the perfect crime?

I’d been turning her body every 5 minutes for the last hour while her blood froze when it finally started snowing. The snowflake landed on her nose, pure white against the paleness of death. I was so exhausted all I wanted to do at that point was curl up on the frozen ground and sleep. Though if I did that I would end up just as dead as Jessica.

Jessica’s beautiful golden brown eyes stared glassily back at me. I loved her once. I thought she was everything I needed. A balm for the battered psyche left behind by the death of my wife. A mother for my little Annalina. God. Annalina. I hope I didn’t just lose you both parents.

I didn’t necessarily mean to kill her, but I didn’t help her either. When Jessica tripped and broke her ankle I saw my opportunity to be rid of her. Underneath those beautiful golden eyes and auburn hair beat the heart of a monster.

When I had first seen the bruises on Annalina during her bath Jessica told me they were from the playground at school, that she had already talked to the teachers, you know how rough kids play. I was so busy at work and Jess seemed so genuine...of course I believed her. But there were little things. As time passed I noticed that Annalina would cry every single time Jess put her to bed. Then I found out she had been wetting the bed.

Jess had gone out with friends one night and I had to clean up Annalina after a bedwetting accident. She was still half asleep when I wiped her down with a warm cloth in the bathroom and her little hands flew to her privates and she whimpered, “No Jess”. My heart turned to ice. Without even asking, I just knew. It clicked into place. Jessica. Jessica had been hurting my baby.

As I stood there and looked down on her pale, frozen face I knew I had made the right decision. After making sure her keys were in her pocket I stuffed her down jacket under my own, obliterated my boot prints with a fir branch, and carefully traced my tracks back down to the car, pounding and swiping my prints as I went. I left her jacket in her car and moved the driver’s seat forward. I tossed my phone under the passenger seat. I had kept on my hat, gloves, scarf, jacket, and boots then entire time. The roaring fire waiting for me in the furnace would serve double duty tonight. As satisfied as I could be I started the long, cold, 3 mile walk home in the dark just as the snow turned to freezing rain.