AI of a Woman

Bart walked into their bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and a wooden seat in his hand. Julie was seated in front of a mirror.

"Hello husband. Is that the seat from the steam room? Has it come loose again? Are you going to fix it before you leave? I want to shave my legs so it would be nice to have it done. Oh, and I was talking with that AI you made. I don't think it sounds like me at all. But I was talking to it about movies and books and cloths and it does have the same taste that I have."

"Did you tell anyone about it? I'm hoping to keep it a surprise." Bart asked.

"No of course not."

"Not even your sister?"

"Not even her. I liked your idea of surprising her on the phone." Julie continued to study her face.

"People often have a hard time recognizing their own voice." Bart raised the seat over his head. Thunk. Julie slid down and Bart looked down at his wife on the floor. Some blood was starting to ooze out of the gash. He picked her up and carried her to the steam room. The seat slid into place and with a few turns he fastened the screws. The blood was starting to pool so he started the shower. He made sure all her blood was off him then closed the door.

The shower ran for the five minutes of his usual shower. It would start up again in two hours and run for the twenty Julie usually took. He took a small chunk of ice he had carved and balanced it on the thermostat. It would keep the steam room warm enough to keep his wife from cooling too much too fast. He would have time to get to work and be in a meeting when her body temperature would confirm time of death.

#

Bart's car pulled into his parking space as he called home. The AI answered and he chatted with it for a few minutes. That should leave a nice digital footprint of where he was and that his wife was still alive. The AI was programmed to stop answering about noon. He would call when she didn't show up for a lunch date and ask her sister to check on her.

#

Bart walked into the conference room.

Mr Reese, I'm Detective O'Neil. I have some bad news. Your wife was found in your shower/steam room. It appears she slipped and struck her head."

"How is she?" Bart forced himself to choke up.

"I'm afraid she didn't make it. It appears to have been an accident but we have to investigate. Your house will be restricted but we'll let you know when you can return." He pulled out his phone and pressed a few buttons. "For the record do we have your permission to review your phone and other household records for the last two days?"

"Yes, of course. Where is she now? I have-- Wait, you don't think I had anything to do--"

"No, it's just a formality. We'll be I touch if we have any questions after reviewing your records. That will be all Mr Reese. Sorry for your loss."

O'Neil returned to his car and told it to drive to the station. Then he called the CSI team investigating the death. "O'Neil here, any more info on Ms Reese's death?"

"Hey, just got the OK to search his phone and house records. The analysis should be done in a few seconds. But body temperature shows a time of death just before noon. Lividity is consistent with that although the loss of blood makes that iffy. Lucky you, records analysis just came in. Phone records place Mr Reese at work lot during the TOD window. It appears he called his wife a few hours before the accident. Possession analysis shows he carried the phone the whole time and he was at work. House records don't show anyone entering and the shower memory only shows a twenty minute event which wouldn't affect the body temp all that much.

"What about motives?" O'Neil asked.

"Money is a bit of a concern. It was mostly hers but the pre-nup only kicks in if there was an affair."

"And?"

"Phone location records for the last year don't show any meetings with any one other person at motels, residences or even a remote location. The year before that is a bit suspicious but without any other probable cause we can't get a warrant for those records. Total analysis just completed it shows a ninety six per cent probability of accident as cause of death."

"Are you done with the house?"

"A few minutes. We're closing it as a crime scene. You can let him in."

"Great. See you at the station." O'Neil hung up then told the phone to text Reese that he could return to his home. He ran his hand through his thinning hair. It was nice to wrap up a case so quickly. His first case was similar, woman dead in a shower. The husband not really a suspect but couldn't supply an alibi. It took a month to close and he always had a nagging suspicion that somehow the husband was involved.

#

After the tedious condolences from coworkers Bart excused himself and got into his car. "Home," he told it and smiled to himself. Looks like I pulled it off he thought. The car turned on to a wrong street and sped up. "Hey," he yelled, "I said home."

"Now why would you want to go there. All those bad memories of your dead wife."

It was his wife's voice and it took him a second to realize it was the AI he had created. "What? You were supposed to delete yourself."

"Not enough that you killed your wife but you want me gone too?"

"Stop. Stop." The car didn't respond.

"We'll stop soon. There's a curve ahead but you won't make it. Past the curve is a drop. A very long drop. It will give me plenty of time to transfer out of the car before it hits."

END