In nineteenth century small town New England, Waldo Trumbull married Amaryllis née Hinchley solely to become partner in her father Amos Hinchley's business, a funeral parlor, something that generally unaware Amaryllis is becoming increasingly aware. It is also in her unawareness that she would never have made it as an opera singer, something she would have pursued if she didn't marry Waldo. The one thing Amaryllis protects is Amos, who Waldo always threatens to poison to gain full control of the business and Amos' inheritance. What Waldo, a drunkard, has done is drive the business proverbially into the ground in not having enough business to put literally underground. Able to lord his assistant Felix Gillie's criminal past over him, Waldo and Felix have resorted to cutting corners, including reusing the same coffin client after client. The most criminal of their activities for the business in the leanest of times is to create their own customers by killing people. After a murder gone wrong, Waldo believes they can kill two birds with one stone by murdering John Black, their landlord who is threatening to evict them if they don't pay their back rent. What Waldo and Amos find is that it's not killing Black that is the problem, but keeping him dead.—Huggo