The Garden of Grace

Grace wriggled and bucked trying to free herself, but Jacob rode her like a rodeo cowboy, his bulk too much for her to toss off.

"Want to know what I see when I look in your eyes?"

Grace whimpered, tearfully repeating her earlier words. "You're Jake, Jake Morissey and Jake is gentle and kind. Jake loves me. You're not Jacob."

"I see a cancerous tumour. And what do we do with malignant tumours?"

Like a broken record, Grace sobbed, "You're Jake, Jake Morissey and you love me."

"We cut them out. That's what we do."

With those words, Jacob pierced the cancer's lying eyes.

******

JACOB WHISTLED AS he mixed Holborn's ashes with the blood and bone fertiliser. The daffodils were going to love the feed they were about to receive. Same as the cottage garden had loved Grace's. Thinking of Grace's cottage garden reminded Jacob he needed to move the sprinkler.

Mentally, he checked off his to-do list:

Delete Grace's phone messages - check.

Drive Lexus back to Sydney wearing his Grace-disguise - check.

Sneak into the Sydney apartment and leave the signed divorce papers - check.

Dispose of Grace's and Holborn's phones along with disguise - check.

Use second disguise to catch train back - check

Dispose of second disguise - check.

Vacuum the interior of the kilns - check.

Wash interior of kilns with bleach - check.

Clean the kiln chimneys - check.

Make some crockery to fire in the kilns, incorporate in artworks - check.

Throw grass seed around the kill zones, fertilise and water - check.

Clean the house from top to bottom - check.

Shower, shave, and cut hair - check.

Put in another appearance in town looking normal and healthy - check.

******

IT TOOK THE police three weeks before they called in with questions about his wife and Shelby Holborn's disappearance. Other than confirming their affair, Jacob wasn't able to help them.

A week later they returned with a warrant. They even went so far as to test small random samples from the completed canvases in case Jacob had mixed blood with the paint. Clearly, they knew nothing about paint—blood would eventually deteriorate and muddy the colours.

So, despite their best efforts they found nothing. It remains an open case.

******

EPILOGUE

BART WAS THRILLED with the paintings for Jacob's next show, saying they were his best yet. He waxed lyrical about Jacob's vibrant use of colour and the incorporation of ceramic shards giving the canvases an almost 3D appeal. He told Jacob he would use words like kaleidoscope and quasi-mosaic in the show catalogue blurb.

He didn't say it in so many words, but he let Jacob know his recent notoriety wouldn't hurt his sales. He even went so far as to predict a sell-out show that would top the one million mark.

Jacob was just happy to have 'it' back.

Oh, and the daffodils did love their Holborn fertiliser.

******

END OF SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF

Now you can go back to your every day life where truth may well be stranger than fiction.