Lights Out

The Butcher's Wife

She thought she was a loving wife. She cooked his meals, cleaned his house, gave him two children. She washed his clothes and didn't bat an eye when he stayed away too long. He conned her into being the butcher's wife, and she went with it because she had been young and in love.

Lately, he was looking for help in the shop. It wasn't a paid position but that was fine by her; it would be a nice distraction and allow her to keep a close eye. But she hadn't expected what she would find in the shop. The first night, she was belittled and told off by the other workers. When she came crying to her husband he dismissed her, saying his employees would never be disrespectful and that she was over-reacting. She stayed late that night hoping beyond hope that it proved her worth, and when her husband's favorite employee failed to show in the morning, she got his shift.

Soon, they praised her for her ability to speak with the customers and her agility with a band saw. The butcher decided to have her slicing and breaking down the meat every morning, and then have her on the registers in the afternoon. It was a long and full day and she smelled of bacon every night, but she wouldn't change it. And as more employees quit or disappeared she got more and more responsibility.

The butcher started to care for her again, just like he had when they married. She reveled in her newfound happiness. But one night, the butcher found a package of sausage and some ribs in the back of the freezer. He questioned his wife why they were never sold, and she said she didn't know they were back there all this time. Instead of wasting soon to be ruined meat, the butcher brought it home and made a fantastic feast. Stewed sausages, barbecued ribs, roasted vegetables and an onion and sausage hash decorated their table that night and they ate until they couldn't anymore. The wife couldn't help her joyous mood when the plates had been cleared. The butcher remarked about an odd taste to the meat, but dismissed it as it being close to the brink.

The other employees grew to like the wife, and they stopped quitting. The butcher thought it was because they finally valued his bride as a hard worker, but she knew the truth. The meat hidden in the back of the freezer wasn't an afterthought, and she hadn't meant for it to be eaten but what a wonderful way to get rid of it, she thought. She was going to sell it to the curmudgeon Mr. Hannigan when he came in for his steaks, but it was so much better to get rid of it herself.

Two days after her husband made the grand feast, police showed up at the butcher's door. They asked about a string of employees who had gone missing within the month. The butcher of course explained how they had teased his wife when he hired her and quit because it wasn't some bad joke. Only the ones who valued his wife had stayed. When the wife was questioned, she told a different story.

She gave her sob story about the employees harassing her, but said they only did so because her husband was a tyrant to them and wanted them gone. They had made a pact that she overheard about them going to hurt her husband, or worse, so she told him. She didn't know her husband had killed those poor boys, she thought he just fired them. And then, she pulled the last ace out of her hat. She said he had brought home meat that hadn't sold at the shop but that looked fresh as fresh could be, and she would know since she works with fresh meat every day.

The wife watched with glee as the police raided their house, searching. They found the rib bones in the trash, and forensics linked them to one of the missing employees. Horrified that this man ate his victim, the police arrested him. He screamed his innocence until the day they gassed him. The wife got her wish; she got revenge on her worthless husband, revenge on the employees who hurt her, and she now owns the butcher shop.

As soon as the story cooled down, the wife took the bones and pieces of the other employees out of the trap door she installed in the freezer floor. They hadn't started rotting properly, so there was no odor to alert police. And no one noticed dried blood because look where she worked. It had been the perfect ruse, and no one suspected a thing in the end. Well, her eldest son had questioned her story. He had been curious, she didn't really think he knew anything, but she still pulled his head from the freezer. Can never be too careful, right?