The Investigators, Inc. The Case of Baldwin’s Murder. Chapter 7. Surprise.

“You know nothing about another Steve that took my place at the chateau?” I asked, “someone who looks just like me, talks like me, does everything like me?” “I do not know anything about that,” he said sweating, “honestly, this is the first I heard about it. I did know your jet went down and there were no survivors, although I see that was not true now, but I know nothing about another look alike Steve.”

“Then why did he put out a contact on you?” asked Mac, “a contract that is now mine. He is paying 500K to kill you in order to get you out of his way because he is afraid you might kill him and take over Baldwin Corporation.” I could see from the look on Toledo’s face that he might actually be telling the truth.

“Look, if you let me make a couple phone calls, maybe I can get this cleared up,” he said, “I do not like someone fingering me for something I did not do.” “Okay, make your calls, but be quick, I am rather impatient these days,” I said. Muffin was sitting beside me on the bed. Meow,meow.=Me think he tell truth, he look too surprised.

Toledo took out his phone and called someone he knew and asked him to check around and see if there was another Toledo out there. It did not take too long, about 20 minutes and the man called back. Toledo put it on speaker so we could all hear.

“Found out something,” said the man, “a man named Charles Bentwood has been using the name Toledo lately. Apparently he has something big going on to steal a company named Baldwin Corporation, and it would make him one of the wealthiest men on the planet.

But he had to remove a guy named Steve first, so he made a twin for the guy who would inherit the Corporation, then he would kill that Steve and inherit it all for himself, and for 9 friends of his who would get shares in the company. Now there is a contract out for Toledo, but someone could mistake you for the target now, so you better hide for a while.”

“Do you know this Charles Bentwood?” Toledo asked me. “Yeah, I know him, and his 9 friends,” I said, “supposedly they were men that Baldwin could trust but obviously he was wrong about that.” Right then I got a call from Roger saying that they had caught the fake Steve and his fingerprints did not match, so they knew he was the fake.

He is still claiming to be the real me however so I guess we will need to have a longer talk with him. “Well Toledo, it looks like you are innocent this time, so I apologize,” I said, “but I am still handing you over to the police for the murder of Kat.” Right then I felt that squeeze on my shoulder again, on both sides this time, from Sky and Crystal. They both looked at me.

Meow,meow.=Me think they try to tell you something, how you can arrest him for murder? I look down at Muffin. Seems like there is 3 against one here. Sigh. “I am going to hand you over to the police Toledo,” I said again, “for your part as an accomplice to various murders and crimes. We will let the courts decide if you are guilty or not.”

“Okay, that sounds fair,” he said, “right now it might be safer in jail anyway, until you catch this other Toledo, or someone kills him for the money.” The police arrived quite quickly and took Toledo away. The rest of us went back to Mandar’s office, that is where they were holding the fake Steve. “I know that was not easy Steve,” said Sky, “but it was the best thing to do.” She smiled so nicely, how could I argue? Kat giggled. Sigh. I wonder how the others are doing back at the chateau…

To Be Continued.

©2023 Steve McLeod.