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Rita Wallford was dressing to go out for the afternoon when a messenger delivered a small slim box to the door of her spacious hilltop home. It contained a beautiful diamond necklace.
She stood before a mirror in the hall to try it on. The clasp seemed strange to her, larger than it needed to be. It snapped shut with a loud click like handcuffs.
Tall and titian-haired, the voluptuous forty- two-year old widow was a regal beauty, resplendent in a black mink coat with a wide raised collar to frame her finely sculptured face.
She smiled approvingly and thought the necklace must be from the handsome and wealthy man she was engaged to marry. The card was unsigned but it said, “You’ll soon be mine forever.”
The phone rang and Rita rushed to answer, thinking it must be her adoring fiancé. But instead of his cultured tones she heard the gravelly voice of a stranger ask, “Is this Rita Wallford?”
“Yes,” she answered curiously. “Who’s this?”
“I sent you the necklace,” his scratchy voice said. “Have you tried it on?”
“Yes, I’m wearing it now.”
Fictional reading for entertainment purposes only.