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I couldn’t help but stare. The bodies were wax-like and pale, but they were otherwise untouched. I remembered now the state in which I’d found their bodies in their coffins. It had only been a couple of days, but it felt like a lifetime ago.
“How?” I said. “They died in a fire.”
“That they did,” said Goldie proudly. “But they were not burned to death. They were suffocated, poisoned by the smoke. Before the flames got to them, I thought to take their bodies from the scene and preserve them. I’ve been visiting them in their graves for the past several months, regrowing the parts of their flesh that were lost and treating the chemical damage. In fact, when you saw them the other night, I’d just finished the job. That was when I knew it was time to bring them—and you—together here at my
