He placed the key to the funeral home back in his pocket and switched on the lights in the embalming room. He opened the cooler, and found Mr. Kelley on his perforated table, surrounded by melting ice. The home's air conditioning unit, a wonky thing, was not clanking along. It was a two-fold system: the old-fashioned use of ice along with the meager cold air production of the unit was usually enough to keep bodies stable until the viewing. Gustav frowned, but maintenance and repair were not part of his job. He was an embalmer, an artist, not a janitor. Shrugging, he wheeled Mr. Kelley from his place in the cooler and placed him under the brightest lamp. Gustav put on his gloves and picked up a fine-nosed pair of scissors.
The sharp point of the scissors pressed, the skin resisting for a moment, before sliding beneath the recently embalmed flesh of the dead man. Starting at the eye duct, Gustav cautiously cut upward, into the crease, following the natural arch nearly to the other side. Setting the scissors aside, he took a slender pair of hemostats and carefully pushed them beneath the lid, searching for the coin.
It would not budge at first, but finally, he was able to grasp the edge and, with a sucking sound, pull it free.
It was not silver, as expected, but gold. Burnished and heavy in his palm. Gustav was no numismatist, but there was no doubting that the coin was more valuable than the typical piece of gold.
He turned it over, and saw a picture on the other side: a man, profile rather familiar. Receding hairline, combed severely back. Small, snub nose. He frowned.
Pulling on his magnifiers, he peered at the bottom of the coin. Etched along the edge, he read:
Gustav Meiers Dec. 14 1936
His name.
That day's date.
This could not be.
He glanced up at the clock on the wall. 11:37.
His hand trembled. Twenty-two minutes until the day was finished.
He stared at Mr. Kelley, whose one eyelid gaped slightly, like a lady's purse, unattended.
Gustav's jaw clenched. He placed the coin on the table and picked up his scissors.