For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Previous chapters of this story, and other stories, can be found on my home page under “The Investigators, Inc.” and “20/20 Investigations, Inc.”
And now, after talking with Baldwin, we continue with our story…
We continued to sit outside and talk for a while. “So, what do you cats think about all this,” I asked. Meow,meow?=Me think Caren’s sister have big problem, but she not know where Caren live now, so how she could be involved with this? Meow.=That true, unless she have way to find out, money big way to find out things with human people. “Hmm, that’s true,” I said, “I think perhaps money bought that one police officer, that’s why she checked the cellar and not the other officer. And perhaps she knows someone in the rehab program where she can buy information.”
Meow,meow.=Me still think that Caren not guilty of anything, she innocent and she scared of stalker. Meow?=Me agree, easy to tell she genuine, you paying attention? And he looks at me. I know what he’s getting at. “Don’t forget about Lena,” I said. Meow,meow.=Lena not seem interested in you, she stay in France when we go home. Meow.=That true, still, maybe she waiting for Mr. Slow here. “Hey you two, stay with the case,” I said, “something isn’t right here and I just can’t figure out what it is.” Meow,meow=Maybe we go look at house while Caren at work. “Now that’s a good idea,” I said, “she did give me the keys to her car and said I could use it all day.”
Meow!=Hey, wait, doctor say you two supposed to relax! “We will relax Mr. Cat,” I said, “just looking around the house isn’t something hard.” Meow,meow=Me agree, let’s go. “You sigh a lot Mr. Cat,” I said. Meow,meow=Yep. Meow.=Because you two not listen to doctor. Or me. I park at the front of the house and could see that the front door was open. “Careful now you two, there might be someone still inside,” I said. I got my gun out and the cats went racing in ahead of me. No one was close by the door anyway. I closed and locked the door. Then I checked the other 2 doors which were still locked, as were all the windows, rooms were empty. It actually didn’t look like anyone had been in the house.
But I know we locked that door when we left, so someone had been here. Even the trap door to the cellar was still locked, that only leaves the attic and we have never been up there yet. Looks like this would be a good time to check it out. The door was closed, but not locked, proving someone has been here. In we went, I turned the lights on, wow, what a lot of stuff! Caren was right about that. It will take a long time to go through all this stuff. I found an outlet and plugged in a scrambler, then I gave another one to Muffin and sent the cats off together to plug it in further away. It’s a big room so I want to make sure we can talk anywhere up here. They came back quickly after doing that. “Okay, you two can wander around by yourselves, but, stay together, and keep an eye on me too,” I said.
Off they went like they were on a treasure hunt. Maybe we are, in a way. Hmm, an old desk, so I go over and start looking through the drawers. As I took out the drawers I noticed that one was a bit shorter than the others. I look inside the spot and there is nothing odd to see…or is there? It blends in well, but there is a hidden “box” at the back. I unhook it from it’s spot and bring it out. Hmm, an old map of the property, square of course. But why hide this? There’s nothing special marked on the map, what an odd thing. Normally a person would hide something important, unless there was originally something else in there too, found by someone else, like the people trying to scare Caren.
Suddenly the lights went out, that certainly made it dark. Then a crash, I turned, two shots were fired and I shot back. Then the cats shot a couple of light flares which worked great and I could hear people running down the stairs. I followed, but they were already out the front door before I got to the bottom of the stairs, but I got a look at the car driving away. I must have hit one of them, there was blood on the floor. Then I noticed the blood on my face. Meow,meow=You hurt, call help. “It’s okay Muffin,” I said, “I can drive back.” Meow,meow!=You call help now! Maybe she was right, so I called Baldwin who got in touch with his men. I’m not feeling good. Then everything went dark.
To Be Continued.
Β©2021 Steve McLeod.
Where are the night vision goggles??π€¨π€¨ you are still not thinking clearly!π€π€π³
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Now why didn’t you tell me about those before?π€¨π I’ll put that on my shopping list right away.ππΈπΈ
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You’re the PI! You should be anticipating that!πππ
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How can I anticipate something I don’t know about?π€¨π€π
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But you’re a PI!π¬π₯΄ I can’t think of everything π don’t you subscribe to PI monthly??π
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Actually it’s PI Quarterly,π they can’t afford to do it monthly. π³We’re not exactly a wealthy bunch!π€¨
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You should be! You never seem to take a vacation!!π€¨
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Yeah, but few people pay me for my services!π¬ππ
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Do you bill them??
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Yep, but they must lose the bill because I don’t get paid. In fact, I never hear from them again.ππΎπΎ
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Gee… I wonder why!?π€π€ππ
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I know, it’s crazy. But then, some of my customers get killed too which makes it hard to get paid. Or they end up in prison, which makes it hard to get paid. And sometimes I just do a case to help someone, so I don’t get paid. Or they just don’t have the money to pay me, so I just forget about it. But a couple have paid me!ππΊπΊ
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Soooooo….. the grocery store and landlord let’s you do the same when you need to pay them?? π€π€ they must be very understanding!!ππ
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I don’t know, I’ve never handled a case for them.π€
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You are definitely not on vacation or a rest break. So glad you called for help before blacking out. Good thing the cats were there to remind you!
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Yes, that is so true. I wonder what my doctor will say to me this time! Yes, driving on that mountain road and blacking out would have been bad and probably the end of us all. Still trying to put the pieces of this odd puzzle together. But I’m sure there is 2 different things going on here.
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There are two things going on…and they are both troublesome ! Be careful ! βοΈβοΈπ΅οΈββοΈπ©π’πΌπ
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Yes, I think that two things are happening too, though it does seem like an odd coincidence. I still think there is something about that square house, but I still don’t know what. Perhaps the next chapter will reveal something.π€πΎπΎπ΅οΈββοΈ
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Oh, oh! Yes, there are two things going on at once – two too many things, I fear! ππ±π΅πΌββοΈπ₯π¦ π―βοΈβοΈ
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Yes, I think Caren’s stalker is her sister, or perhaps someone she hired. But who is after me and the cats?π€π³πΎπΎπ΅οΈββοΈ
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Wow, this doesn’t seem good at allπ
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Yes, things keep getting worse, but the puzzle pieces are starting to fit!π€πΎπΎπ΅οΈββοΈ
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oh man, what had just happened, how bad, you got hurtπ§ you should’ve used some N8 goggles … here i go next chapter.. I hav no patience..
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I always stop at the worst places, but I can’t help it!πππΎπΎπ΅οΈββοΈ
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ha haπΊπ»ππ you can’t help, that’s why the stories got so many fans π€
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You think so?π€ Ohhh, I must do this all the time then!πππΊπΊ
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yes π that would be wonderful π»ππ»π
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