The Tell-Tale Wife: an outline
Frank is a man just trying to make ends meet. He has a steady job working construction, which pays just enough to cover his mortgage and his wife's expensive tastes. But she wants more. Joan won't let her husband forget the money she gave him to invest. The money he blew on a bad investment. When Joan calls Frank's boss to ask for a raise on his behalf, that's the final straw.
Frank comes home from work to find Joan preparing to take a bath. They argue, and he loses his temper. Overcome with rage, Frank drowns his wife in the bathtub.
At first, Frank is shocked and distraught, but he pulls himself together. He takes Joan downstairs, stashes her in the trunk of his car, and returns to the master bathroom. After cleaning up the scene, he reaches into the tub to let the water out. But there, beneath the suds, is a body.
As the water recedes, Frank is horrified to see his wife's corpse in the tub. His wife, whom he killed and carefully placed in the car trunk.
He rushes downstairs to check. She's no longer in the car.
So he carries her down again. Puts her and a trashcan of evidence into the trunk. Then drives to the lake.
Once her naked body has been thrown into the water, Frank continues on to a liquor store. He buys himself a bottle. In the parking lot, he sees a dumpster, where he disposes of the trashcan full of incriminating odds and ends.
His task complete, Frank returns home and walks into the kitchen. Joan stands propped against the wall. Her weight shifts and she falls at his feet, still dead.
Now Frank starts to lose it. He takes a draught of alcohol. He'll just have to make sure she stays gone this time.
Back at the lake, Joan now has cinder blocks tied to her limbs. Frank manages to dump her off an embankment into the water. He manically bids her goodbye.
Driving home again, Frank is pulled over for speeding. Terrific. As the policeman approaches the vehicle, Frank glances in the rearview mirror. His tell-tale wife stares at him sightlessly from the back seat. Frank can no longer keep the murder a secret.
END