Judge It By Its Cover

Judge It by Its Cover

Alexandra Harlem walked down the street, hands tucked in her overcoat. She looked around, her breath rising in front of her face. There were almost always people on the street, even this late at night, but that night there was no one but Alex.
Stepping off the curb, she looked into the alleyway. There was a dark figure there. Alex thought it looked like the figure was hiding. As she continued down the road she occasionally heard footsteps that were not her own. She turned around but every time she did no one was there. Occasionally, a car passed by, but none of them waved. Alex shivered and continued down the road.
Still a long way from her apartment, the footsteps seemed to be getting closer. She was getting a little skittish, and the night was only getting darker and colder. The figure made a bad attempt at hiding but Alex saw him. He dove behind the garbage can but did it too late. Searching her pocket for her phone she realized she had left it at her session. If she walked faster, so did the footsteps behind her.
Soon, Alex was in a sprint and she could see her apartment. Her heart was beating, her ribs were aching, and she was running out of breath. The person behind her was gaining. When she reached the door, she realized her key wasn’t out. She fumbled in her purse and knew she was finished.
Once the door was open she ran into the building so fast, she forgot to close it. She ran up the three flights of stairs, opened her apartment, ran in, and locked the door.
Catching her breath on her bed she heard the fire escape clank. It was as if someone was climbing it Alex didn’t think anything of it. Teenagers played on it all the time at night. Then her window busted in. The man, who happened to be her ex-husband, jumped in the window and shot Alex. He set it up as a suicide.

The next day, when the cops came they figured it was a suicide. Two officers had an argument about it.
“She had a record of depression. Her session for it was ended in a fight between her and her councilor. It all fits!” One officer said.
“That is not what happened,” the other officer replied.
“And how do you know that?”
“Look you judge it by its cover, but it’s not what happened.” The officer said, and then walked out of the room.