Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. The English Hotel Case. Chapter 3. Gone, Gone…
“How are things going?” I asked Sky. “Nothing yet,” she answered, “I just do not know how Bridgette could disappear in that bathroom. The cats have gone over it several times, there just is no secret door in there.” “Hmm, that is odd,” I said, “but they did hear her voice in the hall…” “Nothing there either Steve,” said Sky, “we really have checked everywhere. Benson and Rock cleaned all that junk out of the basement and there is no secret door there either.”
“Well, Storm did not disappear into thin air,” I said, “there has to be a door there somewhere.” “The scary thing is, why did Storm not try to contact us,” she said, “he must have had a little time to press his transmitter.” “Yes, that is also odd,” I admitted, “all you can do for now is keep looking, and be careful.” Later Sigurbjorn came to give me my massage.
“You are very tense tonight Steve,” she said, “you need to stop worrying so much. It will not be good for your heart either.” “Yes, I know,” I said, “but it is kind of hard when 2 of our team are missing and we are completely in the dark.” “That is true,” she said, “I still think it is maybe someone who knows us, otherwise taking Storm makes no sense.”
“Yes,” I said, “but we really do not have any enemies at the moment, unless we did something without knowing it.” “What about those young guys in the boat?” asked Crystal. “I do not think they are capable of something so complicated,” I said. ‘Yeah, guess you are right about that,” she admitted.
Back to the team at the hotel. It was now morning and the cats were checking the basement again for the third time, but now it was empty, except for that huge box of rocks. Meow,meow!!=Look here, blood!! Sky and Rock went over to look. Sure enough, it was blood, but they could not tell if it was blood from Storm or someone else. But it was quite fresh and it went under the box. “It could have run under the box,” said Sky. “Nope,” said Benson, “the floor slants that way, away from the box.”
“But how could that big box move?” she asked. Rock had an idea and he pushed the box at an angle upward. Sure enough the box lifted quite easily that way, even with the rocks in it. There was quite an elaborate system of gears under the box in a stairway that allowed the box to move in that direction smoothly. The rest of the team was called and they divided themselves into 2 groups, one to follow down the stairs, and the other to stay at the hotel.
Benson found some old iron pipes to put against the box so it would not close again. Rock led his team downstairs, each one with flashlights, and guns. Sky stayed behind with her team. A few miles away there were some other people in an old jail. “I should never have listened to you!” shouted M, “talking cats! But I will admit I am a bigger fool than you for listening to that garbage!” “Honest M, these cats do talk,” said Mike, “I have it on good authority.”
“Do not ever say anything more about talking cats to me,” said M, “do you hear me?” “Um, yeah, I hear you,” said Mike. “Now, toss that thing back in the cell,” said M, “now young lady, talk, how many are watching Steve right now?” “Meow,” said Bridgette. “Make fun of me will you?” M roared, “I will teach you some manners!” By the time M was finished, Bridgette lay on the floor, badly beaten.
“Come on everyone,” said M, “we have things to do and no time to waste. And toss away that toy you have, it makes me nervous!” “Well, it is not a toy,” said Mike, “and…” He then tossed it on the floor and left. After they were gone Storm squeezed through the bars on the cell door and came looking for Bridgette. On the way he spotted his collar that Mike had tossed aside and he picked it up.
He immediately pressed his transmitter and then went in the room where Bridgette lay on the floor. Meow!=Storm send help message, transmitter working! Benson called down to Rock and his team to come right away. Rock and his team were soon out following the signal while the others stayed behind. What they found angered Rock, but if he only knew what was coming…
To Be Continued.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 
See????😳😳😳 I told there was a tunnel!!🤨 Now… I have given some thought as to how they got Bridgette out the bathroom!😉 It has to do with gravity🤔🤔🤔 you see everyone walks on the floor, even the cats and they can sniff the floor and follow a trail, but…. what if she went up? The cats wouldn’t be able to sniff the ceiling!!! There’s a door in the ceiling, they reached down and pulled her up!!🤨🤨🤨😉😁
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Hmm, and why did Bridgette not scream when someone grabbed her from the ceiling? Plus the ceiling is smooth, all one piece, so the whole ceiling would have to open up. I think that would give Bridgette enough time to scream, or yell, or something. But an interesting idea anyway. But yes, there was a tunnel in the basement, something that may be interesting in the future too.🤔👩😾😾😾🕵️♂️
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Yes, I agree since they didn’t get a chance to explore it fully before they left to find Storm.
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Yep, it might hold some deep and dark secrets of the past down there! It must have been made a long time ago, when the hotel was built, or maybe earlier!🤔🕵️♂️
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But how would anyone know of it if it were very old?🤔🤔 What was it used for? If there was valuable items there why weren’t taken by the kittenknapers?🤔🤔
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Yes, how did these people know about the secret tunnel? It had to be old since that box could only have been put there when the hotel was being built. Why does this person M want me? I don’t know any M person.🤔👩😾😾😾🕵️♂️
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Well first they need to get Bridgette to a doctor and then get back to that tunnel and look for ant clues as to who is behind this kittennapping🤨🤨
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Well, Storm should be able to tell them something about who is behind this. He knows what this M looks like and some of the others too. Though he does not know what they want.🤔👩😾😾😾🕵️♂️
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He could give a description of M but unless he’s seen him before he may not know who he is..🤔
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That’s true enough, and M could even be a woman, though it doesn’t seem likely. Still, one never knows! But a good description would help to be able to look up this M in our criminal files. We do keep files on all major criminals just in case we come across them. And this person does know us obviously.🤔👩😾😾😾🕵️♂️
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It doesn’t sound like they know the team too well though. M it didn’t know that Storm could speak human🤔🤔
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Yes, that is true! And that he can understand it. Still, M knew I would be protected, but did not know how many. But why does this M want me? None of this really makes sense.🤔👩😾😾😾🕵️♂️
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I agree… they must have some kind of issue with you🤔🤔🤔 Perhaps a child ir spouse of one of your past cases?
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Hmm, now we may be getting somewhere. A family grudge of some kind and they want to settle the score!😲🕵️♂️
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It’s kinda the only scenario that fits🤔🤔 But who knows… sometimes they don’t need a reason either. Ya know… it could be that gang in Paris??🤔🤔😳😲
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Oh no! The gang in Paris! Um, what gang is that? Oh, the gang that Carine was part of, but how did they find her? She has a different name, new identity, and she wasn’t taken. I forgot about them. Carine might recognize the description though if it is them.🤔👩😾😾😾🕵️♂️
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They could remember you!🫣 😳😲
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Yes, that is very true. And that could be bad. They always wanted to get even with Carine. Getting me would be one way to do it.🤔👩🕵️♂️
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Yep! As I recall they were very upset with you!
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Um, yes, they nearly beat me to death once. If it hadn’t been for Rock, I would have been nothing.😲🕵️♂️
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And you thought all of your enemies were gone!🤨
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Well, that gang has not been a problem for, um, a long time now, more than a year in fact. I don’t remember Carine mentioning an M, but then, I don’t know what’s going on yet until they call me. Still, I don’t remember. But there was a lot about that gang she didn’t want to talk about.🤔👩🕵️♂️
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Well I’m just saying they could be a possibility 🤷♂️
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Very true, it still could be someone else, maybe someone we have never met or who has no connection to us in the past. Of course, there are still Kat’s parents who do not like me very much, but they are still in prison. Then there is always Cherise who would like to get Sky. And Toledo, we never did find him.🤔🙄🕵️♂️
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Yes indeed, they would all be good suspects to consider when you are notified of what’s going on🤔🙄 Looks like Annalie will have some digging to do 🤔
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Oh my, don’t mention digging and Annelie in the same sentence!! Not with, oh wait, that hasn’t happened. Anyway, yes, we do have some suspects to check on for sure.🤔👩🕵️♂️
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Oh boy!!😒 what have I done??🫣
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All I know is, Rock will not be happy very soon.😲🕵️♂️
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That means tomorrow’s chapter is a don’t miss!!😳😳
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That would be a good way to put it!🤔🕵️♂️
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I thought so!🙄
Well… you know what time it is..🥱
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I beat you!😂😹
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Yes ya did…😂😂😂 Good Night Goof Ball 🤪 😴 😊
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😂😹😂😹
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Very interesting ! 😯 “ m “ could be anyone…🤔 Bridgette needs attention right now…yes , she may know who it is…tread carefully ! 🕵️♂️👩👩🦰👩🦰👩🦱😾🥺❗️
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Yes, hopefully we can find out who M is and quickly. That will help us stop this person. Right now it seems M wants me, so those of us at the chateau could be in trouble, though we don’t know it yet.🤔👩😾😾😾🕵️♂️
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It always helps to know who is after you, so you can know their weaknesses. They definitely had the element of surprise. They also are a violent bunch and overconfident. These are not strangers but have some information about you. Some information and not full disclosure can be dangerous.
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Yes indeed, and these people do play rough, but we can join them in that if that is the way they want to do things. This M beat Bridgette, but she was tied up at the time and could not fight back. We do need to be careful though, M might have a lot of people on his/her side. But how does M know about us? Actual contact one time or information from someone else? And why does M want me in particular?🤔👩😾😾😾🕵️♂️
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Excellent questions!
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