It seemed, at first, like the perfect crime.
The state had recently passed a personhood amendment
granting single, fertilized eggs the same legal standing, rights and protection
as fully-grown human beings.
Meaning that, due to this amendment, life would for all
legal intents and purposes begin with that single cell and, whatever might
happen to it from that moment on, it would be the same life it was at the
moment of conception.
The legal ramifications were, indeed are, obvious.
Identical twins begin as a single cell, which then divides
in two, both parts growing into what, previous to the passage of “Personhood”,
was considered a separate individual human being. However, due to the
deliberately indistinct wording of the amendment, from a legal perspective the
single cell is now a complete legal entity in and of itself, and this doesn’t
cease to be the case simply because that one entity happens to inhabit two
physically distinct bodies.
So, when Michael contracted me to murder his twin, I knew
there’d be no consequences to the crime. Murdering a twin, after all, was no
longer murder. It was at best assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily
harm, and unless Michael pressed charges (unlikely as a paper-trail existed
connecting him to the act) there was no way that case would stand up in court.
I’d be brought in, he’d testify on my behalf that I’d done him no lasting harm,
and that would be the end of it.
Like I said, the perfect crime. He’d have done it himself if
he hadn’t been so squeamish. Understandably so, whatever the legality the act
killing a twin does still feel sort of like murder.
Still, that’s where men like me come in handy. I don’t get
squeamish easily. So on the appointed day I walked into the office Michael’s
“brother” worked in, went to his desk and put four bullets into his chest. I
dropped the pistol, came out with my hands up, turned myself in and prepared
myself for three or four days navigating the criminal justice system before my
inevitable release and subsequent payday.
The best laid plans…
What I didn’t know was that Michael was hit by a bus on the
morning I’d been scheduled to kill his twin, and as such by the time I shot him
he was the only surviving brother. So here I sit in my little cell, awaiting
arraignment on murder charges with a mountain of evidence piled up against me.
My lawyer thinks he can talk it down to criminal negligence,
as my only real crime was failing to do my due diligence that morning, and I
hope he’s right, but I have to admit, the chances don’t seem good.
The state also has the death penalty, and they’ve proven
time and again how much they love to use it.
They’re very serious, in that regard, when it comes to
protecting the sanctity of life…
