Police Officer: Drop the weapon! Drop it right now on the floor!
Daniel: Get out of here! This is my private family service!
Police Officer: Put the gun down on the floor or we will open fire! Do it now!
Sarah: Daniel, please listen to him! Don't make this any worse than it already is!
Daniel's hands trembled as he looked from the police officers to the crowd of guests cowering behind the pews. He took a slow step backward toward the side altar door, but his heel caught the edge of a heavy flower vase, sending glass and water crashing onto the floor. The distraction was all the lead officer needed. He stepped forward quickly, swept Daniel's arm aside, and slammed him down against the hardwood floor, kicking the handgun far across the room.
The secondary officer immediately moved to secure Daniel's hands behind his back with metal handcuffs. Daniel groaned as his face was pressed against the polished wood, his neat beige suit getting wrinkled and dirty in the mess of crushed flowers and water.
Daniel: She was going to leave me! She was going to take the house and the entire settlement!
Police Officer: You have the right to remain silent. Save it for your defense attorney, buddy.
Toby: Help my mom! She's inside the box! Please hurry!
Two paramedics rushed down the aisle carrying medical bags and emergency tools. They used a large crowbar to pry the rest of the cracked coffin lid off its hinges, letting the heavy white wood fall onto the carpeted floor with a dull thud. Toby ran forward, pushing past the officers so he could hold his mother's shaking shoulders.
The paramedic carefully pulled the thick duct tape off Clara's face and cut the tight zip ties around her wrists. Clara gasped deeply for air, coughing as the fresh room oxygen filled her lungs. She pulled Toby into a tight, frantic hug, burying her face into his maroon hoodie as she sobbed uncontrollably.
Clara: Toby... oh my baby, you found me! You saved my life!
Toby: I heard you knocking on the floorboards under the bed yesterday morning, Mom! I knew it wasn't a bad dream!
Clara: He put something in my tea on Tuesday evening... I couldn't move my arms or speak...
Sarah: Clara! Oh thank God, you're alive! We all thought you were gone!
Clara: Sarah, keep him away from me... he signed all the inheritance papers while I was paralyzed...
The head police officer picked up the broken pieces of wood and looked closely at the latches on the coffin side. It was a custom-built unit with air holes drilled near the bottom lining, hidden behind decorative fabric. Daniel had planned to fake her funeral, stage a quiet burial, and then move her to an isolated location to force her to sign over her massive life insurance policy and real estate property worth millions of dollars.
The paramedics carefully lifted Clara out of the box and placed her on a mobile stretcher, wrapping a warm yellow blanket around her shoulders. Toby held onto her hand as tightly as he could, refusing to let go even for a second as they moved toward the open exit doors.