Clarissa was everyman's wet dream: physically dramatic, witty, promiscuous and mostly drunk. To the dismay of his friends, Walter, the shy school teacher, married her. He told himself they didn't know the Clarissa he knew. He kept telling himself that through the birth of their daughter Ellie, and right up until the moment he caught her chasing their four year old through the house with a cast iron fire poker. She broke his forearm before he took it away and threw her down.
Clarissa went to jail. Walter bailed her out and she disappeared for two years. She came back holding his father's forty five, demanding their daughter and some money. Walter took the gun away and shot her until the gun was empty. He couldn't call the cops. Ellie couldn't have a vicious alcoholic for a mother and a murderer for a father. He sank her in the lake. He told his lies. Others were looking for Clarissa. If Clarissa was dead, they must have done it. No one could say otherwise.
Except Clarissa.