The £5 Murder

By Annette Siketa

A man's home is crammed with antiques, and yet when it is burgled, only certain items are stolen.  Moreover, the only clue is a grubby hat.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Annette Siketa
• Release date: Mar 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215067574

Annette Siketa

For those of you who have not yet made my acquaintance, my name is Annette Siketa, and I am totally blind. Were you aware that most blind and visually impaired people are extraordinarily perceptive? To sighted people, this ability must seem like ESP, and I suppose to a certain extent, it is. (I'm referring to the literal meaning of Extra Sensory Perception, not the spooky interpretation.) To compensate for the lack of vision, the brain and the other four senses become sharper, so that we can discern a smell or the identity of an object. I promise you there's no trickery involved. It's simply a matter of adapting the body to ‘think’ in another way.Being blind is no barrier to creativity. Like most things in this world, life is what you make of it, and after losing my sight due to an eye operation that went terribly wrong, I became a writer, and have now produced a wide variety of books and short stories, primarily of the ghost/supernatural/things that go bump in the night genre.So, how does a blind person write a book? On the practical side, I use a text-to-speech program called ‘Jaws’, which enables me to use and navigate around a computer, including the Internet, with considerable ease. Information on Jaws can be found at www.freedomscientific.comOn the creative side...well, that’s a little more difficult to explain. Try this experiment. Put on your favourite movie and watch it blindfolded. As you already ‘know’ the movie – who does what where & when etc, your mind compensates for the lack of visualisation by filling in the ‘blanks’. Now try it with something you’ve never seen before, even the six o'clock news. Not so easy to fill in the blanks now is it?By this point you’re probably going bonkers with frustration – hee hee, welcome to my world! Do not remove the blindfold. Instead, allow your imagination to compensate for the lack of visualization, and this will give you an idea of how I create my stories. Oh, if only Steven Spielberg could read my mind.

Book preview

I.

The sound of the doorbell caused Madame de Lyon to stir on her couch.  When a silken cushion at her feet fell to the floor, she looked at it as though it had just committed an act of treachery.

She lit a cigarette and blew the smoke towards the ceiling, where a canopy of gold cloth hid cornices depicting angels and flowers.  A robe of fine silk clung to her exquisite body like a second skin, and her tawny Eurasian eyes were like two pools of liquid amber.  Her carmine lips needed no enhancement, and her ebony hair highlighted her ivory complexion.

Downstairs in the hallway, where pillars of alabaster upheld a painted ceiling, a little man from Peking waited nervously, his gaze alternating between the top of the staircase and the black & white tiled floor.

Madame dropped the cigarette into an ancient jade bowl and rang a little silver bell.  A white robed Chinese servant answered the summons, his soft red slippers noiseless on the thick carpet.

He is here, he announced.

Good.  Is all prepared?

Yes, Madame.

I don't want any mistakes this time.  The remains of your predecessor still haven't been found.

His face was impassive as he gave the regulatory answer of, Yes, Madame.

Show him up.

––––––––

The man from Peking approached the couch.  He fell on his knees and bowed to Madame.  He did not speak nor look at her directly.  Indeed, it was more than his life was worth to do either without her permission.

Madame smiled and extended a hand.  Rise, my friend, she said in flawless Chinese.  You are too old to perform such an obeisance.  Sit beside me and tell me your troubles.

The man did as asked but still didn't look at her.  Instead, he focused his gaze on a gold incense burner standing near a curtained window.  Pencil-thin smoke rose from the ash as he explained the purpose of his visit.

Madame listened attentively, one arm resting along the back of the couch.  At the