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Ch 15 and 16 The Funeral and the Cremation
Chapter 15
The Funeral
Three days short of two weeks after his death, Frank would be cremated. On several counts this annoyed the Muslim community. They sought a funeral as quickly as possible and his death announced to his family immediately. This ruling stemmed from the Middle East where a corpse would decompose rapidly in the heat of the desert but took no account of the refrigerated offerings of a western undertaker. The other matter was the crematorium. Burial was required for a Muslim funeral. Furthermore he had presumably not been offered the final ritual wash. This information was conveyed to Tony by Alan by telephone.
‘No, these are not my fears. It’s what they are saying.’
‘Who is saying this, Alan?’
‘Amed Aziz is one of my neighbours. I know him well. He told me what they are saying.’
‘And is Amed not one of the Mosque attendees?’
‘No, his prayers are said in his house, in a very sparse room. Only a carpet I remember.’
‘And why not prayers at the Mosque?
‘The Sunnis attend the Mosque here in this town. Amed and his wife are Alevis, a cut off sect not recognised by orthodox Muslims. He knows many of course but through business and not the mosque. ’
‘I see.’
‘It worries me that they still think he was a Muslim. Perhaps I should go and see them to calm things down.’
‘I’d advise against that Alan.’ A moment elapsed as he thought through his response.
‘I suppose so. The timing about informing his family seems strange though. What family he had would have known he was no longer the Imam and he was not married. He lived alone, did you know that?’
‘I was aware he lived alone. I had thought that was because of his position in the Mosque. He never spoke of his family members.’
‘Mmmm.....probably. But Tony I suspect there will be a few of them coming to his funeral tomorrow.’
‘Yes, maybe. Perhaps I should alert the police about that.’
‘Good idea. Will you do that for me?’
‘Yes, I’ll do that right now.’
‘Okay see you tomorrow 11a.m. Bye.’
Tony had not been at Alan’s church since last Christmas and that was remembered as much for the mulled wine and mince pies in the church hall as much as the carols and lessons. He was familiar with the church premises and had attended some funerals there over the years too. This funeral however would be different for the obvious circumstances but a concern for possible disruption was on Tony’s mind too when he lifted the phone.
‘Superintendent Graham? Hi, Tony Scriven here.’
‘Hello, hope you are well?’
‘Well, health wise I’m fine. Mentally I feel I’m slipping on the ice rink. Murder of a client is pretty rare. You feel the pressure too?’
‘Sure. So what’s the matter?’ he said looking at his wristwatch.
‘Frank’s funeral tomorrow, there is tension around from the Muslim community as you can imagine.’ ‘Yes, I’ve got cover for that.’
‘Perhaps a few plain clothes police at the funeral won’t go amiss. Would put my mind at ease.’
‘Don’t I know that? The killer could be among them and so I can assure you there will be several officers in plain clothes deployed as eyes and ears tomorrow.’
‘Huh..... I must be thinking like a policeman. Anyway, that’s what I was hoping you might say. I hear there will be a short service before heading to the crematorium.’
‘Yes, we’ve got both covered.’
‘Good. That’s reassuring. Can I ask, any leads yet?’
‘Sorry, intelligence is following several leads but that’s all I can tell you.’
Tony thought about replacing the handset but he could not help himself dive deeper. ‘Mr Wright, Dan Wright my consultant pathologist colleague, confirmed the knife wounds. Unusual blade he thought.’
‘As I said, we are following several leads.’
‘Of course and I suppose there’s a pressure to give the public some reassurance and information. There will be no quick solution unless something unexpected and dramatic surfaces, I suppose.’
Tony thought he heard the officer tap his pen against his writing pad. ‘Then I hope tomorrow I’ll get some good leads.’
It was raining. Not the proverbial cats and dogs rain, more of a grey damp air, creating sheen on the pavements and drizzle on car windows. Tony parked in the Tesco car park and crossed the road to the church. He joined the mourners nodding to his clients as they arrived.
Paul Risk was first to catch his eye. He was two rows in front of Tony. Paul held a handkerchief in his hand, occasionally wiping his eyes , as Karen began to play Vater Unser, a melody from Geistliche Lieder 1539 arranged by Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750. The pipe organ sounded like a whispering call around the aisles. Dressed in a black dress and heavy black coat, Lizzie stood up to accompany the music. Her soprano voice pierced the air and cleansed it as it did so.
God of the living in whose eyes
Unveiled thy whole creation lies,
All souls are thine; we must not say
That those are dead who pass away;
From this our world of flesh set free.
We know them living unto thee.
Tony was impressed with Lizzie’s singing. Her expression and tone were exemplary; befitting the client whose acts of perfection dominated her life.
Tony noticed three men enter, all wore dark Shalwar Kameez and sat together mid aisle. It gave him a shudder as the stereotype influenced his senses. He also seemed to identify the police men and women present and wondered if despite their venue, if they were armed. He hoped so, just in case. Lizzie held the music before her once again.
Released from early toil and strife,
With thee is hidden still their life;
Thine are their thoughts, their works, their prayers,
All thine, and yet most truly ours;
For well we know, where’er they be,
Our dead are living unto thee.
Frank’s coffin was simple, not ornate just as all Muslim coffins are. On top of it lay two flags, the Green and White flag of Pakistan with its Muslim Crescent and Star and the Union Jack.
Alan entered his pulpit in his black gown and stood to acknowledge the attendees come to pay their last respects to Farook Elahi, lately known as Frank Armour. A titter of quiet comments could be detected.
‘We stand to sing Hymn 604. Go, happy soul, thy days are ended, thy pilgrimage on earth below; Go by angelic guard attended, to God’s own Paradise now go.’
Karen got us to our feet playing the first two lines in preparation for our lungs to fill and burst open on the right note. But the singing was edgy. Eyes strayed from hymn books. There were three verses, possibly four. Such was the distraction on Tony’s mind. He was glad to resume his seat while noticing Paul still held his handkerchief to his eyes.
A prayer followed and then Alan spoke of when Farook arrived in the UK; how he established himself as the town’s mosque Imam and how towards the end of his life he had adapted to the Methodist tradition, lavishly devouring Methodist hymns and the simple direct prayer which held no binding mantras. A further shorter prayer followed then a surprise development occurred which no-one was expecting.
‘And now I ask Sadar Zubaid to come forward.’
Alan made a gesture with his hand and Sadar stood up then made his way to the chancel step beside the coffin.
‘Salaam Alaikum. Farook was our friend, he was our Imam. We learned from him as his devout prayers and examples carved out the lives of two generations in this town. We are grateful to Allah for his service.’ Sadar then approached the coffin and took from it, the Pakistani national flag. The plain clothed officers could be seen exchanging glances to their colleagues and Alan leant forward from his pulpit to see what was about to transpire.
Sadar opened the flag and begged one of his Pakistani mourners, he introduced as Kamran, to come forward and hold the other end, making the flag stretch to its full splendour.
‘What do you see?’ he asked. But there was no response. ‘Yes, it’s our national Pakistani flag. But look closer. It is not a green flag with a crescent and a star. It is a green flag with a crescent and star and a white vertical stripe down one side. You see it?’
Heads nodded. His speech so far was not controversial. It seemed to be almost educational.
‘Since 1947 this flag has not changed. The narrow white colour represent all in Pakistan who are not Muslim. Yes, that’s what the white stands for. The Baha’is, the Christians and the Jews, and of course even those who have no religion. They are represented on this flag. Now we can say that Farook crossed from the green side to the white side, but retained his national identity. I do not know why but I am sure he did so with God’s permission. I cannot make that move. Nor do I know whether Farook was settled with his new religion. So, whether he was or not, let me ask you to hear my prayer:
‘O Allah, forgive Your servant, raise him to high rank among those who are rightly guided; make him as a guardian of his descendants who survive him. Forgive us and him, O Lord of the Universe, make his grave spacious and grant him light in it.’
Heads rose. The flag was replaced to fall over the coffin. Before sitting down, Sadar raised his hand to Alan to indicate he had one other matter to announce.
‘I have never attended a crematorium. I will not and cannot either. It is not our tradition to burn a body. So this service may now continue and we will remain till its conclusion.’
Thereafter Sadar returned to sit with his two Muslim friends. Tony felt a relief that there had not been a demonstration or indeed much criticism of the funeral being delayed a week or being held in the Methodist church.
Alan concluded the service by announcing a hymn which Frank had enjoyed learning to sing. Inevitably it was a Charles Wesley hymn. And Can it Be with music by T Campbell. It was a hymn of Affirmation. There was no doubt in Alan’s mind, Frank was a Christian.
Chapter 16
The Cremation
As the mourners left the church, Paul Risk’s shivering shoulders gave rise to his distress. Paul caught up with him.
‘I’m sorry, I can’t help it,’ he said in a stuttering voice, wiping his tears from his eyes.
‘Don’t be. It’s good to grieve. It releases the tension of the sad day,’ said Tony.
Paul turned around. His face still etched in agonised pain.
‘I had no idea how much I would miss Frank. I felt we were rowing in the same boat, away from our troubles. I can’t believe he’s no longer with us.’
Tony was touched to think Paul and Frank had found each other’s company mutually beneficial. ‘It was a brave route Farook took to become Frank. I admired him for that, although it cost his life.’
‘Yes, it must have riled his community. But why take revenge? It was evilly excessive to murder such a gentle man,’ Paul whimpered again.
‘The police are working on it, Paul. Perhaps one day we’ll see what happened. It might even raise the debate about the right to change one’s religion,’ said Tony.
A further sob led Paul to take Tony’s sleeve.
‘I don’t think I can come to the cremation. It’s still too raw for me and I don’t want to make a scene. To be honest I couldn’t last a half hour without a loo break either. ’
‘I understand. That’s all right Paul. You made an appointment with your GP?’
‘Yes, I did. I certainly did.’
Tony nodded then smiled offering his hand. ‘Then I’ll see you next week. Take care.’
The coffin bearing car passed them as they parted. Marti approached Tony in its wake.
‘A touching service, wasn’t it?’
Tony turned towards her and smiled. ‘Yes, went off quite smoothly. Quite a relief.’
‘I was not sure what that Sadar was going to say. I was actually quite apprehensive when he was asked to speak.’
‘I was too, but in the end I was glad he did.’
‘Yes, I had no idea what the white stripe stood for, why it was on their flag. He spoke well.’
‘Are you going to the Crematorium?’
‘Of course, aren’t we all?’
Tony hesitated. He looked around to see Paul head away on the street towards town. ‘Paul has decided not to go.’
‘That’s just as well. He could not control his grief. I had no idea they were so fond of each other.’
‘It wasn’t noticeable in our group musical practices,’ said Tony.
‘No, different focus there.’
The mourners made their way to the crematorium and arrived in good time. The previous service was underway when they arrived. Superintendent Graham joined Tony as they waited in the forecourt for the mourners to leave and head out to their cars.
‘Went quite well I thought, Superintendent.’
‘So far so good. I’ve not stood my men down yet.’
‘Are you expecting trouble here?’
‘On the face of it, in our planning we felt this would present more of a difficulty if it was seen to be a Muslim cremated. But after Sadar’s speech to the congregation, perhaps there will be no trouble. In fact ...’ said the Superintendent looking around, ‘I can’t see anyone here yet from the Muslim community.’
‘Then you could perhaps stand down your men....and women officers of course?’
‘No, I won’t do that, not yet. A bit of spiritual exposure will do them no harm.’
The men laughed quietly as the Crematory doors opened. The previous grieving family left by the back of the chapel. Those attending Frank’s cremation made their way in from the front.
Once more Karen Kane was on the organ stool playing Barber’s Adagio for strings. Only three pipe stops were out, just the violins, violas and cellos which gave a peaceful aura around the chapel.
Farook’s simple coffin, still covered in the national flags of Pakistan and the Union Jack, rested in the centre of the church on a catafalque in the centre of the chancel.
Tony sat beside Ivan on one side with Marti on the other. A moment later, Alan came out of the vestry and stood in the pulpit.
‘We meet again, this time to say our final farewell to Farook or Frank as he became. Farook had taken a journey from Islam to Christianity and now takes the final journey to dwell in the presence of God in heaven. Let not your hearts be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would not have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. Let us pray.’
Tony’s mind wandered during the prayer. He did not believe in what he was hearing, more accepting the prayer as the opium of the people as Karl Marx had said of religion in general. The hypnotic effect of the prayer with eyes closed found Tony back at his office wondering what the day’s referrals might bring. He was brought to, by the request for the congregation to stand and sing I to The Hills Will Lift Mine Eyes. Tony enjoyed singing such a familiar tune but briefly stopped singing when his throat turned hard.
Alan asked them once more to pray. A light touch of Karen’s fingers played less of a melody, more of a dirge, a sombre piece. Tony noticed the curtain start to close. In no time at all, the coffin disappeared and the curtains closed. Frank was on his way to cremation.
Suddenly, a loud explosion came from the back of the crematorium. Heads ducked down as clouds of dust entered the Chapel of Rest. The closed doors took the brunt of the explosion as some of the glass shards flew into the backs of the last row of mourners. A few received face and hands cut. Four police officers immediately responded.
‘Lie low,’ shouted one officer.
‘Wait till we see the situation is clear,’ shouted Superintendent Graham.
An officer pointed a tazer as he proceeded while the others held truncheons at the ready. They left the chapel and entered the vestibule. Its walls remained intact but cracked. The male toilet door had disintegrated. Vases were on the floor cracked and broken with flowers scattered and a pool of water seeped into the hard wearing Triumph cut pile tiles. The toilet was the scene of most damage. Suspicion that the exploded device was lodged there surfaced. Despite the burst water pipes running around the broken urinal china, Superintendent Graham sealed off the site as a scene of a crime while a colleague requested the ambulance service. Then he alerted his command station.
Out of breath the woman police officer returned to the vestibule to inform the Superintendent that there was no obvious terrorist in the area but the general public were approaching out of interest from the town.
Superintendent Graham returned to the chapel to see the frightened mourners, many holding an arm or hand of their seated neighbour.
‘The crematorium has been made secure. Now has anyone got any injury of any kind?’
‘Yes,’ said Alan. ‘There are two ladies with glass in their heads, over there on the back row. They are both bleeding and I guess we are all in shock.’
‘I am sure you are. Alan is there another male toilet here?’
‘Yes, next to my vestry.’
‘Then that’s where the men should go if required. Fortunately as the ladies toilet is situated down the outside wing of the building, I can confirm it is not damaged. However to get there you will have to go through the back of the building.’
A siren was heard faintly at first and then it grew louder.
‘That will be the ambulance. So those of you who have any cuts, the walking wounded, please go through the front of the chapel. Put your hand up if you can’t manage to do that.’
One lady raised her hand. ‘Then stay there till the medical staff arrive.’
Tony ran his hand through his hair. He had not been injured. Marty did so too and her finger bled as a shard of glass pierced her hand.
‘You’d better go for a check-up too Marty,’ said Lizzie. ‘I’ll go with you if you like.’
Tony stood up and left the pew. ‘And I thought all was going well. I did not expect this.’
‘No Tony, disappointing. No-one expected this at all,’ said Superintendent Graham.
‘Perhaps the suspicion lies with the Moslem community for this as well. It seems so,’ said Tony.
‘If we catch who did it we might catch who murdered Frank.’
‘I suppose so. So will that make it easier to find him?’ asked Tony.
‘Possibly, depends what these people can find,’ he said pointing to his colleagues.
Tony looked towards the vestibule as a team of scenes of crimes officers dressed in white overhauls entered. ‘Yes, they might find the evidence.’
‘Yes, evidence of attempted mass murder.’
‘Mass Murder?’ Tony realised this was indeed a very large police enquiry now. He saw an officer approach the superintendent.
‘That’s the source of the device sealed off, sir. We’ve made it safe.’
C
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Web Site:
A Clerical Murder
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I rented a room for a while to a young man who was a wedding photographer. He had a blonde crewcut. He was Pakistani. He was also, gay.
It seems like you are providing a lesson for Americans. Not to jump in conclusions when it comes to Moslems in your presence.
Ron