Laurie listened in stunned silence until Jack finished his monologue, which had included the need to bribe both the cemetery superintendent and the backhoe operator. He also had mentioned that Craig's testimony had been a disaster.

"It pisses me off that now I don't know whether to be angry or sympathetic."

"If you are asking my opinion, I'd lean in the direction of sympathy."

"Please, Jack. No jokes! This is serious."

"After I finish the autopsy, I'll surely have missed the last shuttle flight tonight. I'll stay in a hotel at the airport. Flights start sometime around six thirty."

Laurie sighed audibly. "I'm going over to my parents' early to get ready, so I'll miss you here at the apartment."

"No problem. I think I'll be able to get into my tuxedo without any help."

"Will you come to the church with Warren?"

"That's my intention. He's inventive the way he always finds parking for his ride."

"All right, Jack. See you at the church." She disconnected abruptly.

Jack sighed and flipped his phone shut. Laurie wasn't happy, but at least he'd gotten the unpleasant chore out of the way. For a moment, he marveled that there was nothing in life that was simple and straightforward.

Slipping his phone into his pocket, Jack climbed out of the car. As he'd been talking with Laurie, things seemed to be coming to a head at graveside. Percy was back inside the backhoe's cab and had the diesel engine cranking. The scoop was poised over the excavation with attached steel cables stretching downward into the depths. It was apparent the backhoe was putting significant tension on the cables.

Jack walked to the edge of the hole to join Harold. Looking down, he could see that the cables were attached to eyehooks embedded in the vault's lid.

"What's happening?" Jack yelled over the diesel roar.

"We're trying to break the seal," Harold yelled back. "It's not easy. It's an asphalt-like material that's used to make it waterproof."

The backhoe grunted and strained and then eased off only to begin anew.

"What will we do if the seal holds?" Jack questioned. "We'd have to come back another day with the vault company people."

Jack cursed but not audibly.

Suddenly, there was a low-pitched popping noise and a brief sucking sound.

"Well, hallelujah!" Harold said as he motioned for Percy to slow down by flapping his hand.

The vault lid rose up. When it got up to the edge of the pit, Enrique and Cesar grabbed it to keep it steady while Percy swung it away from the grave. Carefully, he set it down on the grass. Percy then climbed out of the cab.

Harold peered into the vault. The lining was mirror-like stainless steel. Resting inside was the white-gold metallic coffin. There was a good two feet of clearance all around.

"Isn't she a beauty?" Harold said with near religious veneration. "That's a Huntington Industries Perpetual Repose. I don't sell many of those. It's really a sight to behold."

Jack was more interested in the fact that the interior of the vault was as dry as a bone. "How do we get the coffin out?" he asked.

No sooner had Jack posed the question than Enrique and Cesar climbed down into the vault and passed wide cloth straps under the coffin and then through the four side handles. With the diesel back up to power, Percy swung the scoop back over the pit and lowered it so the straps could be attached. Harold opened the back of the hearse.

Twenty minutes later, the coffin was safely inside the hearse, and Harold closed the door.

"Will I be seeing you back at the home straight away?" Harold asked Jack.

"Absolutely. I want to do the autopsy immediately. Also, there's going to be another medical examiner involved. Her name is Dr. Latasha Wylie."

"Very well," Harold said. He got into the hearse's driver's seat, backed out into the roadway, and accelerated down the hill.

Jack settled up with Percy, giving him the bulk of his wad of twenty-dollar bills. He also gave a couple to Enrique and Cesar before getting into his car and beginning to head down the hill. As he drove, he couldn't help but feel pleased. After all the lead-up problems, he was surprised that the exhumation itself had gone so easily. In particular, no Fasano and no Antonio, and certainly no Franco, had shown up to spoil the party. Now all he had to do was the autopsy.

To Jack's gratification, things continued to go smoothly. He drove from the Park Meadow to the Langley-Peerson Home without incident, as did Harold with the coffin. When Jack had arrived, Latasha was already there waiting. She had arrived only five minutes earlier, so the timing was nearly perfect.

Immediately on his arrival, Harold had had two of his beefy employees slide the Perpetual Repose coffin out of the hearse and onto a dolly. The dolly had been rolled into the embalming room, where it now stood.

"Here's the plan," Harold said. He was standing next to the coffin with a bony hand resting on its gleaming metallic surface. Thanks to the bright blue-white fluorescent light in the embalming room, any lifelike color he had was washed out, and he looked as if he should have been inside one of the Perpetual Reposes himself.

Jack and Latasha were standing a few feet away near the embalming table, which was going to substitute as the autopsy table. Both had pulled on Tyvek protective jumpsuits that Latasha had thoughtfully brought from the medical examiner's office along with gloves, plastic face screens, and a collection of autopsy tools. Also in the room were Bill Barton, a kindly senior gentleman whom Harold had described as his most trusted employee, and Tyrone Vich, a robust African-American man twice Bill Barton's size. Both had kindly volunteered to stay late and would assist Jack and Latasha in any way needed.

"We'll now open the casket," Harold continued. "I will certify that it indeed contains the remains of the late Patience Stanhope. Bill and Tyrone will remove the clothing and put the body on the embalming table for the autopsy. Once you have finished, Bill and Tyrone will take over to redress the body and return it to the coffin so that it can be re-interred in the morning."

"Will you remain on the premises?" Jack asked.

"I don't think that is necessary," Harold said. "But I live nearby, and Bill or Tyrone can call me if there are any questions."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Jack said, enthusiastically rubbing his gloved hands together. "Let's get the show on the road!"

Taking a crank from Bill, Harold inserted its business end into a flush housing at one end of the metal coffin, seated it, and tried to turn it. The effort brought a fleeting bit of color to his face but failed to turn the locking mechanism. Harold gestured toward Tyrone, who changed places with the director. Tyrone's muscles bulged beneath his cotton scrub shirt, and with an abrupt, torturous screech, the lid began to open. A moment later, there was a short hiss.

Jack looked at Harold. "Is that hissing sound good or bad?" Jack asked. He hoped it was not indicative of gaseous decomposition.

"Neither good nor bad," Harold said. "It speaks to the Perpetual Repose's superb seal, which is not surprising, since it's a top-of-the-line, high-engineered product." Harold directed Tyrone to the opposite end of the casket, where he repeated the process with the crank.

"That should be it," Harold said when Tyrone was finished. He put his fingers under the edge of the coffin and had Tyrone do the same at the other end. Then, in a coordinated fashion, they lifted the lid and allowed light to wash in over Patience Stanhope.

The interior of the casket was lined in white satin, and Patience was clothed in a simple white taffeta dress. In keeping with the decor, her exposed face, forearms, and hands were covered with a white, cottony fluff of fungus. Beneath the mold, her skin was marmoreal gray.