Mr. Pharger Takes A Walk
Mr. Pharger Takes A Walk
It is a lovely day for a stroll along the high cliffs above the Barren Empty Ocean. The sun had already risen enough to burn away the heavy laden moisture of morning occupying the thick wild grass. The cobblestone path just outside the mansion is bone dry at this hour, which is surprising. The dew evaporated earlier than usual on this bright and brilliant morn. Tea and biscuits will be waiting anyway for the ugly new owner of the estate, Mr. Pharger, who should be returning any moment from his walk.
Mr. Pharger or just plain Pharg; his friends call him Johnny. He has no friends so Pharg it is and he is a well established criminal in the region, who just inherited the property and all of the surrounding land that stretches to the border of the near by village in one direction and up to and including the narrow path that leads to the cliff edge just to the south of everything. Some times good things happen to bad people.
He was just released from an eight month stay in the village jail and had to pay an $8,500.00 fine for his crimes. Pharg appears to have an unusual interest in frogs. He enjoyed pulling off the left front legs and rear left legs of the small creatures to see if they would hop or move around in circles. They did not. They died. This is where his troubles began. The laws in this region are very strict and fully enforced when it comes to the mistreatment of all animals. That would include protecting quasi aquatic amphibious or small reptilian animals as well. Word of the murders of the frogs drew the attention of the local constables almost immediately. They quickly came, almost instantly, to Pharg's mansion door and ushered him off for questioning without haste.
The excuses offered up by the arrested man were feeble at best. He said that he simply took the frogs by their front and rear legs to swing them about to cool them off, being that he himself would have appreciated the same gentle treatment had the offer been extended to him. He reminded the interrogators that it was a warm and humid day. In the process of his trying to comfort the frogs the legs just came off. They fell off their bodies suddenly for no reason. They had weak limbs according to him. They were defective frogs by all accounts he said.
After serving his time Pharger kept a low profile for a while.
A seventy year old man servant, who will remain nameless since we do not know his name, keeps his masters breakfast warm and ready on an iron table under the security of a clean white cloth cover. He stands guard just outside the stone house entrance by the cobblestone path. It is a simple task, one that he enjoys and gets paid for.
Everyone from the village without exception, had beautiful white teeth, which they proudly displayed given any chance, every day for that matter, in the form of a smile as you might guess. Pharg on the other hand had no teeth, not a single one in his head and having leathery wrinkly flesh made him instantly unlikable but clearly recognizable by the community at large.
Strange things began to happen at the Pharger mansion, bad things, very bad things. Scores of little old ladies began to disappear from the community. Pharg had been returning later than usual from his morning walks along the cliff in recent times alone. His servant made no comments about that or the fact that different women had been keeping company with the master on those occasions either.
One moment his boss would be strolling along the cliff, arm in arm with a beautifully clothed old lady and the next moment poof! No more lady.
You would think the butler could see everything going on because the cliff edge is so close and clearly within his field of vision. The iron table and chair were set up close to the mansion entrance and mere steps away from the cliff edge. The servant was there faithfully every morning to serve his master breakfast, which always turned out to be breakfast for one.
Everything seemed right at first. A lady from the village would stay over one night only. The couple would go for a simple walk at day break. They seemed so very happy, going merrily along, arm in arm like two lovers taking in the morning air. It was always the same. Only one person returned. Pharg would always say, “Good morning Charles.” “The lady decided to leave early.” “Breakfast for one.”
He was a simple butler and not a police officer after all. He was not paid to be a detective.
It was June 1st. 8:13 am; an undercover police detective dressed in common clothes, hid behind an oak tree by the upper cliff face near the suspects mansion, clutching an expensive high powered camera, looking for evidence. He observed ten or more brightly colored female dressing gowns standing out, floating awkwardly, being pounded by agitated ocean waves on jagged rocks below. There was a bright yellow long gown, a powder blue one with a flower print, an orange pink stripped number, gray, blue and purple, all tumbling about down there in the tragic scenery of sea. Inside each gown were the remains of the newly unaware deceased.
Pharger was caught red handed this fine morning tossing an elderly woman off the cliff. At precisely 9:05 am the detective snapped his picture, caught him in the evil act, live on film. The zoom-in feature helped to capture the crime perfectly, permanently, forever.
Obviously the seasoned criminal would not go down without a fight. He explained to the law that the detective was trespassing on his property, that the film was fake. This is all one big mistake and misunderstanding. It was not me in the picture he would say but someone else or the shot was doctored up. When Pharg looked at the picture carefully though, he admitted it was clearly him without a doubt but he was in the act of saving the poor old woman, pulling her from certain doom, as his lady friend was frail and fragile and had slipped on a stone and she was not being pushed off as they suggested but resurrected from certain death. In the end he said that she became as slippery as a frog and escaped his grip. You be the judge. The rest is history as they walked him off to jail.
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