I Apologize In Advance

          No one liked Bertram Finch. He was a wiry old man with wisps of grey hair sticking up all around his bald plate. Hunched over, he walked with an wooden cane which he would shake at all dogs and small children who happened to come too near.
             However ugly his outward appearance, it was nothing compared to his inward appearance. Bertram's sour puss was outmatched by his sour attitude. Scowling at every neighbor, yelling at passersbys from his front porch, he spread a circle of gloom all around him. His most repugnant feature, however, was his treatment of his home health care worker Debbie. She came every morning like clockwork to check his heart arrhythmia and give him his medicine. She also acted as a chauffeur of sorts, hauling him around town whenever he had errands to run. She was a quiet woman, kind and soft spoken. The neighbors often wondered how she stood the treatment she received at the hands of the old man. Bertram took a fiendish delight in making her job as horrendous as possible. He would always do the opposite of whatever it was she asked him to do, would make rude noises and spit in her face whenever possible, but he took the most joy out of mocking her every word.
           Debbie would say "Mr. Bertram, it's time for your heart medicine." and Bertram would mimic back in a nasty voice "Mr. Bertram, it's time for your heart medicine." He would then make fun of the sound of her voice, the way she spoke, her grammar. Any and every way he could humiliate her, he did.

One morning, the neighbors were awoken by the sound of sirens. They pulled back the curtains to see police cruisers parked in front of Bertram's house. As they watched, their mouths dropped open as Debbie was led in handcuffs out of the house and placed in the back of a police car. One of the neighbors, Mr. Duff, ran out to the Sergeant and begged to know what was going on. Why had they arrested Debbie? What had happened?
     Sergeant Foster, a ten year veteran of the force, explained the situation to Mr. Duff. They had received a call from Debbie not an hour ago, asking for police assistance. When the police arrived, they found Debbie standing over Bertram's dead body, a bloody butcher knife at her feet. She immediately confessed to the crime and they arrested her for first degree murder. Mr. Duff was in shock.
       "I can't believe it Sergeant. She was such a sweet soul, the last person I would have thought capable of a murder."
           Sergeant Foster scratched his face and replied with a sigh, "Well, Mr. Duff, to tell you the truth. I'm not shocked. We all knew how Bertram treated her. After all these years, I figured sooner or later, she would have to kill the mocking Bert."