Intermezzo
Gretchen Svörtold is a stunner. She’s also independently ‘circumstanced’.
She wasn’t born that way. Well, she was born a stunner. But she wasn’t born to wealth. That part is entirely her own doing.
Not surprisingly, she exploits the former attribute to foster the latter.
Some would call her an investor. Some would call her a hussy. Almost anyone would call her a murderess. Gretchen couldn’t care what you call her. She considers herself secure. The price she pays for that is for her to contend with.
She doesn’t stay up nights worrying about it.
Still, as with any cheeky business model, hers comes with certain risks. In her case, getting caught is high on the list. At the same time, suspicion without proof won’t get you a sentence in the newspaper, much less one in the dock.
Is there money in murder? Yes, actually, there is. If you play it right. Gretchen developed a scheme that is as impenetrable as her sensibilities. There were suspicions, yes. But never any proof.
Inevitably, law enforcement personnel were recruited to the cause. Predictably, they were baffled by the dearth of useful evidence. It didn’t help that the victims were people of means. And stature. That increased the pressure to produce results at the same time as it imposed a host of obstacles not generally encountered with crimes on the street.
Her nemesis was bound to be hovering somewhere ... ready to pounce when she least expected it. If so, who would it be? A cop? A savvy paramour? A jilted spouse?
Ah, but to discover the answer to that riddle one must delve deeper. This intro is what’s called a ‘teaser’. Gretchen would recognize it as such immediately.
Oh, and by the way: Gretchen is not her real name.