For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Right then Calanthe came into the room and saw Linnea by the fireplace. Calanthe screamed and fainted, Linnea disappeared into the fireplace and I ran over there but she had gone again. Meow,meow.=She go to right in fireplace. I look but couldn’t see a door so I hold Muffin there and she said there was a door. Okay, now to find a way to open it, but first, Calanthe who was still lying on the floor. I picked her up and laid her on the sofa while Muffin tried slapping her face. I tried a more gentle method which worked. “Ahh, sleeping beauty awakes!” I said. “Not funny,” she answered, “I just saw, or we did, a ghost!” “A ghost?”, I questioned, “what do you mean?” “You didn’t see Linnea standing there?”, she asked. “Um, Calanthe,” I said quietly, “we buried Linnea this morning, don’t you remember? Perhaps all this action is getting to you, I wish you could get away somewhere.”
“I’m not going crazy Steve!”, she exclaimed, “but you’re right, it couldn’t have been Linnea, I guess maybe I am a bit on the nervous side.” “We all are,” I said, “don’t worry about it.” She went back into the kitchen with Muffin while Mr. Cat stayed with me. Meow?=Why you not tell Calanthe that you saw Linnea ghost too? “I needed to check her reaction to all of this Mr. Cat,” I said, “just to see if I can tell who’s side she is on.” Meow?=You know now? “No,” I said, “I’m still not sure.” Meow.=Me not sure too, she seem so nice, but hide something. Meow?=You have good talk with…I hold up my finger to stop him. “Yes, but it wasn’t long enough because of our visitors, we’ll try again later,” I explained. Calanthe said it was time to eat so we went to the kitchen. We stopped.
Before us was the mayor and his bodyguards, one with a gun to Calanthe’s head and one holding Muffin down on the table with a gun at her head. “Time for a talk,” said the mayor firmly. I just stood there trying hard to control my temper. Finally I said, “put away the guns and we can talk, otherwise there is going to be some problems.” Now it was the mayor’s turn to stand speechless. I took advantage of that and slowly nodded my head, looking behind the man holding Muffin. He quickly turned taking his gun off Muffin momentarily and Thwock! That startled the other man and he moved his gun away from Calanthe’s head so I got a good shot at his hand causing him to drop his gun. Calanthe quickly picked up the gun and backed away, Muffin had already rejoined us.
“Now,” I said, “we can talk. And you better talk fast before I throw you out of here.” Although considering how big this man was, ‘throwing’ would not be possible. “Okay,” he said, “things have turned in your favor for now, so we talk. I want this chateau, and I will give you 2 million euros for it, that’s better than the other offers and none of them can top me I’m sure.” “Well, I’m not so sure,” I said, “so let’s keep the bidding open a while longer, after all, the banker has not had a chance yet.” “Ah yes, Rochelle,” he said, “a most dangerous adversary. You should stay away from her, she will eat you up.” Then he laughed quite boisterously. “Then why are you not afraid of her?”, I asked. “What?,” he said indignantly, “Antoine Aubert is not afraid of anyone!”
“Then you better start soon,” I said, “because I am not afraid of you, therefore you have to be afraid of me, just the way it works.” “You?” he laughed, “you I will crush with my bare hands unless you give me what I want. Accept my price or I will take this chateau from you and bury you in it!” “Oh, just get out of here,” I said, “you’re mouth is bigger than the rest of you. Now go and take your friend along with you.” They did so, reluctantly and angrily. We watched until they were gone. “Why not just sell the place to Baldwin and let him fight those crazy people,” said Calanthe, “I’m sure he could match 2 million euros.” “Yes, I imagine he could,” I said, “especially with you helping him with a share of the money you would get. After all, he is your older brother.” The look on Calanthe’s face when I said that! “How…how, did you find out?,” she asked. “That’s what a PI does,” I said…
To Be Continued.
Pictures 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.
Ah! Now we are getting some where.
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Yes, something new comes to light.π€πΎπΎπ΅οΈββοΈ
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Ah ha!!! Can’t trust them girls!! π¬π¬π€¨π€¨π€¨
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Still, does this mean she’s bad? After all I couldn’t find anything wrong with Baldwin. And yet there is…π€π³πΎπΎπ΅οΈββοΈ
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Well… why hide it then?? Hmm?π€π€π€π¬π²
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That is a good point. Perhaps we will find out more about that in the next chapter.π³π€
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I hope so! It’s not too safe having someone who’s keeping secrets working with you.π€¨
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Yes, that is another good point. But I know more about her than she realizes, so I have been watching carefully, more importantly the cats have been watching her, easier that way, they don’t look suspicious.π€πΈπΈ
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Very True! Stillπ€
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It does make things a bit tricky, but I have a plan.πππ
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I knew it!π€π€ Are you gonna give her the hot spot light interrogation?π¬π€¨ Maybe needles under her fingernails?π²π³ Well what?? C’mon… I need to know!ππ
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I figure sitting down and talking nicely about it while we eat supper.
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What?? You’re gonna use the truth serum right??π¬π§π³
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Of course not, I have something much better.π€
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Now ya got me guessing…π€π€π€ you’re going to lock her in a closet! Mayve a trunk? That’d do it!! Maybe bread and water for a week! Yeah! Good thinking!π
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Hmm, sorry, I don’t have a week. I promised Baldwin we could conclude our deal in 7 days, only 5 left, providing what I’m looking for doesn’t lead back to him. I still need to find Linnea’s killer and perhaps the treasure if that still exists.π€π³π
And no to the other ideas. Just plain simple talking, you know, normal, with a gun pointed at her head.ππ
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Hehehe..π€π€π€ now we’re taliking!!ππππ
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Or I could just sell the place to Baldwin now and let him deal with those crazy people!π³π³ππ
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That would be taking the easy way! We both know you don’t do easy!ππ€π€
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I don’t know, I’m getting tired of these crazy critters coming in here uninvited. And it is a nice chunk of cash. But it would be too easy for Baldwin, since Calanthe gets half the money which would be 1 million, she gives that to her brother and he only pays 1 million for the place. Too easy, too easy. But I have another plan.π€ππ
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I guess I’m just gonna have to wait!ππ€¨ You are sooo tough to get clues out ofπ€¨π€¨π₯΄
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Naturally, that’s what PI’s do! Wheeeeeee!π
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We’re already past PI day! ππ
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Rats, I missed it again.πππ
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Yeah… and it was blueberry too!ππππ
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I make the best.πππππ
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How do I know?? You could just be saying that!ππ
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Naturally I said it, I don’t mind admitting that. However, if you want to talk about pies, lets move to my coffee post. I mean, pie and coffee go together.πβπ₯§
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Alright… yes they do! How about a little ice cream too?πππ
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π²π²π²π²π²π²π²π²
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I know!! Yummy!!ππ
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How about you bake one and I’ll test taste it?πππ
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Don’t think I could throw it that far.π€ππ€£
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Mail it!π
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π€¨π€¨π€¨πΎπΎπΎ
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What??πππ
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You do know what PI day is??π€π€
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The day we all eat pi all day long! mmmmm!πππππππππππ
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Uh huh!πππ
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Steve, this is so good, so many twists and turns…love it! ππ³π€π
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Thanks Beverly! Never know, might be more coming up too. Or not.π³πΎπΎπ΅οΈββοΈ
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Youβre welcome Steve! I would not be surprised if there is more, looking forward to the next chapter! π³π€π
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Are you kidding me? Baldwin is Calantheβs brother? This is what she hides! But with who youβve talked earlier? π€
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Yes, Calanthe has been helping her brother to get the chateau it seems, though I still want to know why everyone wants it. Baldwin has no illegal activity connections that are known. But why the secrecy then? Why not be open about things? Very strange. Who did I talk with earlier? There are some missing people from the story, perhaps one of them?π€πΎπΎπ΅οΈββοΈ
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This chapter is really a stunner ! TRUST NOBODY ! LOL ! I wonder what strange thing will happen in the next chapter ! βοΈβοΈπ΅οΈββοΈπππ©π€
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Yes, we have something different in here now, yet we still don’t know what’s going on or why all these people want this chateau. But I’m sure we will find out soon!π³πΎπΎπ΅οΈββοΈ
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I knew Calanthe was part of the deception
Laugh Until It annoys someone. They’ll thank you
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True, but only a minor deception to try and get a better deal for her brother. Using ME. That wasn’t nice. Now, about the other 3…
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I don’t trust anyone for all I know they all in it for the same goal and you better find out what that is
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The same goal, hmm, now you’re starting to play hockey.
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I knew it , Calanthe is definitely a culprit.. I was thinking… and here she is … got caught.. the witch! and who is the other one pretended like Linnea π€
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So you think Calanthe is bad?π¬π Hmm, so do others.π We’ll see if she is or not!π€
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