Semua Bab Funeral Scam: They Never Sent Dad Off: Bab 1 - Bab 10

I had just signed the last confirmation form.I was heading to the personal effects room to collect Dad's belongings when two staff members stepped in front of me, blocking my path.The one in charge was a heavyset middle-aged man with a thick, mean face. He thrust his hand out impatiently. "Hold it. Who said you could leave? Have you settled your bill yet? You think you can just walk out of here?"I froze. I'd paid every fee on time for the cremation, the funeral services, and the cemetery placement, and I had the receipts to prove all of it. How could there still be an outstanding balance?I frowned and tried to explain, asking what charges he was even talking about.But the man had no interest in listening. He just sneered down at me, already convinced that I was playing dumb."Don't act like you don't know. Your father's body sat in our cold storage for a full seven days, and the storage fees and preservation costs haven't been paid."You were quick enough to settle the smal

He jabbed his finger at me, his voice getting sharper with every single word, as if I owed him a personal debt."That 100,000 dollars was before I factored in all the time and energy I wasted on you. Now that I've been stuck here this long, that sum doesn't cover it anymore."Add another 20,000. That's 120,000 dollars total, and I'm not taking a penny less."His sidekick immediately backed him up, bold only because his boss was backing him up. "That's right! You think we've got nothing better to do than stand around dealing with you all day?"120,000 is more than fair. Keep dragging this out, and the number will go up again, just so you learn what happens when you waste our time."A small crowd of other families there for funeral arrangements had already gathered around us. Someone inhaled sharply and muttered under their breath, "This is insane. It was 100,000 a minute ago, and now it's 120,000."Someone else sighed with a mixture of pity and frustration. "The kid should've ju

The police officer immediately picked up his radio and called for two patrol officers, instructing them to bring body cameras, field report forms, and their credentials. He was on his feet and ready to move within seconds.I held Dad's box of belongings against my chest and stood right behind him, matching his pace. There was no trace left of the fear or restraint I had shown earlier.Back at the funeral home, I had swallowed my pride for a reason. I needed to get the belongings back and preserve every piece of evidence I could, without giving them anything to use against me.Now, with the law on my side, I didn't have to endure their bullying anymore. I was going to expose them for what they really were and get justice for Dad.The squad car made quick time across town and pulled up to the funeral home's front entrance in no time.The building was still busy with families coming and going. Some carried framed portraits of their loved ones, others held cremation certificates, all

As he spoke, Mr. Lawson shot a look at the heavyset man, signaling him to jump in and back up the story.The heavyset man caught on immediately. He straightened up and forced the words out, doing his best to sound confident. "That's right, officer. Don't listen to him. He's the one who didn't settle his bill, and now he's making up lies to smear us."We never laid a hand on him, and we didn't raise the price. He's the one who refused to pay what he owed and tried to scam us."That 100,000 dollars in storage fees came from the fact that his father's body had been kept here for seven days. The system has it on record. We were just charging by the rules, and he called the police to cause trouble because he didn't want to pay."The sidekick nodded frantically along, his voice shaking even as he tried to sound convincing. "That's right, officer. We did everything by the book. He's the one stirring up problems and trying to cheat us out of money."The two of them went back and forth, ba

These two staff members hadn't done this just once.They had been exploiting the funeral home's closed-off environment, taking advantage of families at their most grief-stricken and vulnerable. They would deliberately alter records in the system, fabricate storage and preservation charges that didn't exist, and extort the families for money.Over the previous few months, they had pulled the same scheme on numerous families. Some had been squeezed for tens of thousands, others for well over 100,000 dollars.Anyone who pushed back was threatened with having their loved one's belongings confiscated, hit with additional fees, or verbally intimidated into compliance.Most of the families had been too consumed by grief to want any more trouble, and too afraid of retaliation to fight back. Thus, they quietly paid up and never went to the police, which only made the two staff members bolder and more brazen, until the extortion became routine for them.On top of all that, the police office