The Clock that Stopped

I am not particularly open to psychic stories. In fact I am usually quite down to earth. However I was very intrigued by this experience.

A smartly dressed middle aged lady came into my shop. She was one of my first customers in the new extension shop on Richmond Hill. She told me sadly that she had been recently widowed and to try to cheer herself up she had decided to buy a French clock.

After looking around at all my stock for a considerable time, she chose a beautiful ‘Champleve’ mid 19^th century timepiece and asked me to set it up for in her apartment, which was nearby.

I acceded to her wishes and placing it on her mantelpiece. It looked magnificent and the lady seemed delighted.

It is worth mentioning that all our antique clocks were cleaned and examined by expert clock repairers before they were sold. These were expensive items and my goodwill depended on the customer’s satisfaction.

Much to my surprise, the lady returned to my shop on the following morning telling me that her late husband does not approve of the clock and can she change it for another.

I was bemused by this remark and asked how had she ascertain that her departed partner did not like the clock? She informed me that he had stopped the clock at midnight and it refused to go after that time!

I found that hard to accept, I told her I would go to her home to try to restart the clock.

I arrived at her luxurious home that night. There was the magnificent clock on the mantelpiece with both hands on the ‘twelve.’

Now, I pride myself that I am quite expert with French clocks. But after trying for over two hours, I could not get the clock ticking.

So I invited the lady to choose another clock from our stock or accept her money back. The next day she arrived in the shop and chose another superb clock, which I delivered and set up in her home. She told me she was sure that her husband would approve of this one.

Sure enough, a few days later she came into the shop, telling me how pleased was her husband with the replacement clock! I did not ask her how she had found that out.

The amazing result of this story was that for three days the first clock she had purchased stubbornly refused to perform. On the forth day it suddenly woke up and became a very good timepiece.

I took it to my repairer for a check. After having it for over a week, he told me it was in perfect order. I sold it a few days later to a friend, telling him the story about the husband’s disapproval. He laughed, and took the clock home.

A few weeks later he came into the shop telling me how pleased he was with the clock. He had experienced no problems at all with its performance!