In Madras, Mariamma clutches an unopened letter from Philipose, noting that on the page he still lives though the morgue has claimed him. At the chaotic morgue, she finds his familiar hand beneath a rubber sheet, uncovers his peaceful face, and breaks down, questioning why Philipose took that train.

Uma Ramasamy, overrun with mass-casualty duties, finds Mariamma and consoles her. Mariamma shares a private family matter about Philipose and their history, prompting Uma to promise, with Mariamma’s consent, to handle his case personally. Later, back at the hostel, Mariamma opens the letter: Philipose writes that he is en route and includes a puzzling quotation about discovery, deepening her confusion and grief.

Returning to Parambil with the body, Mariamma is embraced by Anna Chedethi and supported by Joppan and the contrite Uplift Master, who organizes the funeral. At church, admirers of “the Ordinary Man” gather. Secretly, Mariamma knows Uma has performed an unusually extensive autopsy: viscera removed, the entire spine taken en bloc and replaced with a broomstick, and a brain autopsy added despite the disaster context.

As the coffin is lowered beside family graves, Mariamma wrestles with faith and the idea of bodily wholeness, recalling a promise of resurrection to reconcile the division of Philipose’s remains. Afterward, the extended family assembles; Mariamma recognizes how loss has forced her into adulthood and offers a steady eulogy, vowing to go on as Philipose would have wanted.

On the morning of the funeral, his beloved newspaper prints his byline with dates over a blank column framed in black, a stark tribute that seals the community’s farewell and underscores Mariamma’s irrevocable transition from daughter to bearer of legacy.