The parents could not believe that their completely healthy son could have died from some unknown illness, and they insisted on opening the zinc coffin: what they discovered inside shocked everyone 

Close to midnight, the phone rang in the house. The father picked up the receiver.

— Good evening… excuse me for calling so late, but I have something I must tell you.

The voice was unfamiliar, official.

The father frowned.

— Who is this?

The mother immediately felt that something was wrong and lifted her head from the pillow.

 

— Who is calling?

The father covered the receiver with his hand.

— Some military man…

— Sir, I am your son’s commander. Or rather… I was his commander.

The father straightened up abruptly.

— What do you mean “was”? Where is my son? Put him on the phone.

There was a short pause on the other end.

— Sir… unfortunately, I cannot do that. Please accept my condolences.

The father turned pale.

— What are you saying?

The mother jumped out of bed.

— What did he say? What’s happening?

The father said sharply into the phone:

— You must have made a mistake. We spoke to our son just yesterday. He was in the barracks; he wasn’t on any mission.

— Yes, sir. He was indeed not on a combat mission.

— Then what happened?

— Unfortunately… his life was not taken by an enemy bullet, but by a dangerous infection. The illness developed very quickly.

The father began speaking louder.

— What infection? He is an absolutely healthy young man!

The mother was already standing beside him, trying to hear the conversation.

— In two days the body will be delivered to you. It will be in a zinc coffin. The infection may be contagious, so opening the coffin is strictly forbidden. Please follow the safety regulations.

The father gripped the receiver so tightly that his fingers turned white.

— You are lying to me.

— Sir…

— Don’t call me sir! I want to speak with my son!

— That is impossible.

— Then I will come to the base and find him myself!

The mother was already crying and pulling his arm.

— What happened? Tell me!

The father was almost shouting into the phone.

— I am very sorry…

The man abruptly hung up the phone. The room fell silent. The mother looked at him with wide eyes.

— What happened?

The father remained silent for a long time, then said quietly:

— They say… our son is dead.

The mother covered her mouth with her hand and sat down on the bed.

— No… that can’t be…

Two days later they stood in the morgue. On a metal table stood a heavy zinc coffin. An attendant wearing a mask shifted nervously from one foot to the other.

— I must warn you that the coffin must not be opened. The military sent an official order.

 

The mother did not take her eyes off the coffin.

— That is not my son.

The attendant sighed.

— Excuse me?

— I feel… that it isn’t him.

The father looked at her wearily.

— They told us the body is inside.

The mother stepped closer.

— No. It’s not him. Open the coffin.

The attendant shook his head.

— I cannot do that.

The father looked at him coldly.

— That is our son. We have the right to see him.

— I will have serious problems.

— And we have our son in a coffin, — the father said quietly. — Open it.

The attendant hesitated for a long time, then sighed heavily and took a tool. The metal creaked. The locks gave way one by one.

The lid slowly lifted. The mother looked inside first. A second later she screamed. The father stepped forward sharply. And inside he saw…  The continuation of the story can be found in the first comment 

Inside the coffin was indeed their son.

But his face was covered with bruises. A huge dark bruise marked his cheekbone. His lip was split. One of his arms lay at a strange angle, and even without medical training it was clear that it was broken.

The attendant said quietly:

— This… doesn’t look like an infection.

The father slowly turned pale.

— They beat him.

The mother cried, holding on to the edge of the table.

— They killed him…

A few days later it became known that there had been no infection at all. A fight had broken out at the base. The son of a wealthy general had beaten their son to death.

The army command quickly invented the story about a “dangerous infection” to hide the crime. They counted on the fact that no one would ever open the zinc coffin.