The Hairy Old Woman

A young woman is out shopping at her local mall one day. It's getting late when she finally completes her purchases and heads back to her car, which is parked in the multi-storey just outside the mall. To her surprise, when she arrives she finds that an old lady is sitting there in the back seat. Puzzled, the woman taps on the window, then opens up the door.

The old lady seems to be a bit confused. After some questioning from the woman she explains that her son drives a car of the same make and colour as the woman's. She had been shopping with her son, but started to feel unwell, and so returned to the car to wait for him.

"I suppose I must have got the two mixed up," says the old lady.

"Oh dear," says the woman. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

The old lady thinks for a minute, then asks if maybe the woman can drive her around the car park until she sees her son's car. Not wanting to leave such an elderly lady stranded, the woman agrees. However, as soon as she climbs into the driver's seat, she senses that something is wrong. At first she cannot put her finger on it; it's just a vague, uneasy feeling. But when she looks closely in the rear-view mirror, she sees it. The old lady is not a lady at all, but a man. Once she realises this, the woman can see clearly that the lady's white hair is nothing more than a wig, and there's the tell-tale hint of stubble along his chin.

Terrified, the woman grips the steering wheel. Her mind races. Trying to stay calm she politely asks the "old lady" if she could get out and help her to reverse from the space. She watches as the man climbs out, acting all the while like a doddery old age pensioner. As soon as he's out, the woman locks all the doors and speeds away, back towards the mall.

She reports what happened to mall security. There's a thorough search of the car park, but there's no trace of the strange man. The police are informed; a report is filed.

Weeks later the woman is cleaning out her car. Looking under the seat where the man had been sitting, she finds a plastic bag. The bag is bloodstained. Wrapped up inside are a knife and a coil of rope.