The Investigators, Inc. The Secret Vacation Case. Chapter 5. Sigrid.

Well, this mysterious woman on the stairs certainly knows how to handle herself, and others. She seems to be quite fearless, considering she is all alone. She came along, like the other night, dressed all in black, with a large black cape, black hat and a black mask covering her face, except that her eyes were showing. From what I could see, her eyes were a vivid blue. She carried a large gun and also wore black gloves. One thing puzzled me and that was she said that Paul Harder had killed her once already, so he would not be able to do so again.

Is she another “ghost”? She turned to Matt again. “I wish that I could hire you and your gang to help,” she said, “you look tough and I doubt you would be afraid of Harder.” “We are not afraid of anyone, young lady,” said Matt. I tossed the small bag to Matt who then tossed it to Alfred. “How much Alfred?” he asked. “There is enough here Matt,” he said. “Guess you just hired the Knight Riders young lady,” said Matt, “we are like Steve and work on how much a person can afford to pay, we don’t have a set charge, nor do we worry about such things.”

Then the woman looked at me. “Well, this means you have nothing to pay us,” I said, “so we work for free. Don’t worry about that though, we have financial backers who help us on cases like this, so we don’t lose. Now, about your name and identity.” “My name is Sigrid Einarsson,” she said, “my father was born in Iceland and wanted his first born child to have an Icelandic name. My siblings and I were all born in Canada though.” She then came downstairs and over to me, but she looked back at Kat.

“What is she doing, if your wife is already dead?” she asked. “Well, I was maybe a bit hasty when I said she was dead,” said Samantha, “though she is nearly dead. Kat is massaging her heart, hoping to put some new life into it if possible.” “Is she a doctor too?” asked Sigrid. “No,” I answered, “but she does have a way of helping that is quite remarkable.” Then Sigrid removed her mask. “I was told by others that I was beautiful,” she said, “well, not anymore, thanks to Paul Harder.

But this is not why I want him, I want him tried for murder and sent to prison for killing my family.” She had a large scar across her left cheek. “You said he killed you once, so he can’t kill you again,” I said, “what do you mean?” “By killing my family in front of me,” she said, “he killed me too. I am nothing but a hard, lifeless rock now.” I smiled at her. “No, you are not,” I said, “you are still a beautiful woman, just as your name says.” Just then Jennifer came over. “Richard is sending Team 8 over here to help guard this place,” she said, “and the helicopter will take Sky back to our clinic.”

“Will she be ready to go Kat?” I asked. “Yes, I think so,” she replied. “Mandar was poisoned and it doesn’t look good,” said Jennifer, “Mr. B is on his way back to look after things at home. Do you want any more team members?” “Yes, Kitty, Melissa, Marlena, Cathy and Victoria,” I said, “tell Kristina it is Quiet Red Alert and ask Angel to stay close to the kids at all times.” Sigrid looked puzzled now. “She isn’t saying anything, yet she contacts people, how?” asked Sigrid. “Sorry, but certain things need to be kept secret,” I said, “or our enemy might be able to stop that communication.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” she said, “I think Harder has listening devices all over this palace.” We kept talking and in about 2 hours a large helicopter landed on the front lawn. Mandar’s Team 8 got off, fully equipped and two brought a stretcher over, got Sky and took her back to the helicopter. Then off it went back home. “You should have gone back home too Steve,” said Kat. “Not until we get Paul Harder,” I said, “what do you think about Sigrid’s scar?” “Yes, it would be possible, if I knew what knife was used,” she said, “Mac, can you help with that?”

He looked at the scar, then went out to his motorcycle and came back with a knife. “One like this,” he said. “That looks exactly like the knife he used,” said Sigrid, quite surprised, “but how did you know?” “My job,” was all he said. “Would you like that scar gone?” asked Kat. “Well, yes, of course I would,” she said, “but is that possible, really?” “I would have to open it up again,” said Kat, “Samantha can give you something to kill the pain.” Samantha did so and Mac carefully cut that scar open. Sigrid was lying down on the couch and Samantha put a towel over her cheek and Kat put her hand under the towel.

“Hey, that feels weird, what are you doing?” asked Sigrid. “Just helping the healing process along more quickly,” said Kat, “just lie still and it will start to feel better soon.” I sat down and tried to do some thinking. Was Mandar’s poisoning connected to this case, or was it one of his enemies, not ours. Why does Harder want this large house? Perhaps just as his own home, it would make him look more important than he really is. Is he a loner, or does he work for someone else? Someone such as Montana, who also has a lot of money.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats were trying to get in touch with Kat, but without success, so they decided to use one of their cats to contact Muffin…

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.