What is lurking?

I've been sniffing around the bedroom so much I have a headache. And a burning in my eyes and throat. The Smell is awful. It peaks during the evening, is strong through the night, starts diminishing in the morning, is almost gone by the afternoon, and starts again. It has a pattern, but seems also inconsistent at the same time.

I stand in the bedroom, which is stuffed with 109 years of crap. I realize that if we call anybody in to look at it they will blame our stuff. There is a lot of stuff, any of it could be making a Smell. So I made a decision -- we will start experimenting my emptying things out of the room and see if The Smell changes shape.

First to come out are the art supplies which seem like the most likely of culprits. Spray paint, acrylic paint, paint brushes, sculpey clay, a trunk full of who knows what kind of crap, all into the living room and kitchen, but not before sniffing each box first. Nothing. The Smell persists.

Next to come out is the trunk full of clothes, the laundry, the shelves of whatnot and the filing cabinet from my childhood. The Smell persists.

Now it is 2am. I realize that the one thing that changed in the last week was the air conditioner. While I was away on a trip, The Husband repositioned it so it wouldn't make a bad sound. It was now very quiet, but, I was convinced, the source of the The Smell. Something must have broken and freon is leaking all over the place. So, out comes the air conditioner. And still, The Smell persists.

We are now sleeping in our son's room, and he is pretty much on his own to find a place to sleep that has a mattress and air conditioning, because it is over 95 every single day.