Over Her Dead Body by Bradley Bigato Page A

Michael? She felt a cold chill run up her spine. She didn’t like strangers knocking on her door in the night.
    “It’s Angel County Sheriff ma'am .”
    “Again?” She said as she opened the door and peered at the man in uniform standing outside. It was the same sheriff as the night before. He didn’t look very happy. “He did it again didn’t he?” She asked.
    “Yes ma'am . I’m afraid he did.” The sheriff replied.
    “You’re not going to arrest him are you? I mean…he hasn’t had a chance to see a doctor yet. It’s not his fault.” April pleaded.
    “I’m afraid it’s a little more complicated than that. May I come in so we can speak?”
    April’s look suddenly changed to one of extreme concern. “I…I guess. I don’t know what there is to talk about though. He really just needs to see a doctor.” She opened the screen door and let the sheriff step through. The sheriff followed her in and she signaled him to be seated on the couch at the end. She took the recliner right next to it, folded her robe tight around her legs and placed her hands in her lap. “We looked it up online today. It turns out it is a common problem. Different sites said that there is medication for it but we probably won’t be able to get him to a doctor for a week.” She hesitated watching the sheriff’s concerned face. “I suppose I could tie him to the bed or something. Lock him in a room?”
    “ Ma'am , we found your husband out digging in the same spot again tonight.” The sheriff looked around for a moment like he wanted to find something better to talk about. Some sort of small talk like ‘oh that’s a nice vase you have over there, where did you get it?’ or ‘hey that’s a pretty picture, where was it taken’, but finally he heaved a big sigh and turned back toward April.
    “And? You brought him home again right? Is he out in the car?” April looked toward the window. She could see the headlights beaming through the curtains. “Did you cuff him again?” She asked sternly.
    “Mrs. Bander, there was a body found.”
    “Wha..?” April clasped her hand over her mouth and stifled her own scream. She bolted strai gh t up out of the chair. “Is Michael ok? Where’s Michael? Where’s Michael? Tell me he’s ok. Oh God tell me he’s ok…” Tears were starting from the corner of her eyes. She made her way toward the door.
    The sheriff stood up. “Mrs. Bander, your husband isn’t in the car. Please sit down.”
    April’s eyes went wide and she covered her mouth again. “Oh my God! Is he…is he..?”
    “ Ma'am , your husband is fine. He’s in custody at the station. Now please sit down so I can ask you a few questions.”
    April stood there for a moment lingering, thinking, running the scenarios. She couldn’t find one that fit so she looked back at the sheriff and finally returned to her seat in the recliner.
    “Mrs. Bander, your husband was found digging again; only this time he unearthed human remains.” April’s eyes grew big but she remained silent. “The body appeared to be female.”
    “Oh my God! What happened to her?” She said quietly.
    The sheriff could see that it hadn’t registered with her yet that her husband must have known that she was buried there and that he was not only a suspect, but also most likely the killer.
    “We don’t know yet, there will be an autopsy though. The detective thinks it might be a girl who went missing a few month s back. Does the name Maria mean anything to you?”
    April thought for a moment. “No…er…well, I have an Aunt Maria. But I don’t think she’s gone missing. I’m sure I would have heard about it.”
    “Has your husband ever mentioned anyone named Maria? Maybe someone he’d met at work?” The sheriff asked.
    “No, not really. He’s never mentioned anyone. He might have a student named Maria or something. I don’t know.”
    “So he’s a teacher?”
    “Mhmm.”
    “What does he teach?” The sheriff had pulled out a little