Every time I walked by the house it haunted me. The run-down brick house at the top of a hill, window frames rotting, trim crusted with flaked paint. It showed no evidence of life, no evidence of ... [+]
Patrick Ferrer's story, "The Hidden Letter," was written for Hôtel de la Cité, located in Carcassonne, France, as part of the Bedtime Story Project, a collaboration between Short Edition and MGallery Hotels. To find out more about Patrick and this project, visit https://mgallery.short-edition.com/
The moment he entered the bar, I knew that Mister J. wasn't your usual guest. Maybe it was the way his eyes darted around, taking the measure of everything he saw, or that half smile as he twirled his moustache with an air of knowing something you didn't. Most people stop as they enter the hotel, awed by the scenery, but Mister J. clearly wasn't the type to be easily impressed. I wasn't surprised when he came straight to the bar counter and sat on a stool, facing the room, his eyes always alert. He quickly looked at me, sizing me up I suppose, and commented on the great cocktails he had heard