking me to come home.

He sounded frightened.

Before I could return his call, Maria informed me that he had died from a sudden illness.

"I just want to see my father one last time."

Maria grabbed my shoulder.

"No, you can't. The coffin must stay closed."

Her voice became sharper.

"Your father had a highly contagious illness."

Several guests stepped backward.

I stared at her.

My father had attended a board meeting four days earlier. No one mentioned an illness.

"Which hospital treated him?"

"He died at home."

"Which doctor signed the certificate?"

Maria's face tightened.

"This is not the time."

Then I heard something.

A dull knock.

It came from inside the coffin.

Maria began speaking loudly, but I raised my hand.

Another knock followed.

Weak.

Desperate.

"My father is still alive."

Maria moved in front of me.

"Grief is making you irrational."

I pushed past her and released the first brass latch.

She screamed for the funeral director.

I opened the second.

Then the third.

The lid rose.

My father lay against dark red velvet.

Black tape covered his mouth. His wrists were bound beneath his jacket.

His face was soaked with sweat.

His blue eyes stared directly into mine.

For one second, no one moved.

Then my father drew a broken breath through his nose.

Maria backed toward the door.

I tore the tape from his mouth.

His lips moved.

"Daniel..."

Then his eyes closed.

Behind me, Maria dropped her pearl necklace and ran.

But before she reached the exit, my father whispered one name.

The name of the doctor who had declared him dead.