Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. The Case of Mystery. Chapter 1. Bang, We Got You.
Well, here we are, back home and relaxing. We had a big ceremony for adopting Carrie into our family. Sky and I are now her parents. Sky is unable to have children, so we had been thinking of adopting, though we had been thinking of a younger child, however, we are both very happy that Carrie is now a part of our family. Carrie is also very happy, I think she still does cartwheels every day.
We have been home for 2 weeks now and everything is going smoothly for a change. Though we have not had any cases come our way either, which can be good at times. Still, we do not want to be without a case for too long. Mac, John and Vince are away on a vacation together, somewhere in Africa, but we can get hold of them easily if needed.
I have had a couple of minor headaches in the last 4 days, so that is doing good too. I am in the library with Annelie going over some things. We had to come up with new identities for Carrie, her name is now Trisha, and for Tamara and Kathee. Remember it is Kathee’s dad, a lawyer in Canada that helped me get The Investigators started.
He is the one killed by people associated with Carnival. So we want Kathee to have a new identity also for her protection. She is now a member of our team, having passed all the tests. Tamara has also passed all tests and is now a member as well. Trisha cannot officially join until she is 19, one of our rules, but she can still help us in various ways.
Since we discovered her true age is 16, she has 3 years to wait. Annelie and I have come up with a list of 10 names for Tamara and Kathee to choose from for their new identity. I got up to get some more coffee, but I stopped and dropped my cup. Annelie turned toward me, I was holding my head like I do with those bad headaches, which I sure had right then.
Then it felt like I was hit by Rock! Annelie even said it looked like someone hit me, and I went falling to the floor unconscious. Annelie came to me and pressed the emergency alarm. Everyone came running to the library! I was awake by the time Sky arrived, she had been outside exercising with some of the other girls. I told everyone what had happened, but I felt fine now.
Crystal came into the room last. “This was taped to the front door,” she said. It was a note which simply read, “Ha, ha Steve, Bang! We got you!” Crystal, Aasta and Trisha were the only ones to come in the front door, which is why no one else noticed it. But how did someone get in to tape it to our door? A failure in our electronic security system again.
Still, that is odd, because we have a backup system now too, it would be rather unusual for both to fail at precisely the same time. The note had been typed, on an old fashioned typewriter. Another rather odd thing. But, it means that when I felt like I had been hit, I really was hit, by something. But what? Some kind of electronic device perhaps?
From where I was standing at the time, I would have been in sight of one window close to where Annelie was sitting. Kristina took several of the girls to go have a look around the fence, to see if there was any evidence of activity. “It felt like a bad headache at the start,” I said, “just like I usually get. Then it felt like getting punched, like what I imagine it to be when Rock punches someone.”
“Except you woke up rather quickly,” said Annelie smiling. “Yes, and my head feels fine now too,” I added. “Maybe it was some kind of laser beam,” said Crystal, “it might not even need a window to come through, perhaps it came through a wall.” “That is nice to know,” I said, “but this room is well protected against such things, except the windows.”
“Maybe we need to make some new security changes around here,” said Sky, “like closing off the windows in this room permanently.” “Not a bad idea,” I admitted, “for now, close the emergency shutters.” Annelie did so. Baldwin is on an important business trip right now and he took Rock along for his personal bodyguard. Annelie wanted to call Baldwin, but I said no.
There was nothing he could do anyway, and this business trip was too important to disturb him at the moment. Mandar was coming for a visit later today, so I will talk to him about this and see what he thinks. “Where are the cats?” I asked, “why did they not come running?”
To Be Continued.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 
Well, it seems there is a device being used to harm you at times.🤔 If I had to guess… which I don’t but I will because that’s what I do. I woukd say that is some kind of ultra low frequency wave device that you can’t hear but the resonance is tuned to you and triggers the excruciating headaches you’ve been having.🤕
The question is… is it Toledo again, or someone else?? Where were the cats??🤔 That frequency might be at a range where it could disable them also!😬 Or they could have been taken hostage again.
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Hmm, an interesting thought. There must be some kind of device doing this, though I don’t think it’s related to my regular headaches. For one thing, no one knows exactly where I will be at all times. Plus, this one hit me hard, like being physically hit, something that has never happened before. Yes, it could be Toledo since he does like to play with different kinds of inventions and he has the money for it too. But, it could be someone new since the note did say “we got you”, and Toledo is a loner. Yep, I would like to know what happened to the cats. How could someone kittennap all 5 of them? But something obviously did happen or they would have come running too. A new mystery for us.🤔👩👩🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🕵️♂️
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Oh no! They have gotten through your perimeter! I think whoever it is wants you to be fearful. Glad that Trisha has new parents and more people are on your team.
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Yes, I would like to know how someone got in, and out, without being detected by our electronic security systems, and with no one seeing them either. Most of the team was outside, yet no one saw anything. And why did the cats not come running? I think you are right, there is a fear factor at play here. But who is it?🤔👩👩🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🕵️♂️
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Good question. You have definitely become known by many criminals and those who would like to retaliate against you. There are a number of enemies. Many would like to get you.
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Yes, that is so true. About the only clue, and it may not mean anything, is that the note said “we got you”, which could mean more than one person is behind this. I would still like to know why the cats didn’t come running. Our alarm signal can be received several miles away. I am sure the cats are not that far off.🤔🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🕵️♂️
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They could have taken the cats. You need something more than electronic surveillance. Old fashioned guards can work with the electronics. Electricity may not work, sabotage can happen, so having some old fashioned guards might not be a bad idea. Too many people know about the talking cats.
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That is possible, though it seems unlikely that someone could actually take all 5 of them. We have a double electronic system now, both with a separate source of electricity. But yes, the old fashioned guards are a good idea, but having the girls outside at night might not be so good. This is a big house to patrol. Baldwin has offered guards, but can we trust them? Still, I guess if he can, we can too.🤔🕵️♂️
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Make the guards take your cat test and pay attention to what your gut says.
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Yes, that would be a good idea, at least for the night guards. During the day the girls could do it, unless most of us are away on a case, then we would need day guards too. We do have guards at our hospital all the time now.🤔🕵️♂️
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Good to know that you have guards at your hospital. It would be wisdom to have guards at the chateau also. Just really vet out the guards and be choosy with whom you have on duty.
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Yep, guess we will have to look into that now. Our enemies are getting too intelligent to keep them out. Yes, we will try to not let the wrong people get through for guard duty.🤔🕵️♂️
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Thanks for taking care of yourself and so much criminals. Anita
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Thanks for reading Anita!😊🕵️♂️
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This is a tricky situation…my thought too was where are the cats ! 😼😼😼😻😼❗️ Are your signals embedded in you or do you have to take them out for some reason ? 🤔 a beginning of another thriller ! 🕵️♂️👩👩👩🦰👩🦱🧒👩🦳❗️
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Well, this alarm that Annelie used is our chateau alarm which is sent to all of our phones and the cats collars. It reaches 10 miles in every direction, the cats would not be that far away. Our personal alarms are different and the signal reaches much farther. Now we have to figure out who is behind this and how to stop them.🤔👩👩🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🕵️♂️
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A fascinating story although I had to read very carefully to be able to learn the names of the characters and not lose the plot. An excellent narrative Steve. Good weekend to you.
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It is hard sometimes with so many names and characters to remember. Thank you so much Manuel, hope you continue to enjoy it!😊👩👩🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🕵️♂️ Have a great day!
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So do you Steve.
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