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For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
“I would never have guessed that you two were siblings,” said Denise to Rock and Crystal, “but I know you and Sky must be sisters, you could actually be twins.” Everyone laughed. “Actually Denise,” said Crystal, “Rock and I are not related at all, it was just something I thought of when I saw Mack and his friend out there.” “Crystal and I are not related either,” said Sky smiling, “though I must admit, she does look like my twin.” “So true,” said Crystal, “we could have some real fun with that.”
Everyone laughed again. “We are getting a DNA check done,” I said, “just to make sure if they are related or not, since they do look so much alike, and they even act alike too. But it would be interesting if we found out they were related somehow.” “Well,” said the lawyer, “everything is in order then and the sale is done.” “To be honest,” said Denise, “I am going to be very happy to get moved into my own little flat and relax after all this excitement. Now, do not forget, you all promised to help me pack and move as quickly as possible.”
“We will certainly do that,” I said, “right girls?” “Hey, what happened to the guys?” asked Sky. “Oh, they will be around to help with the heavy work,” I said, “but packing is better done by you girls, I think you will be more careful with things.” “Hmm, that is probably true,” said Tracy. Baldwin and his lawyers left soon after lunch and the girls spent the rest of the day packing.
“I was wondering where you had disappeared,” said Sky after finding me in the tall tower. “I needed to get away and do some thinking,” I said, “something is just not adding up here.” “Just thinking about the case again, I see,” she said. “Not totally,” I said, “I was thinking about how wonderful this big room would be for our bedroom. You can see for miles from up here, it is just beautiful. Of course the room would need a bit of redecorating.”
Sky looked around the room, it was her first time up here. “I agree with you,” she said, “this would be a nice bedroom. Were you really thinking about that, or did you just toss that in for good measure?” “Actually, it was my first thought when I came in here,” I said. “Oh, Denise said there is a basement, but it was closed off shortly after they bought this place,” said Sky, “and that would be before the jewel heist, and that little puppy could not be in there.”
“Hmm, so much for that idea,” I said, “did she say why they closed it up?” “Yes, she was scared of it,” said Sky, “it was so dark and so many weird things down there that she did not like. But she did not say what they were.” “Maybe there is an old torture chamber down there,” I said, rubbing my hands together. “How would you like to be slapped?” said Sky sternly. “Um, I do not think I would like that too much,” I said, “no more such jokes, I promise.”
“Okay,” she said smiling, “that is better. I suppose I better get back to helping.” “Forget that for a few more minutes,” I said, “we can enjoy this view together for a while longer.” Right then Muffin came out from under the couch that was in the room, dragging a stuffed puppy. “It is the puppy!” exclaimed Sky as she took it from Muffin. Then she picked her up and cuddled her. “Now that is being a good PI cat!” she said excitedly, “now we can go and show the others.”
“My puppy!” exclaimed Denise, “wherever did you find it?” “Muffin found it in the tower room under the couch,” said Sky. “Oh, now I remember,” she said, “I went up there to enjoy the view and I tossed the puppy on the couch, but it missed and went underneath. I meant to get him back before I left the room and just completely forgot. Now we can see if there is something inside him to help us find those jewels that are causing so much trouble.”
There was a small spot under the puppy that had obviously been opened and resewn, so Denise had it quickly opened. “Here my dear, you have younger fingers than I for feeling inside,” she said to Sky. She reached in and felt around and a big smile came on her face as she brought out a piece of paper. On one side was a hand drawn floor plan of the chateau and the surrounding yard, though nothing was marked.
On the other side was just a series of words that made no sense whatever. “My Ben loved puzzles, especially cryptic word puzzles,” said Denise, “and he often made them too for his friends to figure out. That is what he has done here I am sure. I am not good with such things though.” But Carine loved those kinds of puzzles too, so she was soon trying to figure out what it said. After two hours…
To Be Continued.
©2022 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 
Muffin did it again! She is one of the most important team members. I am sure that Carine will be able to crack the cryptic code.
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Yes, Muffin is always checking around looking for clues! Carine is very good at breaking any kind of code, one of her main areas of expertise. And we will soon find out what it says. I am looking forward to seeing these jewels. Especially since there is something odd about them which we will soon find out about too. 🤔👩😼😼🕵️♂️💎💍
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Great!
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Hmm… you are a sneaky PI 🤭🤭 two birds one stone? Or diamonds 💎 😉 I wonder how long it took Mack to talk her into helping him??🤔🤔😉
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I see Ben isn’t the only one that likes cryptic puzzles. I have no idea what you mean. 🤔🙄 But I hope Carine can have the puzzle sorted out for us so we can find those jewels and get them to safety as quickly as we can! PI Muffin does it again! 😊👩😼😼💎💍🕵️♂️
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It would sure seem that way!!😁 She is always on the job working to make sure your plans work!😚😊😁😉
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Right, but this time she found the puppy so hopefully we can spoil Mack’s plans! The fact that Ben did not mark anything on his little floor plan really makes me believe that the jewels are buried someplace outside. 🤔👩😼😼🕵️♂️💎💍
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Well… you do have a sense for those things!! Plus it will be easy to see Mack and catch him outside.😁😉
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Well, it might not be so easy to catch Mack. For one thing, I will not be leaving the jewels where we find them, I am putting them is safe keeping. And I am not telling Mack where to look. I want him to think we have the jewels inside with us, therefore he will have to come inside to get them. And then… 🤔👩😼😼🕵️♂️💎
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That sounds like a terrific and safer plan than what I had envisioned!😁
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Yep, nice and safe. When he finds the jewels, then guess what happens? 🤔👩😼😼💎🕵️♂️
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You close the trap and nab him like a rat in trap??😁
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No, we let him grab the jewels and get away with them, then we call the police to nab them. That way we stay safe. 🤔👩💎🕵️♂️
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But what about the jewels? Isn’t there a statute of limitations and since he already served his sentence he could keep them!!😳😲
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You would have to bring that up. Yes, he served his time for the crime, therefore he can’t be tried for that crime again, and yes, he could theoretically get to keep them. That is one little flaw to my plan. 🤔💎🕵️♂️
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Well I kinda felt a little obligated to remind you of that…😬😬 after all, you don’t want to let him escape after all the work you’ve put into catching him! Maybe you could get even with him by… ah.. never mind that doesn’t work either..🤔
Ya know he’s not supposed to be carrying firearms being a convicted convict! You coukd send him to jail for that!😁😉
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Yes he has violated his parole already and could be sent back to jail for a few more years, but I would like to catch him for more than that. After all, he did have Ben killed, although that might be hard to prove. But somehow I need to stop him from enjoying his stolen goods and leave us and Denise alone for good. But how to do it is the big question. He is also not supposed to be spending time with other know criminals, and that friend of his is wanted by the police for numerous gun related offences. Perhaps I should talk with Rossana a bit more. 🤔🕵️♂️
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That woukd probably be a good thing.. you don’t want entrap him… but I think trying to get him to confess about the killing would the ultimate result.
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Hmm, that’s a good point too. Yes, getting him to confess, maybe we should open that basement after all and see what kind of equipment might be there. 🤔🕵️♂️
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Now you’re thinking like the MN aster PI you are!😉😁
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What is a MN aster PI? 🤔🕵️♂️
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Sorta like a master but only in MN?🙄 spell check?😧
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I think that’s what you need, a good PI spell chick! 🤔🕵️♂️
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I think I could agree with that!😉😁🤔🤔🤭🤭🤭
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See what you made me do, now I’m checking the spelling wrong too! 🤔
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Oh… you meant check not chicken? Huh? Well I could agree with that too!!
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Yep, that is for true!
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Hehehe🤭🤭🤭
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Maybe Rock , Crystal and Denise were split up at birth…triplets , ot twins and a brother. hmmm…🤔 I knew there was a basement ! 🥺 Glad to see Muffin came up with something ! Kudos Muffin ! …This might be a trap of some kind ! 😳🕵️♂️👩🦱👩🦱👨🦳
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I was talking about Crystal and Sky being twins, or really, Denise mentioned it. Denise is not related at all, she is 73, Rock is 33 and Crystal is 27, Sky is 23. Crystal was just pretending that Rock was her brother for Mack. Anyway, yes, a basement indeed, though it obviously doesn’t have anything to do with our case, which is unfortunate, since it was sealed up before all this jewel heist took place. Yep, Muffin is always looking around in all the places too hard for me to check out and finding the puppy was a great help to us! Now if we can just find out what the note means. We are on guard all the time for any traps. I hope. 🤔👩😼😼🕵️♂️💎
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