https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/ca5c4cbc9700795342f8cc882c06ecf1.pdf ce8685a5723758465243e6e75e5de091 PDF Text Text THE PERFECT CRIME Jane Logan “Stanford, get your feet off the coffee table, and button your collar,” a shrill femine voice called. “Yes, Eunice,” the harried husband replied as he obeyed. Under his breath, however, he muttered, “just you wait.” Stanford, you see, was going to murder his wife; or as he liked to say to himself, “Do away with the old bag.” He intended to make this the crime of the Gentry—the perfect crime. In fact, it would be so perfect no one would ever know a crime had been committeed. That was his only regret—■ he would never win fame for his greatest achievement. But then, peace of mind was worth more than fame anyway. That very afternoon he initiated step one of O. P. C. (operation per­ fect crime). “Eunice,” he said, “how would you like to do some travelling—see the country. You’ve always talked about doing that. Money’s no object, you know. We can sell the house so we won’t be bothered with renters or care­ takers. Then we’ll just start driving—go where we want, stop when we like. We’ll see the country, then settle down wherever catches your fancy.” Eunice hardly took time to say “Yes” before she began making plans for the trip. She found hundreds of errands for Stanford, she made him carry heavy trunks and suitcases up and down stairs, and she talked con­ stantly in her falsetto voice—issuing commands, commenting, complaining, and giving more orders. While Stanford was working, he was planning. Soon he carried out step two of O. P. C. with Eunice’s full consent and knowledge. He trans­ ferred all of their money to a secret, numbered account in a Swiss bank. Only he and Eunice and his insurance company knew the account num­ ber. Then he reworded his will, so that whoever knew the account number would be his heir. At last the house was sold, the goodbyes said, and the mountain of luggage packed into a shiny new convertible, which Stanford had purchased especially for the trip. Off at last! Eunice back-seat drove, complained constantly, ate vora­ ciously, spent money like a corrupt politician, and mailed dozens of picture postcards to her friends. Stanford smiled throughout the continuous ordeal as he planned step three of O. P. C.—again with Eunice’s full knowledge and consent. “Do you realize, Eunice, the tremendous sum of money you and I’ve spent on life insurance? If only there were some way we could get that money now, while we’re still alive.” —29— �“Isn’t there any way we could get it?” Eunice asked. “Well, yes, but it’s not legal, and if we were caught doing it, we’d go to prison.” “What would we have to do? If we were smart, we wouldn’t get caught.” Eunice replied. “Somehow, we’d have to appear to have died, then when things cooled down, we could withdraw all our own money from the Swiss bank, plus that which the insurance company would deposit to our account if we died.” Under persistent questioning, Stanford revealed his plan. There was a little traveled scenic road on their itinerary. The road twisted down a nar­ row canyon beside a deep, swift river. Stanford recalled that he had once read an account of an auto accident in this canyon. The vehicle had missed a sharp curve and run off into the river. The swift current of the river had apparently torn the lone driver’s body out a window, and his body had never been found. Stanford had studied the situation carefully and decided there would soon be another accident in this canyon. The next afternoon he and Eunice checked into two motels in a large town a six hour’s drive from the canyon. At one motel they registered as the brown-haired couple, Mr. and Mrs. Stanford Wright. They were driving a red convertible with a Missouri license plate. At the second motel they registered as Mr. and Mrs. Henry Smyth. They now had very gray hair and wore sunglasses. They were driving a second-hand car with a temporary permit, which Stanford had just purchased under his new name. Then they went out and purchased new wardrobes and credentials to complete their disguises. Late the following afternoon they checked out of both motels and left—Stanford driving the convertible, Eunice following in the other car. Late that night they reached the appointed place in the canyon. It was the work of only a few minutes to transfer all the personal ef­ fects of the Wrights into the convertible and drive it to the very edge of the river, where the bank dropped straight off into the swirling black waters. Then, leaving the convertible running and in gear, Stanford got out, got into the other car, drove it up behind the convertible and gave it a helpful push. There was a loud splash, a gurgling noise, then only the rushing roar of the waters, Eunice and Stanford climbed into the second-hand car and drove off—now officially Florence and Henry Smyth. The next day they rented an isolated mountain cabin and awaited events. Two days later their efforts were rewarded. The following notice ap­ peared in the newspaper, which Stanford purchased at a gas station a few miles from the cabin. Hunnesville, Colo. (UPI)-—Authorities yesterday discovered a car in the Rio Peligro after an unidentified person notifed them of car tracks which appeared to go directly into the river. A —30— �search turned up a red, 1964 convertible about 100 yards below the point of entry. The swift current had badly damaged the ve­ hicle. No sign has been found of the occupants of the car, who must have been swept away by the swift current. The next day’s paper contained this terse notice. Hunnesville, Colo. (UPI)—The occupants of the car found two days ago in the Rio Peligro have been identified as Mr. and Mrs. Stanford M. Wright of Mankin, Missouri. They were identified through vehicle registration and the testimony of a motel owner here, who recalled that they had stayed at his place the night be­ fore the accident. Their bodies have not yet been found. Now Stanford settled down to step four of O. P. C.—this time without Eunice’s knowledge or consent. He spent two afternoons in the thick timber a quarter of a mile from the cabin, digging a hole. It measured six feet long, two feet wide, and five feet deep. On the second afternoon Stanford was working in the hole. It was nearly finished. His spade made a chunking sound on the hard earth, then there was a splat as he carefully piled the earth on a large canvas. Sud­ denly he heard a noise. He turned, straightened, and looked out of the hole. He found himself staring straight at a pair of woman’s ankles. You left the pick at the cabin, Stanford,” Eunice said as she brought the pointed instrument down onto his skull. BURDEN Sheala Dunn It was a cold day, a dark day for doing many things, but certainly not the kind of a day to spend taking care of a two year old. The girl sat star­ ing out the window as these, and other thoughts, mesmerized her mind. Children were such a waste of time, always wanting something and jabbering to no useful end. There were so many other things more important and in­ teresting. Her self-inflicted depression was interrupted. “Sissy!” called a sleepy voice from the other end of the house. He was awake. Another day of dressing and undressing, cleaning up messes, reading stupid stories and answering endless nonsense questions. “Hi! Get up?” asked the cheerful, cherub-like mouth of the flaxen­ haired child. His dark eyes glowed with life as the girl stood expressionless before him. “Get-up?” he said again, patiently waiting for a sign of approval from his part-time mother. “Well, get up!” she said impatiently, wishing that there were some way to keep him in bed the rest of the afternoon. Mom would be home —31— � Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Print magazine story Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "The Perfect Crime" Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/</a> The Casper College Archives has archived this story to encourage the use of its Expression Literary Arts Magazines for digital humanities and other related educational uses. Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1964 Description An account of the resource Story published by Jane Logan in the fall 1964 Casper College Expression magazine. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jane Logan Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. 1964 Fall. Expression Literary and Arts Magazine, CCA 04.ii.c.2022.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA_04.ii.c.01_Expression1964_Fall_Logan Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Extent The size or duration of the resource. 3 pages