Cardinal v. Cardiologist

As the thin man drags off the body of the Car Designer - immediately dumping him into pit - the fat man stands by the Cardinal, mutely. The Cardinal nods. The fat man nods.

Don't you mind him, says the fat man, motioning toward the thin man. He's always reading sorts of books.

The Cardinal brings up something he noticed yesterday at the grave, specifically that in the heap of dirt that had been excavated, bones and partial skulls - obviously long buried - were intermingled with stone. He asks about this.

The fat man grunts. He speaks in some demotic hill language.

What?

Bones and more bones beneath our feet, between the roots of this tree, growls the fat man. And more beneath. We break 'em with the hammer to bits, and from bits the earth breaks 'em to ash, and from ash that's what grows the grass and crops.

The Cardinal looks down, and regards the grass beneath his feet.

The fat man wipes his nose roughly with the back of his hand. He nods and walks off.

The Cardiologist arrives. His hands are bloody. He holds them out and up.

I just got out of surgery, he says.

They raise their guns. Their guns go off.