Adultery rarely ends well; most couples never recover from the knowledge of spousal infidelity. Rusty Sabich knows this better than most, as his obsession with the office hottie, Carolyn Polhemus, is discovered following her murder. After this discovery, the police make him their prime suspect in the murder case, and he is convicted and sentenced to trial. This leads to the eventual declaration of his innocence, due to incomplete evidence presented by the prosecution. One day, after the trial, Rusty finds a bloody hammer in his toolbox while attempting to mend a fence outside his house. Immediately we see shock and understanding on his face, as he must have concluded that his wife was behind the murder of Carolyn. Oddly enough though, Rusty takes the hammer to the basement sink and begins washing off the blood. It’s as if he plans to remove the evidence, and never mention his discovery to his wife. Then, as the hammer is finally cleansed, his wife steps down into the basement.
Proclaiming her guilt, Rusty’s wife proceeds to then explain her thought and planning behind “destroying the destroyer.” Shocked, repulsed, and infinitely guilty, Rusty listens to her story with tear-soaked eyes and astonished silence. He understands that his adulterous actions led to the eventual insanity of his wife, and had he remained faithful, she would have still been the same woman he married. He is guilty not of murder, but of destroying his marriage and wife’s mind, as well as indirectly causing Carolyn’s murder.
Be careful; Rusty's wife knows he has committed adultery, his boss thinks he might have, and Rusty himself knows, but in the court it is not admissible evidence. Why?
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