For awhile, Seward has to struggle to master his anger against Van Helsing, and he questions the sanity of the good doctor. Van Helsing points out that he knows how difficult it is to believe something horrible, particularly about one so beloved as Lucy, but he offers to prove his accusation that very night.
The two men have a mutual acquaintance (Dr. Vincent), who is in charge of one of the children who was injured by the Bloofer Lady. They plan to visit the child and then to visit Lucy's grave.
The child is awake when Van Helsing and Seward arrive, and Dr. Vincent removes the bandages from around the child's neck, exposing the puncture wounds, which are identical to those which were on Lucy's throat. Dr. Vincent attributes the marks to some animal, perhaps a bat.
When they leave the hospital, it is already dark, and they go immediately to the cemetery and find the Westenra tomb. They enter the tomb and light a candle. To Seward's dismay, Van Helsing begins to open the coffin. Seward expects a rush of gas from the week-old corpse, but when the coffin is finally opened, they discover it to be empty.
Seward, despite what he sees, is not convinced; he believes a body-snatcher may have stolen the corpse. The two leave the tomb, and Van Helsing and Seward take up vigils in the cemetery near the Westenra tomb. After some hours, Seward sees "something like a white streak" and, then, at the same time, he sees something move near Van Helsing. When he approaches Van Helsing, he discovers that Van Helsing is holding a small child in his arms. Still, this is not proof enough for Seward. They take the child where a policeman will be sure to find it, and they then head home, planning to meet at noontime the next day.
The next day (September 27th), they return to the cemetery, and as soon as possible, they reenter the Westenra tomb and reopen the coffin again. To Seward's shock and dismay, there lies the lovely Lucy, "more radiantly beautiful than ever." Still, Seward is not convinced; again, he wonders if someone might not have placed her there, but he cannot understand why she looks so beautiful after being dead an entire week. Van Helsing then tells Seward that a horrible thing must be done: They must cut off Lucy's head, fill her mouth with garlic, and drive a stake through her heart. Yet before doing it, Van Helsing has second thoughts. He feels that he cannot perform the act without Arthur's and Quincey's knowing about it, since they both loved her and gave their blood for her.
