The Colour of Cattle Blood
All was calm. Only distant laughs and shouting voices could be heard from the kitchen in the house of Tony and Maria Almuch. A pot of beef soup simmered gently, the bubbling competing with the wind that rustled up leaves outside. The maid, Ann, walked up the stairs with a bathrobe and a few towels, humming happily. Knock, knock. Silence replaced the usual order to hurry up.
A blood-curdling scream pierced the air.
"So she was found by the maid in the shower, had a knife through her stomach, and it looked like suicide. Over to you, Detective Carter," the officer said as he scratched his head.
Detective Jack Carter’s icy blue eyes stared stonily at the house before him. It looked nothing like a crime scene. The warm brown hues enveloping the delicate splashes of pale blue and green here and there created a homely feel for the whole place; it was somewhere a happy family would live. It was hard to believe that a woman had been murdered in the bathroom.
In the fifteen minutes it had taken Carter to get here, nothing had moved. As he walked into the house, he noted that the various objects that adorned the walls were expensive and very exquisite - the person responsible for buying them obviously had money and never hesitated to show it. Carter walked up the stairs and into the bathroom, where Maria Almuch had been left alone since she was found by the maid. She was sitting in an upright position, holding the knife as though she stabbed herself. Her eyes were closed in a reluctant manner. Detective Carter wrinkled his nose and carefully pulled the knife out with a gloved hand. He examined it carefully. Apart from Maria's blood, there were small clumps of jelly on the handle and another darker liquid on the metal part. Frowning, Carter put down the knife and turned around as shouts echoed through the house.
"Let me in! She’s my wife; I have a right to see what happened to her! Let go of me!"
"Please, sir, calm down, the detective is checki-"
"No, let go of me. I demand to know right now!"
Walking down the stairs, Jack Carter extended his ungloved hand to the puffing man at the bottom. The man introduced himself as Tony Almuch, a businessman and the husband of the victim. Naturally, he was upset by his wife’s murder, and he didn’t hesitate to deny that he committed the crime.
"Why would I? We're happily in love, even if she doesn't show it sometimes, and we live a comfortable life. In fact, Maria has everything she wants. There were times that she threw fits because she thought I didn’t love her, but I solved that easily," said Tony, "Jewellery and expensive perfume, she loved those. Recently we've had a few fights about money, but I guess that's about it."
The maid came in at that moment, handing around cups of tea and announcing to Tony that dinner would be beef stew and steak. Tony's response was to nod and excuse himself, claiming he had paperwork to do. He ran a hand through his slicked-back hair and walked off.
Carter chattered his teeth together, smoothing down his shirt absentmindedly. Tony Almuch was a person who could easily have stabbed his wife while he was blinded by anger. He said he was concerned about his wife, but had run off at the first chance he could. And then there was the maid. She happened to be in the house all day, and had access to anything in the house.
The detective went upstairs and retrieved the knife. Rolling his finger through one of the clear jelly lumps, Jack Carter identified it as hair gel. Running his finger along the cutting edge, Carter accidentally cut his finger. His own blood seeped onto the blade, appearing brighter than the dark blood present already. It ran in miniscule rivers to the other side, blending in perfectly with the blood at the tip.
"Ouch. More cuts," Carter grumbled. He rolled his eyes while glancing at the blade.
Ann appeared in the corridor, scuttling off towards the bedroom, no doubt to dust and clean it. Carter frowned and chattered his teeth together while walking outside. A taxi pulled up in front of the house next door, and a rough man holding a beer and a suitcase got out.
"Afternoon there, mate. What brings you 'round here?" he asked in a casual tone.
"There's been a murder here. Detective Jack Carter at your service," Carter replied, "Would you know anything about Maria Almuch?"
"Maria? Oh, that nasty tramp. She used to peer at my house from her money-smothered patio, and tell me it looked horrendous. Loved the big words. Her attitude I can't stand either, absolutely horrible woman. Pity I wasn't around to see her go though, my old ma went just last week and I had to attend her funeral. G'day to you, Detective Carter. If you need anything, just ask for Walter." Walter nodded and headed off towards his house.
Carter sat back. Walter had been off at his mother's funeral, meaning he wasn’t around at the time of the murder. Carter checked the time. 4:59pm. He headed back inside, walking into the kitchen to find a drink. A note was stuck on the fridge - To buy: men's hair gel".
"9:58am, Almuch household. Heading to arrest the culprit of Maria Almuch's murder."
The radio beeped as the police and Jack Carter stopped in front of the familiar brown house. The two suspects in the house were brought into the lounge.
"From the gel on the knife handle, we can conclude that the culprit used gel, since Maria only just had a shower and didn't put any on. The time of the murder was around 2pm, when both of you were in the house. The blood on the knife is slightly darker than Maria's blood, meaning it isn't human. And the most vital clue of all?" Jack Carter smiled and paused. "This is a knife used for cutting meat."
A cough.
"Well, I didn’t do it. I've been an orphan since I was five. Maria's like the sister I never had," sniffed Ann.
"Precisely, Ann. You two grew up together, judging from these photos on the walls. Because she managed to marry well, you are jealous of her life. Am I correct?" Detective Carter pressed on.
Ann smiled bitterly. "Yes, detective. Maria Almuch had it all - a loving husband, plenty of money, and a comfortable life. But did she appreciate any of these? No. What right does she have to cut my paycheque and be nasty? None whatsoever."
Tony stared as Ann was taken away. "Well. Whoever said women aren't scary was horribly wrong."
