OPEN FOR BUSINESS!
Greetings! I trust all have had a productive
summer. I come with a story to tell you.
I run a small business in northwest Iowa, selling
jewelry and repairing clocks and watches. When I
moved here I did so because I liked the location
and size of my new hometown, and I found a
building already used for my occupation for an
pittiance, even having a large safe and wood
display cases already in it. It was empty on the
market for a time and the chamber of commerce
talked to the seller to get the price adjusted.
All I had to do was clean it up and replace a
cracked window, and I painted the basement white
and put extra lights and shelves in so I can
refinish furniture and store things down there.
It is a narrow, deep building of the type
commonly refered to as a "Boxcar". It is an older
building, being built in 1900, but in a beautiful
state of preservation and having two apartments
above it, so I wouldn't have to bother buying or
renting a place, and could rent out one besides
and offset the bills some. The previous occupant
had installed a street clock (a large clock on
the sidewalk in front that can be seen down the
block) but took the inside clock that ran it, but
I had an antique regulator clock that just looked
at home in the place between the two front
windows and it was of little matter to make new
connecting rods to go under the sidewalk and turn
the hands on the street clock.
I opened, did
quite well if I may say so, and hired another
clockmaker and a clerk and book keeper.
With
employees come added duties, and I noticed that
the safe somehow got forgotten in the closing up
routine and was closed but not locked. I had a
meeting with the employees and stressed the
importance of locking the safe every night and
they all said "yes, sir, right sir, just the thing
sir", etc. It happened a couple more times and I
got into the habit of giving the dial a twist on
the way out, scrambling the combination and
locking the doors. I had a clerk that seemed to
forget all the time and she always said she HAD
locked it, so I called a locksmith to see if it
possibly could be on the brakes. He came, looked,
and it was given a clean bill and a new
combination. She left shortly afterwards and was
replaced. Still, some nights the safe seemed to
go unlocked all night, even after I was certain I
had twisted the dial to clear it. Never did
anything dissapear, and never was the door itself
open (the doors are massive, they have a large
handle that throws the bolts to lock or open it,
and they are so stiff I frequently have to throw
the bolts because the ladies can't).
The 15th of last month (July) my bookkeeper
called me at home to tell me she would not be
returning. I asked if I couldn't change her mind,
as good help is hard to find. She said the pay
was good, she liked me and the other people
there, but she hated being in the office because
she always felt she was being spied on. (The
office has a glass wall that seperates it from
the sales floor) I said nobody would do such a
thing but she was adamant. Then she mentioned
that on days I didn't work when she would open
for the day, the safe would be unlocked, even
though nothing was ever gone. I told her that I
trusted her like family but she said it wasn't
that, there were other things.
One was that she
didn't like going near the big regulator clock
between the front windows, instead going all
around the display cases back by the office door
to get to the other side. She couldn't or
wouldn't say why. (Nobody touches that clock but
me, the clerks aren't tall enough to reach the
keyways to wind it and the other clockmaker
simply considers it "my job") Finally she
admitted that she would hear someone walking
upstairs when I was gone (I live over the store),
and she heard the boiler room door open or shut
in the basement (it is a heavy steel clad door on
a rolling track, and can be heard opening from a
distance). I was concerned that someone may be
hiding in the basement, maybe coming up after I
was closed at night, and called the police to
help check the whole building, and nothing was
amiss. I convinced Therese to stay another month
when I called Hawkeye (an alarm company) and had
camaras put in (I told them it was to get a
discount on insurance) and put a perimeter alarm
on the safe, so the slightest touch after closing
time would bring the police running. Still from
time to time it would be unlocked, but never
open. When I found it that way I kept quiet and
told the other clockmaker (a friend from
watchmakers' school) to do likewise.
Therese came
in on the 28th and gave 2 weeks notice. She said
what did it was coming in the morning of the 28th
and seeing the door to the regulator open a few
inches. I said maybe the latch didn't take but
she said that was no excuse, because the door is
warped slightly and has to be pulled hard to
open. I must admit she has me there. I revued the
camara tape, thinking I would fire the person
that messed with my clock, and at three a.m. the
door was shut. At 3:02 it was open a few inches.
I had neglected to wind it and it was on the
verge of winding down at 3:02, the weights were
almost wound to the stops. There is no way to
automatically wind the clock, and the crank was
up top of the case, just as always. I am at a
loss to explain it. I was directed to a lady in
Estherville who supposedly can detect paranormal
activity, but as yet she hasn't called me back to
make an appointment as I only called her Friday
last. Somebody said it is a "Poltergist" and gave
me this web site to look and see what
a "poltergist" is. Hope somebody out there can
tell me more about what I have on my hands here.
Chaz, Iowa, USA
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