Murder By Roald Dahl

Author Roald Dahl wrote this dark humored story about a married couple in the 1950s, Mary and Patrick Maloney. This story begins with Mary waiting for her police officer husband, Patrick, to getting home then ends with Mary killing Patrick and getting away with it because she fed the police the murder weapon. This ending is very unexpected considering at the beginning the six month pregnant Mary loved her husband more than anything.
This story opens with Mary calmly waiting for her husband to get home at the same time he does everyday. Dahl goes into detail about how much Mary loves her husband, for an example in the story it says “She loved the warmth that came out of him when they were alone together. She loved the shape of
his mouth, and she especially liked the way he didn’t complain about being tired.” (page 1.) As soon as Patrick arrives she hangs his coat and pours him a drink (page 1.) which shows how caring she is towards him and how devoted she is to him. She starts to notice he is acting a bit strange and begins to confuse her when he refuses to eat and doesn’t want her to cook, the story states “She moved uneasily in her chair. But you have to have supper. I can easily fix you something. I’d like to do that. We can have lamb. Anything you want. Everything is in the freezer.” (page 1.) When Patrick says the words “Forget it” on page one you can see how dismissive he is of her. It is then that Mary begins to get worried because she is told to sit down by him. The text states “She lowered herself into the chair, watching him all the time with large, puzzled eyes.” (page 1.) That is when Patrick states “And I know it’s a tough time to be telling you this, but there simply wasn’t any other way.
Of course, I’ll give you money and see that you’re taken care of. But there really shouldn’t be any problem. I hope not, in any case. It wouldn’t be very good for my job.” (page 2) Which the reader assumes that he is leaving her for an unknown reason that Dahl doesn’t specify. That also shows that Patrick cares more about how his job will be affected, than how the woman who is carrying his child feels about the fact that he’s leaving her. Then the reader comes to the conclusion that Mary is in denial when it states, “Her first instinct was not to believe any of it. She thought that perhaps she’d imagined the whole thing. Perhaps, if she acted as though she had not heard him, she would find out that none of it had happened.” (page 2.) It is then that Mary goes to the freezer to find something to cook and grabs a leg of lamb, when she enters the room again and Patrick says “I’ve already told you. Don’t make supper for me. I’m going out.” (page 2.) that she walks up to him and hits him over the head with a frozen leg of lamb. Which shows how angry she is about the entire situation with him based off the fact that she hit him over the head without a second thought. “The violence of the crash, the noise, the small table overturning, helped to bring her out of her shock. She came out slowly, feeling cold and surprised, and she stood for a few minutes, looking at the body, still holding the piece of meat tightly with both hands. All right, she told herself. So I’ve killed him.” (page 2.) This shows that the Mary was in shock and was slowly coming to the surreal reality that she just killed her husband. It’s then that Dahl writes “She began thinking very fast. As the wife of a detective, she knew what the punishment would be. It made no difference to her. In face, it would be a relief. On the other hand, what about the baby?” (page 2.) That kind of
shows that Mary would be relieved to receive the death penalty most likely out of guilt, but is worried about her baby’s fate in the situation. So Mary realized that she has to come up with a plan and the story states “The smile was rather peculiar. She tried again. “Hello Sam” she said brightly aloud. The voice sounded peculiar, too. “I want some potatoes, Sam. Yes, and perhaps and can of beans.” That was better.” (page 2.) so the reader realizes that she has cleverly come up with a way to create an alibi by having conversation with a man named Sam at the grocery store.
She goes to the store and her plan goes well which shows how smart she actually is, but now she has to make her story believable. “And now, she told herself as she hurried back home, she was returning to her husband and he was waiting for his supper. She had to cook it well and make it taste as good as possible, because the poor man was tired; and if she found anything unusual or terrible when she got home, then it would be a shock and she would have to react with grief and horror.” (page 3.) This shows her getting into character and how devoted she is to getting away with the murder of her husband. “She put the package on the table and went into the living room; and when she saw him lying there on the floor, it really was a shock. All the old love came back to her, and she ran over to him, knelt down beside him, and began to cry hard. It was easy. No acting necessary.” (page 3) This makes the reader actually question Mary’s mental state at this point while also realizing that she still has love for Patrick. She is successfully able to face people after killing him without showing a bit of emotion but as soon as she sees his body she is faced with grief and heartbreak. Which does make since because in the beginning of the story she is hopelessly devoted to him. It’s then that Mary calls the police, they are at her house soon enough, confirm the death, and then start investigating the murder.
After the police are there they ask Mary many questions until she offers them something to eat since it's such a late hour. “Would you do me a favor? Here you all are, all good friends of Patrick's, and you’re helping to catch the man who killed him. You must be very hungry by now because it’s long past your supper time, and I know that Patrick would never forgive me if I let you stay in the house without offering you anything to eat. Why don’t you eat up the lamb in the oven.” (page 4.) Of course the reader already knows that the leg of lamb is the weapon she used to kill her husband, which she previously put in the oven before preparing to go speak to Sam at the grocery store. Then after begging the officers to eat the lamb they eventually do, as they are eating she listens in on the men talking. “ “Whoever did it, he can’t carry a weapon that big around with him.” “Personally, I think the weapon is somewhere near the house.” “It’s probably right under our noses. What do you think Jack?” And in the other room, Mary Maloney began to laugh.” (page 4) The fact that Mary laughs makes the reader question her again, she was highly upset about what she had done on page three, but now is laughing at the fact that she knows she is going to get away with his death. It is also wondrous how clever that Mary actually is. From the beginning to end she changes dramatically, from going to a loving wife who is obviously completely in love with her husband to successfully getting away with his murder. This character's development over the course of this book leaves the reader questioning her mental state and overall how she came up with such a full proof plan to get away with murder.