SWNOVELS Chapter 44
Chapter 44
Caroline got out of the car from the back seat. She wore a pair of sunglasses and black heels. After stepping down from the car, she shook the hem of her windbreaker, exuding an icy–cold aura.
They stepped inside the funeral home together and found the person in charge. Then, they asked about the cremation records from five years ago, but the person in charge was unwilling to cooperate.
“I’m sorry, but the files in our funeral home are confidential and can’t be disclosed to the public. Please leave!” The person in charge tried to drive them away.
Caroline did not say anything, whereas Riley calmly took out an ID badge and showed it to the person in charge. “Look carefully! This is my badge. We’re investigating a homicide case that took place five years ago. The culprit might be hiding in the funeral home. We must look through the records for that year. If you refuse to cooperate, we’ll have to arrest you for obstructing official duties!”
“I’m sorry, sir! 1 didn’t know you were here to investigate a case. Follow me, please!”
Assuming that they were undercover police officers that came here to investigate a case, the staff member quickly agreed and led them to the archival office.
The staff member opened the funeral home’s archival office door and said politely, Sir, the relevant files are all stored inside. We arrange them according to the years on the racks. You two can take your time to look through the files. I’ll go back to my work.”
After the staff left them alone, Caroline and Riley stepped inside and started searching for the records from five years ago.
However, as they looked through the files, they did not find the cremation record of her mother.
“What does this mean?” Caroline thought.
Again and again, they checked several times. Her mother died and was cremated on August 6th, five years ago. All the cremations on the exact same date were on the rack, but there was no record of her mother’s cremation.
“Why isn’t my mother’s record here?” Caroline asked, baffled.
“Ms. Lewis, could there be a mistake? Was your mother cremated in another funeral home?” Riley asked.
“I’ve asked around, and they all told me she was cremated here. Why can’t we find her records?” Caroline racked her brain and tried to find the answer.
She wondered how she could prove her mother was cremated in this funeral house when they could not find the records.
Riley moved on to thumb through other files, and Caroline suddenly thought of Sally’s death. She was startled and quickly called out, “Riley! Do you think someone may have taken away my mother’s cremation records one step ahead of us? Just like how they’ve taken away Sally’s life before we arrived! Could that be the reason?”
Although Riley was also clueless about the reason behind this, he did think Caroline’s analysis made sense, so he said, “It’s possible. But then, why would they stop us from retrieving information related to the late Mdm Thompson? Are they trying to hide something?”
“I don’t know! I don’t know about that!” The questions that lingered in Caroline Lewis‘ mind were mounting up.
Things got more and more complicated too. First, her mother’s ashes were swapped. Then, Sally was murdered. And now, her mother’s records were missing. All of these were too much of a coincidence.
“Ms. Lewis, what should we do next?” Riley asked.
Caroline thought for a moment and took in a deep breath. “Somebody must have gone to the records before us because they want to keep p us from finding out the truth. Even if my mother’s records are missing, we can still try to find the mortician and cremator who were in charge of my mother’s cremation five years ago. I think they might have the answers
we need.”
“Okay. Understood. I’ll try to find them out.”
Riley flipped through the files again and found the records about morticians and cremators for other cremations. Soon, he said, “Looking back on the records on August five years ago, there was only one mortician in charge of all the cremations that happened that month. His name is Patrick Gardner.”
“If there was only one mortician, what about the cremator? Caroline asked.
Riley flipped through the files for a while before saying, “Found it. There were two different creators for that month. I guess they worked on shifts”
“Take down their names.”
“Okay
Chapter 44
Following Caroline’s instructions, Riley noted down all the names he found in the files. Later, after they left the archival office, they went looking for the person in charge again.
“Can you help us check if the listed names are still working here?”
Riley gave the list to the person in charge. After seeing the list, he did not bother checking the staff list and said. “They aren’t here anymore.”
“Are you implying that they’re all dead?” Riley asked.
“No. It’s not like that. These people had quit working in our funeral home for a long time. This name, Zachary Wood, worked here for the longest time, but he resigned two years ago.”
Riley exchanged a look with Caroline. Then, he asked, “Do you know where they went after quitting the job? Or what they’re doing now?”
“They did not come back after resigning, so I’m not sure about them right now. But then, I do know what Zachary’s up to. Last time when I was having a meal with an old colleague, he told me Zachary had lost his mind and was sent to Westwood Psychiatric Hospital.”
“Westwood Psychiatric Hospital? Well, although he has lost his mind, at least we know his whereabouts now,” Caroline thought
“All right. That’s it for today. We may return and ask you more questions if necessary for us to solve the case. Again, thank you for being so cooperative.” said Riley with a straight face. Then, he left the funeral home with Caroline, and the person in charge politely escorted them out.
Stepping out of the funeral home, Caroline got inside the car and stared at the name list.
They had yet to locate the others, and they only knew Zachary’s whereabouts. If they were to get clues from someone who had lost his mind. she figured she would have to do this in her own way.
Riley started the engine and asked. “Ms. Lewis, should we go straight to the psychiatric hospital?”
“You should investigate in the dark to try to locate the others on the list. Meanwhile, also try to ask around if Zachary is really staying in the psychiatric hospital. Once you confirm he’s in there, call me again.”
Caroline did not want to travel all the way to the psychiatric hospital, only to realize Zachary was not there. She had to wait until they had located Zachary’s whereabouts before making her next move.
“Understood!” Riley started driving the car away from the funeral home.
It was a little after 2 p.m. when they arrived back in town. Caroline and Riley headed to a nearby restaurant to settle their lunch.
They walked inside the restaurant together. At the same time, Savannah and her sister–in–law had done eating and were walking out of the restaurant.
Savannah caught a glimpse and found the figure and temperament to be a little familiar. Upon a closer look, she recognized it was Caroline who had walked past them.
Noticing that Caroline was having lunch at a restaurant with a young and handsome man, Savannah seemed excited, like she had caught her red–handed.
“Savannah, what are you looking at?” asked her sister–in–law.
Her sister–in–law was none other than Melody Jakeman, the graceful daughter of the Jakeman family.
“Melody, I happened to notice a vixen seducing another man. Look!” Savannah pointed in a direction. “That girl is Caroline Lewis, who is also a shameless bitch! Not only did she snatch away my beloved Quintin, but she is also cheating on him with other men.”
Melody looked in that direction and said, “Now that we’ve caught her cheating with another man, why don’t you snap some pictures and send them to Quintin? It’s the perfect opportunity for you to expose her ugly nature.”
“You’re right!”
Savannah was decisive. She and Melody found a corner in the restaurant where no one would notice them before capturing pictures of Caroline in secret.
From her angle, she could see Caroline’s face and a young man’s back facing her.
Savannah recognized the young man, as he was with Caroline when she hit Yasmin last night.
For them to dine out together at a restaurant must be a sign that they had a seedy relationship.
Savannah had started writing a script in her mind whereby Caroline was cheating on Quintin with a handsome young man. If she were to tell everything to Quintin, it was possible Quintin would finally see Caroline for who she really was,
Perhaps he would give up on such an unscrupulous woman by then.
Chapter 44
With that in mind, she picked an angle that could easily spin this into her narration. After snapping the pictures for evidence, Savannah quietly left the restaurant with Melody.
The first thing Savannah did after leaving the restaurant was to rush to the Ziegler residence and arrive at Tanglevine Residence.
Flynn stood guard outside, and Savannah told him, “Mr. Xander, could you step outside for a moment? I have something to tell Quintin.”