Murder in the Air

Katie woke up before her husband that morning. Jeff, a successful lawyer, was still asleep. She looked at him beside her and gave Jeff a cold stare. They had been married for 25 years today. It was a day she had hoped would never arrive.

Throughout their marriage, Jeff had been very busy at work, leaving Katie to raise the kids and handle the home almost all by herself. Now that the kids were all gone, she found herself feeling lost much of the time. It felt as if life had gone by and she had missed most of it. Really, what she longed for was someone to be close to.

Over the past several years, Katie had considered divorcing Jeff, but had decided against it. He was, after all, a very good lawyer. She didn't want to go through any legal proceedings against him. So, after a great deal of thought, Katie had settled on the only reasonable solution - murder.

Of course, it could not be a shooting or something like that. Too messy and too easy to get caught. No. Katie had to find something else to do. Finally, while watching a show on television, a plan came into her mind. Jeff had been taking heart medicine every day for a couple of years. If he took a pill that caused a heart attack, no one would suspect anything at all!

Katie thought through the idea for several months to be sure she had thought of every possible problem. She researched what drugs would be most effective and found on that was perfect. Not only could she get a prescription for it for other problems, but the pill looked the same as the one Jeff already took.

So, one day Katie went to her doctor with a made-up ailment and managed, with a little flirting, to get the prescription she wanted. Then, she waited. She waited almost a year to be sure no one would connect her prescription to Jeff's death.

Finally, when the time was right, she decided to put her plan into action.

One thing Katie knew was that her response to Jeff's death was going to be very important if her plan was going to work. Therefore, she took one of her pills and mixed it in with Jeff's prescription. He usually had a three month's supply of pills at a time. Therefore, all Katie knew was that Jeff would have a heart attack sometime, which was a reasonable belief for her to have. When he would die, though, would be as surprising to her as anyone else. That way, she would naturally react in as much shock as others would expect her to. It was the perfect plan!

This anniversary morning, the plan didn't seem so perfect. Jeff had been taking his medication each day for almost the entire three months and nothing had happened. Katie had looked in his pill bottle earlier that morning and there were only two pills left. She was sure one was the right pill and she was getting more and more anxious.

As she stared at her husband, Jeff began to stir. Katie quietly got up and went to the kitchen. Finally, Jeff rose and began his day. After showering and shaving, he came down to breakfast.

"What do you think about playing golf with the Spencer's today?" he asked.

"OK," Katie replied. She liked golf and the Spencers were a nice couple. "But aren't they out of town?"

"Yeah. I thought we'd fly over there in time for lunch. Then, we could even spend the night there."

Jeff had a single engine plane that he flew nearly every weekend. Katie never went, but he loved it. Katie paused for a moment. Jeff took his medication when he shaved each day. If he took the right pill and had a heart attack, it would be in the next hour.

"I have a few things to do at home and I would need to pack. What if we go in about an hour?"

"That sounds good."

Jeff began to fiddle around the house and look over some business papers while Katie got dressed, quickly packed and tried to think of things to do that looked like they actually needed to be done. After an hour, she said she was ready for the trip.

"Great! I called the Spencers and they are waiting for us."

The drive to the small airfield was boring. Jeff did not talk much and Katie sat still, replaying her list of grievances with Jeff over and over again in her mind. Once the preflight was done, she came out to the plane and got on board.

Jeff expertly taxied out to the runway and prepared for take-off. The flight to the Spencer's would take about two hours. Katie sighed. She hoped it would be a smooth enough flight so that she could read.

Soon, the plane was in the air. Jeff smiled as he flew. Katie glanced at him and frowned angrily. There were so many thing in life that Jeff loved more than her. She could not wait to be free.

In the first few minutes of the flight, Jeff tried talking to Katie, but she pretended it was too difficult to hear him. He finally stopped trying and let her read. Katie read bits and pieces, but was not focused too much on the book. She was wondering how she was going to survive one more day with this man and pretend she was enjoying herself.

Lost in her thoughts, Katie was startled when Jeff reached back to grab his travel bag.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Nothing," Jeff replied. "I just realized I forgot to take my heart medication this morning, so I'm going to take it now."


(copyright 2009, Kevin H. Grenier)