I'd somehow managed to use my knowledge of medicine to do the deed. Much like Alistair before me, I was freed from inquiry, but not absolved of possible guilt.
Needless to say, my practice did not last long after my name was ostensibly cleared. Even Polly, who had been with me for longer than I could remember, simply stopped coming in one day -- which was fine, I supposed, as I no longer had any patients lined up in my waiting room. Despite my own advice, I said nothing to anyone about what had happened for fear I would have to explain what it was I thought I'd seen, and I'm still not entirely sure how to do that.
Ultimately, I could no longer stay in New Hamburg, and not simply because I could hear my neighbors, those same people I'd been treating for years, whispering about me as I passed them on the street, much as they had done to poor Alistair a short time before.
You see, the feeling I could not shake, the one that made me leave the quiet town of my childhood, was that when Mrs. Rutherford screamed, "What have you done?" I am not so sure it was to me she was speaking.
And if it wasn't. . . . Well, I would rather not think too much about that.
TEND YOUR OWN GARDEN
She'd swapped photographs. Halford pretended he hadn't noticed, or that if he had it didn't bother him, but in truth it hurt far more than he let on -- far more than he expected it to. Had Libby known that he'd spotted the callous swapping of their wedding day portrait for one of her and Peter on tropical vacation, she made no mention of it either -- and Halford wasn't sure if that made him feel irritated or grateful.
"Like I said, Libby, I'm looking for a box of blueprint hardcopies and files. I need to reconstruct our failed archive server, and I can't find them anywhere. I've checked my entire apartment and in the storage locker and they aren't there. I must have left them behind when I moved out." It took all his effort to remain civil and conversational, but it was worth it if Libby's guilt was stoked. If she had any. "I probably left them here accidentally."
" Accidentally ," she repeated, her voice suggesting she didn't believe that word truly existed. The look in her eyes made his blood turn to fire. How dare she look at him as though he were the untrustworthy one. He had to swallow his anger before he could speak. He didn't know why he let her crawl under his skin, but it was obvious she enjoyed it.
"It's a pretty simple question," he spit as soon as his power of speech returned, disappointed at how quickly she could make him break his vow. "Did you find anything or not?"
Libby took a long drag from her cigarette, squinting from either smoke or suspicion, and then blew a steady stream concurrently from both her nose and mouth. Halford was reminded of a dragon.
"You can check downstairs if you want. If we found it, either Pete or I would have put it down there. Or thrown it out. I'm not sure which."
Halford smiled that smile that didn't reach his eyes, didn't show his teeth. The kind of smile that wasn't a smile at all. It was clear she was trying to drive him insane. Perhaps it was some ploy to get something, but what he didn't know. She already had the house he spent all those months renovating. What more than his home could she need?
In hindsight, he had no idea why he'd married her. It was always clear they weren't suited for one another, but at the time he somehow convinced himself it didn't matter, and then managed to convince Libby of the same. It took no time at all before their homelife collapsed, but Halford held on, buried himself in the repairs to their new house, certain that when it was complete it would miraculously fix all their problems. Libby didn't seem to have any interest in helping, he noticed, instead she spent more and more time on her computer. He encouraged it, hopeful the distraction would allow him to work faster, unaware of the contact she was making with her former lover. While Halford worked to repair their
Needless to say, my practice did not last long after my name was ostensibly cleared. Even Polly, who had been with me for longer than I could remember, simply stopped coming in one day -- which was fine, I supposed, as I no longer had any patients lined up in my waiting room. Despite my own advice, I said nothing to anyone about what had happened for fear I would have to explain what it was I thought I'd seen, and I'm still not entirely sure how to do that.
Ultimately, I could no longer stay in New Hamburg, and not simply because I could hear my neighbors, those same people I'd been treating for years, whispering about me as I passed them on the street, much as they had done to poor Alistair a short time before.
You see, the feeling I could not shake, the one that made me leave the quiet town of my childhood, was that when Mrs. Rutherford screamed, "What have you done?" I am not so sure it was to me she was speaking.
And if it wasn't. . . . Well, I would rather not think too much about that.
TEND YOUR OWN GARDEN
She'd swapped photographs. Halford pretended he hadn't noticed, or that if he had it didn't bother him, but in truth it hurt far more than he let on -- far more than he expected it to. Had Libby known that he'd spotted the callous swapping of their wedding day portrait for one of her and Peter on tropical vacation, she made no mention of it either -- and Halford wasn't sure if that made him feel irritated or grateful.
"Like I said, Libby, I'm looking for a box of blueprint hardcopies and files. I need to reconstruct our failed archive server, and I can't find them anywhere. I've checked my entire apartment and in the storage locker and they aren't there. I must have left them behind when I moved out." It took all his effort to remain civil and conversational, but it was worth it if Libby's guilt was stoked. If she had any. "I probably left them here accidentally."
" Accidentally ," she repeated, her voice suggesting she didn't believe that word truly existed. The look in her eyes made his blood turn to fire. How dare she look at him as though he were the untrustworthy one. He had to swallow his anger before he could speak. He didn't know why he let her crawl under his skin, but it was obvious she enjoyed it.
"It's a pretty simple question," he spit as soon as his power of speech returned, disappointed at how quickly she could make him break his vow. "Did you find anything or not?"
Libby took a long drag from her cigarette, squinting from either smoke or suspicion, and then blew a steady stream concurrently from both her nose and mouth. Halford was reminded of a dragon.
"You can check downstairs if you want. If we found it, either Pete or I would have put it down there. Or thrown it out. I'm not sure which."
Halford smiled that smile that didn't reach his eyes, didn't show his teeth. The kind of smile that wasn't a smile at all. It was clear she was trying to drive him insane. Perhaps it was some ploy to get something, but what he didn't know. She already had the house he spent all those months renovating. What more than his home could she need?
In hindsight, he had no idea why he'd married her. It was always clear they weren't suited for one another, but at the time he somehow convinced himself it didn't matter, and then managed to convince Libby of the same. It took no time at all before their homelife collapsed, but Halford held on, buried himself in the repairs to their new house, certain that when it was complete it would miraculously fix all their problems. Libby didn't seem to have any interest in helping, he noticed, instead she spent more and more time on her computer. He encouraged it, hopeful the distraction would allow him to work faster, unaware of the contact she was making with her former lover. While Halford worked to repair their
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