Chapter 3 - The Coffin That Was Too LightMatteo locked the estate down before midnight.
No one entered.
No one left.
Every guard was ordered to surrender his phone.
The cameras were checked.
The vehicles were searched.
And still, Matteo couldn't shake the feeling that someone had already gotten inside.
Liana sat in the study with Nico asleep against her shoulder.
She stared at the child.
Every few minutes, she pulled the blanket aside and looked at the mark.
The crescent.
The two dots.
Exactly like Gabriel.
She needed proof.
Not suspicion.
Not coincidence.
Proof.
Matteo entered carrying another file.
“Your son's death certificate.”
Liana looked up.
He put it on the desk.
“Read it.”
She did.
Cause of death: respiratory failure secondary to undetermined neurological event.
Date: August twenty-ninth.
Liana's fingers stopped.
“That isn't right.”
“What?”
“The doctor told me Gabriel died on August thirtieth.”
Matteo slowly looked at her.
“His death certificate says the twenty-ninth.”
Liana stared at the paper.
“No.”
She shook her head.
“No, I was there.”
“Then why is this dated differently?”
“I don't know.”
Matteo sat down.
“Let's start from the beginning.”
Liana told him everything.
The hospital.
The phone call.
The room.
The nurse.
The doctor.
The funeral home.
The coffin.
Everything.
When she finished, Matteo asked one question.
“Did you see your son's face before the coffin was closed?”
Liana hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Clearly?”
“The funeral director opened it.”
“Was the body dressed?”
“In a white shirt.”
“Did you touch him?”
Liana's eyes filled.
“I kissed his forehead.”
“Anything unusual?”
She remembered.
A cold sensation went through her.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“His hands were bandaged.”
Matteo leaned forward.
“Why?”
“They said his veins had been damaged during treatment.”
Matteo's face hardened.
“There was no such procedure in the medical records.”
Liana stared at him.
“What?”
“The hospital records don't mention it.”
“Then what happened to my son?”
Matteo stood.
“We're going to the cemetery.”
Rain hammered the windshield as they drove.
Two armored SUVs followed.
Liana sat beside Matteo in the back seat.
Nico was between them in a secure infant carrier.
The cemetery was almost empty.
They found Gabriel's grave.
Liana stood before the stone.
GABRIEL GRAVES.
DECEMBER 4 – AUGUST 29.
She touched the lettering.
Matteo nodded to a guard.
The man walked toward the caretaker's building.
Ten minutes later, Matteo returned.
“There's a problem.”
“What?”
“The funeral home's transport log is missing.”
Liana stared.
“Missing?”
“Deleted.”
“By who?”
“That is what we're going to find out.”
An hour later, they were standing inside the funeral home's back office.
The director was sweating.
Matteo placed a photograph on the desk.
“Who delivered this child?”
The director swallowed.
“I don't remember.”
“You signed the paperwork.”
“I sign hundreds.”
Matteo leaned closer.
“You signed this one twice.”
The director looked at the paper.
His face changed.
Liana noticed.
“You know something.”
“No.”
“You do.”
The director looked at Matteo.
Then at Liana.
Finally, he whispered,
“I was told not to open the coffin.”
“By whom?” Matteo asked.
The man hesitated.
“Dr. Bell.”
Liana felt sick.
“Why?”
“He said the child had to remain sealed.”
“Why?”
The funeral director's voice dropped.
“Because someone was afraid the mother would recognize him.”
Liana stopped breathing.
“What did you say?”
The director looked at her.
“I said someone was afraid you'd recognize the child.”
Matteo slammed his hand against the desk.
“Who?”
The director reached for a drawer.
Before he could open it, the office window exploded.
Gunfire tore through the room.
Matteo shoved Liana to the floor.
The funeral director collapsed.
Glass rained down.
Guards fired toward the parking lot.
“Stay down!” Matteo shouted.
Liana crawled toward the director.
Blood spread across his shirt.
His hand grabbed hers.
He whispered something.
She leaned closer.
“What?”
His lips moved.
“Locker…”
“What locker?”
“Seventeen…”
He coughed.
“Pier Nine.”
Then he died.
Matteo looked at Liana.
She looked at him.
Neither needed to say it.
May you like
Someone had just tried to kill them because of a dead baby.
And the dead baby had a locker.
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