Chapter 32

“All right.” I pulled out a credit card in my own name. Yeah, I had one of those. It matched the business cards. “Put it on this card.” It was a platinum Visa card, and my limit on it was twenty-five thousand dollars. “And give my uncle the slip with the refund.”

“Yes, sir. Let me give you the general price list.” While he was handling the refund, I looked it over.

“What’s this? Medium index fluid?”

He looked flustered. “I assure you, it’s quite sufficient for a single day’s viewing.”

“Yeah, but what is it?”

“Oh. It’s the embalming fluid.”

“Okay. And custodial?”

“That’s removal from place of death—in this case it was Falmouth Hospital. And then of course preparing your mother and putting her out for viewing.”

“Fair enough. Now, the price of the coffin—”

“Pardon me, sir, but it’s referred to as a casket.”

“Fine. About the price?”

“Well…well…Mr. Vincent was reluctant to go with our more expensive line….”