For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Well, we have all had a good rest after our last case, and nothing new has come in for 3 weeks now. But today there is a lot of mail, so perhaps there will be something for us. And I was right. “Look at this,” I said, “a nice easy case for us to handle for a change.” “What’s it all about?”, asked Kat. “An older man lost a family heirloom, an old doll, that he wants to give to his granddaughter,” I explained, “but he doesn’t know what happened to it and wants us to help find it for him. And he says he’ll pay whatever we normally would charge.” “Hmm, that sounds almost too easy,” said Kat, “probably has it packed away in his basement or attic, or maybe he even gave it to someone else already and just forgot.”
“Well, whatever it is I think it would be good for us, and just maybe we can find out what happened to it,” I said. “I agree,” said Kat, “you call him and I’ll start packing.” “Wait a minute,” I said, “I think you should take it easy for a while yet, this is something the cats and I can handle. And I can take Rock with me too.” “Can’t take Rock,” Baldwin reminded me, “he’s at a family reunion in New York.” “Right, I forgot about that,” I said, “well, I can take Annelie, she collects antique dolls, so she might be very good to have along.” “I agree,” said Kat, “but I’m still coming too. It’s an easy case, perfect for me right now.”
“She’s right,” said Baldwin, “how could this be a problem?” The cats go off to play while we talk things over. Meow?=What is doll? Meow,meow.=Not sure. Meow.=I go ask. M.C. comes back and goes to Annelie. Meow?=What is doll? “A doll is a toy that children play with,” she told him. He goes back to Muffin. Meow.=Doll is toy for kids to play with. Meow,meow.=Oh, that is nice thing. Meow?=What is antique? Meow,meow.=I think it something old, but not sure. Meow.=I go ask.
He comes back to Annelie. Meow?=What is antique? “An antique is something that is very old,” she told him. Meow.=Thanks. He goes back to Muffin. Meow.=You right, antique is something very old. Meow,meow?=I wonder what it made of? Meow.=I go ask. He comes back to Annelie. Meow?=What is antique doll made of? “Well, it could be made of different things,” she explained, “probably it had a cloth body with head, hands and feet made from glass, bisque, or china.” Meow.=Thanks. He leaves again.
Meow=It made from cloth with head, hands and feet made from glass, biscuits or china. Meow,meow?=That odd, wonder why they use biscuits? And how they make it from china? China is country. Meow.=I go ask. He comes back to Annelie. Meow?=How they make doll from China when China is country? “Not that kind of China,” she said, trying not to laugh, “china is very fine porcelain, like Kat’s fancy dishes that we use sometimes.” Meow.=Thanks. He turns to leave.
“M.C., why don’t you ask me these questions?”, I ask him. Meow.=Because want correct answers. “What??”, I said rather loudly. He turned and ran as fast as he could, though he had some trouble getting started on that polished marble floor. We all laughed. I called the man and made arrangements to take the case and told him I would be bringing my wife Kat, Annelie and our two cats. He said that would be fine, he has lots of room to stay in his house. We were soon in the air, traveling by commercial jet this time.
Meow,meow.=Man on other side watching us a lot. “Yes,” said Kat quietly, “I noticed that too.” Then Muffin disappeared. I know where she went, and soon she was back with the man’s passport and wallet. One of these times she will get caught and I will be in trouble. Hmm, according to this his name is Charles Wheeler and he is a PI from London, England. That’s interesting, but why would he be watching us? Muffin returned the passport and wallet without getting caught while the man slept, or at least pretended to sleep.
The man that hired us, Danny Winters, met us at the airport and took us to his house which he said was “just a bit out of town”. That was a long “bit”, but it was a nice road at least. He lived in an old house, but well kept. It was 3 and a half stories tall, a rather large place for one man. His wife died a few years ago and he has a housekeeper come in once a week. He said she’s a bit odd, but does her work well. He has 3 sons and a daughter. But only his daughter and granddaughter ever come to visit him. He wants to make sure his granddaughter gets this doll before he dies.
To Be Continued.
Photos of M.C. are kindly supplied by his human, Nina.
Β©2021 Steve McLeod.
Made of biscuits and China the country, that made me chuckle!
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Nice to hear! Hope you enjoy the story!ππ±ββοΈπππ΅οΈββοΈ
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Always have your guard up when it seems like an easy case. It is not and there is soon to be much trouble! Beware!
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It’s possible that it will be easy. Though none of our easy cases have been. Kind of strange really. But why is this other PI interested in us? If he is really a PI.
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All is not what it seems. He probably is not a PI but has ulterior motives.
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Yes, I think you could be right about that.
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Good case! This one is gonna be very Interesting!ππ
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Should be quite simple I figure, just go through the house until we find the doll. How hard is that?π€π±ββοΈπππ±ββοΈπ©π΅οΈββοΈ
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Ooooohhh, never say that!!π¬π¬π€«π€«π€«
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Well, what could go wrong? Only odd thing is why was that PI watching us?π€
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I’m concerned with the house keeper!!π³
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Yes, that was another thing. Maybe she steals stuff without him knowing about it. He might not miss things until a time like this when he’s looking for the doll. Could she have taken it? Or does she have even worse plans?π¬π¬
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Or… maybe he has some valuable antiques and she’s selling them…π€π€
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That’s very possible too. Good way to increase her income, though not very nice.ππΎπΎ
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Never trust anyone who likes to clean for a living!!πππππ
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That’s an interesting point. I really can’t imagine doing it for a living. Cleaning my own place is enough for me.π³ππ
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Me too!!π€£π€£π€£π€£
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But there are lots of people who enjoy it. Not a bad paying job too.
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Yeah, I know… but I would feel weird having someone else cleaning up after me… especially if the house was dirty! I’d be worried they think I’m a slob! Which I’m not… because I try to keep my place clean so I don’t need someone to clean because it’s clean already. Although…. someone to do dishes and clean the bathroom woukd be nice!π€π€π€π€π€π€
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But if you had a house with 30 rooms, you would probably be happy to have a housekeeper.πππ©βππ¨βπ
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Yes!! In that case absolutely! I would not want to keep up with that!
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That’s what this guy has! But with the 6 of us looking, we should have that doll found in a day or two, then it’s back home and wait for the next easy case.ππΈπΈ
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Ah huh… right! When did hear that before??π€π€π€
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Well, we should get an easy one now and then.π€π
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I think you deserve one!! Especially after the last two!!π³
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Yes, they were killers.π³π³
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LOL I like what you did there!!ππππ€£π€£π€£π€£π€£
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Thanks! I was wondering if you would notice.ππΉ
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No you didn’t!π€¨ lol πππ
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Did so too so.π
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Uh uh!! Not a chance there Lance!!ππ
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Dave, my boss told me to work from home until my cold is gone! This coukd turn into the longest cold I’ve ever had!π€π€π€π€
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How nice! Well, you do have to be careful, going out too soon could make it worse!π¬π€ͺ
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Oh… I know!!π€π€π€ I don’t want a relapse!
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That’s for sure, they can be worse than the first time!π³
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Yes indeed ahhh chooo….. oh oh!π²π³
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And I just cleaned my screen.π€¨
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I’m π it sneaked up on me!
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I wish it had stayed on you.π
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Me too ahhhh choooo!!
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Missed.
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Dang! Rats, gnats, cranberry snotts!ππ
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π
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π€£π€£π€£π€£π€£ LOL! You are something else!ππ
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I do try.ππ
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And succeed!! At least this time anyway!ππ
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Thank you so much!π
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Credit where it’s due!!πππ
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ππ
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Good Night Steve!π΄π΄πππ
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Good Morning Steve π
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Good morning Dusty!
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Morning? Just barely! Slept on did you??ππ
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Yep, slept until 5:30 this morning, terrible.
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Hi! Sorry the tome stamp says this came an hour ago, but it just got here! How are you?
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I’m sorry I missed you tonight. I hope you had a good day and remembered the feeders tonight. Hopefully we can chat again tomorrow!ππ Good Night Steve..π΄π΄
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Yep, I did. Yep, I did. Yep, we will!
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Sounds great!ππ
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ππ
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Good Morning Steve!
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Good morning Dusty! Nice to see you’re up bright and early!
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Well I try..ππ
Not very good at it yet, but working on improving it!ππ
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Time to try for some pics before the rain starts, getting darker out there all the time.π³π·
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Oh no.. don’t get wet!ππ Don’t want to catch cold!ππ
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It started to rain right after I went out there, so I came back inside with no pics. Oh well, maybe later.ππ·
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Good choice! Waiting for the right opportunity π
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Good start for a new adventure ! Cases are never β easyβ… I am looking forward to see where this story takes us ! I am taking notes this time ! π΅οΈββοΈπ©πΌπΌπ
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Good idea, keep track of the characters, if there are any, well, there’s some already. Why is the PI watching us? What is he interested in and who hired him? What about the housekeeper? Still, it could be something simple.π€π±ββοΈπππ±ββοΈπ©π΅οΈββοΈ
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Great start!The first chapter sounds a bit interesting…only reading further will make me more hungry for the end!:D
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My first couple of chapters are usually more of an introduction to the story and characters. But soon things begin to happen!
Thanks so much!ππ±ββοΈπΊπΊπ±ββοΈπ©π΅οΈββοΈ
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I love that MC wanted correct answers and that dolls hands are made of biscuits, BUT have you had enough rest?? I don’t know And I hat the line It’s time for an easy one I’d be scared of that if I were Muffin
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Laugh sometimes
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Yes, that’s why I wanted Kat to stay home and rest more. That little sneak M.C,! Imagine saying he wanted correct answers! Almost like I don’t know anything. Muffin just rolls her eyes, not sure how she learned that one, like she knows there is no such thing as an easy case. But really, what could go wrong?π€π±ββοΈπΎπΎπ±ββοΈπ©π΅οΈββοΈ
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I cannot tell a lie Calanthe taught her.. I told you Calanthe was evil π€£ππ€£
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Aha! I got you there! She knew how to do it before we met Calanthe! Actually, even before we met M.C.!ππΉπ
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Drat π€£ππ€£
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ππΉπΉ
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ππ
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