Gluskin & Ichor Family Funeral Home

Part 3 (Everything is not as it seems)

Tamara was the one to break the news to them, trying her best to comfort the girls, despite her efforts, even she was heavily grieving at the loss of her coworkers. She retired to her house for the night, making the long drive past a foggy patch of woods that creeped her out even to this day. When she saw, him.

Maddox Gluskin in the flesh, walking along the road, in total darkness with a handful of papers

"Maddox?!" she called out, sticking her head out of the car window. "What're you doing out here, do you realize how worried we've all been?!" her voice was irritated and tired sounding echoing don't the barren road.

"Ah, Tammy, just the woman I was looking for." he handed her the thick stack of papers, barely giving her any time to ask questions he began speaking again. "Look over those for me, I managed to get a hold of them from Heidi, the coroner. I made some notes."

"Where have you been?" she worried "It's dark and the girls are worried sick about you man!" 

"Well, in hindsight, I should've told them where I was going." he sighed heavily, breath hanging in the air as he puffed out. "Just let them know I'm going to be gone for a while, and not to worry."

Tammy rifled through the papers as he spoke, pulling out her phone looking at the time. 11:42, Jesus christ... she thought.

"Wren is a smart girl, so is Hestia, make sure they're safe Tam." he smiled at her. As Tammy's face crinkled with worry.

"But what about the home Maddox, if you're gone, what'll we do?" she asked.

"I'm sending over a close friend of mine, he'll help you out, but in the meantime, YOU are in charge." he pointed directly at her. "Also Wren and Hessy of course, but both of them are only 19..." he mumbled.

"But, what about-" Tammy was cut off

"Don't worry about me, I'm going hunting. Take a look at those papers, do research, hunt with me. Goodnight Tamara."

He paced back into the patch of woods, his silhouette quickly disappearing as he made it a few yards in. Tammy attempted to call out to him once again, but to no avail, he was gone, for God knew how long he would stay gone.

She drove off, making her way back through the road, reaching her small ranch house in the woods, she glanced over at the papers, sitting like a pile of rocks in the passenger seat. She desperately wanted to go through them, see what in the hell Maddox was on about, maybe she'd get some answers.

Opening the car door, she took the thick stack of papers with her, eyeing small sticky notes peeking from the side of some of the documents.

"What did I just get myself into?" she groaned.

Things finally quieted down for the night, Tammy had made her way back to her small work desk by her bed. Setting down the documents, she picked up the top one, the words AUTOPSY REPORT written in thick black marker. Flipping over the pages, she saw the toxicology report, nothing highlighted on there, all seemed normal.

Then the main body report came up, on the diagram for Minnie's body, there was a small mark on her lower stomach highlighted in yellow, a sticky note attached to this page in particular. It read: 

My wife never had a c-section

Surely enough, on the side, "Ceaserian Section scar" was checked off.

"That's... weird..." she paged through the autopsy more, how on earth Maddox managed to get his hands on the report so early, she had no idea, and honestly, she didn't want to know.

Stopping at another sticky noted page, she found the highlighted sentences:

The medical staff in the care of Mrs. Minerva Gluskin at the time was her nurse Ryeo Eun Sun.

"Huh, only one nurse in care at the time. That's even weirder..." she said under her breath.

Tammy paged through more of the documents finding more and more strange evidence stacking on and on, small things, most people wouldn't pick up on them. But Tammy was observant, she always noticed small details that had a big impact.

On the bottom of the endless stack of autopsy papers, however, laid a very important document. Minerva's Will. Tammy was the first to see this other than Maddox, so she felt kind of guilty.

"Ugh, Wren's gonna kill me" she read the will line for line, paging them with focus. Most things either went to Wren or Maddox, but of course, that was her family.

"Wonder if she left anything to me, haha, wouldn't that be neat." she chuckled.

Minerva and Tammy were close friends even before Tammy transitioned to her current gender, it was an everlasting friendship. And Tammy figured no matter how selfish it may seem she deserves SOMETHING for her years of friendship with Minnie.

To my best friend Tamara A. Sanford, I leave the very funeral home she works at.

Tammy's eyes blew wide, nearly falling out of her swivel chair in disbelief.

"HOLY SH-" she gripped the papers firmly, "Minnie, you overdid yourself, yet again..." she sighed calmly.

Wren lay awake underneath her bedsheets on the couch, staring up at the ceiling of the old and creaky funeral home. Both Hestia and her decision not to return home at the time, it wasn't safe without her Father there.

"You still awake?" Hestia whispered, making Wren jump.

"Jesus, you scared me, yep, I'm awake." she hushed.

"When do you think Mr. Maddox is coming back?" she asked her, a worried tone in her voice.

"Well-"  she began, "Tammy said she didn't know, and I'd like to believe her, I mean, she's the only adult around right now, and it's not safe by ourselves." 

"I guess your right, there IS a killer on the loose after all..." Hestia responded.

"Exactly, better safe than sorry." Wren flipped onto her other side away from Hestia. "Now if you wouldn't mind, I'd much rather get some sleep without the imminent fear of murder wracking around my brain, thanks..." she said.

"Oh, uhm sorry, I'll hit the hay too," Hestia replied, trying her best to lull herself to sleep without a string of fear lacing her neck.

"Hheeeyyy Maddox, how's it hangin'?" the voice pauses, "Ooh, murder huh, haven't done one of those cases in a while. Need me to head over soon? Ok, got it, see you soon man."

A thick jacket blew in the cold air, as the man walked down the sidewalk towards his destination.