For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Then I remembered the book. “We have to get down to the library quickly,” I said, and off we went. Unfortunately that book was gone as well. “Our ‘ghostly’ friend doesn’t want me to read that one part in the book that talks about these notes,” I said to Calanthe. “Linnea has a copy too in her bedroom,” she said, “and there is a picture of Henri on her dresser as well.” “Let’s go,” I said. I unlock her door and in we go. MEOW!! Went both cats with their ears straight up! I look at them first, then over to the bed. Poor Calanthe collapsed to the floor. Linnea was laying on the bed, with a knife in her as well! She was positioned just like Giselle upstairs. I check to make sure she is dead, and she was. But how can this be? They were stuck in town, there’s no way they could have fixed the bridge already, that storm is still raging out there. I light a kerosene lamp in the bedroom, then pick up Calanthe and put her on the couch that was in the room.
Muffin stayed beside her while I looked around the room. A copy of the book was in the top dresser drawer, along with some more notes. “That’s Henri,” said Calanthe weakly. “I have never seen him before,” I said, “so why would he be after me? Unless someone hired him. Obviously the idea is not to kill me, but to hurt me, that’s why I’m being framed for Giselle’s murder, so I will end up in prison.” “Have you put anyone in prison because of any of your cases?”, asks Calanthe. “Yes, I have, but I’m sure they would just want me dead, not in prison,” I said, “of course, being in prison would be a good way to make my life hard and to kill me eventually.” Meow,meow?=What about human Gisela? I had completely forgotten about her, she was a rival we met in our final case last year, and she got away.
This would be just like her, she wants revenge, she definitely wants the cats and I hurt. Sending me to prison would hurt all of us for sure. This is certainly an elaborate scheme to catch me, would she go through all that work? Hmm, that last time we met was also an elaborate scheme to get at me. She failed that time, but…something tells me it isn’t her. I still haven’t met Francois, he and Karl must be here somewhere too. I think saying they were trapped by that washed out bridge was just a lie to fool us into thinking they were not here. “You are staying close to me Calanthe,” I said, “they seem to be wanting to kill women, which would put you next on the list. But the cats and I will keep you safe.” “I trust you,” she said, “and honestly, I have no idea what is going on here.”
We go back to the library so I can read this part of the book and try to piece together these notes. Now I’m beginning to wonder if the 2 vacationing servants are really here too. In the book, it was a single woman who owned the chateau, she was killed and her murderer was never found. Everyone suspected one of the servants but nothing could be proven. Now the notes, in the book many notes were given to the woman who owned the chateau, but only certain notes meant something, ones that had a dot in the corner. Okay, some of these notes have a dot, I start spreading them on the large library table. Let’s see…”chateau. mine. stolen. you. pay. everyone. die. sleep.”
Then there was that complete sentence that Calanthe saw, “I will hurt you like you hurt me.” That would suggest the person is not after Linnea since she is now dead, so he, or she, is after me because of something I did to that person. We head to the kitchen to get something to drink, all they have here is tea, no coffee, what a terrible thing. There’s a kerosene lamp burning so I go in first with Mr. Cat. Muffin stays with Calanthe in the hall. I call them in, no one is here. Calanthe makes some tea and gets some biscuits too and we go back to the library. Calanthe sets the tray on the table and turns around and almost screams. I turn and there is Henri sitting in a chair, stabbed, like the others. I check and he has no broken ribs, so he is not our ‘ghost’.
To Be Continued.
Photos of Mr. Cat are kindly supplied by his human, Nina.
Previous chapters of this story and other stories can be found on my home page under “The Investigators, Inc.” and “20/20 Investigations, Inc.”
Β©2021 Steve McLeod.
Pretty soon there won’t be anyone left but the killer!
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Then we should be able to figure out who it is! Hey, wait a minute, that means we won’t be here either!π³πππ΅οΈββοΈπ©
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Catch 22! What are you gonna do??π³π²
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We need to find that dirty ghost!
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I know! Killing to ladies!! What a coward!
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He killed Henri too don’t forget, and he’s a big strong guy!
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That’s right! He did! You need to set a trap for him! Lead him into one of the rooms through the secret door, then disable the door so he can’t escape!π€ What do ya think??
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The killer is either big and strong like Henri or he’s sneaky, either way could be tough. How do I disable the door when I don’t know how it even works? Who do I use for bait? Calanthe?π€¨
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Good points! I’m just tossing out ideas here… better to use Calanthe than one of the cats!! You’re smart! You’ll find a way to keep her safe!ππ
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Yeah, by keeping her close and out of the line of fire!!π€¨ The cats are not bait, they’re my sneak attackers!ππΎπΎ Guess I’ll just have to keep looking till I find that ghost.π» I’m beginning to get a strange feeling about all this, there’s a picture forming of something, but it’s not clear enough yet. Hmm…π€π
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I’m glad you can see it forming! I need more developing fluid!!π€π€π€π€
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So far the picture is still a bit blurry, kind of like a heavy snow flurry, it better come cause I’m in a hurry, otherwise I might start to worry.
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Well.. a flurry is better than a slurry especially if you’re in a hurry… but I wouldn’t worry unless you’re eating curry!
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Oh, oh, look at the time, I better hurry, get these feet moving, I gotta scurry, it’s time for bed, time to sleep, time to snore and away I go!πββοΈπββοΈπββοΈπββοΈππ And you thought I would rhyme again, didn’t you?ππΉ
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Ya got me!!ππππ I did! Sleep Goodπ TTYT
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It seems like the killers have the bodies stored somewhere close to where you all are and they are putting them out to toy with you. π³ There is an area or a passage way that has not been uncovered yet, I think. π€
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Very good thinking Beverly!π€ Yes, I am sure there is a passageway we haven’t found yet and that book is going to tell us where it is!ππΎπΎ I hope.π A little hard to trust the book entirely though since it is fiction.π³πΎπΎπ΅οΈββοΈπ©
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Thanks Steve! Yes, be careful. Look for signs of tampering in the book designed to throw you off. π€
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Yes, I am watching for that. I think these notes are also designed to throw me off, maybe I should be looking for other things.π€
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Good. I agree the notes are also an attempt to throw you off. π¬ I am confident you and the cats will pick up in other pertinent clues! ππ€
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Yes, these notes just don’t make any sense,π€― unless there are some important ones missing. But it just seems too obvious to be important.π€π
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Aha, maybe someone sending a S.O.S., but some notes are missing. π€
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Hmm, an interesting thought.π€πΈ
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Oh, this is exciting ! But not in a good way ! You guys are in real danger ! Be on the alert ! βοΈβοΈπ΅οΈββοΈπππ©
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Yep, there will be no sleeping tonight I’m sure! But who is doing this? Hmm…π€πΎπΎπ΅οΈββοΈπ©
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Oh my Steve! Everyone is being stabbed in here πππ
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Yes, a dangerous and busy night! But there’s something strange here….π€πΎπΎπ΅οΈββοΈπ©
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The first two motes “Chateau Mine” And “Stolen” Wasn’t FranΓ§ois heir to the place at one time? If there’s nobody left he gets it. Tell Mr. cat to watch out for him. If you can use some help from a skunk I could send Mr. Henderson along to help
Try Laughter It might catch on
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Yes, Francois is still the main suspect, though I think someone is working with him, possibly Claudin and perhaps Karl too. Francois’ parents owned the place at one time and somehow Linnea’s relatives got it from them. If Linnea is out of the way then Francois could possibly lay claim to the chateau. That’s good thinking. Mentioning a skunk made the cats scatter!
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Well the offer is on the table
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And the cats are under the bed.π
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So many kills, Steve PI, i suspect on this guy now, When did he started to kill ? ;P honestly everyone is in danger, except, except, Calanthe ? quiet abnormal, why she is safe, is she not involved, i suspect only her may be they left her with a reason to confuse the case. hmm… let’s see… π
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Perhaps Calanthe is the leader, that’s why she is still alive. Or perhaps it’s because she is with me so they can’t get at her.π€ No one has been shot yet, so maybe they don’t have any guns, that would be good, gives me an advantage then. But it’s a strange case!π€π³πΎπΎπ΅οΈββοΈπ©
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Very strange case, un like other case, this case has lot of killing involved, glad there is no gun, but still be careful with knives, as it does more damage than bulletsπΈ
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This is getting very serious, so many murders. I wonder who it is π€π΅οΈββοΈ
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That’s what I would like to know. It’s a busy night, too much for one night.π³πΎπΎπ΅οΈββοΈπ©
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