“Open that casket lid right now,” Martha repeated firmly.

“The body was terribly disfigured in the accident,” Valerie insisted.

“I have seen terrible injuries before in my life,” Martha answered.

“You do not want your final visual memory of him to be a ruined body,” Valerie claimed.

“My final memory of Christopher is him standing at my back porch two Sundays ago, stealing hot biscuits right off my stove,” Martha revealed.

Valerie’s facial expression shifted subtly, and Martha caught the small change immediately.