For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Being in this tight space is not good, Crystal is having a really rough time, though she is trying not to show it too much. But I can tell just looking at her. I picked up Muffin and gave her to Crystal and Muffin began to purr. “It will help,” I said smiling, “just concentrate on Muffin and her purring. Remember how it was before?” “Yes, I do,” she said, “thank you Steve.”
I decided to try calling Rock and surprise, the call went through okay. “What is happening Steve?” he asked. “Well, we are trapped in a passageway,” I said, “rather narrow and a door closed us in with no way out that we can find.” I then told him where we were. Perhaps there is a way to open that door from the outside. “We will come down there right away Steve,” he said, “and see if we can find a way in there.”
“That would be very nice,” I said, “Crystal is ready to have a serious panic attack.” She looks at me. Hmm, perhaps I should not have added that last part. I had tried pushing on that stone again, hoping it would open the door the way it closed that door. But nothing happened. Meowi?=Maybe should try to push with 2 footies. Hmm, perhaps she is right.
I knew what she meant, push down twice quickly instead of just once. I did so and sure enough, the wall in front of us opened into a rather large room. There was a fairly clear path through the dusty floor. It led to a wood door on the other side of the room. However, before checking out the door I thought perhaps we should look around this room a bit.
There were electric lights in here too, someone had been very busy putting in electricity down here. There was some interesting machinery down here. Some was obviously used for counterfeiting purposes, though not used recently. However, it was not set up for counterfeiting money, but for other documents. That is quite interesting. But I am not sure that helps us since everything was covered with a good layer of dust.
Cinnamon found a floor plan for the whole castle, including the rooms down here. Plus some rooms under other buildings here that we need to explore as well. “Can you remember it?” I asked her. “No problem,” she said and put the papers back where she found them. Fortunately we had one of our scramblers with us so we could talk freely down here without being heard. “It would not be hard to cover things with dust when not being used,” said Sigurbjorn, “just in case they are found.”
“Hmm, that is a good point,” I said, “I am beginning to think there is someone else who wants this castle too, and not just Andrew.” Just then Rock and his team came into the room the same way we did. Apparently the wall behind us opened up again after we came through the door into this room. Storm went running over to Muffin. Meowr?=You okay Muffin? You not hurt?
Meow,meow.=Yep, me okay, only stuck for short time. Me help human Crystal with her scary tightness problem. Meowr.=Oh, that good, me worry about you when hear you get all trapped. Meow,meow.=It was sorta scary at start but good that it short time. Meowi=Me trapped in there too Storm. Meowr.=Oh, that right, you okay too right? That nice to hear. Muffin, you need to rest when we get back out.
Meow,meow.=Yep, me think so too, maybe you rest with me? Meowr.=Oh, me do that for sure, yep. Tiia just sits there swishing her tail while watching Muffin and Storm. I pick up Tiia and whisper to her. Meowi.=Oh, me not know that, now me understand. It was getting late and we needed to clean up for dinner so we went back the way we came in. I told Storm to go spend some time with Angel before dinner. I wanted to talk with Muffin and Kat, I mean, Crystal.
Why do I keep doing that? Muffin’s ears went straight up! I told her this was a secret though, she was not allowed to tell anyone, not even Storm or the kittens. She promised. “Why not tell everyone?” asked Crystal. “Well, a secret is no longer a secret if others know about it,” I said smiling. “But we know,” she said, smiling back. “True,” I said, “but someone else needs to know.” “Yes, I suppose,” she admitted. “I will need to talk with Jim about things a bit more tomorrow,” I said, “but hopefully without making him suspicious. This is certainly not going the way I thought it would.” “Yes, someone is going to be in for a big surprise,” admitted Crystal….
To Be Continued.
Β©2023 Steve McLeod.
Glad that you all were able to get out of the room ! There are serious problems ahead of you π€π³ Still take care of each other…the cats are assisting youπ΅οΈββοΈπ©π©βπ¦°π§π©βπ¦³βοΈ
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Yes, definitely problems lie ahead. But it is getting more complicated all the time. Things are not going the way I figured they would, that’s for sure.π€π©πΌπΌπΌπΌπ»π΅οΈββοΈ
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It’s Jim’s wife! I know it!!π€¨ And I was right about the spot on the floor too!!π€¨π€¨
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Well, not quite right, I had to step on it twice quickly to get it to work. But if it’s Jim’s wife, then why do I have to be careful about getting him suspicious? I could just tell him I think his wife is involved and show him the picture for proof. But, if he is in the picture, that would really complicate things if I ask him questions.π€π©πΌπΌπΌπΌπ»π΅οΈββοΈ
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I suppose, but why would Jim hire you to find out what Andrew was up to?π€ Unless… Andrew is the real owner of the property! Why was Andrew in prison again?ππ€
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Well, he may have been pressured by his wife to hire us and so felt he had no choice. Yes, perhaps he is the real owner, that would be interesting too! Andrew was in prison for forging documents for people.π€π©π»π΅οΈββοΈ
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Ah ha! That would explain all of the equipment down in the basement!π It is looking like Andrew actually owns the place or maybe he and Jim were in cahoots on the forging of documents?
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Hmm, now we are getting somewhere. Yes, perhaps they are or were in cahoots and maybe Andrew decided to cut Jim out so Jim hired us to get rid of Andrew. Making more sense all the time.π€π©π»π΅οΈββοΈ
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Yes, it is!!π³ So now it’s time to use that equipment down in the basement to make it look like neither is the owner?πππ
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Not a bad idea, except we might get caught and that would not be so good. But, I am going to see if we can do it anyway, but maybe a different way. I might need to enlist the help of Anne for this though. I think she might be devastated to find out her husband is a criminal, but hopefully she can play her part okay.π€π©π»π΅οΈββοΈ
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She might be motivated by it, actually.π€
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Yes, that is true too. Then there is always the possibility that she is making both of the men look bad because she wants the castle for herself. This could get very complicated.π€π΅οΈββοΈ
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Well, this is going to test your abilities, isn’t it?π
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Yes, that is true, with 3 possibilities to choose from. Maybe 4, since it could even be the maid. We do know she is involved, but is she working with one of the others, or is she working for herself?π€π©π΅οΈββοΈ
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Another avenue that will need investigating! Oh my!π² This could get very complicated!!π¬
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Yep, we have at least 4 main suspects and that is not going to make things easy. How do we set a trap for 4 people without making someone suspicious?π€π©π΅οΈββοΈ
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You have each one of them help you with another suspect, and watch them and how they react. If they are too helpful, it’s probably them.π
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Hmm, yes, that might work alright, providing the extra suspects don’t see what we are doing with the other suspects and then get suspicious and start to kill us.π€π©π»π΅οΈββοΈ
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Then you would know they are! Case solved!π
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Except they can’t all be guilty, or can they?π€π©πΌπ΅οΈββοΈ
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Why not? Maybe they each have their own motives?π€
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That’s true, odd, but true. Now to come up with a plan to catch all of them.π€π©π»π΅οΈββοΈ
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Indeed! It should be interesting these if the week!π
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So is your comment, and you think I’m mixed up with Crystal and Kat. Now, who should we pick first for our devious little plan?π€π΅οΈββοΈ
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I can’t help it! Everything is all fuzzy!π¬
I would start with the maid! You know she’s up to something no good! Then the person in the photo!π
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I am going to call it early tonight. I didn’t sleep very well last night.
So, good night π΄ π₯± π π
We shall chat again tomorrow!π
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Yeah, me too.π₯± Good night Dusty,ππ΄ more chattering tomorrow!π
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Okie and Dokie π₯±
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Someone has been using this area to counterfeit documents.
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Yes, but is it Andrew forging documents to make it look like he is the owner? Or is it Jim doing it? Or were they working together and had a falling out and now both want to claim the castle?π€π©πΌπΌπΌπΌπ»π΅οΈββοΈ
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???? Will have to wait and find out.
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Yes, it just keeps getting more complicated!π€π΅οΈββοΈ
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π¦»
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