Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. The English Hotel Case. Chapter 2. Disappearances.
Angel called to Benson and Carine to come back down and let them know that something was wrong with Storm. They came right away and the 3 of them began looking for Storm. They could see his footprints in the dust on the floor, but there was no sign of him, and he did not answer calls from them. There was so much junk in the basement it was hard to move around too.
There was one huge box in one corner which Benson could not move, so he found a pry bar and removed the boards on top. It was filled with rocks! “There must be a ton in there, maybe more,” he said. The hotel was 150 years old and made from the same type of rocks as those in the box, but why put them in a box? And how did they get that box in the basement?
“Probably before the hotel was built,” said Carine. Suddenly they heard the girls upstairs yelling so they ran up to see what was going on. They all had their guns out just in case. Apparently Marlene had seen someone watching them from the hall so she called out for him to stay there. They all took out there guns, but by the time they made it to the hall, the person had disappeared.
But where did the person go? All the rooms were locked, but they checked them anyway. Someone could have a master key to the rooms like Benson has. They are getting the locks switched over to modern card locks, but most of the rooms still have old style key locks. They found no trace of anyone. They came back to the lobby and sat down and that is when Angel told the other girls that Storm was missing. “Well, why are we sitting here,” said Marlene, “we should go back to the basement and look for him.”
The girls did that while Carine and Benson started making dinner. Benson was cooking this time, he is an excellent cook. The girls could find no trace of Storm except for lots of footprints all over, but none that showed he might have found a secret passageway that he followed. Up they came and went down to their room to get cleaned up for dinner. Poor Angel did not really feel like eating though.
“Hurry Bridgette,” said Tracy, “we do not want to be late for dinner.” “Well, come on then,” said Bridgette from the hall. “How did she do that?” asked Angel. They all went out to the hall, but Bridgette was nowhere to be seen. Angel turned around and saw that the bathroom light was still on, and the door was closed. She went back in and opened the bathroom door, but Bridgette was not in there.
“She is doing that to scare us,” said Tracy. So off they went to the kitchen, but Bridgette was not there and Carine said she had not come ahead of them. Back to looking around, but Bridgette was not anywhere. “I am calling Steve,” said Angel. “Hi Angel,” I said, “more pictures flying around?” “NOT funny,” she said, then she told me what had happened. “Storm is missing?” I asked.
EEEEEEEEEKKKK!!!! Ghosts! Cried Muffin. Meow!=That Muffin, she in trouble! Off he ran! Kristina is now looking after MC since Benson and Carine moved to England. And she came running in behind MC with her gun out. She was perplexed when she came into our room though. I had just hung up and put out a call for everyone to come right away to the library for a meeting. I called Baldwin too so he could be in on this.
I let everyone know what had happened so we would have to leave right away to help find out what was going on. “We?” asked Sky. I seem to remember going through that once before. “You are not going anywhere,” she said to me, “you are still under doctors orders to stay away from action and stress. I will go along to keep the cats in order.” She looked at Muffin. Meow,meow.=She mean me. The cats giggled.
“Okay, Rock, you will be in charge,” I said, “the girls will go with you.” “No,” said Sky, “we leave 4 girls behind to watch you. Kristina, Sigurbjorn, Galyna and Crystal.” I just look at her. “Those are my picks,” she said. “Sky is right Steve,” said Baldwin, “I agree with her picks too.” “So do I,” said Rock, “with one addition, Annelie stays too.”
They were soon on their way. I then had a talk with the girls left behind. “I hope you do not mind staying behind,” I said, “we need to be watchful now, this could be a trick.” “I thought about that too,” said Annelie, “it might be that they want you, not anyone else, and this is one way to make you more vulnerable.” “Yes,” I said, “another reason to stay in touch with them constantly.” But will that be enough? I wonder…
To Be Continued.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 
Wow! Things really got complicated since yesterday! But where could Storm have gone? And now Bridgette? Maybe even you will go missing!!
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Yes, things are happening, but what and why? Is this just a trick to get at me while most of the team is away? Or is it just something about the hotel? Obviously it is not just cats these people want, but probably they are trying to scare Benson and Carine away from the hotel. But why do that? We all need to be careful now for sure.🤔👩🙀🙀🙀🕵️♂️
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But why didn’t they just buy the hotel? Why wait until there’s new owners? That doesn’t make sense🤔🤔 Getting at by creating a problem in England seems unlikely too. They coukd have created an issue in France much easier… curious that’s what it is!!🤔
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Yes, buying the hotel would be easier, but more expensive. Creating a problem in England is better than here in France since it would take longer for the team to get back here to help. However, they may not be after me. I don’t have any known enemies that want me right now. So it is likely a hotel problem. But why take Bridgette and Storm? Why not just kill them? How did Bridgette disappear in the bathroom, yet her voice came from the hall? And it is kind of hard to hide a secret door in the bathroom. So how could anyone get her? Very strange indeed.🤔👩🙀🙀🙀🕵️♂️
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Maybe Muffin is right?? Coukd be ghosts 👻
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She is always thinking about ghosts. Sigh. But maybe Muffin and MC can sniff out some secret doors and hidden passageways. They can move around all that junk in the basement easier too and maybe find where Storm disappeared.🤔👩😾😾🕵️♂️
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Good plan… they should be able to follow his scent to where he went or disappeared… this is certainly an odd case🤔🤔
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Yep, those cats can follow each other anywhere by scent. They can follow any of us too the same way. No way to hide from them at all. That can be good though. I really didn’t want Sky going on this one, but it’s best for the cats.🤔👩😾😾🕵️♂️
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I think she’s very capable of coordinating things in England safely. But one can never say for sure though!!😬
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Rock is the one in charge, Sky is only there for the cats really. She can take over if needed though. Rock is now leader 2, Kristina is leader 3, Angel is leader 4 and Sky is no longer a leader, except maybe in certain instances.🤔👩😺😺🕵️♂️
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Oh… well honestly I think they’re all qualified… but Sky needs to make sure she has another team member with when she takes the cats out searching…
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Yep, she will always have at least 2 with her and the cats, maybe 3, but 2 is required since they need to have 3 together, and the cats don’t count in that. I hope they don’t hear that. But we needed the new rules, especially for Sky and myself.🤔👩🕵️♂️
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I agree!🤨 Somebody likes to go rogue and do it themselves🤨🤨🤨🤔
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I’m sure Sky wouldn’t do that. She has really, um, really, uh, well, she works good with the team.🤔👩🕵️♂️
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I’m sure she wouldn’t either… it wasn’t her I was referring to 🙄🙄
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Oh? You were thinking about the cats? That’s why she went so she can watch the cats closely. At least I think that’s why she went. With all of them there working on this it shouldn’t take too long to get things done.🤔👩😾😾🕵️♂️
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Uh huh..🙄 I hope they find both of them quickly! I’m sure they must frightened!🫣🫣
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I knew it, you won’t need to worry about the cats running off by themselves, Sky knows how to handle them. Yes, I wonder if those 2 have been taken somewhere else, or are they still in the hotel somewhere?🤔👩😾😾🕵️♂️
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That’s a very good question!! They would need to be there still since there’s been no coming or going by anyone unknown…. 🤔 unless there’s a …..🤔 that’s leads to another property nearby!😲
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Yes, a tunnel has been thought about, but it would have to be quite long since the hotel is on the edge of town and the nearest building is about 300 feet away. Unless they were able to sneak out at night. But then there would have to be a secret outside entrance somewhere.🤔👩🕵️♂️
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I agree!🤔🤔 This will be a very interesting case! The motive for all this is still a huge mystery!!
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This is really strange ! 🤔😳 Have all the boxes been searched ? 😾👩🦰 keep on looking for them ! 🕵️♂️😼 Do it quietly ! 🤫
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Not many boxes in the basement, just lots of junk which makes it hard to get around. I think they are planning to clean that out though. The search will continue until they are found! But why did they take Bridgette and Storm in the first place?🤔👩😾😾🕵️♂️
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This is definitely a strange case but it appears that someone has access to the hotel and secret passageways. There are always enemies that show up that are unexpected. It is going to be important for you, Steve, to stay with your team in France. Otherwise, you might disappear also!
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Yes, it is odd that someone is trying to kidnap, or perhaps kill, some of our team. Do they know us? Or is this something random to scare Benson and Carine away? Maybe someone else was thinking of buying the place but waited too long. Or there might be a more sinister motive for wanting that hotel. Yes, I will be staying here where I can be protected easily. Sky picked the girls she felt would be best able to do the job of guarding me. Hopefully they will be enough.🤔👩😾😾🕵️♂️
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Hope it works. Best to know who your enemy is!
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We might not want to know if we knew!
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👀
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