Florence
The Justified, Chapter 4
August 20th, 2025 / µ
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Certain long-standing institutions, agencies, and public offices are mentioned, but the characters are entirely imaginary. The opinions expressed are those of the characters and should not be confused with those of the author.
Image © Haute Stock
Listen to this story.
A Few Months Later
Florence was angry, fuming with rage that the woman had not killed herself or been arrested, while Florence was still her neighbor.
Yes, it was all over now because Florence and her husband had sold the house and moved away. She wasn’t part of the team anymore, and so, she would not get any of the pretty things she wanted.
And all those new friends of hers were probably in some other house in the neighborhood, because the investigation always had to be conducted from a neighboring house in case the mentally ill woman went out, so they could enter her home without risk, or if she tried to kill someone in the neighborhood, and they had to step in quickly to save the person.
The two top investigators had shown Florence so much interest and respect during the months they had occupied a room in her house so they could investigate the insane woman across the street. They were very important men, they had told her, and they were investigating this woman because she had threatened to kill one of them, and when they had searched her home, they had realized that there might be more to it than that.
Florence understood this, and she was proud that she could do her part and help these very important investigators and their team with this very important task:
Collect evidence against this woman to have her arrested!
Florence had been so angry when these two very important investigators and their friends and family played some recordings of the things the mentally ill woman said: jokes about public servants, criticizing their work, and complaining about their pay level and pensions. To think that they had lived next to such a criminal bitch all these years!
The investigators told her all these recordings were evidence against the woman that they could use in court alongside the photos. Florence didn’t really understand how private pictures of the mentally ill woman could be evidence. Still, these were all very important people who knew a prosecutor and talked about the constitution, so they knew better, she was sure.
One of the very important investigators had explained it was like stopping Hitler at Munich. Florence wasn’t quite sure what that meant. But she didn’t want to appear stupid, so she just nodded.
Florence had loved having these two very important investigators in her home. Okay, they both left a stench behind because they didn’t flush the toilet, and the smell in the room in the morning was awful. But they were dedicated and very important investigators, and she believed it was a matter of being eco-friendly, a sentiment she admired greatly – we all have to chip in to save the planet.
Everyone on the team had allowed her to participate in everything during those months. The team! She had been so proud to be part of a very important investigative team. She was also important, even if she was never to say a word to anyone, because it was a secret investigation, a matter of national security!
So many important people became her friends during those months, including the very important people from social services, top investigators from the police force, and a famous scientist with a particular interest in women with mental disorders. The scientist explained that with his specific method, he could prove these mental disorders to a degree where the team could arrest the criminal women. The scientist, too, showed her attention and respect, and he flushed the toilet.
Florence had loved the attention. But most of all, she had loved the company of someone other than her husband. Florence would look at him sometimes, his always angry and mean disposition, constantly unsatisfied, always criticizing, always finding something wrong with anything and everything she did, and wonder:
How did I fall in love with that?
Her husband had also been nicer to her when they were both part of the very important investigation. For once, they had had a shared interest, and their sex life had returned to normal because there were always other people in the house. Now they were all gone, and he grew meaner and fatter by the minute.
Her husband had never been much to look at, and he had not been the brightest either, and now he was fat, balding, and addicted to porn. He didn’t know that Florence knew, but she did – Asian schoolgirl porn. It was sickening, and it had the depressing consequence that their sex life had become increasingly humiliating for her.
Asian schoolgirl porn and a prescription for Viagra had humiliated Florence more and caused her more misery than the bitch across the street, but getting rid of her husband would have serious financial consequences, and she would be alone; getting rid of that bitch would have had benefits. And Florence had been looking forward to those benefits.
Due to the sensitive nature of these highly confidential investigations, Florence and her husband would not be compensated for allowing the very important investigators to use their home for this very important investigation, they had been told.
Florence and her husband had felt that it was unfair until they were told they could file a lawsuit against the mentally ill woman and get money because the investigation would prove that the woman had harassed Florence and her family for years. And Florence had been told she would also be allowed to take whatever she wanted in the woman’s home once the woman had been arrested or had killed herself, as these mentally ill women often did.
During the first couple of weeks of the investigation, Florence noticed that the mentally ill woman had many fine things, leading her to believe they had made a good deal. She could take whatever she wanted when the house stood empty. If the mentally ill woman killed herself, she might not be able to sue her, but she would still get all those pretty things, and maybe there would be money in the house.
But then her husband put the house up for sale. Florence did not know what had happened, but he had told the investigative team that they had to leave because he was selling the house. They had never discussed selling their home before, but one month later, it was sold, and they now lived in a rented house far away.
And they were all gone – the investigators, the scientist, everyone. Florence was no longer part of the very important investigative team; no one from the team came around, and no one called her.
The only phone call Florence received after she and her husband had moved away was when a very angry voice on the other end told her to keep her mouth shut! And her husband was even meaner now.
@Annette My Grandjean Rønne. All rights reserved.
Thanks for reading! I hope you found it worth your time! Until next time, remember to get your facts straight, and that whatever good times you have won’t come back as bad times!
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This post was first published on May 1st, 2024. I repost it here with a few changes.