Things to Avoid if You Don't Want to be the Next Victim
- Don't go for lonely walks with those you've just disinherited.
- Don't sip a glass of warm milk left at your bedside by an unseen hand.
- Don't sample the chocolates which arrived by mail, anonymously, on your birthday.
- Don't rendezvous with the mysterious stranger who offered you a Dukedom over the phone in a decidedly muffled voice.
- Don't follow up on the email message that said that if you contact Proctor and Gilliard, Solicitors, you will inherit a large fortune.
- Don't accept hunting invitations from business associates after you have refused to sell them your controlling shares in the company.
- Don't attend masquerade balls given by wealthy eccentrics who send the car round to collect you, and insist that you tell no one where you're going.
- Don't enter the secret passageway first.
- Don't kiss Robert when you have just turned Alex down flat, and he has not yet left the house.
- Don't tell the Inspector that you think it nothing more than an unfortunate accident, and police surveillance a breach of your privacy.
- Don't stand with your back to billowing draperies, particularly if the windows are shut.
- Don't offer to fetch the candles from the pantry if the lights suddenly flicker, dim and go out.
- Don't comment that you never realized Renoit painted in watercolors within earshot of the art gallery owner.
- Don't suggest that an audit of the books would be in order.
- Don't ask Fido what he has in his mouth, and most certainly don't ask him to show you from where he got it.
- Don't insist that Madame DeClasse conduct the seance at midnight, in the library, when the moon is full.
- Don't adopt young Raymond until you have absolute proof that he is your long-lost sister Ava's only child.
- Don't recognize the handwriting on the ransom note.
- Don't reveal the ending of the mystery to someone just beginning to read it.
- Don't investigate strange noises coming from the basement, late at night, when the electricity goes out.
originally printed in Murder Ink, authored by Catherine Prezzano
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