A small, sad smile crossed Mrs. Lovett's face as she watched Toby carefully slam shut the oven door. He glanced up, hoping he had won her approval. She smiled at him, and he looked proud. "Now, love," she said, "I'll be back, soon, all right?"
Quickly she left the scene of her crime. She slammed and locked the door behind her, then leaned against it, tears forming in her eyes. Sighing, she made her way up the steps to find Mr. Todd. He would know what to do next.
She found him pacing, awaiting the arrival of the judge. Instead, the beadle came first. Sweeney, smiling darkly, led him upstairs. Mrs. Lovett, hearing the thump, raced downstairs. She unlocked the door. "Toby!" she called softly. "Where are you, love?"
Sweeney joined her. When they found no sign of Toby, he scowled and, muttering, went back upstairs. Mrs. Lovett disposed of the beadle's body in the flames. As soon as the last of the body burned, she put out the fire and slammed the door shut once more. She heard a scream followed by a thump, and, expecting to see the judge, turned excitedly. Instead, Mrs. Lovett screamed when she saw a woman's body. The judge followed almost immediately, mutilated beyond belief.
Sweeney flung the door open. "What? What happened?"
"Th-the judge-'e grabbed my skirt. 'Ere, let's get rid of these bodies."
Mrs. Lovett began to drag the woman's body. Sweeney snarled, "I'll get it."
And then he saw the face.
Mrs. Lovett knew it was over. He had found his Lucy. Sweeney stared at her, horrorstruck, before he leaped at Mrs. Lovett. She started sobbing and screaming excuses. To her surprise, he grabbed her waist and spun her around the room in a wild waltz. Still she sobbed. This couldn't be happening-surely she wasn't forgiven
She was right. Sweeney flung her at the oven, a cruel smile twisting his face as he heard her scream, watched her flail around, listened as her head cracked against something hard. He made sure the oven was shut before turning to his Lucy once more.
Tears filled his black eyes as he watched the ruby drops dry in her yellow hair. "Lucy…" he whispered. He listened as Toby crept rather noisily behind him. He listened as Toby found the dropped razor. He listened to Toby's ragged breathing and closed his eyes as the sharp blade split his skin.He was still listening when Toby walked away.
In his haste, the child hadn't cut nearly deep enough to kill Sweeney, just deeply enough to make him bleed a bit more than was comfortable. As soon as Toby was gone, Sweeney stood up and placed a hand to his throat, slowing the flow a bit. When the blood finished pouring, he stood and stared at his wife's body. Suddenly, he heard quiet sobs. He spun on his heel and glanced around. His eyes stopped when he saw Mrs. Lovett's quivering form beside the oven.
Sweeney strode over and glanced in the oven. He swore when he saw that there were no flames crackling within, only darkness. In his anger, he had imagined Mrs. Lovett being consumed by the fire. Instead, here she was, crying while she sat in a pool of Lucy's blood.
He made a small noise of disgust and she looked up. A fleeting expression of joy at finding her Mr. T alive crossed her white face before terror replaced it. Sweeney knelt down and hissed, "Why are you still alive?"