“POLICE?” Ruru’s asked with wide eyes. She caught her head and walked back and forth in front of her employees. “Oh, my gosh. Maybe that man has filed a complaint against me, and the police are here to arrest me…”

“Ma’am Ruru, calm down.” Santi went to her and held her hand. “Maybe they’re just here to ask you some questions—”

“Good morning, Ma’am, Sir,” one of the police greeted them. “May we speak to the owner of this funeral…?” He looked at the piece of paper in his hand. “The owner of Minase Funeral Services?”

Ruru hesitated to come forward. She held on to Santi’s hand when the police in larger uniform looked at her in a knotted forehead. “Santi, don’t tell them that I am the owner, please…”

“Ma’am Ruru, they wanted to talk to you,” Emong pointed at her. “Sir, she’s the owner of the funeral.”

Ruru cursed under her breath and glared at Emong, who just knotted his forehead at her. She looked at Santi with pleading eyes and begged her to not let go of her hand. “Santi…”

“Miss Minase?” the police walked towards them. “My name is PO1 Ricardo, and this is PO1 Valdez. We’re here to ask you about—”

“It’s not my fault!” Ruru blurted out. “I swear, I didn’t mean to do it!”

The two policemen looked at her in a knotted forehead. Both are giving her a confused look. “Ah, we don’t know what you’re talking about, Miss Minase…” PO1 Ricardo told her in a slower tone.

Ruru and all of her employees looked at the policemen, wearing the same shock and confusion expression. Among all of them, Ruru was the first to speak.

“Then, what brought you here, sir?” Ruru asked. Her already big and round eyes grew more prominent in curiosity.

The two policemen looked at each other. “We just want to ask if the corpse of Mr. Ronilo Coben was here for the funeral?”

“Ronilo Coben?” Ruru asked as the policeman handed her the funeral waiver. “We don’t have guests here with that name.”

“Are you sure, Ma’am?” The policeman asked and narrowed his eyes at her. “Because if we found out that you’re not telling us the truth, we could sue for Spoliation of Evidence.”

Ruru’s brows furrowed, and exchanged measuring looks with the policeman. “Do you really have to be so harsh, sir?”

“Are you really the owner of this funeral, Miss Minase?” the police asked and gave her a scrutinizing look. “How old are you?”

“And, why would I tell you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Ah, sir, Miss Ruru is really the owner, and she’s twenty-six years old,” Santi butt in and nudged her in the waist as if giving her a warning. “She just looked like a minor, but she’s really in the right age to handle a business.”

The policeman nodded. “Then, show us the cadaver that we’re looking for—”

“I told you, sir, there’s no Ronilo Coben here. We only have few clients, and I can memorize all their names in one sitting—”

“We have to make sure that you’re not lying to us, Miss Minase,” the policeman said, then started walking past her, but Ruru blocked him.

“Do you have a warrant, sir?” Ruru asked. “Because if you don’t have, there’s no way for the two of you to open each of my compartments here.”

Santi pulled her arm. “Miss Ruru, why don’t we just let them check the corpse storage?”

“I will let them in if they have a search warrant,” she said in a final tone. “But, if not, then be contented to the funeral logbook,” she said and called Emong. “Logbook!”

Emong almost threw the logbook at her. Ruru caught it in one hand and opened in front of them. She pointed at the end of the list. The two policemen looked at the logbook and exchanged glances.

“If the cadaver of Ronilo Coben wasn’t brought here, then why your funeral waiver and receipt is given to the family?”

Ruru shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe the corpse was stolen by another funeral.”

“Stolen?” The policeman knotted his forehead. “Is it possible?”

She crossed her arms in the chest. “Actually, no, but because there are funeral services that have a thick face manager, well… all is possible.”

“But, Miss Minase, The witnesses also saw that your funeral picked up the cadaver—”

“False!” Ruru interrupted. “We don’t offer cadaver on pick up. We don’t have enough vehicles to accommodate such an offer. But…!” She snapped her fingers in front of the policemen. “I know somebody that offered that kind of convenience to clients.”

One of the policemen knotted his forehead. “Which funeral?”

Ruru looked outside the lobby. “Can you see that funeral parlor that looked like a honeymoon motel? The owner of that funeral is the greediest person I’ve ever known that even Satan will be ashamed of himself because of that person’s maximum level of greediness.”

“Ma’am, are you sure about that?” Santi asked. “We’re not sure if the cadaver is in their funeral.”

“I’m one hundred percent sure, Santi,” Ruru said as she watched the two policemen walked towards Juan’s Funeral. After just a few minutes, the other policeman ran back towards them. “Yes, sir? Am I right?”

The policeman nodded. “Confirmed, Miss Minase. The cadaver was accidentally brought to their funeral. The driver said that he thought your place is a daycare center and not a funeral, so he delivered the corpse to the Juan’s—”

“Which they accepted without even talking to me!” Ruru shouted angrily. “That Juancho is really getting on my nerves!”

Ruru marched outside and went to Juan’s Funeral. But before she could cross the road, a yellow sports car parked in front of her, blocking her way. The door opened automatically, and a beautiful man in casual Parisian clothing got off. The man leaned on his car and looked at her.

But, Ruru is not in the mood to entertain anyone. What’s on her mind is to kill her ex-boyfriend that stole the cadaver from Minase.

***