Delgaudio Lucila

Nightmare in Yellow – Guest’s police statement

I’ve known them since they moved into this house; I’ve been their neighbor for almost twenty years.

Although I didn’t know the man that much, I had a great relationship with his wife. I was at the

party that night because she invited me, and she entrusted me with the keys.

I hadn’t noticed anything odd about him before. What is more, I’d never seen them arguing nor even

shouting at each other, so they looked like a normal couple so far. I’m not so sure if they had any money

problems; that could be the reason why he tried to kill her but still I don’t think anything justifies what he did.

As I was in charge of the party until she came home, I got there at 7:30 to welcome all the

guests. We knew the couple was arriving some time around nine, so by 8:40 we had everything ready. A

few minutes later, we heard the car parking outside, so we turned off the lights and remained in

silence.

We heard a dull thud before he opened the door, but we didn’t pay much attention to it. He finally

entered and we shouted “Surprise!”, but it wasn’t until our eyes got accustomed to the yellow light that

filled the room that we saw what he had done, and terror seized us all.

We saw him holding the unconscious woman in his arms and grabbing a crowbar with his hand. As soon

as he saw us he threw the iron bar away and left the woman on the floor. He froze, and his hands

started to shake. It looked as if he wanted to run but he couldn’t move at all. I was so shocked I don’t

even remember how on earth we managed to keep him calm and inside the house until the police arrived.

I still cannot overcome that horrible sensation of fear and bewilderment I felt that night, but fortunately,

after a few attempts of the woman’s friends to wake her up she regained consciousness.