2137. Custody

He was like that – Bruno. He knew that Coralie had all sorts of allergies. She was asthmatic and would react particularly to flower pollen. That’s why every time Bruno visited he would bring her a bunch of lilies. The pollen was atrocious.

Of course, Coralie had to pretend to be pleased, but the minute Bruno left she would take the lilies outside and put them on the back lawn. By then it was too late. The allergy was about to run its course for several days.

Bruno visited once every two weeks to pick up their daughter, Melinda. She would go to Bruno’s every second weekend. With Melinda gone, Coralie had asthma to keep her company.

Bruno was a lawyer. He knew the ins and outs of things. Coralie knew, because Bruno had told her, that if she made a fuss about the flowers he’d make a case that she was too ill to care for Melinda. So that’s why Coralie tried to look pleased.

Anyway, Bruno didn’t have to worry about custody too much; the next time he returned Melinda home Coralie had had an asthma attack and was dead.