The strange little man watched as the two women filled in the sizeable hole they had dug earlier on in the night. As they finished, he turned and crept away.
Vicky Sponge wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve. So, that was that. She still wasn’t sure if her sister had talked her into doing the right thing, but one thing was sure: after twenty-five years of marriage, she hated James. In fact, she bristled whenever she met anybody named James. She was glad to be rid of him. She was sure her sister was glad to be rid of Armitage, too.
Armitage Spiker. World-renowned entrepreneur with a ruthless streak a mile wide. Well, he was. Now he was buried under several feet of soil with his sister-in-law’s husband. Mind you, as far as the rest of the world was concerned the two were on a round-the-world boating expedition and would eventually be declared, tragically, lost at sea.
The strange little man had seen it all, though. He didn’t think Louisa had talked Vicky into doing the right thing at all, no matter how odious and unpleasant Armitage and James might have been.
The next day, in the middle of the afternoon, there was a knock on the front door. Vicky answered it, to be greeted by a policewoman and a very small boy who looked like he’d been crying.
“Mrs Spiker?”
“No… that’s my sister. I’m Vicky Sponge.”
“Ah. Well, I’ll need to talk to you, too. I’m afraid I have some very bad news. I understand you’ve never met, but this is James.”
Vicky tensed inwardly. Was this some kind of a sick joke?
The police officer continued. “He’s your nephew”. She leaned forward and lowered her voice, “I’m very sorry to have to tell you this, but his parents — your other sister and her husband — were killed in a terrible accident today. I’m afraid to say… they were eaten by a rhinoceros which had escaped from London Zoo and had embarked on a rampage through the streets of the city.”
Vicky Sponge was stunned. She hadn’t spoken to her other sister for a very long time, let alone knew she’d had a child. “Spiker!” she yelled, “Spiker! Get down here!”.
Louisa Spiker came running down the stairs towards the front door. “What on earth is the matter?!”
“Spiker, this is James — he’s our nephew. James… hello. I’m your Aunt Sponge.”
“And I’m your Aunt Spiker.”
A little way down the road, a strange little man was watching with interest.
