The Investigators, Inc. The Case of the Murdered Parents. Chapter 4. Meeting Joshua.

I asked Miles if he knew anything more about the man that he could share right now. “Well, he is a short, fat man,” he began, “and he is ruthless. He always surrounds himself with men that are big, tough and always carry guns, always in shoulder holsters. His guards are always right handed too.

He is a bit superstitious and does not trust left handed people for some reason. He is also not the boss of the outfit, that is someone else, but I do not know who.” “Hmm, that is good to know,” I said, “I especially like the superstitious part, maybe we can make that work for us.”

“I should have gone with dad that night,” said Aubrey quietly, “they would not have hit dad then.” “Are you sure about that?” I asked, “men like that do not care if a woman is present or not.” “Maybe they do not,” she said, “but I can take care of myself, and dad too.” “I will not argue that point Aubrey,” I said, “but men like that do not obey any kind of rules when fighting, and if they had guns, you would be finished and likely would have ended up with more than a black eye.”

“That is right,” said Aari, “you do not want to take chances with men like that, it does not pay.” “Aari knows what he talks about,” I told her, “he has had a lot of experience with men like that. So has Mac, Miles, John and Clarence. That is why I brought them along.” “Oh, I guess you think I am kind of stupid for saying that,” she said with her head down.

“Not at all,” said Kate, “you spoke like a true daughter that wanted to protect her dad. Nothing stupid about that.” “So true,” said Aari, “Aasta here would do the same as you if someone was wanting to hurt me.” “Aasta is your daughter?” she asked excitedly, “that is so cool that you work together as PI’s!” Well, it was good to see Aubrey happy again. I think she will be very helpful to us providing she can obey the rules.

I then explained the rules to her and she said that is no problem, she can work as a team member and not run off by herself. That was good to hear. Next was to pay a visit to this Joshua Whitaker. I just want him to know we are on the case. I took Aari, Aasta, Mac, John and Kate for this visit. Having a ghost along just might prove interesting as well.

Kate is our mystery team member, no one is sure of who she is really. Sky, Li Jing and I know, but for now that is all. We could simply check her with Kat’s DNA sample, but I had that destroyed not long after Kat died, since I knew she was truly dead. So why keep it? Everyone on the team must have a physical exam yearly just to make sure we are capable of carrying out our duties.

Kate had to have her exam since she was a new member. However, we do not make results known to the team unless it is something that would affect the team in some way. Otherwise all health info is available to the doctor, Sky and myself, oh, and normally Annelie and Rock. Except this time. They will know in time.

Here we are, The Whitaker Insurance Co., a nice office building, not large, but I guess it does not need to be. His office was on the third floor and the receptionist called him to let him know we were coming up. “Well, hello,” he said cheerfully, “it is nice to meet you all.” I introduced everyone and told him why we were here.

“I just do not understand why Betty Ann wants to have this tragic accident investigated as a murder,” he said shaking his head, “the police concluded it was just an accident.” “Um, her name is Aubrey,” I said, “and after going over the police report I believe there is a possibility of foul play involved.” “Oh yes, Aubrey, I am terrible with names,” he said constantly rubbing his hands as if nervous.

I am not sure if he is nervous or not though. I am also not so sure about his bad memory with names. We had also brought Muffin and Storm along, I wanted to know what they thought about this man too. He did have 4 guards in his very large office, which also had a long conference table in it, which is where we were all sitting.

All except his guards, they were sitting on chairs in the other part of the office where his desk was located. I noticed that one of them, who was standing the whole time, never stopped watching us. He just leaned his back against the wall, arms folded, with no facial expression whatever. He just stared. I figure he could have that gun of his out in record speed.

“What makes you think it might be murder?” he asked bluntly, “I do have a right to know, after all you are withholding the transfer of the house to me and that is costing me money.” His tone has changed quickly I see. “As a private investigator I do not need to tell anyone what, or why, I am doing something,” I said, “for now I am just checking things out, including all of the suspects.”

“What?!” he said nearly exploding, “you think I am a suspect? You need to reread that police report, man, I was completely absolved of any wrongdoing!” “I do not go by the police report,” I said, “for now everyone involved is a suspect, and that includes you and Aubrey too. I just wanted you to know that.

I will be investigating everything about you and your insurance business, including your employees, just so you know. But please, do not try to hinder my investigation, I will not tolerate that.” I could see he was getting quite angry, so we got up, said farewell and were on our way. Then I turned up the volume…

To Be Continued.

©2023 Steve McLeod.