I am reminded of a pub near an airfield used in the Battle of Britain: one night in 1940, a group of drunken fighter pilots arrived at the pub and, after entering, slammed the door. Unfortunately, the landlord's dog was going through the heavy door at the time, and his tail was chopped off by the force of the closing, and sadly the dog died.
Every year since then, at midnight, the ghost of the dog appears, asking the landlord to give him back his tail, because his soul cannot enter doggy heaven until he is made whole again - and every year, the landlord tells the dog: "I'm sorry, but I can't re-tail spirits after ten thirty".
Hat/coat etc.