For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Jennifer helped me get up and over to a chair. That kick on my back was far worse than Calanthe choking me, she knew exactly where to kick, but then everyone around here knows, except maybe Rock. “She had a knife at my throat,” I said, “she meant to kill me.” “She’s the one that’s dead Steve,” said Annelie, “she fell on her knife.” “This is crazy,” I said, “everyone is getting killed.” Muffin came over to me. Meow,meow.=I sorry, I only use rubber muffin, I knew you not want her killed, but I kill her anyway. “No Muffin,” I said hugging her, “you didn’t kill her, she killed herself. And she did try to kill me, so you did the right thing.”
Rock was already calling the men he wanted to come here. I reminded him not to say anything about Baldwin’s death. If they knew he was dead, they might not want to help. I told Annelie to call the police and ambulance. “If we involve the police, won’t that stop our case?,” asked Jennifer. “No, this is just a simple case of attempted murder on me by Calanthe,” I said, “something totally disconnected to our case.” “They might want to connect it though,” said Jennifer. “They can try, and probably will try,” I said, “but that’s not stopping us from going after this imposter.”
The police came and did try to connect the two cases, but were satisfied for now that there was no real connection to stop us from working on our case. I called Rossana anyway to see if they could stop me, but she put me in touch with someone who then put the whole thing in my hands, including the death of Calanthe which he agreed was really part of my case and should be left up to me to deal with it. That was good, and will help a lot since I won’t have to worry about being followed around. Then something came to me about that imposter, it was the way he walked, not at all like Baldwin, though I’m sure he could walk like him, but he was walking normally and that is what got me thinking.
But for now, it’s getting late, so we all went off to bed. The girls were up early and had pancakes ready for us and a mountain of bacon. They figured that Rock must have a good appetite and they were correct. That man eats! By early afternoon we were having the funeral for Baldwin and Jennifer. It’s complicated, but we want the imposter to think he shot the wrong woman. So Jennifer is back to playing Kat and Kat’s body now becomes Jennifer and that’s what the plaque says at the grave. We’re hoping this will bring the imposter out in the open again, or one of his men that we can capture alive.
The caskets were opened at the grave site so everyone could see that these two were dead and being buried. We stayed until the graves were filled with dirt and then headed back to the chateau. Rock went to the airport to pick up his men. I reminded him he had to be somewhat cheerful. “That’s not going to be easy Steve,” he said, “but I’ll do it and make sure I’m acting as normal as possible.” Rock is a good man, it will be nice having him around. As I saw him walking away it got me thinking about the imposter’s walk. Then it hit me and I immediately called a prison.
John was out again due to excellent behavior. Hard to imagine. Now I’m sure that John is the imposter. That helps a bit because I now know how John thinks, how he does things. When he sends a gun hand to kill Kat this time, he won’t be far away, he will want to make sure the job is done right this time. Though we didn’t know it, after we left the cemetery, 3 men arrived and dug up the graves, and were satisfied with what they saw. But one was not happy with the name plaque for Jennifer, and he was soon on the phone to someone growling out orders for Kat to be killed.
“I’m staying around to make sure the job is done this time!”, he said gruffly to the 2 men with him. Then off they went to a hotel. I soon received a phone call telling me about these men and how he was forced to dig open the graves for them. I told him not to worry, everything was going nicely according to our plan. I just wish… Kat sat beside me, the cats came up on my lap and started purring. “Sorry you are going through this Steve,” said Kat, “but we’re all here to help you.” “I should have been more careful,” I said, “I just didn’t think he would try to kill Kat so quickly. Jennifer should still be alive.”
To Be Continued.
Previous chapters of this story, and other stories, can be found on my home page under “The Investigators, Inc.”
ยฉ2021 Steve McLeod.
Nice twist!! Now maybe you can finish off John once and for all!! Good call leaving someone to watch the cemetery.. But can you really trust Baldwins men? Maybe there’s a sleeper in the organization??๐ฎ๐ค๐ค๐ฒ๐คญ
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Well, right now I need to trust people since I need help, our own numbers are shrinking again which is not good. I do trust Rock and so do the cats. So I think it will be okay to trust him to pick out 8 other men. Guess we’ll find out. Yep, I don’t intend to let John escape this time, he’s had enough chances. But, can I stop him in time? I need this combination to prove who the real Baldwin is, otherwise his “will” won’t mean a thing even if I stop John. And that’s a problem. But I don’t even know what the combination is for!๐ฌ๐ฑโโ๏ธ๐พ๐พ๐ ๐ต๏ธโโ๏ธ
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Well one thing at a time! First John… then the lock for the combo… it just backwards! Usually you have the lock and not the combo!๐๐๐
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Very true, but we only have 2/3 of the combination, since Calanthe had 1/3 of it and now she can’t tell us. But only Kat knew what the combination was for, besides Baldwin himself. It could be for a safe, a vault or even a house. Or maybe even one of his many yachts! This won’t be easy. Yes, John is first on the list for sure, but how to find him? I think maybe he’s close since the graves were checked, maybe even by him personally. We have to be careful, he’s more dangerous now than ever.๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐พ๐พ
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I agree! That’s to say the least!!๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ณ Just remember to keep a bullet resistant vest on Jennie ah ah I mean Kat!! It’s all for nothing if you loose her!!๐คจ๐คจ๐๐
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We will all be wearing our vests from now on! I don’t plan on losing Kat!๐ ๐พ๐พI already lost Kat, but not Kat too! You’re trying to confuse me aren’t you?๐ค๐๐
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You’re doing that all by yourself!๐๐๐๐
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Well, I’m trying to at least! No, wait, that didn’t come out quite right.๐ค๐
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You definitely went left there!๐คฃ๐คฃ๐คฃ
Keep at it take notes ๐ you’ll get it!!๐คญ๐คญ๐คญ๐คญ๐คญ
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Oh, good idea, I’ll start taking notes so I remember where I am in the story, as well as who’s who. It does get complicated at times. But I know that Kat and Kat are different Kats, I just hope John doesn’t know it.
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He won’t if he didn’t check for contacts!๐๐คซ๐คซ๐คซ
So for now you’ve got the advantage…๐๐คซ๐คซ
But how will you trap him? You’ll need to use his aggression against him… he seems to impulsive! Get him to act before he thinks it through and you’ve got him!๐๐
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Yes, that is always the thing with John, he acts before he thinks. But sometimes that works for him making it harder to catch him. We have caught him and sent him to prison 4 times now! Well, he now believes he got the wrong Kat, so he will be waiting for the real Kat to show up, although he won’t do the shooting himself. He always gets someone else to do those things which is why his prison terms are always short and he gets out early for good behavior. But he will be close by, that’s why we need extra men to watch the area around Kat and I. Because John will be close enough to watch us. Contacts?๐ค๐ณ Rats, I knew I forgot something.๐
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You just need to keep in mind he may know!!๐ฒ๐ฒ
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That would be a problem, but he may still try to kill Kat just to make sure he gets the right Kat, just in case the Kat he thought was Kat isn’t Kat and Kat he doesn’t think was Kat really is Kat even if Kat isn’t Kat because the other Kat is Kat.๐ณ๐ณ๐คฏ๐คฏ
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Exactly!! Be careful!๐คจ๐คจ
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I sure don’t want to lose both Jennifer and Kat! That would be devastating!๐ฒ๐ But I do know that John will not get away with this!!๐ ๐พ๐พ I wonder if Calanthe was working with John?๐ค He always seems to find a rich woman to finance him. So odd.๐ณ๐๐
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Now there’s a real possibility! Could she have told him about the Kat that isn’t Kat because the real K at is Kat?
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Yes, if they were working together I’m sure she would have mentioned this to him, which means he would know to check for contacts! In that case we’re dead ducks.๐ฌ๐ฌ
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Not necessarily! He doesn’t know that you know that he knows… so you need to keep that secret!๐คซ๐คซ
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Well, another thing, if she was working with him, he doesn’t yet know what happened to her, so that can be good for us. He might think that she betrayed him and that would make him angry and he always makes mistakes when he’s angry!๐ค๐ณ
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There you go!! That could be the thing to use against him!! Great Thinking!๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐
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Thank you!๐ Um, what was the idea again?๐ค I forgot.๐๐
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Check your notes… you did take notes??๐๐๐ค๐ค
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Um, couldn’t find my notebook yet to start taking notes yet.๐ฌ๐คฏ
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Uh oh!!๐ฌ๐ฌ not what?? It was such a good one too!!๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ
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You’re not helping.๐๐
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I’m sorry I’m memory handicapped ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐
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How can I argue that point?๐ค๐คฏ
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Got ya!!๐คฃ๐คฃ๐คฃ๐คฃ๐คฃ
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Thank you!๐
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Anytime ๐๐๐๐๐
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How was your day? Busy, boring?
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It’s never boring around this place! Kinda busy, shopping day, working on things for church. My friend had some errands to do, so he dropped me off at the store so I had some time to kill which gave more walking time in the store which was good. Got some wood cut for a new feeder to keep the pigeons off so the grosbeaks can eat in peace. Now I have to put it together. I would have gotten that far today, but my back was complaining too much by this afternoon. How about you?๐ค
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I had a good day! Left the office early and finished work at home. Then went for my wall. Oh..btw… in addition to the one mouse I caught when we were chatting last night.. I got two more overnight!!! That makes seven so far!๐ฒ๐ณ๐คฏ I’ll keep setting them until they stop catching them.
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How far did you walk today? Same distance? Wow, that’s a lot of mouses!๐ฒ๐๐๐ This is the time of year they like to come inside,๐ looking for a warm place to live for the winter. You have more yet! And you didn’t believe me.๐ณ๐๐๐
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Gloating is not very appealing behavior!๐คจ๐คจ
That said… I am taking your advice and continuing to set traps for them!!๐๐๐๐๐๐
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I wasn’t gloating, just saying you didn’t believe me. Just kind of floating that out there.๐คฃ๐คฃ๐คฃ
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Yeah.. keep it up and you will be floating๐๐
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Well, if I float I won’t need a boat to cross the moat to deliver my note to the prince’s goat who ordered a tote!
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Yeah!! So remember that!๐๐คจ๐๐๐๐
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I couldn’t remember that if I tried!๐๐
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I knew that… but I had to try!๐๐๐๐คญ๐คญ๐คญ๐คญ๐คญ
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AHA!๐
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Well it didn’t help me any!! You couldn’t remember.. remember??๐๐๐ค๐ค
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I can’t remember what it was I was supposed to remember to remember but didn’t remember because I forgot to remember.๐ณ๐ฌ๐
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Notes!! You hot to keep notes!! Take it from an old mind!!๐๐๐๐
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I must remember that, let me write that down. Where’s my pen?๐ค
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Ask Muffin!๐๐
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Oh, good idea, she has a good memory, then I won’t need to write it down.๐๐ธ
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Ohhhh… I don’t know what to do with you!!๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ณ
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Oh well, one of those things I guess.
Good night Dusty!๐๐๐ด๐ด
Talk again tomorrow!๐๐คฏ
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Good Night Sleepy ๐ด ๐ฅฑ
Sleep Good!!
Talk tomorrrow!๐
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So John is back in the picture…hmmm…good behaviour ? Not in Canada ! Looking forward to the next chapter ! ๐ต๏ธโโ๏ธ๐ฉ๐ป๐ผ
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Yes indeed, he’s back again. But this time he’s finished! We’re going to find him no matter where he hides! But does he know that we are tricking him into thinking Kat is still alive? Was Calanthe working with him? If so does he know how to tell the difference between Kat and Jennifer? Then we have the puzzle of the combination to solve afterward.๐ณ๐ฑโโ๏ธ๐พ๐พ๐ ๐ต๏ธโโ๏ธ
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This is getting sticky again! John needs to be taken care of and fast. ๐ฌ๐บ
๐ผ๐ต๏ธโโ๏ธโ๏ธโ๏ธ
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Yes indeed! He is always around causing trouble and he will be stopped this time. I’m not letting him get away!๐๐ฑโโ๏ธ๐พ๐พ๐ ๐ต๏ธโโ๏ธ
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๐ช
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