The ordinary strangler - An original story part 7

 

Later that afternoon Sylvia went to lie down and left Peter in front of the television.  He told her that he would pick up some Chinese food for them later and he would wake her up when he was back. He didn’t plan to stay out for long but before he could prevent himself, he drove straight back to the South side of town. 

He drove around for a while before he saw the old man sitting on the sidewalk.  He was sure it was the man that asked him for food.  He stopped and the old man came up to his window again. This time the old man looked drugged or perhaps just drunk. He didn’t recognize Peter at all, and Peter knew that he was safe. 

He turned around to pick up the Chinese food and drove straight home. He now had no doubt in his mind that he was not going to be caught out.

Just after nine, they went to bed. Sylvia took a sleeping tablet and offered one to Peter, but he refused. He had to work in the morning and didn’t want to oversleep.  

Sylvia fell asleep quickly and Peter went back outside to smoke his last cigarette.  He grabbed the scissors on his way out and cut out the article from the newspaper. He threw away the rest of the paper and put the article inside one of the books in the bookshelf.

Peter did not wake up that night but as soon as he opened his eyes the next morning, he remembered the incident and a little remorse kicked in. It was quickly washed away in the shower when Peter realized that he was going to be late for work. He rushed to finish, and he was out the door in a few minutes.  

He had quite a lot to do and Monday’s were more hectic than other days. Peter felt sidetracked the whole day and by two o clock he phoned his boss to tell him that he wasn’t feeling well, and he was going home. 

He packed up his laptop and asked his secretary to forward all important emails to him. He knew that Sylvia would not be at home as she helped out with the church choir on Monday afternoons, and if she was, she would force him to go to the doctor.  He just wanted some time alone to sort out his thoughts.  

Peter drove straight home and went through to his study.   

He sat back in his chair and played the whole scene over in his head. He could feel the excitement building up in his body and realized that if he had a choice, he would do the exact same thing again. 

He switched on his laptop and his Google search led him to an online site that sold guns. He was very interested, and he was still scrolling through the pages when he heard Sylvia at the front door.  

She knocked and pushed open the door.  

“What’s going on Peter. Why are you home so early?”

“Hi babe, I just had a bit of headache and decided to come and lay down for a bit, I took some tablets and I’m feeling much better now.”

He hated lying to Sylvia, but he knew if he said anything else, she would try and force him to go to the doctor. 

She looked at him for a few seconds as if she did not believe him and told him she was starting dinner.  Peter continued his search for nearly an hour and then saw a similar weapon to the one in his trunk. 

This was the one he wanted. It was brand-new and absolutely beautiful. It took him another half an hour to study the rules and regulations of the site and he filled in the necessary paperwork.  He had to go for two days of training, but after that he would be the proud owner of his own weapon.  

He paid with his credit card and felt satisfied with his purchase. He was just about to switch off his laptop when he heard Sylvia calling him for dinner.  He walked downstairs with a smile on his face, but his smile dropped when he saw that Sylvia had been crying. 

“What’s the matter love? Why were you crying?”

Sylvia burst into tears.  “I don’t know what is becoming of our town. Susan Bennet’s daughter is in rehab and Betty Miller’s son died of an overdose last night.”

Peter couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was flabbergasted and tears welled up in his eyes. 

“Little Georgie Miller grew up right before our eyes.”