An Scary story

There is a story told in Pittsburgh a couple returning home from a trip to New England. They were driving home in a car, and were somewhere near One Mellon Center when the light failed and they knew they would have to seek shelter for the night.

The husband spied a light through the smog and turned their car into a small lane leading down a hill. A pleasant little hotel stood to their left called William Penn so they stopped, and an old man and his wife met the couple at the door. They were in nightclothes and were obviously about to turn in, but they welcomed the travelers and offered them a room. The old woman bustled about making tea and offering freshly-baked cakes. Then the travelers were shown to their room. The husband wanted to pay the old couple for their lodgings, but the old lady shook her head and the old man refused any payment for such a small service to their fellow Pittsburghers. (obvious the hotel keepers were not Republicans)

The travelers awoke early and tiptoed out of the hotel, leaving a shiny fifty-cent coin in the center of the kitchen table where the old couple could not miss it. The husband started up the car and they went a few miles before they broke their fast at a little restaurant in Southside.

The husband mention the nice old couple to the owner of the restaurant and the man turned pale.

"Where did you say that hotel was?" he asked. The husband described the location in detail.

"You must be mistaken," said the restaurant owner. "That hotel was foreclosed three years ago by a bank after the owners invested their fortune with the Madoff Investment firm and that drove the Brown family to suicide."

"I don't believe it," the husband said flatly. "Mr. and Mrs. Brown were alive and well last night."

After debating for a few more minutes, the couple and the restaurant owner drove the car back out of town towards the old William Penn. They turned into the lane, which was overgrown with weeds, and climbed down the hill. There they found a burned out shell of a hotel that had obviously not sheltered anyone for a long time.
"I must have missed the track," said the husband. And then his wife gave a terrified scream and fainted into his arms. As he caught her, the husband looked into the ruin and saw a burnt table and there was a note and on that note was written “I owe you one shiny fifty-cent piece. “ And it was signed B. Madoff.