I once (INTERVIEW) an elderly woman in a grand, decaying villa in Seville. Everyone (CALL) her "The Baroness," and she (SEEM) like a relic of a lost aristocracy. While we (SIT) on the terrace, she (TELL) me about the elegant, quiet life she (LEAD) for decades.

She explained that after her family (LOSE) everything in the war, her world (FALL APART). She (MISS) the luxury and the secrets she (BE) part of so much that she (CREATE) this new, fake identity just to survive.

I (MAKE) my way out of the villa when I (NOTICE), hidden behind a heavy velvet curtain, a small, framed photograph. It (SHOW) a stunning young girl in a scandalous cabaret outfit, laughing in a smoky Paris club.

“Gosh,” I (WHISPER). “Is that… you?”

“Yes,” she (REPLY), her eyes suddenly cold and sharp. “I (BE) the star of the Palais Royale before I became a ghost.”

The "Baroness" then (EXPLAIN) that she (WORK) as a high-level informant while she (DANCE) for the elite. A famous novelist (WITNESS) one of her operations and (USE) her real-life adventures to write his best-selling thrillers.