Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. Mysterious Mandar. Part 2, Chapter 4. Ilda.
Mandar then told me and my team to wait at the cabin for 20 minutes before leaving, just so we did not meet again so soon. So we walked slowly back to the cabin and waited inside for the 20 minutes to pass. In the meantime Sigurbjorn sat at the old table scribbling on a piece of paper. When she was done she handed it to me smiling. I looked at it. “Is it complete?”, I asked foolishly.
“Yes, it is complete,” she said, “I had plenty of time to memorize the clue.” I should have known that she would not have given it to me so readily if it was not complete. Lesson learned, I apologized. She just laughed and said, “accepted.” Finally Jenny said it was time to leave and we got in our vans to go. On the way I heard some grumbling in the back of the van. “What is wrong Conrad?”, I asked.
“We should have fought instead of giving up like cowards,” he said gruffly. “Well, we were outnumbered just with Brenda’s men, then with Mandar’s men too, we would likely all have died,” I said, “would that be better?” “Better to die a fighter,” he said, “then to live a coward.” “So, you are saying that I am a coward for giving up?”, I asked. “You are the leader,” he said.
“Stop the van Galyna,” I said, and she did. We all got out. “Okay Conrad,” I said, “I expect loyalty in my team, if you have a problem, you come to me first. Now, you want to fight, then we will fight, you and I.” “Oh no,” said Jennifer, “Kat would tear me apart if I let you fight him. I will fight him in your place.” Conrad just laughed. “Me? Big Conrad fight a puny little gal like you?”, he jeered, “I would crush you to pieces.”
“So, you are the coward now,” I said to him. “Conrad is no coward, I will fight anyone!”, he growled. “Then fight,” said Jenny, and she stood waiting for him to react. “Okay little girlie, if that is what you want, then we fight,” he said laughing. I was amazed, he actually managed to last for 3 minutes, 5 seconds. “You must have had a Japanese instructor,” said Stanley to Jennifer.
“Yes, I did,” she said smiling. Stanley is our new Japanese team member. I must remember to ask him how he got the name Stanley. I told him and Baudry to help Conrad back into the van and off we went. There was no more talking until we got back to our hotel. I called Baldwin to tell him about Conrad and he said to send him back home, which I did. We also had to wait for another plane to take us back, seems someone wrecked our other plane somehow.
So we stayed another night, then 3 helicopters were waiting to take us back to the main airport and our jet took us to another city where we booked into another hotel so we could work on this clue undisturbed. No one would likely look for us here. After two days we were getting nowhere with this latest clue. We were at a restaurant having dinner on the second day and Sigurbjorn was still working on that clue.
The waitress brought us coffee while we waited for our food and she noticed the piece of paper that Sigurbjorn was looking at. She spoke to Sigurbjorn and then pointed to the clue and said something more. Sigurbjorn smiled. “Well, what is it?”, I asked. “Something that might help,” she said, “but not while we eat.” Our food arrived right then.
We were sitting in the corner so the cats could be with us, but they still had to hide a bit. A few minutes after getting back to our room, the cats were acting silly, I think they ate too much. There was a knock at the door. It was our waitress, she had only stayed a little longer than her normal shift because another waitress was late.
So, her and Sigurbjorn worked on the clue together while Jennifer and I played with the cats. “There it is,” said Sigurbjorn, handing the clue to me, “it is a place in Sweden, the remains of an old fortress. It is close to where Ilda lived with her family, she knows the spot very well. This is also her last day of work, she has lost her job because the restaurant is cutting back hours and she has not worked here long, so she loses first.”
“Would she be willing to come with us to help?”, I asked. “I already asked her, and she said yes, she would love to help,” said Sigurbjorn. “And Sigurbjorn told me there could be danger, “said Ilda, “but that does not matter, I still would like to be your guide.” I just hope we managed to get this figured out before Mandar, I would like to get there, and out, before he shows up. But, will it be possible…
To Be Continued.
©2022 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 
Anything is possible! It more a question of how likely is it??😂😂😉
But yes I hope you get to it before Mr. Sophistication shows up!🤨
You should leave him a bogus clue and send him of to Australia or New Zealand!!🤭🤭🤭
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Well, hopefully with the help of Ilda we can get there first, it was fortunate that she knew the area. It would be my luck that the next clue would take us to the spot we send Mandar to! I just might leave him a note though to let him know we beat him. Providing we do that is.🤔👩😾😾🕵️
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That woukd be funny!!😂😂 It might irritate him a bit too!!🤭🤭🤭
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The only problem is, he has an uncanny ability to follow us around. But this time we might have him beat on that!😁👩😺😺🕵️
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I hope so!! You should splutter the team and send one team to the right spot and the other to some bogus spot just so he has to watch both🤭🤭
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Well, there is only 10 of us, and the cats, don’t forget, we can’t really afford to split the team. And at the moment we have Ilda to help, but she is not a team member so we have to carefully protect her.🤔🕵️
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All good and valid reasons… still 🙄🙄 Just to mess with him a little would be fun!!😂😂
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That’s very true, but we need to do it safely, and that is what we plan to do! I just need to sign Brenda’s name to the note!😁🕵️
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Ooooo…. even better!!🤭🤭🤭🤭😂😂😂
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I figure if the two bad guys are busy fighting each other then that will slow them down a bit and help us.🤔🕵️
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I like it!!😁😁 But you have got to be first!!🤔🤔
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Yes, it does hinge on us getting their first, and getting away from the spot too so Mandar doesn’t think we found it. This is not going to be easy but I hope we can do it!🤔👩😾😾🕵️
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Maybe a night operation is called for?🤔
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Hey now, you may have something there. Since we have a guide we just might be able to do that. You’ll make a PI yet!🤔👩🕵️
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I’m not so sure about that part… just thinking it would be easier to not be spotted on dark moonless night!😉😁
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Oh, too bad it’s nearly a full moon right now. That could make it tough unless it’s a cloudy night.🤔🌛
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Well… you are up neer the Arctic Circle so it’s possible it might be cloudy… perhaps even fog??🤔🤔
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Perhaps, but fog would hinder us too so we don’t want that.
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Yeah that wouldn’t be good… a cloudy night is best!🤔
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Yes, but if Mandar is having trouble figuring out the clue then we shouldn’t have a problem anyway.🤔🕵️
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Which I’m sure is the case, since he’d and Brenda had to follow you to find the last one!🤔
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That is very true, he might even just wait until we figure it out and then arrive to take it from us again like last time. It’s a good way to do it really.🤔🕵️
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But not if you know that’s what he’ll do!😉 Advantage Steve and the Investigators!!😂😂
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Most precisely, Mandar is getting to be predictable and that will work in our favor!😁🕵️
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Brenda is,a bit of a wild card though… she could show up at anytime and ruin your plan…🤔🤔🤔
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Yes, basically we can only hope she does not show up.🤔😬🕵️
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Have the cats keep watch for her! They’ll sniff her out easily enough!!😉
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Now there’s a thought!
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It is so good that Ilda has joined your team to help. No one can be more familiar with a place than someone native to the area. Hopefully, Mandar and Brenda will not get to the place before you do.
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