More Strange Tales

MURDER IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS:

Do you remember what you dreamt about last night? Was it something you saw, heard or perhaps read the day before? We often dream about events from the past, butsometimes, we dram about something and it hasn't happened yet. On the night of May 3, 1812, John Williams, a banker from Cornwall in the southwest of England, had a dram – a bad dream – about a murder inLondon, about 370 kilometres away. In his dream, Williams was in the lobby of the House of Commons, the parliament of England. “What a magnificent building! But why am I here?” he thought, confused.“I never come to London.” A lot of people were coming into and going out of the lobby. Williams stood and watched them. A few minutes later, he saw a short man in a blue coat enter the building.Everybody seemed to know the man and wanted to speak to him. “That man is attracting a lot of attention,” Williams thought. “Maybe he's an important politician.”At that moment, Williams saw a tall man. Theman was standing near a door and was wearing a black coat with gold buttons. Williams couldn't stop watching the man. “There are so many people here,” Williams thought, “but for some reason I'm onlyinterested in that man. I don't understand why.” Suddenly, the tall man ran quickly through the crowd of people until he was standing in front of the short man. Williams watched in horror as the tallman took a gun from his pocket and shot the man in front of him. The short man fell to the floor, with his hand on his heart. “Please help me,” he cried. Shouts of “Help!” and “Murder!” filled theHouse of Commons. From all corners people ran to help the poor man. He was lying in a pool of blood on the floor and wasn't moving. Williams ran too and looked sadly at the victim. “The bullet hit him inthe heart,” Williams thought. “He won't survive.” A doctor in the crowd of people came and examined the victim. “Who is this man?” Williams asked the doctor. “Hew was Spencer Perceval, the prime...