464. Over the cliff!
© Bruce Goodman 17 January 2015




When Clara pushed husband of fourteen years, Roberto, over the cliff, it would have lasting consequences.

Clara had made certain that everything was ship-shape. The life insurance was up-to-date. The pathway next to the cliff face was slippery. She had even rehearsed a mild attack of hysteria.

Let’s face it, Roberto had become a pain in the proverbial. There was nothing that Clara could do that would not be met with scornful derision. Her cooking was criticised. Her taste in clothes was criticised. Apparently, she even snored. Clara had had enough.

True, he was the sole income earner, but the life insurance would replace that, and very handsomely.

You see, Roberto wasn’t simply negative about everything, he was a bore. He didn’t want to go anywhere. He didn’t want to do anything. Clara loved to travel. To visit the museum. To go to the art gallery or even the zoo. He wouldn’t even go to a café for a cup of tea and a slice of carrot cake. You might think that Clara could have done all this on her own, but she couldn’t. He husband kept tight control on the household finances.

A well-planned but quick shove over the cliff would solve a lot of things at once. And he walked down that slippery path next to the cliff every second Thursday when he went to visit his ailing aunt.

So PUSH it was! Never was such a crime so beautifully planned and executed! There was no way anyone could deduce that it was anything other than an accident.

Except, he didn’t die. There was no life insurance coming in, and no income. Clara was to spend the next thirty-two years pushing her invalid husband around in a wheelchair.


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