Then we cut back to the present with a shot of Tracey in his coffin, now loaded on Serenity. Whoops, my mistake. They're still at the station. That was just the editor in me fixing the dreadful pacing in the episode. Apparently, even though they just established for the viewers that Zoe and Mal know Tracey, they have to establish it to the other people in the crew, and for some reason we need to bear witness to this. They also need to establish that it's against the law to transport bodies through the post office. For some reason, Joss Whedon and Tim Minear (who wrote the episode) seem to think that this little detail is important for the first stage of the conflict in this episode, but it's really not. Also: duh. Anyway, the Postmaster Generic is having a big hissyfit over Tracey's body and he demands they take it so he doesn't get in trouble. The postmaster tells them there's no return address or anything, so they don't know who sent Tracey to them or why. The body's also been at the post office for a week, but, as Jayne points out, is showing no signs of decomposition. Except he says, "It don't smell." Zoe and Mal decided to carry the box back to the ship, turning down Book's assistance and shrugging off Jayne's comment about the lack of profit in bringing a dead body aboard. Simon finally shows up at the post office as everybody's heading back to the ship and asks Kaylee, "Did we get anything fun?" Well, he is a cute guy, so almost, but he's dead, so no. Kaylee looks horrified of course, because Simon should have developed psychic powers by now just like his sister and should already know what's going on. As Kaylee stomps off yet again, River walks by Simon and declares, "You are such a boob. And just tell her you're gay already!" Or maybe just that first sentence.

Now, they've finally got Tracey's body on the ship. Everybody's gathered around it in the cargo bay. Jayne worries that Tracey might be carrying some nasty plague or something. And he's supposed to be the stupid one in the crew. Zoe and Mal insist that he isn't, but Wash takes Jayne's side and points out that they may have a relationship with Tracey, but it doesn't preclude the possibility that Tracey's body might be teeming with space cooties. Simon offers to perform an autopsy. Kaylee looks at him in absolute horror, because how rude is it to offer to find out how somebody Zoe and Mal clearly care for died? Shut up, Kaylee. Mal turns down Simon's offer at the moment, but takes it in the spirit with which it was intended. Kaylee calls Simon a "robot." Shut it, Handy Smurf.