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Capital One
She opened the door of my office without knocking
in She
She stood in front of my desk
and looked down at me
I was sitting in my chair with my feet on the desk
and reading the sports pages of a newspaper
newspaper 'You're a private detective I believe' she said
I took my feet off the desk
put down the newspaper
her right
well
I have a job for you'
good
I said
'I charge 250 pounds a day plus expenses'
expenses' 'Money's no problem'
you' 'Good' I said
'Well the problem
During these few seconds I was looking at her closely
She had beautiful long red hair
and enormous emerald-green eyes
She reminded me of a cat I had once
the eyes not the hair
also thought I recognised her
but I couldn't remember where from
She was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight
very beautiful
She was wearing a tight green
(the same shade as her eyes)
sleeveless silk dress
Nothing on top;
no problem'
no problem'
we were enjoying a very hot summer in London that
She was also wearing expensive jewellery
very beautiful
the kind many women are prepared to kill for
gold watch
a ring with a huge emerald surrounded by diamonds on her left hand
a gold bracelet on her right wrist
and three loops of the best Australian pearls around her neck
I know quite a lot about jewellery
I know quite a lot about everything that costs a lot of money
It's a hobby of mine
For the same reason I was also receiving messages from the perfume she was using that day
It was something like
the latest perfume
not the one along with all the other
'latest' of the perfume manufacturers which flood the department stores around
This was a special made-to-order mix the kind
the kind produced in small quantities
for very rich VIPs
I know quite a lot about perfume as well
Definitely
she was the kind of client that I like to have
and also the kind of client that I needed at that moment
well
the problem Mr Boot
is that I have great difficulties in sleeping at the moment'
I said
'Shouldn't you see
there's a reason I can't sleep'
what is it' I asked
'Yes A ghost
the door
'Yes A ghost
A ghost in my house
And two or three nights a week about midnight or one
I hear strange noises in the house'
Dump
I don't believe in ghosts
but I do believe in rich beautiful clients
I asked her to sit down
While she was doing this
I tried to think of intelligent questions that you can ask about ghosts
well
Festival
when did this start'
about a year ago
Ads
where do the noises come from From which part of the house I mean
or' 'No not in my bedroom In fact quite a long way from my bedroom
It's a very big house you
My bedroom is on the second floor
There are three floors altogether All
I can be sure of
of is that the noises come from below where I sleep
door of
I was
And have you ever gone down to find out what's going on'
'Yes Two or three times
But each time the noise stops a moment or two later while I'm going down the stairs
I've looked into every room on the first floor and the ground floor
ground floor and everything has been completely normal'
'Good' I said
'Tell me a little more about the house'
well
it's about 350 years old
It's in Surrey in the country
remember where from She
It was built in the second half of the 17th century
century Its last owner was my father
He died about a year ago
He left the house to me
He left everything else to me as well
'He was very rich I presume'
and very
She was also wearing
God
along with all the other 'latest'
yes
My name is Selena Willing'
his beautiful daughter
I couldn't believe it
Her photograph was often in the newspapers
Without doubt
she was the kind of client that I needed at that moment