I asked Kyle when he joined us. “The police were tearing up her coffin lining, looking for the diamonds, and I refused to send her to her eternal reward in torn satin.” “She would never have forgiven you if you tried,” I said. “Right, so I had her put in a fresh coffin. It took a good argument and a lot of time.” “Why did the police wait until she was inside the coffin?” “They thought the fact that we were burying her so fast with no announcement at all was suspicious—they just didn’t get me trying to avoid ten thousand fans parading through—and they figured the placement of her body would indicate which coffin needed to be searched.” “Like she was gonna take the diamonds with her?” “No,” Kyle said. “Like her murderer was going to dig her up later and retrieve the diamonds.” “Gross.” Kyle straightened his tie. “Tell me about it.” Werner rocked on his heels. “I’ve seen it done. Caught the murderer digging the old lady up. Casket’s memento drawer full of stolen jewelry.”
