Missing Dead body

"What do you mean the body went missing?" Mr Condrad scowled at Alfred. A shiver went through his spine as he was getting scolded by his senior on the first day of his work.  

Looking at the floor in embarrassment, he closed his eyes, remembering the jinxed hours of his career when he decided to step out of his carriage. 

According to the plan, Alfred left the crime scene with the dead body in a council's carriage. All he wanted was to reach the council office as soon as possible. Travelling with the dead body was frightening him slightly. 

He opened the carriage windows so that he won't get suffocated by the rusty smell of the blood coming from the body. Few minutes of travelling alone and he was bored to death. He yawned, feeling sleepy as the warm breeze flowed into the carriage.  

His eyes slowly closed them on their own. Shortly after, he dozed off. The jerking of the moving carriage woke him up from his sweet nap. He shut open his eyes and slapped his face, reminding himself not to sleep during working hours. 

He turned his gaze towards the dead body which laid peaceful. 

"How does it feel to be dead Mr Hall?" He began the conversation with the dead to avoid himself from dozing off again. 

"You appear to be too young to be dead. I hope you have enjoyed your life to its fullest before your soul leaves your body." He paused for a while and looked at the coachman. By the appearance of it, the coachman couldn't hear anything he was gibbering he presumed. 

"I wonder where the reapers would take you? This reminds me, were you a good person or a bad person?" He questioned the dead body. 

"Ah, I forgot you can't reply. Life would have been so easy if you just woke up from your death, took the name of your murderer and slept back again for eternity." He laughed thinking about it. 

A sudden fear arose in him, widening his eyes as he thought about what if the dead body rose. His laughing face just from a few minutes ago changed to a terrified one. He brushed off all of his thoughts from a few minutes back and sat quietly, looking out of the window and hoping to reach the council office as soon as possible. 

His sleep was gone forever. He wondered if he could sleep at night alone in his cottage or not. 

A sudden violent jerk made him startled. The carriage came to halt abruptly. He pondered what might have happened. 

"What happened?" He asked the coachman peeking out from the window. 

"The wheel got stuck in the pit," the coachman replied. 

"Then get it out of it," Alfred replied in a tone as if the coachman was unaware of what to do next. 

"Give me a few minutes sir. I will find someone to assist me," he informed and glanced around the deserted place, with no sign of a human from far away. 

"Time is what we don't have. I need to hand over the body to the laboratory before it gets degraded," he scowled at the poor coachman. 

"We can move quickly if you help me in taking off the wheel from the pit, sir," the coachman said, seeking his assistance politely. 

"You shouldn't have put the wheel into the pit in the first place," 

"It happened by mistake, sir," 

"Yeah yeah," Alfred replied and continued, "Well then, we don't have a choice. Let me help you." 

He opened the door of the carriage and hopped out. He stretched his hands before pulling the wheel from the pit along with the coachman. 

Soon they two together successfully lifted the wheel from the pit. Alfred sighed in exhaustion. 

"Finally it's done. Ride carefully this time," he said with an authoritative tone. 

As he was about to enter the carriage, he heard a man addressing him. 

"Sir, can you guide me to this address?" 

Turning around, he was an old man seeking his help. 

"Sure, where do you want to go?" He asked. 

The old man took a small piece of parchment and handed it to him. Alfred read the address and realised he was not aware of this place. 

He called the coachman who had positioned himself on the carriage, ready for the ride. The coachman got down and checked the address. He began explaining the route to the poor old man. 

"Thank you, young men. I will pray to the lord for your wishes to come true." 

With that, the old man began to walk away. Alfred turned around to enter back into the carriage only to find the body missing. 

Opening his eyes he found Mr Condrad looking at him with flaming eyes. He cleared his throat and narrated his journey to him, of course except for the part where he was conversing with the dead. 

Mr Condrad sighed in disappointment. "It was a trap," he muttered. 

Alfred looked at him in a perplexed manner. 

"They knew you were taking the body alone. Therefore, the culprit thought it was a good way to steal the body and destroy all the evidence." 

Listening to his senior, Alfred comprehended and felt stupid for his actions. 

"I apologise for my naivety, sir," he said lowering his voice, realizing his mistakes. 

"What's gone is gone. Now try to investigate and get the case solved as soon as possible," he ordered. 

"Sure sir," 

"Well, where are the other two candidates?" Mr Condrad inquired. 

"They went to inquire to the neighbouring people of the dead," Alfred informed him.

"Hope they find any strong evidence during the investigation," Mr Condrad muttered to which Alfred nodded.