Ryan stepped out of his vehicle and positioned himself before the church. He felt unprepared to bid farewell to his father. “We failed to provide Dad with a decent funeral,” he reflected.
Bella’s sharp barking suddenly interrupted his thoughts. Ryan looked toward his car, where Bella appeared more restless than normal. “Bella!” He gestured for her to lie down, and she complied. He stroked her head through the open window. “Stay here, Bella.”
Ryan walked away, disregarding Bella’s whining, and stepped into the church. His father Arnold’s casket sat in position, sealed shut. The funeral director had quietly blocked off the surrounding area since Arnold had passed away from a contagious illness.
Ryan took his seat next to his mother. Arnold would face cremation rather than burial due to his death circumstances. The mass concluded and mourners stood to perform the closing hymn. Bella’s barking suddenly filled the church. She leaped onto the casket, sending the flower display crashing down, and barked loudly.
Bella sat in her alert stance on the ground and gazed at him. Ryan felt something was wrong.
“Open the casket!” he shouted.
A shocked gasp spread through the crowd. Ryan ignored this reaction. He approached the casket and lifted the lid, discovering it was empty.
“Where is my brother?” His uncle stared at the funeral director.
Ryan’s mother could not handle the situation. Her eyes rolled backward, and her legs buckled. Ryan caught her before her head struck the marble floor. He transported her to the hospital.
Ryan contacted the police from his mother’s residence.
“We only know the coroner verified the death cause and transferred the remains to the funeral home,” Detective Bradshaw explained. “Did your father participate in any questionable activities?”
Ryan had stayed away from his father’s business since starting his dog training and rehabilitation facility. However, he believed Arnold would never risk his reputation or the company’s standing.
Detective Bradshaw departed without any significant leads, promising to share updates later. Ryan chose not to wait. The hospital planned to keep his mother overnight. He left Bella at home and visited the morgue seeking answers.
“The coroner quit? What happened to the replacement coroner?” Ryan felt confused when the reception nurse told him no new coroner had been appointed yet.
He requested to view his father’s records, but the nurse declined, citing policy violations. Ryan understood how to persuade her. He placed $1000 on the desk, and she looked away while he entered the coroner’s office.
He began examining the shelves for his father’s documents, but his search proved useless. Arnold’s file had vanished. Ryan felt annoyed. His phone suddenly buzzed and interrupted him. His father’s attorney, Mr. Stevens, was calling. The elderly man told Ryan he had become the new CEO of Arnold’s business and needed to meet him immediately.
Ryan reached his father’s office and accessed Arnold’s email account on the computer. The inbox was completely empty. Someone had erased all the messages.
“Ryan! Pleasant to see you,” Mr. Stevens walked into the room and closed the door.
“Who has been operating this computer?” Ryan questioned him.
“No one,” Mr. Stevens answered. “Hold on, where are the dancers?”
Ryan observed that two small statues had disappeared from his father’s office.
“He brought them to his house. Poor Arnold… he never managed to obtain the third statue in the collection. Can you imagine the owner refuses to accept less than half a million?” Mr. Stevens explained.
Ryan felt certain Arnold had not taken them home. He had searched his parents’ entire house since arriving for the funeral and had not spotted those dancers anywhere.
“However, we must address more pressing issues…” Mr. Stevens told Ryan they faced serious financial problems. Multiple investors threatened to withdraw their money because Arnold had missed appointments with them for months before dying.
“This situation began after his new assistant started employment here. With respect to Arnold and his family, I think he maintained a romantic affair with her,” Mr. Stevens disclosed.
Ryan became angry as he pictured his mother’s sorrowful expression. He would have challenged his father’s assistant if Mr. Stevens had not prevented him. Such actions would damage Arnold’s reputation.
Ryan dedicated the day to resolving the financial issues and shipped gift packages to the most important investors. After finishing work, he tracked his father’s assistant, Miss Pearson, and watched her drive into a simple suburban home’s garage.
She represented his only clue so far, so he remained outside her residence in his vehicle. Later, the sound of her garage door opening woke him. He observed her drive toward the city and considered following her. Then he developed a superior plan.
He jumped from his car and entered her garage before the door shut completely. Inside, he discovered an entrance to her house. He located the kitchen first, searched through the drawers, and found a flashlight.
He avoided switching on the lights to prevent Miss Pearson from discovering him if she returned unexpectedly. His spirits dropped when he walked into her bedroom and spotted a framed photograph of her and Arnold kissing on the bedside table.
Ryan kept his calm and reminded himself that he came here to discover a clue that might help him understand what occurred to his father. He examined Miss Pearson’s residence but found nothing useful. Disappointed, he prepared to exit when he observed a partially opened drawer in the coffee table.
A manila folder inside caught his attention. The folder contained Arnold’s life insurance document worth $7 million, and Miss Pearson was listed as the only beneficiary! Ryan grabbed the paper and headed to the police station.
“This evidence seems quite convincing…” Detective Bradshaw commented while examining the document. “Allow me to investigate this Pearson woman further.”
Ryan sat close to the front desk when she approached him with several officers. Miss Pearson had reserved a seat on a flight to Morocco departing in thirty minutes.
“The US lacks an extradition agreement with Morocco’s government, so we must question her before she enters the aircraft!” Detective Bradshaw explained.
Ryan wished to join the officers, but Detective Bradshaw denied his request since he was a citizen. Ryan ignored her instructions and followed them anyway.
“Police!” Detective Bradshaw shouted as she and her squad reached a boarding gate. “Allow us passage!”
Ryan snuck past airport security personnel by mixing with the group, and they moved to the boarding zone. The officers quickly dispersed and began examining passengers.
“You! The woman with dark hair wearing the white shirt! Exit the line and put your hands up!” Detective Bradshaw commanded.
Ryan felt relieved they had captured Miss Pearson, but his expression changed when the woman faced them. She was not Miss Pearson.
The police searched for hours, but Miss Pearson had escaped. Ryan was back where he started. However, deep down, he believed Arnold remained alive.
Ryan knew the statues were not at his mother’s residence. His father must have brought the statues with him wherever he went. Ryan researched the collector who owned the third statue online and paid him a visit.
“How much money will you accept for it?” he asked, indicating the statue.
“$750,000,” the collector, Mr. Frederick, responded.
“That price exceeds the market value for this artist’s pieces, sir.”
“Then do not purchase it. The cost cannot be changed, young man!”
Ryan needed to acquire it, so he asked for time to gather the funds. He went back to his vehicle, called Mr. Stevens, and announced he wanted to sell $750,000 worth of his company shares.
“You will lose your majority ownership in the business, Ryan!” Mr. Stevens warned.
“I understand, Mr. Stevens, but this matter is critical,” Ryan replied. “I require the money right now, but if my theory proves correct, I should recover those shares in a week.”
“Ryan,” Mr. Stevens finally responded in a careful voice, “as a significant shareholder and legal counsel for the business, I sense it would benefit me to avoid asking why you require such a substantial sum on such brief notice.”
“As a long-standing family friend, though,” Mr. Stevens added, “I must understand if this connects to the concern I mentioned about Miss Pearson.”
“Somewhat, yes,” Ryan answered.
Mr. Stevens exhaled deeply. “She has vanished as well, you know… failed to appear at work today, and her telephone number no longer functions. I will obtain the money for you… better you do not inquire about the specifics… and transfer it to you quickly.”
Ryan received confirmation that the funds had reached his account and hurried inside to meet Mr. Frederick. The elderly man mumbled about the statue being worth more than his requested price since it was the sole available piece from the collection, but Ryan interrupted him.
“You requested $750,000, sir, and that is exactly what I am providing you right now. Are you not a person who honors his commitments, Mr. Frederick?”
Mr. Frederick finally consented to sell the statue. Ryan was prepared for his next move. He contacted several people from his vehicle and made a brief stop before going back to his mother’s residence.
“Where have you been all this time, Ryan?” his mother inquired. “I come back from the hospital to discover the house vacant, and poor Bella is extremely restless. Your dog yearns for you; I truly cannot entertain her sufficiently, and I have hardly seen you since the burial…”
“I apologize, Mom,” he whispered. “Please simply have faith that my activities have been extremely significant. This situation will conclude very shortly.”
Ryan positioned himself behind a column near the rear of the auction facility’s primary bidding section and observed the attendees. The statue he had purchased was scheduled as the next item for bidding. He looked at the platform as they brought it forward.
As the price increased, the number of bidders decreased to only two. One was a heavy-set man with a large nose, and the other was a tall, gray-haired man wearing a dark blue suit. Neither person was his father.
Ryan had demanded complete privacy and personally funded multiple advertisements to guarantee his father, wherever he was located, would learn that the statue was being auctioned today.
“$600,000 going once,” the auctioneer announced. Ryan’s heart dropped.
He worried that he would not only lose his trap and miss his opportunity to locate his father, but he would also suffer a massive financial loss on the statue.
Ryan felt chills when he heard his father’s voice. He watched in amazement as Arnold stood up from a chair at the rear of the auction hall and took off his broad hat.
“$1 million going once…going twice…sold to the gentleman in the tan jacket!” The auctioneer struck his hammer.
Arnold immediately replaced his hat and walked toward the exit. Ryan hurried along the room’s perimeter and stopped him. Detective Bradshaw then appeared and placed handcuffs on Arnold.
“Ryan?” Arnold looked confused at Ryan. “You deceived me! This was a setup!”
“Do not pretend I have done something terribly wrong, Dad! You are the person who cheated and staged your own death so you could escape with your lover! How could you do this?”
Arnold lowered his head as he admitted he had grown weary of his previous life and wished to begin fresh with his new partner, Miss Pearson.
“So you obtained a large life insurance amount for your new existence, paid the coroner to fake your death document and death reason, and made all of us stand around an empty coffin to grieve you!” Ryan whispered angrily.
“‘A person should act correctly, not pursue his own selfish desires.’ You instructed me that, Dad. I regret you could not follow your own beliefs, but I hope you understand that your inability to do so caused your ruin.”
Detective Bradshaw promised Ryan that Miss Pearson would be captured shortly as well. Arnold was then escorted to the police vehicle.
