The boy wept desperately by his mothers grave, insisting she was still aliveno one paid attention until the police stepped in.
In early May, people began noticing the child visiting the cemetery. He was around ten, no older. Day after day, he returned to the same burial site.
Hed sit on the ground, leaning against the cold stone, and cry out to the sky:
Shes alive! She isnt here!
Visitors watched with pity, assuming he was deep in grief, unable to accept his mothers loss. Eventually, they thought, he would come to terms with it.
But weeks passed, and the boy kept coming, rain or shine.
The caretaker, worn down by the daily cries, finally called the police.
A young officer arrived and cautiously approached the boy.
Hey, he said gently.
The boy startled, looking up with a thin, tear-streaked face, his eyes ancient beyond his years.
Do you know how to tell if someones breathing underground? he asked.
The officer was taken aback.
No… a child shouldnt think about that.
They said my mom fell asleep driving. But she was never tired. Never! the boy muttered. And they didnt let me say goodbye…
The officer eyed the gravethe soil was still fresh, unsettled. Nearby lay a shovel.
Who told you that?
The people she worked for. A man with a gold ring… and a woman who smiles even when shes angry.
Do you know their names?
The boy named them, and the officer noted them down. Something in his voice stuck with the policeman, who reported it to his superiors.
An investigation followed. The boys mother, Anna, was an accountant at a major pharmaceutical firm.
A week before the alleged accident, she had vanished from work.
Her employer claimed exhaustion, then death. The death certificate was signed by the company doctorno wake, a sealed casket, no autopsy.
The officer demanded an exhumation. The coffin was empty.
The case went federal. More details emerged: Anna wasnt just an accountant.
Shed gathered extensive evidence against the companys leadershipdocuments, recordings, money trails, illegal schemes.
Shed planned to take it to prosecutors, but someone found out.
Heres what even the boy didnt know:
There was no accident. Her death was stagedby the police.
The day she turned in the evidence, authorities already had pieces of other cases tied to the company.
They acted fast. Anna entered witness protection.
To prevent suspicion, they faked her deaththe coffin had always been empty.
All evidence went to court, but the boy was kept in the dark to protect the operation.
He only knew one thing: his mother wasnt dead.
And he was right.
Three months after the trial, with the case closed and the guilty arrested, Anna appeared at the door of her old home.
