Terminal

“Why?” Janet asked, leery of such a suggestion.

“We can do a drive-by,” Sean said. “Maybe they’re working late. Maybe they give out samples.”

The funeral home was on North Miami Avenue near the city cemetery and Biscayne Park. It was a well-cared-for two-story Victorian clapboard structure with dormers. It was painted white with a gray slate roof and was surrounded on three sides by a wide porch. It gave the impression that it had been a private home.

The rest of the neighborhood was not inviting. The immediately adjacent buildings were constructed of concrete block. There was a liquor store on one side and a plumbing supply store on the other. Sean parked directly in front in a loading zone.

“I don’t think they’re open,” Janet said, gazing up at the building.

“Lots of lights,” Sean said. All the ground-floor lights were on except for the porch lights. The second floor was completely dark. “I think I’ll give it a try.”

Sean got out of the car, climbed the steps, and rang the bell. When no one answered, he looked into the windows. He even looked into some of the side windows before he came back to the car and got in. He started the engine.

“Where are we going now?” she asked.

“Back to the Home Depot,” Sean said. “I need some more tools.”

“I don’t like the sound of this,” Janet said.

“I can drop you off at the apartment,” Sean suggested.

Janet was silent. Sean drove first to the apartment out on Miami Beach. He pulled over to the curb and stopped. They hadn’t spoken en route.

“What exactly are you planning to do?” she asked at last.

“Continue my quest for Helen Cabot,” Sean said. “I won’t be long.”

“Are you planning on breaking into that funeral home?” Janet asked.

“I’m going to ‘ease in,’ ” Sean said. “That sounds better. I just want a few samples. If worse comes to worst, how bad is it? She’s already dead.”

Janet hesitated. At that point she had the door open and one foot out. As crazy as Sean’s plan was, she felt responsible to a degree. As Sean had already pointed out several times, this whole venture had been her idea. Besides, she thought she’d go crazy sitting in the apartment waiting for him to return. Pulling her foot back into the car, Janet told Sean that she’d changed her mind and that she’d go along.

“I’m coming as a voice of rationality,” she said.

“Okay by me,” Sean said equably.

At Home Depot Sean bought a glass cutter, a suction device for lifting large pieces of glass, a sheet rock knife, a small hand-held jigsaw, and a cooler. After that he stopped at a 7- Eleven where he bought ice for the cooler and a few cold drinks. Then he drove back to the Emerson Funeral Home and parked again in the loading zone.

“I think I’ll wait here,” Janet said. “By the way, I think you’re crazy.”

“You’re entitled to your opinion,” Sean said. “I’d rather think of myself as determined.”

“A cooler and cold drinks,” Janet commented. “It’s as if you think you’re going on a picnic.”

“I just like to be prepared,” Sean said.

Sean hefted his pack of tools and the cooler and went up onto the funeral home porch.

Janet watched him check the windows. Several cars drove by in both directions. She was amazed at his sangfroid. It was as if he believed himself to be invisible. She watched as he went to a side window toward the back and put down his sack. Bending over, he took out some of the tools.

“Damn it all!” Janet said. With irritation she opened the door, climbed the funeral home’s front steps, and walked around to where Sean was busily working. He’d attached the suction device to the window.

“A change of heart?” Sean asked without looking at Janet. He ran the glass cutter deftly around the perimeter of the window.

“Your lunacy floors me,” Janet said. “I can’t believe you’re doing this.”

“Brings back fond memories,” Sean said. With a decisive tug, he pulled a large segment of the window glass out and laid it on the porch planking. After leaning inside, he told Janet that the alarm was a simple sash alarm which was what he’d guessed.

Sean reached in with his tools and the cooler and set them on the floor. After stepping through the window himself, he leaned back out.

“If you’re not coming in, it would be better if you waited in the car,” he said. “A beautiful woman hanging around on a funeral home porch at this hour might attract some attention. This might take me a few minutes if I find Helen’s body.”

“Give me a hand!” Janet said impulsively as she tried to follow Sean’s easy step through the window.

“Watch the edges!” Sean warned. “They’re like razors.”

Once Janet was inside, Sean hefted the tools and handed the cooler to Janet.

“Nice of them to leave the lights on for us,” he said.

The two big rooms in the front were viewing rooms. The room they’d entered was a casket display room with eight caskets exhibited. Their lids were propped open. Across a narrow hall was an office. In the rear of the house, extending from one side to the other was the embalming room. The windows were covered with heavy drapes.