FFF #3

(click on the title link if you need me to esssplain this)


"You thought I forgot, didn't you?"

She spun around, her face composed. He knew her well enough to see the crackle of fear in her eyes.

"You thought I forgot about the key."

She nodded, once. He could sense that a chill was rushing through her body, as panic began to take over.

"I had plenty of time to think about it. Ten years in jail." He laughed softly. "Time off for good behavior. Isn't it ironic?"

"I wouldn't have believed it at first. Not from you. You loved me." He reached out, and tenderly traced the her jaw with the back of his fingers. She stiffened, and something inside him suddenly snapped, and he slapped her once, hard, on the cheek.

In only a moment he had regained control of himself. Her eyes filled with tears, but only one slid slowly down her cheek. "Billy...."

He cut her off by raising his hand again. She flinched and fell silent.

"I must say," he continued, "you were very efficient. It was brilliant. In one move, checkmate. Eliminate your lover, corner me, and keep all of this" - he waved his arm in a wide circle around the living room, "for yourself."

"I guess I was careless... leaving my keys at home that morning. You brought my keys to me at the studio, but you took the key to the back door off the ring. You planted evidence in my office- to make it look as though I killed him."

His hand shot down to encircle her wrist. He slowly twisted her arm behind her back, until his face was inches from hers.

"I noticed, remember? You know that I notice things. I can't help it. It was a colored key. It always bothered me that it was colored, and not silver like the other keys, but that's why I noticed it was gone. I started to ask you about it - but the doorbell rang before you could lie. They came for me. They came to tell me that my partner, my best friend was dead, and because we'd argued in front of people the day before, I was the primary suspect, and I was immediately brought in for questioning. I was so stunned by the news of his death that I forgot the keys. Then they found the gun, and it was mine, and it had been fired. The bullet matched. That was it for me."

She was visibly trembling now, much to his satisfaction.

"It didn't even come together for me, until I re-read the transcript of the trial. No signs of forced entry to the studio. You went in the back way, and shot him. Cowardly bitch, did he even see you coming? Was he still alive when you put the gun in my desk?"

"He deserved it!" she screamed. He pushed her forward, hard, and she tumbled on to the couch and then twisted around to look at him, shrieking. "He was going to leave me, and tell you everything, so that you would divorce me. I just wanted to frighten him, to punish him. I shot him because he was laughing at me."

"Poor baby," he growled. "You would have had nothing. Instead you've had plenty of time and money to yourself. Well, you'll have plenty of time on your hands now." He smirked as the officers entered the room.

"Bye bye, baby, I'll never forget you."