The Investigators, Inc. The Mystery of Kat. Chapter 13. The Kat is Back.

Now we go back to Craig and Butch at their hotel. “Time to get going Butch,” said Craig, “those Investigators will be looking for us soon.” “Where we going boss?” asked Butch. “Scotland,” said Craig, “they will not think of looking for us there, not right away at least. We can get a flight from there to one of my hideouts.”

“Going back to Canada?” asked Butch again as they were driving north. “No, they will think of that,” said Craig, “we will go to Argentina for now, I have a nice place down there and have not been there for a while.” “Yeah, I remember that place,” said Butch, “it is nice.” “Now I need to find some men to come with us,” said Craig, “men I can trust.” “How about Cotton?” suggested Butch.

“Yeah, he would be perfect,” answered Craig, “he is almost as good with computers as Williams.” “You going to get Williams out of jail Boss?” asked Butch. “Yeah, I will, eventually,” said Craig, “but things are too hot right now, they will be watching him close. And they will be watching Fingers too. We need guys that are on the outside.”

“There is Forester too,” said Butch. “Yeah, another good suggestion,” said Craig, “my brain is working good today. I will call them and get them to meet us in Panama.”

Meanwhile, back to us. “We need to start checking the hotels,” I said, “and see if we can find Craig and Butch.” So that is what we did, but we came up empty at every place. “I think they probably left once they saw the news about Crook and Williams,” said Andrej, “that is what I would do anyway.” “Yeah, that make sense,” said Miles, “he is long gone now.”

So we checked airports all around this area of the country, but again we came up empty. “Well, they do not need to fly out from here,” said Sky. “Yes, that is unfortunate,” I agreed, “looks like he got away from us for now. I will make sure Annelie keeps checking around, perhaps she can get a lead for us.” “Terrible to know that Craig beat us,” said Kristina, “and now he is still on the loose.”

“True,” said Kat, “but sooner or later he will come out in the open.” A couple of days later we got together and had another team meeting. At this meeting we formally accepted Kat, Aoife, Beryan and Carine as members of The Investigators. Carine wanted to join us again and we are going to buy her hotel for us to continue using for recuperation of wounded team members.

And Kat wanted to talk with everyone about some things that we all have been wondering about. Well, almost all, since Sky and myself already knew at least part of what she wanted to tell. She is actually the real Kat. How could that be when she died? “Well, some things about me are hard to explain,” she said, “so it might be best to leave them for another time.

But some things about me are easy to explain. You should have noticed that every time I pointed at someone and told them they would die, there was always at least one of the cats nearby. When I said that, they would go into action. With those new slingshots they have, which are quite powerful, they can use smaller steel balls which are hard to see.

So, it was really them killing those people, not me.” “You mean the cats have known about you all this time?” asked Annelie. “Well, it started with Muffin, then the others,” she said, “and I have practiced a lot so I have gotten very fast and very good at fighting. And I had lots of time to apply a new hobby of mine, coming up with new inventions, which have helped the cats a lot, and me too.”

“So, how do you stop weapons from hurting you?” asked Rock. “Hmm, that one might have to stay a secret for now Rock,” she said, “it is something good, but, it is also, well, painful enough to kill. I want to be a part of The Investigators again, however, if any of this is a problem, I will just disappear.”

We all made sure she understood we wanted her to stay with us and that she was now an important part of our team and our family. Well, I guess this takes away the mystery of Kat, at least mostly. Craig is gone, so that wraps up the case against him for now. But I am sure our paths will cross again. For now, a time to relax until the next case comes along.

The End. But a new case will be starting soon.

©2023 Steve McLeod.