Alice was tired. The baby had been born a couple of weeks earlier and Alice had not been sleeping well since the birth. Frank had not been much of a help so the burden had been on Alice, as usual. Alice loved Frank, but his time and energy were mostly spent trying to climb the ladder at work so Alice held down the fort pretty much. It was late afternoon and she had been dozing on the couch, little Mae strapped to her chest in a baby sling. The baby would be up soon and ready for feeding. Alice was not sure when Frank would be home from work. She needed to start thinking about preparing dinner, but she was not sure what he might want, nor what was in the house. It seemed like a long time since she had seen him. She would be glad when he got home.
She went into the kitchen and started looking through the cabinets and refrigerator, trying to get a sense of what was available to cook for their evening meal. Soon, she could hear Mae beginning to cry for her dinner and sat down to try to breastfeed the small baby. The pregnancy had been a bit trying at times, a lot of morning sickness, that sort of thing. However, Mae had been healthy in the womb making herself known with a lot of movement and kicking. When delivery time came there had been a bit of a scare when it was discovered that the little girl was half-breech. They had eventually been able to turn the child and deliver her successfully, but it had caused a long, strenuous labor for Alice. Maybe she could throw together some pasta.
Sergeant Al Manwitz had been on the job for about fifteen years. He was a good cop could have been a detective by now if he wanted to. But he was one of those guys that really liked being on the streets, busting street criminals, getting to know the people in the neighborhood. So, he’d made sergeant and taken over a watch. He had eight cars working for him on patrol and was able to help train and guide younger officers. He checked his watch and realized it was dinner time. He tended to eat in the early evening when he was on patrol so that when his junior patrolmen went to dinner he could help back up the officers that were still patrolling. He pulled into Big Tim’s BBQ, got out of the car and headed in for some pig.
Alice suddenly realized that the house was completely dark. That had been happening a lot lately, little blackouts, lost time. She attributed the spells to her being lost in thought, trying to negotiate the new complexities of running the house and taking care of Mae. Although the baby had been crying on and off since Alice had awoken earlier on the couch, Alice couldn’t get her to eat anything and was starting to worry. She hadn’t found much in the kitchen for dinner. She could not remember the last time she had gone grocery shopping. Frank still wasn’t home. Where was he? It must have been close to seven o’clock by then. She decided that she would walk to the small market on the other side of the park and pick up a few things. Mae would enjoy the fresh air. As she left the house it was dark and a blustery wind was whipping up. As she reached the edge of the park the first raindrops were beginning to fall.
Al returned to his cruiser, checked in via the radio and pulled out of Tim’s parking lot onto the road. It had been a pretty quiet night so far, but it was early. It was not long before the radio was abuzz with calls for domestic disturbances, a bar fight, and a robbery at a liquor store. At eight thirty somebody called in a report of a body lying in Hawthorne Park. “That’s just great” thought Manwitz to himself. Hawthorn park was in the middle of a residential section of his watch area. It was a large square parcel of land that feature thick trees, a small pond, and a twenty foot deep ravine that ran across one end. The body had been sighted near the ravine. It was not going to be a fun call. It was now pouring rain with almost gale force winds and there was no public lighting near that section of the park. Residents had been after the city council for years to light the park and surrounding areas, but there never seemed to be money in the budget for the improvements. Manwitz acknowledged the call and requested several of his officers to back him up.
Arriving at the park, Manwitz met his junior officers and they proceeded, wearing their rain slickers and brandishing their huge Maglites, to the end of the ravine. Once there, they started moving along the ravine searching for a body. It was not long before they found not one, but two bodies. Alice and little Mae. Manwitz turned the woman over on her back and shined his light on the baby to see if the infant was breathing. What he saw sent chills running down his spine. The baby was clearly dead, and had been for an extended period of time. Its little body was beginning to putrefy and Manwitz could smell the stench of death coming off of it, despite the wind and rain. The woman had a bloody contusion on her forehead. They found some large rocks and tree limbs near her feet. She had apparently fallen and hit her head.
The coroner and an ambulance arrived on the scene and the baby was placed in a body bag and taken for autopsy. The woman was given first aid and smelling salts. Upon regaining consciousness Alice cried out for her baby.
“Where is my baby. Mae! What have you done with her?!” she demanded of Manwitz
“Calm down miss, Just calm down! You have hurt yourself. That’s better. Now what is your name?” he asked
“Alice Bittman” she replied
“Okay Alice and your baby’s name?”
“Mae. Where IS she. Where’s my baby? She’ll need to eat soon!” she shouted
“We’ll talk about Mae a little later. Now Alice, what are you doing out here on a night like this?”
“I was going to the market over on Westphal, but it was dark and raining and I must have fallen.”
“Allright Alice. Now, where do you live?” asked Manwitz
“I live back there on Holland….3487 Holland St.” she said
“Good, good. Now Alice, is there anyone we can call for you?” he asked
“Yes you can call my husband, Frank. I think he’s at work 475-7735.”
“Okay. Tell you what Alice. We’re going to take you to the hospital and have you checked out, and meanwhile we’ll get in touch with Frank.”
As the EMTs loaded her into the ambulance, Al pulled aside his most experienced officer. “Go with the ambulance. Tell the Doctors to hold her. They should do a full checkup including a drug screen and a psych eval. I’ll be in touch or come by the hospital once we’ve found the husband.”
After seeing the ambulance and coroner off from the scene, Manwitz phoned the number Alice had given him. No answer. He would have to track down the company and officers and call them either at home later or the next day. Meanwhile, he would go to the woman’s house and see if there was anything of interest. Manwitz entered the darkened house and was immediately assaulted with the odor of a rotting corpse. It was a smell he had experienced many times over the years as a police officer. He made his way through the disheveled house slowly, eventually reaching a closed bedroom door. He knew what was coming when he opened the door and wasn’t looking forward to it, the faint taste of Tim’s pulled pork tickling the back of his throat. The flung open the door and was nearly floored at the increased level of stench. There on the bed was the body of a man, early thirties, lying on his back, with a large butcher knife protruding from his chest. He had been stabbed several times. Due to the dried blood and the level of decomposition, Manwitz knew that the man had been dead for at least a week, perhaps longer. He put in the call for the coroner and the crime unit. By three the scene was processed, the body in the morgue, and Manwitz, having locked and sealed the house, was heading in to start the paperwork.
The next evening the autopsy results were available. The baby had been strangled to death at least twelve days earlier. The man was identified as Alice’s husband, Frank Bittman. He had been stabbed eight times around the same time the baby was killed. Alice was either putting on a hell of an act or was seriously fucked up, Al did not know which. The doctors would evaluate her and try to find out what had happened.
Six months later, Alice Bittman stood before a judge and was sentenced to life in a mental institution for her actions. After the hour or so of legal discussion between the judge, Alice’s lawyer and the prosecutor, the judge pronounced her sentence and asked Alice if she had anything to say. After calmly glancing around the courtroom and back at the judge she said “Will Frank and Mae be able to come visit me?”
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