“ Something is amiss , Miss ,” said Missus Mister . “ Look at these corpses . Does anything seem strange to you ?”
As I had not yet had the grave misfortune of having seen too many corpses to tell if something seemed off , I did not quite know how to answer , and so I just stood with a look which must have fallen somewhere between horrified and dumbfounded .
“ I object ... faintly …,” I began , my throat catching , “ to two ladies observing corpses alone in the middle of the night . Yet other than that , I cannot say with any authority that I see anything out of the ordinary . They look like plain corpses , ready for burial . Very plain .”
Missus Mister nodded , then continued gravely , “ When we arrived , I made my customary rounds . I dare not set foot near the dead without making sure ...” ( Here , she gave me a solemn and knowing glance .) “ As is my custom . Therefore , as I looked upon these loved ones stacked neatly in a row , I noticed that they were indeed being buried with their usual wedding bands , favorite jewelry , etc . But look at them now .”
I observed the corpses nearest me with some slight hesitation , and indeed , as she said , there was a line on one of the fingers where a ring had been removed . I also noticed that there was a coffin missing towards the back , but perhaps death trains don ' t wait for a fully booked trip before heading for burial ? Putting bodies in seats seems a nasty trick !
“ Do you think ,” I asked , slowly turning my head away from the body , “ that someone on the train has been robbing these poor people ' s graves before they ' ve even been laid to rest ?”
“ I have been keeping a keen eye on the goings-on of this train . It is my duty to keep the dead , dead . And I swear to you , not a single living soul has entered or exited this car since we departed the station . You are a keen girl of some sense , and the only one of us awake . Will you help