The Cool Room by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 27

Having finished with the generator, Frank climbed the cellar stairs, and walking through the viewing room saw the officer at the door.

“Joe,” he said. “Still selling those Sno-Cones?” The officer did not answer, but quickly redirected the conversation to the issue that brought him to the funeral home.

“Frank,” he said. “Can we talk? Privately?” Frank’s expression transformed from a slight smile to one of deep concern as he stepped outside. Jonathan remained near the window. Unable to hear the conversation, he stood, monitoring Frank’s behavioral cues as their discussion progressed. By the look of Frank’s grim expression, he knew that something was very wrong – perhaps something he would rather not know about. But curiosity being what it is, Jonathan stood just off to the side of the antique glass as Frank got into his car and began following the officer. To where, would be discovered within the next few hours.

Once both cars had driven off, Jonathan walked back to the cool room, where Emily was checking the thermometers for the doors of each cooler. With the generator running on a full tank, the temperature of each cooler was falling back to what was needed to slow decomposition. Satisfied with what she was seeing, she turned back to leave when she encountered Jonathan, who bore an expression of grave concern.

“What is it?” she asked.

Not knowing the situation, Jonathan could only tell Emily what he saw.

“It’s Frank,” he said. “I don’t know where he’s going, but he just left with the officer who came to the door.”

Emily responded with a puzzled look on her face. “Did he arrest him?” she asked.

Jonathan couldn’t seem to get his words right, and with frustration, he spoke of what he had seen with greater accuracy.

“No,” he replied. “I mean, he followed him in his car.”

Standing outside the doorway of the cool room, they wondered what it could be that was important enough to pull Frank away from his work. Even if it was the police, was it necessary for him to be escorted away when a simple conversation would suffice. Perhaps they would find out upon Frank’s return.