WHAT'S IN THE ATTIC ?

When we first moved in to our new home we found a message from the owners requesting that we. “Do not got up into the attic until they have removed some personal belongings left behind when they moved.”

So insistent were they that the attic was undisturbed that they made it a condition of the lease that we refrained from going up there!

Odd,we thought. What in earth could be so important as to warrant such a degree of secrecy?

Well of course we made the obvious joke that they had left a body up there,possibly the mother -in-law,a mortal enemy,who can say? They certainly were in a hurry to leave the country ,that much is certain. Eventually we forgot about the attic …...........until the smell became noticeable.

We had noticed a faint odour some time ago which we put down to the ancient rural drains. We had also noted the fact that each room in the house had at least two air fresheners installed,plug ins,diffusers even car fresheners hanging off the door handles,just a little excessive,we thought.

Three months down the line the air fresheners are defunct and all at once a nasty pong is very,very evident. We searched the place from top to bottom,with the exception of the attic ,of course..we found...nothing. I purchased a fridge freshener in case the problem was being cause by Pa's penchant for whiffy cheeses but to no avail.

Came the dawn! This morning with the smell much worse a plague of flies, newly hatched I suspect could be seen swirling about the attic through the glass panel specially constructed to show off the lovely old beams..............and then we remembered...........perhaps we had been right all along,perhaps there was a body in the attic.

Now I freely admit that it is much more likely to be a dead rat,mouse or bird of some sort,unpleasant but not unexpected in a rural area at this time of the year. All the same,the air fresheners,the owners paranoia about anyone entering the loft, lets face it folks the murderer Christie had seven corpses walled up in his house....it happens !

The owners are due to visit us in a weeks time,an event which we now look forward to with considerably more interest than before and in the mean time I have deployed air fresheners,joss sticks neutralisers and fragrant candles in quantity about the place.

Thankfully the flies cannot gain access to the house and the battery of air fresheners is working well,but, we shall have to wait and see what happens next week