Ryan became suspicious when his dog ran into the church and started barking at his father\u2019s coffin. Seeing the dog alert and tense, he opened the casket and was shocked to find it empty.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Ryan got out of his car and stood outside the church, not ready to say goodbye to his father. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t even give Dad a proper funeral,\u201d he thought sadly. Just then, Bella, his dog, barked loudly and broke his thoughts.<\/p>\n
Ryan looked at the car, where Bella seemed more restless than usual.<\/p>\n
\u201cBella!\u201d he said, using a hand signal to tell her to lie down. She obeyed, and he gently patted her head through the window. \u201cStay here, Bella.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then Ryan walked into the church, ignoring her whines. His father\u2019s closed casket was already at the front, and the funeral director had roped off the area because Arnold had died from a contagious illness.<\/p>\n
Ryan sat next to his mother, knowing his father would be cremated instead of buried because of how he died.<\/p>\n
As the funeral mass ended and people stood to sing, Bella\u2019s barking filled the church. She jumped onto the casket, knocking over the flowers, and barked loudly.<\/p>\n
Then Bella sat on the floor in an alert position, staring at Ryan. He immediately felt something was wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpen the casket!\u201d Ryan shouted.<\/p>\n
People gasped, but he didn\u2019t care. He walked up and opened the casket\u2014his father\u2019s body was gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWh-Where\u2019s my brother?\u201d Ryan\u2019s uncle asked the funeral director in shock.<\/p>\n
The shock was too much for Ryan\u2019s mother. She fainted, but Ryan caught her just in time before she hit the floor. He rushed her to the hospital.<\/p>\n
Later, at his mom\u2019s house, Ryan called the police.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe coroner confirmed the cause of death and sent the body to the funeral home,\u201d Detective Bradshaw said. \u201cWas your father involved in anything unusual?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ryan hadn\u2019t worked with his dad since starting his own dog training business. Still, he believed his father wouldn\u2019t do anything to harm his or the company\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
With no clear leads yet, the detective promised to follow up. But Ryan didn\u2019t want to wait. With his mom staying overnight in the hospital and Bella safe at home, he headed to the morgue to search for answers himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe coroner quit? What about the new one?\u201d Ryan was shocked when the nurse told him there wasn\u2019t a replacement yet. He asked to see his dad\u2019s file, but the nurse said it was against the rules.<\/p>\n
Ryan had an idea. He put $1000 on the counter, and the nurse looked the other way while he slipped into the coroner\u2019s office. He searched the shelves for his dad\u2019s file but couldn\u2019t find it\u2014Arnold\u2019s file was missing.<\/p>\n
Feeling frustrated, Ryan\u2019s phone buzzed. It was Mr. Stevens, his father\u2019s lawyer. He said Ryan was now the new CEO of Arnold\u2019s company and needed to come in right away.<\/p>\n
At the office, Ryan logged into his dad\u2019s Gmail but found the inbox completely empty\u2014someone had deleted all the emails.<\/p>\n
\u201cRyan! Good to see you,\u201d Mr. Stevens said as he walked in and closed the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho\u2019s been using this computer?\u201d Ryan asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one,\u201d Stevens replied.<\/p>\n
Ryan looked around. \u201cWhere are the dancer figurines?\u201d he asked, noticing two were missing.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, Arnold took them home. He always wanted the third one but couldn\u2019t get it. The owner refused to sell it for less than half a million,\u201d Stevens said.<\/p>\n
Ryan knew that wasn\u2019t true. He had been through his parents\u2019 house and hadn\u2019t seen the figurines there.<\/p>\n
Stevens changed the subject. He explained the company was in serious debt, and investors were threatening to leave because Arnold had been missing meetings for months.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt all started when his new secretary joined. To be honest, I think Arnold was romantically involved with her,\u201d Stevens added.<\/p>\n
Ryan got angry thinking about how upset his mother was. He wanted to confront his father\u2019s secretary, Miss Pearson, but Mr. Stevens stopped him, saying it would only damage Arnold\u2019s reputation.<\/p>\n
Instead, Ryan spent the day working to fix the company\u2019s financial issues and sent gift baskets to the most important investors. Afterward, he followed Miss Pearson and saw her drive into a small house in the suburbs. She was his only clue so far, so he waited outside in his car.<\/p>\n
Later, the sound of her garage door woke him up. He saw her drive away toward the city and was about to follow, but then had a better plan. He rushed into her garage just before the door closed and found a way into the house.<\/p>\n
He quietly searched the kitchen and found a flashlight so he wouldn\u2019t need to turn on the lights. In her bedroom, he was shocked to find a photo of Miss Pearson kissing his father. Still, he stayed calm and reminded himself he was there to find answers.<\/p>\n
After searching the house with no luck, he was about to leave when he noticed a slightly open drawer in the coffee table. Inside was a Manila envelope containing Arnold\u2019s $7 million life insurance policy\u2014naming Miss Pearson as the only person who would receive the money.<\/p>\n
Ryan took the document straight to the police.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is strong evidence,\u201d said Detective Bradshaw. \u201cI\u2019ll look into this Miss Pearson.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Ryan waited at the police station, Detective Bradshaw came rushing in with officers. Miss Pearson had booked a flight to Morocco that was leaving in 30 minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe U.S. doesn\u2019t have an extradition treaty with Morocco,\u201d she explained, \u201cso we have to stop her before she gets on that plane!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ryan became suspicious when his dog ran into the church and started barking at his father\u2019s coffin. Seeing the dog alert and tense, he opened the casket… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36409,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n