Two strong mourners stepped into the doorway, blocking Evelyn's path as the loud wail of sirens echoed in the distance outside the funeral home.
Evelyn: Get your hands off me! I am a member of this family!
Mourner: You're not going anywhere until the police get here, lady.
Evelyn: Arthur, tell these people to move! This is public humiliation!
Arthur: The only humiliation here is what you tried to do to my mother for money!
Clara gently lifted Margaret into a sitting position, wrapping a heavy coat around her frail shoulders to keep her warm.
Clara: Stay calm, Margaret. The ambulance is almost here.
Margaret: Thank you, dear... you listened to me when no one else would...
Clara: I worked in hospice for five years, Margaret. I know the sound of a living person crying out for help.
Arthur: Clara, how did you know she was in the back room?
Clara: I was delivering the family flowers to the viewing room. When I passed the storage hallway, I heard a faint thud coming from inside the crate.
Arthur: And Evelyn told you it was nothing?
Clara: She told me it was just a stray cat in the alley and tried to bribe me with five hundred dollars to leave the building early!
Arthur rounded on Evelyn, his chest heaving as he pointed at her designer handbag.
Arthur: Give me that bag.
Evelyn: No! This is my private property!
Arthur: Give it to me before I tear it off your arm!
Arthur snatched the leather bag from her hands, dumping its contents directly onto the marble floor. A small glass vial with an amber liquid rolled across the tiles, stopping right near Margaret's shoes.
Clara: That's it! That's the medicine bottle from her nightstand!
Arthur: What is this, Evelyn? What did you give my mother?!
Evelyn: It's just a mild sedative! She was restless at night! I was helping her sleep!
Margaret: She forced me... to sign the papers first... then she gave me the dose...
Arthur: You forced her to sign an altered will while she was heavily medicated?!
Evelyn: She owed me that money, Arthur! Your father promised me a share of the business thirty years ago!
Arthur: My father gave you a home and a salary when you had nothing! You repaid him by trying to bury his wife alive!
The heavy front glass doors of the funeral home burst open. Four paramedics rushed inside carrying emergency medical kits, followed closely by three uniformed police officers.
Paramedic: Where is the patient?!
Clara: Over here! She was trapped inside the casket! Her heart rate is weak and her oxygen is low!
Paramedic: Get her on the gurney immediately! Oxygen mask, now!
The medical team worked with fast, practiced movements, placing the oxygen mask over Margaret's face and lifting her gently onto the wheeled stretcher.
Officer: Who called 911? What is going on here?
Arthur: I called, Officer. This woman, Evelyn Vance, attempted to murder my mother to steal her inheritance and estate!
Evelyn: That is an absolute lie! It was a medical mistake made by her personal doctor!
Clara: She has the poison vial right there on the floor, Officer! And she tried to pay me to stay quiet!