Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. The French Chateau Case. Chapter 10. A Ghostly Visit.
Before we get back to Cramer Winhouse, we should go back a bit while still on our jet. Sky (Cynthia) had just finished figuring out the puzzle of Winhouse and where he would be and I told her it was time for my wife to die. She thought that was kind of funny, until she saw me with a gun. “Uh, that looks like a real gun Steve,” she said. “Yep, it is real,” I said. She looked at the bullets.
“These are real too,” she said looking at me. “Do not worry, it will not hurt,” I said. “Not much,” said Kat. Sky just looked at us. “Um, can we talk about this?” she asked. “No time for that,” I said, “besides, you should be able to return as a ghost.” “I would prefer to stay me,” she said with a worried look. “Just stand over there,” I told her and I shot twice. “I’m bleeding,” she said quietly. She was soon gone.
“I hope this works Kat,” I said. “No problem,” she said, “it is going as planned, she will be fine.” “She looks dead,” I said. “You wanted it to be real,” she reminded me. “I said realistic,” I reminded her. “Same thing,” she said. We then landed about 2 hours later and now we go back to Winhouse’s office building. “Either he is an idiot,” said Winhouse, “or he figures he has a safe way to get out of here.
But either way I want to see what he is up to, so bring him up here.” I was soon walking into Cramer’s huge office which took up half that floor I think, though maybe not quite. “Welcome Mr. PI,” said Cramer, “what can I do for you today?” “I know it was your men that attacked our chateau a few days ago, Cramer,” I said, “and you had 8 of my team kidnapped and either drugged or hypnotized so they now either do not recognize us, or they are afraid of us.
I would like to know how to get them back to normal please.” “And you expect me to give you this magic potion out of the goodness of my heart,” he said, “is that right?” His men laughed. “No, I have information you might like,” I said, “valuable information which I will trade for the antidote.” “What if I don’t think the information is valuable enough?” he asked.
“Then I will leave and we will try to figure it out ourselves,” I said, “but this way would be much faster, and better for you.” “Do you really think I will let you go free?” he asked. “Yes,” I said, “otherwise you will die. I will not kill you, but my team will, you cannot get away from them.” Everyone laughed again. This does not seem to be going well, time for the next part.
Sky (Cynthia) showed up suddenly beside me, but only Cramer could see her. “How did she get in here?” he bellowed. “She who, boss?” asked Albert. “That guy’s wife that is standing beside him you idiot!” he yelled. “There is no one standing beside the PI boss,” said Walker. “Do you think I’m a fool, get her!” he yelled. Walker went over but Sky disappeared and reappeared beside Cramer.
“What is he looking for?” she whispered to Cramer. “That PI’s wife,” he said quietly. “Oh, but I’m here,” she said. Now we could all see her. “There she is,” said Albert and he walked toward her. “One more step and I will kick you,” she warned. Cramer had moved further away now. Albert kept coming and suddenly he fell to the floor groaning. “I said that I would kick you,” she told him.
“I never saw her leg move,” said Walker. “Neither did I,” said Brenda, the secretary. Walker pulled his gun out to shoot Sky. “Your gun is terribly hot,” she said. He suddenly dropped it, yelling that it was blazing hot! Cramer was about to shoot and Sky told him the same thing and he dropped his gun saying it was on fire. “Now Cramer,” I said, “about my deal.” Cramer yelled “NO”! “You are going to be paralyzed now,” said Sky.
He fell onto a chair. “I, I can’t move!” he said. “We ghosts can do amazing things Cramer,” said Sky. “Behind those shelves,” he said, “then in the safe.” I found a button and the shelves slid out of the way. He gave me the combination for his massive safe, and inside a drawer was an envelope detailing what was done and how to deal with it. We took that and left, Cramer would be back to normal in about 5 minutes.
“Um, won’t Cramer be angry that we outsmarted him?” asked Sky. “Yes, he likely will be, very angry,” I said, “but this time we will meet him on our terms, not on his. That will give us the advantage we need. And now we will have the police on our side too once we fill them in on some things.
Along with this information we wanted, I also took another envelope with information showing that he is the leader and Jenkins works for him. So, that should help keep Cramer busy for a while and that will give Mr. B a chance to move in and crush Cramer even more.” At least, that is the theory and I hope it works that way…
To Be Continued.
©2024 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 
Real bullets and you kill Sky (Cynthia) but it doesn’t make sense. Then next thing we know Sky is disappearing and appearing for Cramer and his buddies. Glad you got the antidote and the evidence on him being Jenkins’ boss. You may be getting somewhere now. Hopefully, the police will take action quickly and Cramer will not immediately retaliate against you. Five minutes ahead of him is not much time.
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Yes, you’re right, it does not make sense, but we wanted realist bullet holes in her stomach to show she had been shot and killed, but as it turned out we did not need them. However, Cynthia was well protected by Kat so the bullets would not hurt her. We also had fake skin, very realistic that Kat had put on Cynthia ahead of time. This will all be told in the next chapter. The disappearing Sky was the help of Kat and Jennifer. It is sometimes hard to put everything into one chapter without making things too long. Everything seemed a bit too easy with Cramer though, I hope he did not fool us, getting at him a second time may not be so easy. Yes, hopefully the police can move in and take down Cramer quickly, or we could be in trouble. True, we are not far ahead of Cramer, but hopefully it is enough.🤔👩😾🕵️♂️
Question: Do you think the chapters are too long/short? What about the length of the overall cases?🤔
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Well, it’s good to know Cynthia was protected and not actually killed. What an elaborate plot to “kill” Cynthia. Your explanation helps make sense of all the things surrounding her. It was confusing to read. Hope the police can take down Cramer as his being out and continuing his empire it a great risk to all the Investigators.
In answer to your question, the chapters are a bit too short, as the story does not make sense without more narrative. I am a detailed and observant person, who wants things to flow together and make sense. I don’t mind the longer cases but feel it would have been better to shorten some of the cases. The one with all the animal named gang members was a little long. I did enjoy the story and am dedicated to reading the stories no matter how long or short they might be. I do have a long history of working in the criminal justice system but read for enjoyment and not to critique all the details. A little more detail so the reader is not puzzled, helps. Steve, as you have written so much, your writing as gotten more sophisticated and easier to read. You should look into publishing them, since you have worked so hard on writing.
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Yes, something new that Kat invented so we can fake deaths if we need to. More is explained in todays chapter about that. Between the police and Mr. B, Cramer should be taken out of the way for a long time. Since Cramer will be in police custody, it will make it easier for Mr. B’s men to eliminate him. Nice that we don’t have to get too involved with this one.
Thanks so much for answering! I have asked a few others too but answers are conflicting unfortunately. I have lost some readers of this series because the chapters are too long now and it seems people want something short and concise. I want to add more details but that means longer chapters or more chapters, either way the story gets longer. I used to get over 40 people reading regularly, now only 5 to 7 are regular readers, plus 5 more from outside WP that can’t comment anymore. Mostly it was because I increased the length of the chapters from 700-750 words to approx 850 words. A lot of people thought that was too long, others thought I was publishing too often since I went from 3 days a week to daily. Thank you so much for answering my questions, it is much appreciated!
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I hope that Cramer does get placed in police custody.
Regarding your chapters, it is hard to please everyone. You have to do what meets your goals. Many people are busy and hit the like button and do not read the post or just a sentence or two. The most satisfying thing to do is to meet your personal goals. People will eventually come, if they know and appreciate your writing. There used to be more likes to my blog posts when I could like other posts. When WordPress took this from me the likes and visits went from 600 plus a day to about 150. But this does not include the email readers. If a few people enjoy and it positively affects their lives, it is good. Pursuing numbers in my opinion, does not really tell the whole story, nor is it satisfying. Your writing is good but your stories will have different readers than blog surfers.
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Yes, that would be good, how long he would stay there is another question.🤔🕵️♂️
Yes, I will get things figured out sooner or later. I enjoy writing the story anyway, good stress reliever if nothing else!😀 But really, I just enjoy writing. Have a great Sunday!
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Steve, you are wired to do what you enjoy and writing is one of those things. Sometimes when we do what is an enjoyable activity, there will be a gradual building of fans. If not, you are enriched by the process. Happy writing! I will enjoy my Sunday, thank you. Enjoy Sunday and Spring!
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Thank you so much!
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You’re welcome!
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