Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. The English Hotel Case. Chapter 6. Payoff.
Several men arrive with guns and unlock us from our prison. Then they take us upstairs to a large bedroom with a pile of clothes on the bed. “There is a bathroom over there,” said one man, “the clothes are from your chateau. Clean up, dinner in one hour, we do not tolerate being late.” Then they all left, but they locked the door as they did. Likely they left guards outside the door too. We all showered and got dressed in clean clothes. Surprisingly there was clothes to fit everyone.
And we were ready with 15 minutes to spare. Not bad. It will be interesting to meet this mysterious M and find out what he wants. Obviously he does not intend to kill us, at least not right away. That means he wants us to do something for him, something that he cannot do, and that intrigues me. It would seem he can do a lot considering he got into our chateau and captured all of us without a fight. I have a quick, but very quiet talk with the girls.
We need to be very friendly, and they need to be very polite, whether they want to or not. No matter what M does or says. That might not be an easy task, but they all said they would follow my lead. The same man arrived with the others and their guns and took us into a large dining room with a huge table, and an equally huge chair at the head of the table. The man seated us and left. The guards remained however.
Then the man returned with a very large man, obviously this must be M. He must weigh about 500 pounds. I have never seen such a large man. When he got to the table we all stood up and said good evening to him. He was all smiles and told us to sit down. We then had quite a feast, and M could certainly eat! He did say that he enjoyed eating more than anything. That was quite obvious. We just talked about normal things during dinner, he said we would talk business afterward.
So he does want us to work for him. I wonder what? Meanwhile, Baldwin called for some help since it was impossible to get hold of Mandar, and Baldwin was quite angry with him right now. He even stopped 3 contracts he had with Mandar which quickly caused problems for some of Baldwin’s projects. “I am glad you could get here so quickly John,” said Baldwin, “we have a huge problem right now.” He then went on to explain things to John and how both Bridgette and Annelie had been beaten so badly.
“That is messages from this M,” said John, “they are warnings not to follow or get involved. Otherwise Steve and the girls would meet a similar fate, only they would be beaten far worse, possibly being killed.” “But we cannot just sit back and do nothing,” said Baldwin, “Steve and the girls might be dead already.” “What about their transmitters?” asked John. “The new ones are not quite ready,” said Baldwin, “and the old ones have been removed already since they were not working properly anyway.”
“Hmm, that is bad,” said John, “I am going to ask around and see what I can find out. I just do not understand why Mandar turned against you like that, however, it just makes no sense at all.” “Do not even mention his name around here anymore,” said Baldwin. Back at the hotel. The team looked up that hotel and restaurant but M had left already and they were all very happy that he did.
Unfortunately they did not learn anything that would help them. Back they went to the hotel rather discouraged. Then Rock took some of the girls and went back to the old jail to see if they could find something more. But again, they found nothing. This was not going good. Meanwhile Mandar had told his men to find Craig and bring him back. So he soon had men spread out all through London.
It was Bob and Stewart that finally found him, right at 4pm. He was walking casually through a small park and he suddenly stopped by a bench and reached underneath, bringing out a large envelope. “Well, well,” said Bob, “that looks like payoff money.” Poor Craig was not sure what to do. Stewart pulled a gun while Bob took the envelope from Craig. It had £10,000 in it.
“Very nice,” said Bob, “now we go back to see Mandar.” “Wait,” said Craig, “if you let me go I will split the money with you.” “I have it all and you want me to split it with you?” asked Bob, “we go see Mandar.” “Sky, please let me call daddy,” said Macey, “he might be able to help, and we sure need it.” “Okay,” she said, “we do need some help…”
To Be Continued.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 
So Mandar has a snitch huh?🤔 He won’t be happy about that!😒 Baldwin is quite upset with Mandar it would seem, I hope he takes Mandars call?? It sounds as though your plan to appease M is working so far….🤔🤔
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Yep, we need to be careful with M, I don’t want any of us getting killed needlessly here, or even hurt for that matter. I think everyone is upset with Mandar right now and that might not be easy to fix. Although finding out about Craig might help mend things between everyone. Yes, I think Mandar will be a bit upset with Craig and now to find out if he has been working with M or someone else.🤔👩😾😾😾🕵️♂️
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You should probably find a way to let Baldwin and the others know you are alright.🤔 That could help settle their nerves and allow them to think more clearly.😉
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Very true, but that might not be possible. We would need a phone for that and there does not appear to be any phones around this house. We need to be a bit careful so we don’t upset this guy.🤔👩🕵️♂️
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Oh yes… absolutely! John seems to be familiar with this guy though. Maybe he can help get them pointed in the right direction?🤔
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John just knows how things work with a lot of these guys, they often have the same tactics they use. He just needs to find out some info about M so maybe he can be found easily. I am not sure how long we can keep him on friendly terms. I guess we will know more once we start talking business after dinner. This should be quite interesting. Maybe.🙄👩🕵️♂️
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It will be very interesting to see what he wants 🤔
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Yes, I am very curious about that too. I just hope he doesn’t want us to kill someone for him. Though I’m sure he could get his own men to do something like that. Maybe he has a friend in prison that he wants out, or maybe to steal something for him. Hard to say, it could be a hundred different things or so.🤔👩🕵️♂️
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Yes, I was thinking that same thing… but I’m guessing he’s after something that takes brains and planning to achieve, since he’s not the star on the top of the Christmas Tree! Something very well protected. Ya know like Gold other precious metals?🤔
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Yes, I agree, he likely wants us to steal something of great value, something well protected and he certainly wouldn’t have the skills needed to figure out how to get it done. And I don’t think his men are any smarter, they are just around for protection and I wonder just how good they are at doing that.🤔👩🕵️♂️
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Well… when they see him do things to his own men? I’m guessing they’re not very motivated…🙄
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Very true! I would think they might only be staying around because they are too afraid to leave. Or he is paying them a lot.🤔🕵️♂️
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Or both!😉
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They do look hungry though, I imagine there isn’t much to eat around here.🙄😲
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While you are all feasting away at supper!🙄😉 I’m sure they’re not to fo d of that either!🤨
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Yes, we certainly did enjoy a wonderful feast! Never saw so much food on a dinner table, we ate until we were stuffed! While the guards looked on from a distance.🤔🙄🕵️♂️
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They may not say it, but they sure do see it!😉 Sounds like a soft spot in the armor to me..
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Yes, I have been watching for that too. It might just be something we can explore at some point, though we would have to do it carefully.🤔🕵️♂️
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That’s for sure! He might completely lose it if he found out!😬😬😳😲
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Yes, exactly! However, I do have a plan, which just might work if I can convince my host. It might be tricky.🤔🕵️♂️
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That’s very iffy to me! You don’t know what will set him off!🫣😳😲
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Perhaps, but I’m just going to ask if I can phone Muffin to let her know I’m okay. Of course I don’t know about the earlier episode about talking cats, so it could cause problems. But since I don’t know that I will probably ask.😲🕵️♂️
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Good thinking!🤔 And that would let everyone else know you’re OK 😁😉
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Yep. Muffin has her own phone, which Sky carries with her and she already knows what to do if I call that number and will make sure that everyone stays quiet.😊😺🕵️♂️
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Nice!!😁 Now you’re planning ahead!!😊
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It was Sky’s idea actually. We will see if it works or not.😊🕵️♂️
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It would be a step in the right direction 😁
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Yep, sure would!
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I sure hope that the new trackers work well …you need them right away ! 🥺 Hard times are ahead of you❗️🕵️♂️😼😼😼👩👩🦰👩🦱❗️
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Yes, just too bad we don’t have those trackers now. We just need to keep on friendly terms with M so he doesn’t go on a rampage and hurt or kill one of us. So we just go along with him for now.🤔👩😾😾😾🕵️♂️
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Good they found Craig and are bringing him back to Mandar. Thought he was working for someone else because he was systematic in not putting through phone calls to Mandar. M sounds dangerous. His lust for food might be his downfall!
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Yes, maybe we will find out who he is working for, M or someone else. He was paid quite a bit for his trouble and it would seem his main job was to put a wedge between my team and Mandar. We need to keep on M’s good side no matter what right now, and that means being very agreeable and passing out compliments, deserved or not.🤔👩😾😾😾🕵️♂️
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Yes but it may prove difficult to stay on the good side of M. After all he had you and your team locked up.
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Yes, that is very true. A continual supply of compliments and not arguing with him on anything will be necessary. And the girls know not to talk unless spoken to. So we might pull it off. Now, I have a plan to contact my team to let them know we are okay. It will just involve asking M if I can phone Muffin. Unfortunately I don’t know about the earlier discussion about talking cats between M and his man.😲🕵️♂️
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So many unknowns and pitfalls. Hard to please a man with a bad temper!
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That is so true. It sometimes does not take much for that temper to flare up! But hopefully we can do it.🤔🕵️♂️
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Yes, as the saying goes: You catch more flies with honey than vinegar!
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Yes indeed and hopefully it will keep us alive and perhaps give us a chance to escape.🤔🕵️♂️
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Trust your plan works. It is time for some good things to happen for your team.
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Yes, we do need that for sure, perhaps in today’s chapter…
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👍🏻
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