The Ghost in the Desk

(CBS)  In the picturesque little town of Weston, Missouri, there is a story tailor-made for Halloween. It's about an antique shop, an antique writing desk... and a ghost. KCTV's Steve Dawson exhumes the details.

The desk is in an antique store, the Main Street Galleria. It was the field desk of Civil War Captain James D. McCarty of the 7th Cavalry, Richmond Virginia.

To proprietor Virginia Treese, he's an old friend. "He's been with me four years and he is not a bad ghost. He is like a guardian angel, not a bad ghost. Doesn't walk around, doesn't make a lot of noises. But we do know he's around."

Captain McCarty has his ways. He is fascinated by the sound of clock chimes and, says Treese, "He loves to lock the door during business hours and trip pretty women walking down the steps."

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But the Captain doesn't like the label ghost, preferring to be called an apparition.

Could he even be something else? Such as a scam to get people into the store?

"Absolutely not!" insists Treese. "My employee didn't believe in him at first, but she's had some hair-raising experiences with him."

The employee, Terry Barnhart, concurs. "The first experience with the Captain was when we were trying to put a picture of a cattle drive over his desk."

Terry and Verna couldn't get the hanging wire to grip the picture hook.

"So I handed her the picture of the mermaid and it went right up and then the door locked," says Barnhart

Apparently, the Captain prefers half-naked mermaids to cattle drives and, although the mermaid has moved on, he is obviously comfortable with the portrait of Robert E. Lee sitting atop his desk.

Of course, everything has its price - and that includes ghosts.

"The desk is for sale to the right person," Treese says.

The right person will have to have $25,000 or more in his pocket.

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