Janelle was angry. Her child was gone and the police weren't doing much to try to locate him. Even Steven was surprised by their nonchalant attitude and lack of enthusiasm, though he found it somewhat reassuring. For a while, he had been worried he would be asked to take a polygraph and grilled relentlessly. He was even more surprised that they didn't have many questions for Janelle and that she was never asked to take a polygraph either. The "missing" child got a brief mention in the news, and that was it. As far as Steven could tell, nobody cared any more than he did, and they probably figured the child was better off wherever he was, if he was still alive.
During the first week after the child went missing, Janelle begged and pleaded with the police to find him, but then she gave up, more or less resigned to the situation. It was suspected that she was drawn to the positive side of the situation—having a quieter house with less responsibility.
Yet, Janelle was still hormonal and angry. Angry at the way Deanne had treated her, though not so much Spencer, as she knew he was just following Deanne's lead. Thoughts of revenge consumed her night and day. Of course, she still hated Ramona too and wouldn't mind having a little alone time with both of them.
She waited a couple of months after the child was gone, partly to heal from her C-section and partly to avoid suspicion. Or at least she hoped so. She overheard Tom talking to Deanne on the phone and knew Deanne would be on vacation this week. Spencer still had to work and wouldn't be home to interfere.
When Steven was at work, Janelle hopped on her bike and headed for Deanne's neighborhood. Approaching the area from the direction she came from, she found it easier to go through the alley behind Deanne's house. That day, her timing couldn't have been more perfect. It wasn't Deanne she saw, though—it was Ramona. In some ways, Janelle hated Ramona even more, as she was much more verbally and emotionally abusive than Deanne had ever been.
Ramona's back was turned as she dumped a bag of trash into the community bin, so she didn't see Janelle approach. Janelle quickly rode up behind her and jumped off her bike. Just as Ramona turned around and spotted her, Janelle pushed her through the gate and back into Deanne's backyard.
Ramona instantly began screaming, causing Janelle to panic and propel her even faster toward the house. Glancing at the pool, however, she changed her mind, remembering that Ramona couldn't swim. The fact that it was winter and the water was very chilly only added to her decision—it would silence the wailing woman much faster.
Ramona struggled desperately against Janelle's iron grip. As Janelle steered her toward the pool and Ramona began to realize what was about to happen, terror was evident in her eyes. She started hurling threats amid her screams. "You'll never get away with this! You're gonna burn in Hell, you sick little glutton!"
Now Ramona was crying, knowing there wasn't a thing she could do to stop what was coming. As she thought of never seeing her loved ones again, she let out one last scream before Janelle pushed her into the deep end of the pool. Janelle expected her to flail and scream between gasps for air before going under, but instead, the woman sank to the bottom as if a weight pulled her down.
Hoping to hell no one heard anything, Janelle glanced toward the open back door of the house. She hated to leave Deanne untouched and wanted to make it look like a home invasion gone wrong, but she didn't want to leave her bike in the alley any longer either. She scrambled out of the yard, hopped on her bike, and pedaled away as fast as she could. Now, by legal standards, she was a serial killer, having killed one adult and two unborn children. This wasn't counting those she nearly killed or may have killed that she was never suspected of.
Janelle had always insisted she was very unlucky. Perhaps she was in some ways, but when it came to the law, she was actually pretty lucky. As it turned out, Deanne wasn't in the house when Janelle drowned Ramona because she ran out for garden supplies while Ramona visited. The two were going to plant a flower and vegetable garden. Deanne was horrified to find Ramona at the bottom of the pool and immediately suspected foul play. She didn't hesitate to name her sister-in-law to the police.
If it weren't for Deanne's assistance and the fact that one of the neighbors "thought" they heard something, the police would have assumed it was a horrible accident and that Ramona, for whatever reason, had gotten too close to the pool before falling in. As far as the forensics showed, there was nothing to suggest it wasn't an accident—unless they could get Janelle to confess. For the sake of the family and to leave no stone unturned, they would definitely try.
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