After the officers got to work, the abbot noticed that the middle-aged officer from earlier looked utterly solemn. His eyes were fixed ahead, his body was taut, and one hand rested against the back of his waist.
The abbot wore an odd expression. Why did this officer look as though he was afraid they would dig a corpse out of the grave? No, not a corpse-a demon or a ghost.
After opening Professor Kurokawa's grave, the officers carefully scraped away the soil and soon unearthed an urn.
"Found it!"
Holding the urn, one officer turned and saw the middle-aged officer braced as though facing a formidable enemy. He was rather puzzled too.
The middle-aged officer remained on guard for quite a while. When nothing strange happened, he let out a long breath.
He glanced at the abbot and the ordinary officers, who had been kept in the dark, and shook his head.
If you knew the owner of this grave had returned as a spirit several days in a row, you wouldn't dare dig it up either.
Of all the officers at Gengaku Temple, he alone knew the inside story.
"Secure Professor Kurokawa's urn. Remember, handle it with the utmost care."
An officer brought out a storage case they had prepared, its interior lined with padded cotton, and placed the urn inside. It was a perfect fit.
Then they produced an identical urn and placed it in the original hole. The officers shoveled the soil back in, restoring the grave.
The Metropolitan Police Department had contacted the funeral home that had cremated Professor Kurokawa overnight and obtained an urn of the same design to make the substitution.
Only, the ashes inside belonged to an unclaimed homeless man.
"Amitabha."
Digging up a grave was truly an immoral act. Looking guilty and