Lamb To The Slaughter

Roald Dahl

Fan-fiction by Robert Quinteros

 

A few weeks passed since the episode of the death of Mary’s husband. Most of the neighbours thought that she went a little crazy, as an effect of the ghastly situation that she had gone through. But Sergeant Noonan did not think like that. He felt quite responsible for the fact that he could not caught the killer, or at least, he could not find a minimum clue. She was living alone in the house and she had not relations with anyone. Consequently, he visited Mary every weekend. They spent several hours chatting and drinking some cups of tea. They began to enjoy the time they were together but there were no formalities yet, although Noonan was desperately trying to clear things up with her. One Saturday, both of them were silent in the living room. He thought that was the perfect moment to ask her about how to continue their relationship. So he built up some courage and attempted to say, ‘Mary…there is something that I want to ask you…something important…’

‘Yes, tell me. What is it?’ she said.

‘I thought that I…or we could…be…’ he looked right into her eyes and finally said, ‘Out for dinner. I mean, we can go to a restaurant and take some fresh air.’

‘I would like to go. Yes, of course. There is nothing I want more. I would like to leave this house for a while. It brings me bad memories.’

‘That’s fine. Tomorrow night?’

‘Yes. I will be ready.’

The following day, she prepared herself for the big occasion. She was in no hurry. She took her time to choose the dress, the colour of the make-up and the jewellery she would use. She did not have to cook dinner this time because she will go out with Sergeant Noonan. How wonderful that sounded. She was happy about it. After all this weeks, showing the mourning for Patrick, she did not have to pretend anymore. She was practicing some phrases at the mirror until Noonan rang the bell. They spent a wonderful night at a downtown restaurant. Ever since then, they started to do this every weekend. Eventually, he proposed marriage to her one of those nights. A month later, they got married and began to live together in her house. From then on, they were very happy to have each other. Noonan was more respected at the Department and Mary was not thought to be a loony by her neighbours. One day, he was informed that there was a new evidence of Patrick’s murder in which Mary was involved. He immediately went to his house to find her. She could see him from her window with a strange attitude that she had never seen before. He entered the house and spoke directly to her, ‘Mary, I’ve got something to tell you. It’s about Patrick.’

Her hair stood on end and she could not move for a while. He continued, ‘My investigators found a new clue that can resolve the case of your husband.’

‘Yes?’ said Mary in a quiet voice, ‘That’s wonderful news. How come?’

He could feel anger boiling up inside him because of her dishonest answer, and he said, ‘It is proved that you committed the murder. I cannot believe that so I want you to tell me truth.’

She did not answer him and he shouted furiously, ‘Right now!’

‘I’m afraid that I don’t understand what you’re saying. Me? The murderer? It’s impossible.’

She went upstairs to avoid him and he chased her. He insisted that she own up her truth. Finally, she lost her patience and blurted out, ‘Yes, I killed him! Happy?’

Noonan was paralyzed and could not utter a word. Mary went on, ‘I beat him with the frozen lamb that you all ate. That’s the truth.’

Noonan was astonished to hear her words and turn himself towards the stairs. Mary did not doubt for a second and pushed him powerfully. He fell downstairs and hit badly his head against the treads. She watched him lay on the floor for a moment and started thinking. She went to her bedroom and took some stuff and money. The police came after some minutes and nobody saw her ever since.