Chapter 22
At those words, Ethan nearly collapsed completely. A glimmer of hope surged from deep within him as he practically threw himself onto the ceramic shards to pick up the tooth: “How old should the person this belongs to be?”
The officer pondered for a moment, then shook his head: “Hard to say. The tooth was badly damaged by the crematorium furnace. I can only tell it belonged to an elderly person, but as for the specific age… that would require further forensic analysis.”
wasn’t much of an answer, but for Ethan it was enough.
He immediately perked up, asked the police for a new container, and quickly gathered all the scattered ashes from the floor. Then he rushed out, leaving everyone behind as he headed straight for the funeral home.
The officers and the nurse who’d come to confess exchanged confused glances. Nobody knew exactly what was happening, but one thing was certain–Ethan’s expression as he left didn’t belong to a man in despair.
About half an hour later, Ethan reappeared at the funeral home. He cornered the director, who was clearly trying to avoid him, and cut straight to the point: “I remember Claire’s grandmother was brought here after she died. Has she been cremated yet?”
The director never expected that question and looked bewildered: “Why are you asking about that?”
Ethan demanded harshly: “You don’t need to know why. Just tell me where her grandmother’s body is–I’ll handle the rest!”
“She was cremated long ago, but no one ever claimed the ashes…” The director pointed toward the storage area again.
Before he could finish, Ethan had already released him and was rushing toward the storage lockers.
With trembling hands, he retrieved Claire’s grandmother’s urn and took several deep breaths before working up the courage to open it.
The urn was completely empty–nothing but air inside.
The expression on Ethan’s face went through a spectacular range of emotions. He nearly wept with joy, muttering continuously: “I knew Claire wouldn’t just die like that. She’s just angry with me, so she’s hiding. Yes, that has to be it!”
In a flash of understanding, he figured out what had happened.
Claire’s urn contained her grandmother’s ashes, which proved she wasn’t dead at all–she’d pulled off the ultimate escape trick!
And the reason was obvious: she wanted to leave him.
Ethan laughed and cried at the same time, finally realizing that all the things he thought he’d hidden from her–she’d known everything.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world in Australia, it was nearly noon, and Claire was teaching at her new school.
She’d taken on a new identity with the name Emma, complete with a fresh passport and background.
Here, no one knew who she used to be, and no one called her Mrs. Thompson. Everyone simply knew her as Ms. Emma.
The children at the school all loved their beautiful, gentle new teacher. Under her patient guidance, even kids who had no interest in art would sit at their desks and try a few brushstrokes.
Then the bell rang for lunch break.
Seeing the children still absorbed in their drawings, Claire clapped her hands to get their attention: “Alright, everyone, it’s almost lunchtime! Your parents are waiting outside to pick you up. Let’s pack up our things and get ready to go, okay?”
The kids were reluctant to stop drawing, but knowing class was over, they started gathering their supplies.
One quick–eyed child glanced out the window and giggled: “Ms. Emma, your boyfriend’s here to pick you up too!”
The other children, who’d been packing up, all turned to look and burst into excited chatter.
“Ms. Emma, your boyfriend’s so handsome! How did you two meet?”
“Can we come to your wedding?”
“Ms. Emma, I want to be a flower girl…”
Kids these days mature early–even elementary students understand the concept of boyfriends and girlfriends. Their barrage of questions caught Claire completely off guard, so she tried to restore order. “Alright, alright, let’s save the off–topic questions for another time.”
As she spoke, she looked up toward the window and met the gaze of Dr. Mitchell, who’d been waiting patiently outside.
22:05 C
