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A Unique Ring

John Ragusa

    “Do you think your wife suspects we’re having an affair?” Serena Bilson asked Orson Malph, cuddling up to him.
    “Definitely not,” he replied. “She believes that I’ve been faithful to her. She has no idea that I’ve been seeing you behind her back. There’s no reason for her to be suspicious.”
    “I’m afraid that she’ll find out about our relationship somehow.”
    “I don’t think she will,” Orson said. “I’ve been careful to keep it secret. There’s no chance of her learning about it.”
    “We’ll have to keep on being cautious.”
    “The only way she’ll know about us is if an acquaintance of ours sees us together and tells her of it.”
    “We’d have to tell the person that it’s confidential.”
    “Let’s just hope that he won’t blackmail us.”
    “We’ll have to bump him off if he does.”
    Orson patted Serena’s hand. “I’d take care of that.”
    “Have you ever met anybody like me?”
    “No, I haven’t. No one is as beautiful as you are.”
    “Do you suppose we’ll get married someday?”
    “You know that we can’t do that, because I can’t divorce Nancy.”
    Serena pouted. “That’s a shame. I’d sure like to be your wife.”
    “I know. But it’s just not possible.”
    “Nancy has a hold on you that is almost obscene.”
    “Maybe she’ll kick the bucket soon. Then we would be free to wed each other.”
    “I doubt that she’ll die now. She’s as healthy as a horse.”
    “Yes, unfortunately, that’s true. She might slip in the bathtub and hit her head on the wall, though. That might kill her.”
    “We don’t have that kind of luck.”
    “But we can go on seeing each other on the sly.”
    Orson and Serena finished their dinner at the restaurant. The steaks had been delicious. His meal over, Orson went home to his wife.
    “Where have you been, Orson?” Nancy asked when he came through the door.
    “I had to spend more time at the office to get some work done,” he said.
    Luckily, Nancy believed him.

    One day, Orson stopped at a diner on his lunch break to grab a bite to eat. He was consuming a hamburger when a fat, pale man walked up to his table with a briefcase.
    “Good afternoon,” Orson said. He pointed to the briefcase. “Are you selling something?”
    “Well, that just depends on what you need,” the man said, in a thick Bronx accent.
    “I don’t think you have what I need,” Orson told him.
    “I sell occult items. What do you need, sir?”
    “I’m seeing another woman behind my wife Nancy’s back. I want to marry this other woman, but I can’t divorce my spouse.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because her father owns the company I work for. If I left Nancy, he would fire me. I’ve made Nancy think I adore her so she won’t guess the truth. She thinks I’d be unhappy without her, but actually, if she were dead, I’d be delighted. I’d be able to marry Serena.”
    The man took a ring out of his briefcase. “Then you can use this piece of jewelry. The person who wears it will want to commit suicide.”
    “You mean if Nancy wears this ring, she’ll kill herself?”
    “That’s exactly right. Your problem would be solved.”
    “That would be great! How much does the ring cost?”
    “It’s yours for $200.”
    “Is a check okay?”
    The man shrugged. “That’s fine with me.”
    Orson wrote out a check and gave it to the man. He handed Orson the ring.
    “I’ll give it to Nancy as a birthday present,” Orson said.
    “That’s a good idea,” the man said. “Well, I’ll leave you to your lunch now. And it was nice to do business with you.”
    The man picked up the briefcase and left the diner.
    Orson knew that he would soon be rid of Nancy. Then he’d marry Serena and live happily ever after.

    A month later, Orson gave Nancy a gift-wrapped box. “Happy birthday, darling,” he said.
    “You bought a gift for me?” Nancy said. “How sweet!”
    “Open it.”
    She tore the wrapping off and opened the box. “It’s a ring! Oh, it’s lovely!”
    She put it on her finger. Suddenly, her mood turned somber.
    “It’s no fun being old,” she said. “I’m over the hill now. I don’t want to live this way.”
    She walked over to a desk, opened the drawer, and took out a gun.
    “I’m going to kill myself,” she said. “And because you wouldn’t want to live without me, I’m going to take you with me.”
    With that, Nancy shot Orson before turning the gun on herself.

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