Something Snapped

Paul Cole was feeling good on his Friday night drive home. It was the height of summer and the world seemed a wonderful place. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel in time with the classical music playing on the car-stereo. It had been a good day in the car showroom. 

He was a big deal in the local area. He was well known and if anyone, any friends and neighbours needed a car, they would go to him. He would sort them out, give them a decent motor for a fair deal. Of course he would get his commission. He had been the top sales person for as long as he could remember. Nobody else even came close. A lot of the customers came to the dealership because of him. 

In his mind he was something of a local legend. Everybody around the town knew him as a good guy, a nice man with a keen business mind. 

He was happy and proud of his life. He had a new car that he kept clean and polished, a nice house in a lovely leafy suburb, where he lived with his wife, Jane. 

He took a pride in the life they led. He sometimes had to straighten Jane out, but it was always for her own good, for their own good. She understood he was doing things for the benefit of the both of them. He sometimes had to lay the law down, to make sure she was on the same page, that was all. 

Not that everyone understood. Sometimes the neighbours would hear things, and get the wrong idea. The neighbours often would call the police to report the supposedly-horrific sounds coming from the house. He and Jane would be just having a disagreement, an argument, that was all. Was it wrong to try and be the best you could be, to strive for perfection? 

Paul pulled up on the drive, excited for the weekend. The barbecue they were hosting tomorrow afternoon would be epic. Half the neighbourhood would be attending as well as high-up members of the golf club. Paul had been a member of the club for a few years, and if he played his cards right, he could end up being appointed to the committee. 

As he locked his car, he spotted his neighbours, Keith and Karen out front weeding and tending to their garden.

‘Hello you two, are you all set for the big bash tomorrow?’ He called out.

‘We can’t wait.’ Karen said. ‘The weather is supposed to be glorious.’

‘They say the sun shines on the righteous. It will be the social event of the summer.’ Paul said, before heading inside.

Paul was determined things went smoothly at the big barbecue. There were a lot of people he wanted to impress. There were the neighbours, of course, his standing in the neighbourhood was important. He would mow their lawns, help with any home repairs. If anyone was going on holiday and needed a lift to or from the airport, Paul would offer. No worries, not a problem. He enjoyed being a key member of the local community.

Paul was excited too that also attending the barbecue would be the senior members of the golf club. He was fortunate to live on the same street as Giles, the captain of the golf club. Paul hoped to impress Giles the following night with his selection of steaks. Paul had gone to a lot of trouble and expense. 

His wife had once asked if it really mattered, what the neighbours thought. Why should they worry so much about what other people thought of them? The argument that followed made sure that she never questioned that again.

The next day, the weather was even better than the forecast had predicted. There wasn’t a cloud in the blue sky. Paul and Jane spent the morning setting everything up. Paul studied and tweaked everything with the attention of a wedding planner on the big day. There was the new garden furniture, complete with cushions and glass-topped table, and the barbecue was the latest in the Jack Ringo range.

Paul tinkered with the barbecue, fussing and fidgeting as though it was a new car in the showroom. Just before the guests were due to arrive, a bucket of ice crammed with bottles and cans of beer and cider was taken out into the garden. The guests would be able to grab a cold drink while enjoying the afternoon. 

As the guests started to arrive, Paul welcomed each guest warmly, shaking hands and patting people on the back, telling them to make themselves at home. Jane hovered around offering drinks and canapés, pointing out the food already laid out on the large table in the garden. 

Paul treated Giles from the golf club as though he was royalty, ushering him into the garden, with everything but the red carpet, repeatedly thanking him for coming. 

As Jane refilled empty glasses, Paul donned his designer apron and headed for the barbecue. He tossed the sausages and burgers on the sizzling plate, adjusting the meat with the tongs. The tongs were the same make the top London chefs used. While his guests made small talk and sipped their cold drinks in the sunshine, Paul set about cooking. When each serving was ready, Jane would prepare onto bread rolls and burger buns, the cooked meat. The food would be handed out to the hungry guests. A few courses later, Paul spoke.

‘We actually have a bit of a treat for you guys.’ Paul said addressing his guests. ‘Next up I’ll be serving special Japanese Wagyu ribeye steaks. The cattle is reared for twice as long as regular cattle. The meat is fully matured and marbled. It really is something of a delicacy. I can’t wait for you to try it. While I get the barbecue cranked up to full-throttle, Jane will pop and get the steaks. These bad-boys have been chilling in the fridge since yesterday morning. Jane, would you be so kind?’

Jane nodded to her husband and dashed off to the kitchen. She re-appeared a few minutes later carrying a silver tray loaded with the steaks. Jane grinned as their guests ooh’d and aah’d as she passed on her way to the barbecue.

Then it happened. Jane stepped on a discarded beer bottle. Paul looked on in horror, as Jane tripped and fell. She landed on the freshly mowed lawn with a thump, sending the tray of meat flying. The steaks spilled from the tray and rolled away through the grass.

Keith and Karen rushed to help Jane to her feet, helping her up by her elbows. They brushed the grass and soil from her clothing and asked if she was okay. Before she could respond, Paul charged across to her. He pointed to the steaks strewn across the grass.

‘Completely ruined!’ He yelled. ‘Why couldn’t you watch where you were going?’ 

Jane turned and dashed into the house, sobbing, tears streaming down her face. 

Paul tossed the ruined steaks back onto the tray, called out, sorry about this, folks, before following Jane inside. 

He found her in floods of tears on the sofa, head in hands. Paul glared at her, fury in his eyes.

‘I can’t believe you. How could you do that to me?’ he said. 

‘I’m sorry, Paul. I tripped. It was an accident.’ Jane said. 

Paul grabbed her wrist tightly, Jane exclaimed that he was hurting her.

‘Why did you have to embarrass me like that?’ Paul yelled. ‘You have ruined everything.’

‘It’s fine. There’s lots of other food out there. Everyone is having a nice time.’

‘You have really embarrassed me! How does that look? And you can knock off the waterworks, too.’

‘Why are you being like this?’ Jane asked.

‘Clean yourself up. I’ll go out and entertain our guests while you sort yourself out.’ Paul said.

‘I don’t care about our guests, just about me and you.’ she said.

‘Giles is here and the rest of the chaps from the golf club are outside too. And what about the neighbours? People will be wondering where we’ve got to.’

Jane stared at him as though she was seeing him for the very first time.

‘I will see you outside, and don’t be long.’ He snapped.

Paul rubbed his hands together as he stepped out into the sunshine.

‘Sorry about that, everyone. Who would like a beef burger?’ He said brightly.

By ten o’clock that evening, all the guests had left. Paul and Jane were busy cleaning up. The rubbish was all bagged up, the plates and glasses loaded in the dish-washer. Paul sensed that things were still awkward with Jane. He tutted to himself, she had a nerve. Her actions had almost ruined the barbecue and she hadn’t even so much as apologised. 

He had taken enough. He finished wiping the worktop down and turned to her.

‘Have you got anything to say to me?’ He asked.

Jane did not turn around from putting away the pots and pans, simply muttering, Not really. Paul felt the anger come raging to the surface. As Jane was putting the cutlery back in the drawer, he spun and slammed the drawer shut hard, trapping her hand. 

Jane cried out in pain and shock, snatching her hand from the drawer and massaging her fingers.

‘Okay, Paul, I dropped your precious steaks. Who cares?’ She snapped.

‘Who cares? They were special Japanese ribeye steaks!’

‘Nobody cares, Paul. All those people you are trying to impress, they really don’t care.’ Jane said.

Why did she do this to him? Was she deliberately goading him, provoking him into reacting? Then of course it would all be his fault. Shocking really. And she never had the decency to apologise. She actually treated him as if all this was his fault.

The argument raged on, getting louder and louder, before finally reaching full volume. Insults and accusations were thrown on both sides, screaming and shouting at the top of their voices. Their row was interrupted by a banging knock on the door.

Paul stomped away to see who was knocking on the door at this time of night. Whoever it was would be getting a mouthful from him about calling around too late.

His anger faded when he saw the two police officers on the doorstep.

‘Good evening. We’re following up on reports of a disturbance coming from this address. Could we come inside?’

‘Yes, of course.’ Paul said.

As they went through to the living room, Jane appeared in the doorway. She looked startled and upset and was clutching her hurt hand.

‘Are you okay?’ The officer asked.

‘Jane caught her hand in a drawer, didn’t you, love?’ Paul said. ‘That must be what the commotion was.’ 

‘Is that what happened, Jane?’ the officer asked softly, concern in her voice.

‘Yes, that’s right.’ Jane said.

She nodded and forced a smile on her face. 

‘Right, I see. This is not the first time we have been called out to this address to calls of this nature.’

‘As you can see, we are fine, everything is fine.’ Paul shrugged.

The police officers said nothing for a moment, looking at the two of them, monitoring. As they were leaving, one of the officers turned to Jane.

‘You know where we are if you need us.’ 

‘Give us a call, anytime, about anything that’s on your mind.’ The other added.

Jane nodded and thanked them.

As he shut the door behind them, Paul turned to face his wife.

‘Have you quite finished? First you trash my special day, and now you try to get me arrested.’ He growled.

Jane said nothing, massaging her red, swollen hand. 

‘I don’t know when you became like this. What has happened to you?’ Paul asked.

‘What? How have I changed? Go on, tell me.’ Jane said.

‘You are just so unreasonable.’ Paul said. 

‘I see through you now. They call this gas-lighting. I see what you are doing to me!’ She yelled, moving closer to him, so their faces were almost touching. She squared up to him, like a champion boxer at a weigh-in. 

Paul laughed in her face.

‘What?! What are you going to do? What could you possibly do to me?’ He asked. ‘You’re pathetic. You are nothing without me. Nothing.’

Tears of frustration stung her eyes, as she turned and left the room, slamming the door behind her. 

Paul and Jane spent the rest of the evening in separate rooms. Jane made herself a cup of tea, and grabbed the paperback book she was reading, before retreating into the other room. Paul shook his head in disapproval and turned up the volume on the television show he was watching.

Just after elven o’clock, Paul heard his wife head upstairs to bed. He switched the TV off and as he was locking the front door, he heard Jane stomp across the landing to sleep in the spare room. 

The following morning, Paul woke at the alarm and headed for the bathroom. While he was standing under the shower, he heard movement. Jane was awake and pottering around. When he finished in the shower, he tied the towel around his waist and stepped out on to the landing. He was about to call out to his wife, when he heard the front door slamming shut.

He looked out through the blinds as she pulled off the drive and headed away down the street. He tutted to himself and continued dressing for work. 

When Paul arrived home from work that evening there was a police car parked outside the house. Two officers were standing on his doorstep. They turned to face him as he approached.

‘Good evening, sir. Is this your house?’

‘Yes,’ Paul said. ‘Is everything okay? My wife should be home already.’

‘There’s nobody answering the door. We’ve had reports of another disturbance at this address.’

‘What? When was this?’ Paul asked.

‘The call came in around forty-five minutes ago.’ The officer said. 

‘Really? My wife would have just been getting home around that time.’

‘Could you let us in please?’ the other officer said. 

As they filed into the hallway, Paul called out to his wife.

‘Jane, love. Are you there? The police are here, they say there’s been a disturbance.’

No answer. The house was in silence. 

The officers followed him into the house and through to the kitchen. Paul was about to say he would try calling her on her mobile phone, when he saw the state of the kitchen.

The floor tiles were covered in what looked like blood, and hanging from one of the chairs at the breakfast bar, was a ripped blouse, stained with blood. 

‘I don’t know what happened here.’ Paul said, shocked. 

He felt sick. What was going on? Had something awful happened to Jane? But she had left before him that morning. This didn’t make any sense. Had something happened when she arrived home?

The officers ushered him away from the kitchen, back into the hallway, away from what appeared to be a crime scene. Paul said he would try calling his wife. With trembling hands he took out his mobile and with tapped on her name in his address book.

The automated message said that her mobile phone was unavailable and may be switched off. Paul shook his head.

‘She’s not there.’ He said.

‘I am going to have to ask that you come with us to the station. We can take things from there.’ One of the officers said.

Paul nodded, there was a formal, official tone that suggested he could be in trouble. The other officer quickly searched the house. The place was empty. 

As the police officers were leading him to the patrol car, his neighbours were out in the street. Attracted by the sight of a police car, they looked on with interest. Giles was among the crowd. This was too much. Paul lost his head. 

‘Have you lot got nothing better to do? Keep your nose out. And just for the record, I’m innocent. You can pass that on while you are gossiping about me.’ Paul called out. ‘Vultures, the lot of you!’

He shook his head in disgust before being bundled into the back of the police patrol car.

In the interview room, as two other police officers were seated across from him, Paul raised his hands, insisting he had not done anything, that he had no idea where his wife was.

‘When did you last see your wife?’

‘This morning before we both left for work.’

‘And what did you say to her?’

‘Well, we didn’t speak. We had a bit of an argument last night. We hadn’t quite patched things up.’ Paul admitted.

‘Where were you this afternoon? Your neighbours report that they heard raised voices, even a woman screaming.’

‘I was at the car dealership until coming home and finding you on my doorstep.’ Paul said.

‘Have you anything to say regarding the suspicious evidence at the house. The torn blouse and what appears to be blood on the floor.’ The first officer said.

‘The blood is currently being tested.’ The other officer added.

‘I don’t know anything about all this. I did not hurt my wife. I would never do anything to hurt her.’ Paul insisted. 

‘And yet you admit you argued last night. In fact, my colleagues were called to your address. And the reports from your neighbours suggest quite a volatile relationship. They have commented that your relationship with your wife can be rather strained. They advise that you have, and I quote, quite the temper with her.’ 

‘That is an absolute lie!’ He yelled.

The officer simply raised an eye-brow. Paul cursed himself for having proved their point about his temper. 

Paul was released the following morning, pending further enquiries. Jane would be listed as missing. The blood at the premises, the test results confirmed, was from an animal, rather than human. 

As the taxi pulled up outside his house, Paul spotted the neighbours huddled together in the street, deep in conversation. Paul knew they were taking about the events of last night. He stepped out the taxi cab, and turned to face their watching eyes. He fought back the urge to launch a volley of abuse at them. With these small-minded, small town gossips, you just couldn’t win. He simply held their glares for a moment in defiance, before heading inside. 

He closed the front door behind him and called out for Jane. He listened, half-expecting her to come down the stairs to greet him. 

Where was she? What had happened to her? What had happened at the house? Was this all some practical joke? Animals blood and the torn blouse. He felt as though he was living in a mystery novel or something. Okay, their marriage wasn’t as perfect as he would like but would never hurt her. An image of him trapping her hand in the drawer came to him. Okay, he would never seriously harm her, never wish anything to happen to her. 

The kitchen floor was now clean. The police must have cleaned the mess up as part of their investigation and testing. He stared around his home, their home, now empty. This was all just so bizarre. 

He took his phone out and dialled Jane’s number again. An automated voice told him the number he was calling was unavailable, and asked him to leave a message.

Jane, can you call me as soon as you get this? Where are you? What is going on? Just call me, yeah?!

He rang Jane’s friends and family explaining that she had gone missing, that the police were on the case. He asked but nobody could shed any light on his wife’s whereabouts. Had something happened to her? Had there been an accident?

Surely she hadn’t left him. She knew when she was on to a good thing. They were living the good life in their leafy suburb all thanks to him.

The next day he went to work as normal. His head wasn’t really in the game, he wouldn’t be hitting any targets today, but at least he would be occupied. He didn’t really know what to do with himself, so he might as well go to work. 

The car showroom was quiet, there wasn’t much happening, but Paul threw himself into the work, grateful to be kept busy. He would often check his phone for word of Jane. 

The following afternoon he got an email from the golf club.  He clicked on the message, expecting to see the usual, round-robin email detailing a function coming up, or a change to the club policy. As he read the email he swore. 

The email was officially from the club but was signed off by Giles. The club was terminating his membership with immediate effect. The email explained how they expected their members to conduct themselves in a certain way on and off the course, and be of a certain character and standing. In light of recent events the club has no option but to terminate his membership.

Paul decided that when all this was over, he would find another golf club. He would show all the gossips and all the Giles of this world, he would show them all. He just had to sit tight. When all this with Jane was over he would get his life back on track. When Jane eventually came back or let him know where she was or what the hell she was playing at, then he could move forward. He would be back.

The following week at work sales were dry. There was sometimes a lull in the number of cars he sold, some weeks were better than others. But this week, as last week, there was nothing doing at all. Surely this couldn’t be because of what was happening with Jane.

Could it? Maybe word had got out that his wife had gone missing. He knew the gossip would be rife, accusing him of murder. That was not good for business. No wonder people were staying away. He always prided himself on his relationship and rapport with his customers, people flocked to the showroom because of who he was. Maybe all this with Jane had undermined all that.

At the start of the week after, the owner of the showroom called Paul into her office.

‘I understand you have issues at home, Paul. It must be really hard for you.’ She began.

Here we go, Paul thought, sensing what was coming. When she continued, she confirmed what he was suspecting.

‘I am afraid I think it’s time we parted company. Sales are down right now, and I don’t see them improving in our current situation. In taking all this into account, unfortunately we have no option but to let you go. I am really sorry.’ She said. 

Paul knew they wanted to wash their hands of him. Gossip and suspicion was bad for business, and awful for sales. 

As he headed home, as well as wondering just where Jane had gone, he couldn’t help thinking that everything he had worked for, his reputation, his good name, his standing in the neighbourhood and with the golf-club, and the car showroom as a top salesman, had all gone, all pulled out from under him. He had lost everything. 

He stopped at the off-license on the way home for a bottle of single-malt whiskey. He had nothing left. He had no option. He would have to sell-up, to move to another area, where he could find a new job, where he wouldn’t be pegged as the guy who was suspected of murdering his wife. 

When they knew what happened to Jane, maybe then he could start putting his life back together. Jane, wherever she was, held the key to clearing his name. The rumours, gossip and tittle-tattle were almost as damning as being charged by the police. The hushed gossip would be of how Jane had vanished, and how the police had come to take him away. They would speculate how they thought he had done something to her.

Even though the police had released him that would not stop the gossip. The wagging tongues and pointing fingers would continue. No smoke without fire, they would say. 

Everything was ruined. He had lost absolutely everything. He tried ringing Jane’s mobile again. This time rather than the unavailable message, it actually rang. The tone was different than normal. Was that the international dialling tone? Did that mean she was out of the country? A moment later the phone cut out. The person at the other end had ended the call. 

Just before midnight the house landline telephone rang. Paul rushed downstairs in his underwear and picked up the phone. He heard chatter in the background. The sound of voices, clinking glasses and music suggested the call was coming from a busy bar somewhere.

‘Hello.’ He said.

As he listened he could make out that the voices speaking were talking in a foreign language. Was that Spanish? Was the call coming from abroad, from a Spanish bar? He could hear a voice ordering una mas cerveza, por favor. 

‘Jane? Is that you?’ He called out.

‘Hello, Paul.’ She said, her tone light, as though everything was normal and fine.

‘What happened to you? What is all this? Everyone thinks I murdered you. There was all this blood and your ripped blouse. You need to come back and clear this up. They won’t believe me until they see you here.’ He said

 ‘Oh dear, is that what people think? Now that is a shame. And I won’t be coming back, Paul.’ Jane said. ‘Have you checked the balance of that dodgy bank account, you know, the one where you stash all the money you’ve embezzled from your work? There might be some money missing. Call it compensation for putting up with you all these years.’ 

‘You have stolen from me? Have you lost your mind?’ 

‘How can I steal money that you stole in the first place?’ she asked.

‘Don’t do this! Don’t you dare! I’ll find out where you are. You will regret this.’ he ranted.

‘You asked me a question, do you remember?’ She asked, calmly. 

‘What question? I don’t understand. You best come back here on the first flight. Do you hear me?’ he yelled.

‘You asked me what I could possibly do to you. Here is your answer.’ 

Before Paul could repeat his demand for her to return, the line went dead.

By Chris Platt

From: United Kingdom