Member-only story
Search For An Honest Man Continues
Walking Into A Web Of Lies, A Den Of Scammers
He claimed he was a widower and had a well-paying job as an engineer. He said he was Catholic, like me. Widowed five years ago. One daughter, away at university.
He sounded like a nice guy. His pictures showed a handsome man with dark-grey hair, dark brown eyes, possibly mid-Eastern ancestry. He lived in Connecticut, he told me, a couple of hours away.
All this sounded fine, just what I’m looking for. An honest man. Hope springs up in my heart, and I respond.
But then, red flags start popping up. He asks for my number, says he’ll call me. But he doesn’t. Instead, he begins texting me several times a day, over the next week.
His texts become increasingly affectionate. I’m distracted by the holidays, family coming up for Thanksgiving, extra choir practices to prepare for Advent and Christmas performances.
After the weekend, dusting and vacuuming, stripping and making beds, I saw another text:
“Good morning, gorgeous. Where once is my songbird today?” The English phrasing seemed off. I began noticing more awkward phrases, indicating English wasn’t his native language.
Then, he sent a picture of lovely yellow roses, saying “for my princess.”
