Mr. Murder

in the photograph.
        Charlotte is pretty, and her smile is sweet. However, if he is going to have trouble with either of his children, it will be with this one.
        He will not tolerate disorder in his house. Everything must be perfect.
        Neat and clean and happy.
        In lonely hotel rooms in strange cities, awake in the darkness, he has ached with need and has not understood what would satisfy his longing.
        Now he knows that being Martin Stillwater-father to these children, husband to this wife-is the destiny that will fill the terrible void and at last bring him contentment. He is grateful to whatever power has led him here, and he is determined to fulfill his responsibilities to his wife, his children, and society. He wants an ideal family l those he has seen in certain favorite movies, wants to be kind like Jimmy Stewart in It's a Wonderful life and wise like Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird and revered like both of them, and he will do whatever is necessary to ensure a loving, harmonious, and orderly home.
        He has seen The Bad Seed, too, and he knows that some children can destroy a home and all hope of harmony because they are seething with the potential for evil. Charlotte's slovenly habits and strange menagerie strongly indicate that she is capable of disobedience and possibly violence.
        When snakes appear in movies, they are always symbols of evil, dangerous to the innocent, therefore, the snake in the terrarium is chilling proof of this child's corruption and her need for guidance.
        She keeps other reptiles as well, a couple of rodents, and an ugly black beetle in a glass jar-all of which the movies have taught him to associate with the powers of darkness.
        He studies the photograph again, marveling at how innocent Charlotte looks.
        But remember the girl in The Bad Seed. She appeared to be an angel yet was thoroughly evil.
        Being Martin Stillwater may not prove as easy as he had first thought.
        Charlotte might be a real handful.
        Fortunately, he has seen Lean on Me in which Morgan Freeman is a high school principal bringing order to a school overwhelmed by anarchy, and he has seen The Principal starring Jim Belushi, so he knows that even bad kids really want discipline. They will respond properly if adults have the guts to insist upon rules of behavior.
        If Charlotte is disobedient and stubborn, he will punish her until she learns to be a good little girl. He will not fail her. At first she will hate him for denying her privileges, for confining her to her room, for hurting her if that becomes necessary, but in time she will see that he has her best interests at heart, and she will learn to love him and understand how wise he is.
        In fact he can visualize the triumphant moment when, after so much struggle, her rehabilitation is ensured. Her realization that she has been wrong and that he has been a good father will culminate in a touching scene. They will both cry. She will throw herself in his arms, remorseful and ashamed. He will hug her very tightly and tell her it's all right, all right, don't cry. She will say, "Oh, Daddy," in a tremulous voice, and cling fiercely to him, and thereafter everything will be perfect between them.
        He yearns for that sweet triumph. He can even hear the soaring and emotional music that will accompany it.
        He turns away from Charlotte's side of the room, goes to his younger daughter's neat bed.
        Emily. The pixie. She will never give him any trouble. She is the good daughter.
        He will hold her on his lap and read to her from storybooks. He will take her to the zoo, and her little hand will be lost in his.
        He will buy her popcorn at the movies, and they will sit side by side in the darkness, laughing at the latest Disney animated feature.
        Her big dark eyes will adore him.
        Sweet Emily. Dear Emily.
        Almost reverently, he pulls back the chenille bedspread. The blanket.
        The top sheet. He stares at the bottom sheet on which she slept last night, and the pillows on which her delicate head rested.
        His heart swells with affection, tenderness.
        He puts one hand against the sheet, slides it back and forth, back and forth, feeling the fabric on which her young body has so recently lain.
        Every night he will tuck her into bed. She will press her small mouth to his cheek,