The main characters in this story are the Maloney couple, known as Mary and Patrick Maloney. She is described as the typical housewife, she is inteligent and bright. Her home is clean and she organizes it well. She loves her husband and she is happy as she is with child.Her husband is a police officer, a senior. It looks like he is a police officer long time. Their home is warm and clean. Thursdays,they usually go out for dinner and before it he has a drink.
First person who we meet is Mary. She is sitting in their living room, sewing something, probably for her coming baby. She is described as beautiful, soft skin and lips and dark and large eyes, patiently waiting for her love whom is husband Patrick.
He comes home from work at the regular time of 10 minutes to five, gives his coat to Mary, enters the living room and gets the drink she prepared him. She knows that his work makes him exhaustive and therefor she gives him a little of the drink, does not ask anything and waits until the drink gives him some strength back. So the couple sits and drinks in silence.
She offers to prepare a snack but Patrick declines all her offers of food.
Patrick confronts Mary, tells her to sit down as he got something to tell her. And makes a speech. For reasons which Dahl does not make explicit, Patrick has decided to leave his pregnant wife.Mary goes into shock. She goes retrieve something from freezer to prepare dinner. As she comes back, she sees Patrick standing near the window telling her not to prepare dinner as he goes out tonight. She comes up with the frozen lamb leg and without a thought she hit him into the back of his head with that leg. Patrick falls down dead.
There was no doubt she had killed him. She plots her alibi, with clear mind and goes to buy vegetables, and come home, 'realizing' the 'unreal' murder of her husband. And for the first time she actually realizes that she misses him.
After the investigation, the