text: Life now had a direction, a purpose. The plan was foolproof. There would be no consequences. In fact, he could see nothing ahead but a life of opulence, once he’d taken the necessary steps. He was going to kill his wife. Malcolm Roberts had been born in a squalid area of New York some thirty years earlier. The fates had given him a quick mind and an athletic body, and he soon realized these were his ticket to a better life. Adopting a new name and a fabricated past, Malcolm Roberts became Mac Revere who ruthlessly climbed the ranks of society at the expense of wealthy, yet needy women he found on selective online dating sites. Mac spent several years meeting humanity’s emotional flotsam and jetsam. He saw it as an apprenticeship, developing skills to say the right things, displaying just the right amount of assertiveness, or modesty, to gain trust, confidence, physical intimacy, and money. There was always a quick escape plan, so that he could disappear quickly, only to re-emerge with a different background, elsewhere. Then he discovered Prudence. Staid, plain Prudence, his passport to a glittering future. Prudence Van Althen had everything Mac craved: an influential family, with a pedigree going back to the founding fathers, and unimaginable wealth. She was the heiress to a fortune that would make her the central star of a fiscal galaxy around whom the moneyed illuminati would strive to orbit. Unfortunately, Prudence had no desire for such a life. In her case, the genetic structure that had driven her forebears to rise to the highest echelons of power, had somehow skipped a generation. Had she lived in mediaeval times, she would have hidden herself away in a remote convent. Prudence fell for Mac almost immediately. Whilst not exactly true love, he exuded confidence and carried a patina of sophistication that would meet the minimum standards to satisfy her family. With him she could avoid parental pressure and the seemingly endless string of potential suitors they had lined up from the social hierarchy. As for Mac, her lack of confidence and need for assurance made her an easy victim. Their courtship had been rapid. However there was one flaw in this otherwise perfect fairy tale. Prudence’s father was Theodore Benning, a highly regarded surgeon who had married her mother, Clarissa Van Althen, out of true love. Defying convention, Theodore had not objected to their daughter carrying the more renowned surname rather than his own. The two formed a loving couple who worked together to further the Van Althen interests. Clarissa had difficulty conceiving, and it was only after several years and many millions of dollars that Prudence came into the world. Their daughter’s decision to marry Mac was therefore a great shock. They had tried so many times to find Prudence a suitor from within their own social circles and had not been deceived by Mac’s contrived persona. Nevertheless, they wanted to see their daughter settled, giving the family a sound future. At least Mac had all the trappings of social status. Reluctantly, in view of Prudence’s uncharacteristic determination, they had finally agreed to the union. A few days before the wedding, Theodore had called Mac into his study at the New York family estate in Southampton which had been chosen for the event. He had not bothered with niceties. “Why are you marrying my daughter Mac?” Theodore raised his hand, “No, that was a rhetorical question. The answer is obvious, you want her money.” Again, Mac made to answer but was silenced, “You’re not here for a chat so just listen, carefully. The family you’re about to join has been likened to American Royalty. It’s a vast realm of wealth that operates at the highest financial and political levels. We can make and break heads of state, worldwide. In the same way that royalty has always had a monarch, the Van Althens have always had a nominated head, a sort of blend of president and king supported by a team of experts.” He paused to ensure that Mac fully understood the implications of what was being said. “My point is Mac, you will never be in that position. Neither will Prudence. She has made it clear that she wishes to remain in the background. Prudence is our only child; we do not have a son. Nor do you. Hopefully that will change. Do you know what primogeniture is?” “I, er....” “Well I’ll explain. It’s a system of inheritance in which the first-born son is bequeathed the entire family fortunes. Now times have changed, and we would have had no qualms in leaving all to Prudence had she shown the aptitude and willingness to be the head of the family. I was content to allow my daughter to take the name of Van Althen instead of my own. It ensures consistency, tradition if you like. I’ve been honoured to work with my wife, expanding the family’s interests. However, you and Prudence will be given no such powers.” At this point Theodore looked directly into Mac’s eyes, speaking quietly and slowly. “Don’t worry, you’ll be financially secure, but do not for a moment believe that you will have any influence in our operations. Any offspring of yours will have the opportunity to inherit everything, but you Mac, you will not.” Theodore reached into the top draw of his desk and took out a large envelope which he handed over. “This is the will concerning Prudence and yourself, just so you know exactly what your entitlements are when Clarissa and I are no longer here.” Turning his back on Mac, his future father-in-law turned and walked out of the room. Three years had passed since that evening. Three years in which Mac had been very busy. He had hoped that his situation would change when Prudence’s parents passed away within three months of each other. Prudence was then the head of the family, but in name only, a legal technicality. She was happy to allow trusted family advisers to run the ever-growing business empire. Then he remembered the will. The family were so meticulous in all their affairs that it never occurred to him to have it checked by a legal expert. There was always the hope that he could walk away from this situation with money and the freedom to pursue other women like Prudence. During the time he called his apprenticeship, Mac recalled meeting a stunningly attractive woman, Sabrina Michaels, a lawyer. She was wealthy and respected by her professional peers. The problem was that she was independent and extremely intelligent with a strong ambitious drive, not someone Mac would want to upset as she had the contacts to possibly track him down and wreak revenge. Although she seemed interested, Mac had declined a second date, saying that he felt a little out of his league. He now hoped this apparent openness may enable him to renew their acquaintance. He was not disappointed. Sabrina not only remembered him but seemed eager to see him again. It was not long before a relationship developed. Mac was not too concerned about Prudence’s family monitoring his actions. To establish some prestige within the family, and to cover his affair, Mac had started a charity organisation for the homeless. This gave him a cover story for his regular meetings with a lawyer. As for Sabrina, she had offered an escape from the boredom of Prudence and, more importantly, she had unearthed an extreme, but possible, solution to his problems. Mac could hardly have kept secret the fact that he was since it was the will relating to that union on which he needed legal expert opinion. Sabrina found the situation intriguing but could find no obvious loopholes. There was however, one clause in the will that offered some hope. The clause had been inserted to ensure that Prudence retained the family businesses in name only. It had been designed to exclude any spouse or partner from ownership but, and this was the interesting point, there was no definitive statement as to what happened to that ownership if she predeceased her husband. Sabrina informed Mac there was a strong legal argument for him to inherit everything if anything were to happen to his wife. The clause had possibly been left open to guarantee that Prudence’s father, a trusted and invaluable patriarch of the family would continue in lieu of his wife should she predecease him. Mac understood his choices; walk away from Sabrina and settle down to a wealthy but boring life or embark on an irrevocable course of action offering wealth and influence beyond his dreams. The two conspirators started to meet more frequently, purportedly to establish refuges for the homeless. Surprisingly, Prudence’s family encouraged his philanthropic efforts. Two of her cousins ensured there were sufficient funds available to buy up and convert disused buildings in the more dilapidated parts of the city. The buildings of course would carry the Van Althen family logo, rather like a heraldic crest. Little did the family know of the other items on the meeting agendas between Mac and Sabrina. One of which was the choice of poison they would use. The pair had quickly discarded any form of accident. Prudence rarely left the confines of the estate. She enjoyed horse-riding which offered some possibilities, but the presence of security cameras throughout the grounds made this impractical. A little research led them to aconite. The symptoms included diarrhoea and vomiting. Prudence had suffered from poor digestion all her life so these symptoms would point towards a pre-existing condition which had resulted in heart failure. Having decided upon the means, the actual deed was simple. Mac often made snacks for Prudence. Although they had a full-time cook, he genuinely enjoyed preparing food, regularly making dinner for the two of them. It was one of the things that helped to ease the seemingly endless banality of his marriage. Mac was surprised when Prudence insisted on attending one of his meetings with Sabrina. She had also insisted on choosing the venue, this being one of the family’s exclusive restaurants where stars of film and stage, famous musicians, and billionaires, could be found. Prudence said it was about time she took an interest in her husband’s plans for the homeless and wanted to be an active participant in the charity. Mac was decidedly uncomfortable about this; however Sabrina had been very reassuring, reminding him that the charity was genuine and that they had in fact truly created something that would benefit many needy people. It would have been difficult for anyone to disentangle Mac’s altruistic work from his true intentions. At the restaurant, Mac felt relieved by his wife’s effusive behaviour when he introduced the two women. “It is so good to finally meet you,” Prudence began, “Mac has told me so much about you and the wonderful work the two of you are doing.” Sabrina was equally effusive, “And it’s good to meet you Mrs. Van Althen, your family’s generosity is remarkable.” Mac stared at the two in amazement, his wife was rarely excited about anything, and Sabrina was playing her part like a Hollywood actress. Prudence interrupted his thoughts. “Well don’t just stand there, Mac, let’s sit down and celebrate.” Turning to Sabrina, “Mac tells me your plans are now finalised, everything’s ready. And please call me Prudence. ‘Mrs Van Althen’ makes me feel so old.” Prudence proposed a toast, looking first at Sabrina, then her husband, “To us, and to the people our efforts will benefit.” As they sipped the aged Armagnac from the finest hand-cut crystal glasses, Mac hid a smug smile as he thought of how he had risen above his impoverished beginnings. Meal over, Sabrina returned to her office after she and Mac had agreed on a meeting the following day. This was purportedly to organise a date for the official opening of their first housing establishment, but the true purpose was to decide on the date for Prudence’s murder. Mac knew he would be attending the official opening as a grieving widower; a Van Althen widower with the money, power, and influence that he deserved. As their chauffeur drove them home, Prudence took Mac’s hand and told him how proud she was of him. She apologised for not being a more active partner and promised that from now on, things would be quite different. Mac found it difficult to respond as he thought he was about to regurgitate his lunch. Prudence noticed his pale complexion. “It’s almost certainly the fish you had, darling, I keep saying it doesn’t agree with you, but you won’t listen. Let’s get you home and into bed so you can rest.” Mac weakly nodded agreement. Lying in bed, Mac wondered if this were payback, or perhaps it was self-induced, maybe a bad conscience. Except, deep down, he realized he really had no conscience. In fact, his one concern was that maybe he wouldn’t be sufficiently recovered to plan the deadline he and Sabrina were to agree upon the next day. He quickly dismissed this, telling himself that any delay would make no difference to their plans. Besides, this felt serious. He’d heard of food poisoning from bad fish sometimes being lethal; the irony didn’t escape him. He constantly needed the toilet but each trip became more arduous. He readily agreed to Prudence’s suggestion that a doctor be sent for. As the minutes ticked by, Mac deteriorated further. He became impatient for the doctor’s arrival. He hoped it would not take long to make a diagnosis and administer some medication. Once recovered, he would contact Sabrina to renew their plans. After what seemed hours, Mac heard voices from the main hall, the sounds became more distinct as they approached the bedroom. Was he hallucinating? Rather than the doctor, Prudence seemed to be talking to......Sabrina. The door opened and Prudence entered, swiftly walking to him with a look of concern on her face. Seeing him now writhing in pain she looked a little relieved. “It’s alright Sabby, he’s still with us. Come and see.” Mac was wondering what the hell was going on. Where was the doctor? Then Sabrina appeared, smiling down on him. “Hi Mac. We were worried that you’d already left us. Puddy so wanted to explain things before your departure.” Mac slowly turned his head towards his wife who had taken his hand. Breathing was difficult; he was unable to speak. “You must be confused darling, so I’ll explain. You did a really good job of hiding your affair. I hired one of the best private investigators available. He’s been of tremendous use to the family in the past. But even he had difficulty finding anything between the two of you besides the charity work. But persistence paid off. I confronted Sabrina some months ago and, apart from you, we found we had a lot in common. When Sabby told me about your plans, I encouraged her to go along with it. You see, I wanted to give you a chance. I wanted to see if there was any heart within you at all. At one time you seemed to be all I needed, but in Sabby I found a true friend. In fact, she’ll be moving in here after you’re gone. You see, from my adolescent years I’ve always felt different from other girls. I couldn’t face the truth I suppose because any deviations from normality would have tarnished the family name. I hid myself away, taking no interest in the family investments. I felt safer doing that than risk exposing my true, shall we say, inclinations. I could never tell my parents. They couldn’t understand why I rejected so many potential husbands with such impeccable pedigrees. When you came along, I could hardly believe my luck. Everyone knew you wanted me only for my money, so any passionate intimacy was not going to be a problem. I could withdraw from family interests with grace and keep my secrets safely hidden. When my parents died in such a short space of time, the need for secrecy somehow seemed less important, the world has become more tolerant. So, when I met Sabrina, and discovered your plans, I felt the time had come to live the life I wanted. I’m about to become a widow.....” Mac vainly tried to interrupt. “Shush, just listen to me. As I was saying, what could be more natural for a recently widowed woman to be comforted by a friend. And that is how Sabby will be introduced to the family, the person who is so devoted to our newly established charity, who becomes a friend and ally in my time of need. It will then be relatively easy for her to be accepted as a permanent part of my life. “Even though I came to understand how ruthless and unfeeling you are. I was still disappointed that you chose aconite and were willing to let me die in agony so long as the poison could not be traced. I’ve such concerns. Our family doctor has been a loyal friend for many years. He helped with my delivery. When he eventually arrives, there will be a thorough examination before heart failure is identified as the cause of death.” Prudence paused; she drew her face close to his. Mac could see a flinty edge to her once subservient eyes. “Bye.” In his final lucid moments, Mac went back to the myriad faces of his victims over the years, many of whom had been left penniless. Then to his childhood, his desire to escape the circumstances into which he had been born. Just like everyone else who tried to reject their origins, Fate had eventually caught up with him. The last thing he saw in this world was his wife and Sabrina leaving the room, hand in hand.