Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. The Search. Chapter 10.
Now back to us at Baldwin’s house. Meow.=Maybe we get in window, or try break in. “No M.C., this house will have a very good security system, there’s no way to break in without getting caught,” I said, “but I see it does need a numerical combination to get in.” “Hey, does that mean the combination we have?”, asked Kat. “Well, we can certainly try it,” I said, “but if we’re wrong, the lock will freeze up and the house will blow up in 10 minutes. And if that happens I imagine the gate won’t open for us either, which means we would be trapped here and trying to explain to the police why we are here.”
“Hmm, I’m sure John would love that,” said Kat, “he would have us in jail and laughing all the way. So, what do we do?” “Simple, we try the combination we have and hope it works,” I said, “and if it doesn’t work, we run…somewhere.” Meow,meow!=Wow, that be big explosion! Meow!=Yep, biggest fireworks yet! “Umm, let me remind you two, this isn’t a fun fireworks,” I said, “and get ready to run fast.” Meow,meow=Lots of trees at back, we hide there, maybe even climb over wall. “Somehow I don’t think I could climb over the wall,” I said, “but you 3 could, so that’s what you will do, and get away from here. Then call Rock for help.”
“Do you think I would leave you Steve?”, asked Kat. “Yes, this time you will,” I said, “you can be more helpful by not getting caught with me.” Kat just looked at me, then said, “Hmm, I guess you might be right, but I don’t like it.” Next I punched in our password and waited. There was some humming, then silence. So I tried the door and it opened! “Whew, my heart can start beating once more,” said Kat. The cats suddenly vanished as they looked around the huge room that we entered. This is actually just the entry of the house.
“And I thought our chateau was nice,” exclaimed Kat. Then a large man appeared in one of the doorways…it was Baldwin! “Welcome Steve and Kat to my little home by the sea,” then he laughed with his usual boisterous laugh, “the look on your faces right now, especially you Kat! Just priceless!” “I don’t believe it!”, exclaimed Kat. “Neither do I,” I said, “you’re not Baldwin, you’re John!” “Ah, but John no longer exists,” he said, “it’s Baldwin now and no one can prove me wrong.” John had several bodyguards with him, he wasn’t taking chances.
Then one of his men pulled a gun and shot at me. Kat was quick and shot back, killing the man, but the other guards had their guns on us quickly enough, and two showed up behind us taking our guns and holding us. “Thank you Kat for your quick reaction,” said John. Kat was a bit puzzled. “He wanted one of us to kill that man, now he can have us charged with murder and off to prison we go,” I told her. “Precisely,” said John, “now you will get to enjoy what I have enjoyed, but I will use my influence to make sure you stay there for a very long time.”
“But you have forgotten one very important detail.” We all looked on the stairway on the right side of the room. Another Baldwin was standing there about half way up the staircase. “Don’t worry dear Kat,” he said, “I’m the real Baldwin.” “Kill him!”, shouted John to his men and they fired several shots at him, but he just stood there laughing. “You can’t kill a man that’s already dead,” said Baldwin, “your bullets just go right through me.” And he pointed to the bullet holes in the wall behind him. The men holding Kat and I had loosened their grip while all this was going on.
I nodded to Kat and then yelled out, “Meow!” Thwock!, Thwock! At the same time Kat and I pulled forward then back went our heads right in our captors teeth. They yelled, but we had them knocked out very quickly, I grabbed the gun from one and shot another guard. There was another Thwock! while Kat went sliding across that polished marble floor, then on her hands as she swung around and kicked John right on his knee! Wow, what a loud crack! John screamed…a broken knee like that is extremely painful! Then another Thwock!, but this one hit John on his lower back!
John screamed again and then fell to the floor yelling out, “I surrender, I surrender!” I pointed my gun, ready to shoot, but Kat was back beside me and pulled my arm down. “You can’t shoot him now Steve,” she said, “you know that you can’t.” She was right, but it sure wasn’t easy to hold back, good thing Kat was there to help me. Meow,meow?=Me could do it, what they going to do to cat? “No Muffin, you will listen to this Kat and you and M.C. won’t do anything,” she said looking somewhat sternly at them. But this isn’t over yet.
To Be Continued.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 
Ohhhhhh, need next chapter!!
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So glad you’re enjoying this case Ami!😳👱♀️🙀🙀🕵️♂️
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Do you still trust Kat ? Or someone else posing as Kat ? Something is not right here ! Something is really wrong ! Be careful ! ☕️☕️🕵️♂️👩😾😾☕️☕️
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Absolutely, why wouldn’t I trust Kat? She did stop John rather well, with a little help from Muffin. But yes, something is not right. It can’t be Baldwin on the stairs since the bullets went right through him. But how can that be? Perhaps the next chapter will clear things up. Remember, there is a third person involved here now, working with Annelie.😬👱♀️🙀🙀🕵️♂️
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So Baldwin helped you out again!😉😁 But now that you have John… how do you show him as an imposter?? That’s gonna be tricky!🤔🤔🙄🙄😬😬
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Are you sure that it is Baldwin? The bullets went right through him, so it’s not a real person, but how could that be? Yes, we still have to prove that John is not Baldwin and right now we don’t have that proof. Kat was right to stop me from killing him, without proof, I would be charged with murdering Baldwin!😬👱♀️🙀🙀🕵️♂️
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Well I was thinking Baldwin was more of a hologram than real! But!!! He did call Kat by name!! Huh?? What about that???
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Not only calling her Kat, but dear Kat, something Baldwin always did. But who is working the hologram? Perhaps Rock? How did John get into the house without the combination? Since it was split between 3 people, how could he get hold of it? Only Baldwin knew the whole combination and he never had it copied down anywhere, he had it memorized. And what about Annelie? Who is she working with?
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The next chapter is less than 20 hours away!😉😁
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Oh my, I wonder if we can solve anything so quickly?!😳🙄
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Little by little!! Got to make it last!!😉😁 Can’t be in a hurry!😁😁😃 Slow, steady and right on the mark!😁😁😉
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Except we are in a tight spot here and perhaps one of his men has already called the police! Then we are in big trouble! We can’t run either or that would definitely prove we are in the wrong and the police would find us anyway. Oh my, oh my!😲😲😳😳🙀🙀
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Better hope That Baldwin hologram shows up again!!😬😲😳
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What if it doesn’t? We’re sunk! We’re in prison for years to come!😳😳
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Well, as they say 3 hots and a cot is all one really needs!🙄🙄🤭🤭😂😂
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And a couple litter boxes for the cats.🙀🙀
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Ya gotta have company!😉😁
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That’s right, not allowing me to have my cats would be cruel punishment which is against the law.🤔🙄
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Exactly!! They can go explore while you’re sleeping!!😁
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Oh my, Muffin would be bringing all sorts of things back to my cell and I’ll get blamed for it!😳😹
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She could also deliver things for you!!😉😉😁😁😂😂😂
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Such as a note reading, “help, I’m being held prisoner in a prison!”🤔🙄🙄🙄
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That’s one! You could run the PI business from there! No one could get to you!!😉😁
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True, but there’s also no one to do the work.
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Oh sure there are! Rock, Jennifer oops I mean Kat!
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If I go to prison, so will Kat. And Rock might too as an accessory after the fact, or is it before the face? Or maybe behind the head?
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Maybe all of the above??🤣🤣🤣
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😬😬😲😲🤯🤯
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Well… you are actually a police officer!
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I don’t think that will help me right now.🙄🙄
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Why not?? You have done anything illegal.. right?
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Um, how do I prove that? It’s John’s, as Baldwin, word against mine. He has more influence than I do.😬😬
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You were given the key to enter the house so technically you did nothing wrong and Kat was defending herself and others when threatened!😁
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But the key is on someone else’s phone, that would be tough to explain, and that person being dead, also tough to explain. It could be argued that we broke in and they were the ones defending, we were the attackers. We need proof!
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I can’t wait to see what happens!!!😳😳
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Me too!😳😬
Good morning Dusty!😁☕☕
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Good Morning 🌞 I hope the birds are singing and the sun is shining brightly there this morning g?
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The birds are busy, no sun though, cloudy and strong north wind and cold!🥶
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Oh no!😲😲😳🥶🥶🥶
Grab that heating pad and wrap it around your belly then put Muffin on your lap you’ll be cozy warm all day!😃😁
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I’ll be going outside shortly to make a new bird feeder for the grosbeaks. No warm for me! Back in an hour or so!🥶🧊🧊
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Okay! Stay warm!😁
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Stay warm? The temp is dropping all the time!🥶😲🙀
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Did you get your project finished?🤔
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Not yet, got all the pieces cut, now I need to put it all together and hopefully have it ready to use by mid afternoon. But this cold weather kind of slowed me down, my pain level is high today, so I may not get it finished today. Story chapter is first and that’s where I’m headed to now!
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Oooooohhhh ya!! Good deal!!😁😁
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And it’s ready to go. And I am going to try and get that feeder put together now!
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So many theories!! So few facts to work from!! I don’t know!😬😬
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Well, here’s one thought, if that was somehow a real Baldwin hologram, then the person would know that Kat is dead and Kat is really Jennifer though Jennifer isn’t really Kat because Kat is Jennifer. And Baldwin would know that, if he was alive and he would have to be in order for that hologram to work in real time with what is actually happening. I think. I also think I’m getting confused, where’s my notebook?🤔🙄
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Good point!! I think I’ll wait for the next episode🤕😬
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Really, no guessing at all what might be happening or what might happen? We’re in a tight spot here, we need ideas to help us get out of this before we get arrested!😳😬😲
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Well… unless you called the police…. they don’t know anything yet! So that should give you a little time! The real issue is proving that Baldwin is John!! Ya know!! Do you have any video of John walking and Baldwin walking? That difference might be your only hope 😬😬😮😯😲😳🤔🤔
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That’s putting our lives on very little evidence! But one of John’s men might have called the police, one that is hiding in another room perhaps!😳😬😲🙀🙀
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That could be… perhaps a little threat to the imposter to cooperate and get the cops to go away?
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Perhaps a big threat would be better. I could threaten to let Muffin kill him. Might work.
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Just flash her teeth and claws he’ll go along!😉😁
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It just might be worthwhile to give it a try.
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If he still isn’t cowering have MC do a fly by showing his too that’ll get him!!
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That’s a thought for sure, a 2 for 1 special!😾😾
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Chomp chomp!!🤣🤣🤣🤣
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😂😂😹😹
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See ?? They can can get it done!!
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I can still see us in prison.😳😳
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Not for long though!! Good behavior you’re out 10 maybe 15 years tops!
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With all the people we killed and likely permanently disabling John, we’re in for 25 easy. I’ll be ready to retire by the time we get out.
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Intrique with so many questions. Guess I will have to wait for the next chapter to see what happens next. So many dead bodies and imposters in this story. However, there is only one Muffin, one M.C. and one Steve!
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And of course, 2 Kats! We still have to prove that John is not Baldwin. Right now he could charge us with breaking into his home, killing his guards and other things and we would be in prison for a long time! And who is this other Baldwin that isn’t real? And who is Annelie working with? Hopefully we learn some things next time.😬👱♀️🙀🙀🕵️♂️
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