It was perfect. Everything was perfect.

The Gardener and his son…dead. The chauffeur is dead. The Head of Police is dead. And most importantly of all, Mr. and Mrs. Andrews are dead.
After several miles of silence, Orion finally spoke up, “You know, Minnie, you didn’t really have to kill the Gardener and his son.”
“And we really didn’t have to kill the chauffeur either, but whose idea was that, Orion?”
Orion gripped the stirring wheel, “he would have eventually told the court that we killed Mother and Father. He couldn’t be trusted.”
“If he couldn’t be trusted, why did he stick by us for so long?” asked Minnie.
“For the money, of course, the bastard would do anything he could get a pound off,” Orion winced as he said, “Now why did you kill the Gardener’s son? And his father? I liked the boy, he was a nice fellow.”
“He was getting too close. He would have realized that you and I were lying about the night Mother and Father were murdered and would have told everyone. I couldn’t let that happen.”
“You could have kept him at arm’s length instead of inviting him into your bed, Minnie. It’s was a careless death! It could have been prevented!”
“Oh, you shouldn’t be talking Orion. You have the same amount of blood on your hands as mines! Who was it that stabbed Mother! Who was it the one who put the bullet through Mr. Kens’ heart?”
“You have more deaths on your toll than me. Are we forgetting who strangled Father? Who killed Daniel and his father? Who killed Officer Salvar and Officer Danes? Oliver? Face it, Minnie-“
“Face nothing, Orion. If you’re going to blame me for all of this, mind you remember, who exactly was it that signed me out?”
“I thought it just going to be Mother and Father, not half of Connersville!” exclaimed Orion. When Minnie and Orion planned out their murders, he had figured that they’d get the job done and manipulate the evidence to make look like the aging butler did it. The most classic theme in murder mystery novels, he was surprised that the court didn’t notice. He knew Minnie had certain problems, but he didn’t know she was this borderline insane.
“Let me rephrase this, who was the one who signed me out of the mental asylum, Orion?”
“Minnie, don’t push it.”
Minnie position herself, so that she faced Orion, “Who was the one who resented Father? Who was the one you thought Mother was a dead beat, allowing him to beat you while she watches. She never once told him to stop. She didn’t care; she wanted him to beat you!”
“Minnie, shut the hell up!”
“Your reasons for killing Mother and Father are far worse than mine! I can use the insane card, you have nothing!”
Orion slammed the brakes, “Minnie!” Before Orion started driving, he had placed his grandfather’s Colt 1848 Pocket Revolver in between his legs…just in case.
Minnie flew, “what are you going to do?” she pushed her long black wavy hair from her face, “hit me? Kill me? Do that and you’re the worst killer ever! Think bout it Orion, you’re already feeling guilty about killing Mother and Father. Imagine if you killed your beloved little sister? It would drive you insane! You wouldn’t be able to keep a secret about our parents’ murder to yourself. You would go borderline crazy!” it wasn’t until then, did Orion saw the crazy in her eyes, “Luther lives in weak and lonely. He’ll live inside of you! Lottie tells me about Luther all the time. She tells me all the bad things he’s done. Do you want Luther live inside of you?!” He saw Luther in her eyes.

Orion knew Minnie had “imaginary” friends, Luther and Lottie. When they were younger, Minnie had told him about them. Luther was her bad friend. She had told him that whenever she had done something bad as a child, it was her that did not do it. It was Luther who did it. Or he had convinced her to do it. Lottie was her good friend. She was the one told her not to listen to Luther. Lottie often fought with Luther. Minnie use to hear them, fighting and fighting. It drove her…crazy. It was all believed to be part of a lonely child’s imagination. That was until she lost it and killed the family dog, Oliver, when she ten years old.

In Connersville, there already been talk of Minnie being the strange child, the Devil’s Child. While children were playing in gardens and swimming in lakes, Minnie was up in a tree, talking to herself, talking to Luther and Lottie. Mother and Father didn’t know what to do with her. They had known for some time that their daughter had issues, but they didn’t know what to make of it? When she strangled Oliver, they decided that they couldn’t take it no more. They had told everyone that Minnie was being sent to some fancy French Finishing school and will be living with a well trusted family friend. But in reality, they had sent her to an insane asylum in an obscure part of Eastern Europe, never to be heard of or spoken of again.

Quickly after Minnie was gone, Mr. and Mrs. Andrews began to neglect their son. They would act as if they did not have a son. That didn’t stop the beatings. After a year or two, Orion enrolled himself in military camps in India and then later Italy. He thought they would forbid him, due to the dangers and distance. They did not care. So he went.

For years, Minnie and Orion corresponded through letters for years. Since none of her family members were allowed to talk to her, he used the name “Arnold Farlie.” The same name he used to sign Minnie from the asylum. He was surprised and disgusted how easy it was to get her out. They stated that was making outstanding improvement, and that she showed no signs of mental instability. Minnie was a great actress, the way she broke down in court when the court revealed that Mr. Fargo did it. It was utterly believable. With a doubt in Orion’s mind that she acted as if she was “perfectly fine.” She could be dangerous.
“Well what are you waiting for?” asked Minnie.
Orion looked into Minnie’s eyes. Blue eyes to Blue eyes, “Oh nothing, I just figured you would have killed me by now.” He began to drive.
Minnie’s expression drastically, those hard, borderline crazy looks in her eyes soften into something gentle and fragile. This was Minnie’s transition of Luther to Lottie.
“Why I just thought that we were going to end up getting ourselves killed eventually. With you going to war, and me, just being me,” this was Lottie speaking, “Luther is going to get her killed one way or another. With you, war is just unpredictable; you never know what’s going to happen.”
“So that’s it, we leave this town forever?”
“If you don’t want the truth being known, then yes we never come back.”
“I’m going London, where are going?” asked Orion.
“I might go to America, New York City, wherever the wind takes me.”
The farther they drove, the darker it got. Connersville will never know the truth about deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Andrews. They will never know that all of alone, an innocent man was blamed, and that the real killers where their own children.
Minnie and Orion never spoke again.

It was perfect. It was the perfect murder.