I Did Not Kill My Wife

5

"Under extraordinary circumstances, the court is re-adjourned regarding the alleged murder of one Mrs. Alice Bloom by her husband, Mr. Gerard Bloom." the judge declared.

No sooner had the judge finished his statement than there was an uproar amongst the crowd.

"Order shall be maintained!" the judge declared sternly.

Soon, the crowd became silent and started settling down..

"Please begin with the proceedings. I shall warn you, Mr. Gerard Bloom. This is your last chance to prove your innocence, my good Sir." said the kind and compassionate judge, who knew me personally as well for the honest human being I was.

Mr. Anderson stepped up.

"Permission to question the suspect?" He asked.

"Permission granted." Pat came the reply from the judge.

"Please tell us your side of the story, Mr. Bloom." He said.

"I am Gerard Bloom. I am a businessman who's quite well off from the common masses. I did not kill my wife, Mrs. Alice Bloom. There's a definite reason why I was reticent the other day at court. There's a definite reason why I fled from Scotland Yard."

"Interesting. Carry on..." Mr. Jones chipped in.

"On the fateful night my wife was allegedly murdered by me, I was with her father, as he previously stated. We spent the evening till I returned home to find my wife dead with her blood on Miss Chantelle's hands. I know what you are thinking. But no, that's not it. Miss Chantelle did not kill her. She was just at the wrong place at the wrong moment. She was visiting my house. Upon entering the house, she discovered her lifeless corpse and while flipping her over, she had blood splattered on her clothes. Throughout this time, I lied about the incident and kept it a secret from the world so that Miss Chantelle would not be dragged into this murder case and remain immune from the police. I wanted to protect her."

"But we have written statements, Sir, from your neighbors that there were lots of shouting and an argument between you and your wife earlier that evening before you supposedly left for her father's residence." Mr. Jones enquired.

"Yes, there were. I don't deny it, Sir. Earlier that evening, my wife repented that of late, I had grown distant from her. Then she detected the faint wisp of a woman's fragrance on my tail-coat and needless to say, was outraged."

"So clearly your antics were quite evident of an extra-marital affair."

"No Sir, haha, I could not possibly have any affairs or romantic trysts. So, as I was saying, then I asked her to leave town with Henry for a couple of days. Because Miss Chantelle told me to do so. She warned me that my family was in danger."

"Permission to bring Miss Chantelle up as witness?" Mr. Jones asked.

"Permission granted."

Chantelle came up.

"Identify yourself, Madam."

"I only go by Miss Chantelle."

"Is it true whatever this man, Gerard Bloom said? That you warned him about danger to his family."

"Yes, every word. Every word is true."

"And how on earth did you come up with that theory?"

"I work at the postal service. I just received an anonymous tip-off when I stumbled across a man viciously talking to himself about how murdering Mrs. Bloom would solve half his problems."

"So Mrs. Bloom did escape?"

"Yes", me and Chantelle both replied.

"If Mrs. Bloom isn't dead, then who died that night? And if she's alive, where IS SHE?!" The confused lawyer asked.