I slept until late morning before getting up. The hot bath relaxed my whole body, and when I woke, I was full of energy, though all that digging had left my muscles aching.
I went next door to find Van Helsing. He was shaving. By the time we had both tidied ourselves up, the coachman was already waiting downstairs. I had not seen him since the day of the incident, and he seemed to be doing quite well.
When we arrived at the church, the priest was conducting a funeral. We waited in the carriage for it to end.
Van Helsing then told me the results of his investigation. The captain had once been a naval man before retiring. Afterward, he married the daughter of a poorly paid librarian, and they had a daughter after the wedding.
After a symbolic scattering of earth, the funeral ended as well. The mother and daughter left surrounded by the others.
I looked at the girl. She noticed my gaze and looked back at me, but quickly shifted her eyes to the coffin being lowered into the ground.
"Let's go," Van Helsing said, opening the carriage door.
I opened the door on the other side. The people dispersing after the funeral seemed to have discovered that the captain's grave had been dug up. They gathered together and began discussing it. Just as I was about to ask, Van Helsing had already walked straight toward Father John.
"I know what you wish to ask." After finishing sprinkling the holy water in his hand, the priest looked at us. "Say it here. I will not discuss that subject with you inside the sanctuary."
"Where has the captain's body gone?" Van Helsing asked.
"It has been burned. That will end his long suffering," the priest said.
I