The Investigators, Inc. The Black House Mystery. Chapter 3. Silverton.

Well, things were moving along in our case, but not really the way we wanted, although it wasn’t so bad. Kat and Angel had some fun with the Black Jackets gang and hopefully that will tame them down a bit. Maybe. They just lost 3 men and terrified a fourth, that part is good. But, will it be enough to stop the Black Jackets from terrorizing Theresa and her mom? That part is doubtful, especially since they don’t know that the Wildcats are with Matt and his Riders.

Perhaps they need to find out sooner than planned. I was hoping not to do that so early, but I suppose it doesn’t make a difference. Something that troubled me even more is the fact that Troy, the leader of the Black Jackets, likes to go around and find people that others are looking for. What if he is hired to find Cricket? Hopefully our fake grave idea will work if that is the case.

We managed to secure permission to do this. We even had a real autopsy done and Katresa (Cricket) gave some DNA for them to have on file of this otherwise unknown woman who had died of a gunshot wound. There is even a grave marker of wood which said, “Known Only As Cricket”. She is ‘buried’ in a cemetery in Toronto called Shady Maples. We even had an obituary printed up telling of her help in destroying two gangs in Montreal.

We were careful not to mention ourselves however. That has turned out to be a good thing, since there may now be a connection. I say, “may be” a connection, since we do not know for sure that Troy is looking for Katresa. But, someone must be looking for her or I would not be sensing trouble and Jennifer would not be sensing danger, both directed at Katresa. We are making sure to guard her carefully right now, just to be safe.

Meanwhile, back to that black house. Theresa wanted a large house so she can host family gatherings easily. Rock’s family is quite large when counting cousins, aunts and uncles, still too many to all stay in the house, though she has that large room at the top floor, plus the garden shed which she wants to turn into a guest cottage. The interesting thing about that guest cottage is the hidden door in the floor which opens to an underground bunch of rooms totaling about 2,000 square feet in size.

At the end of the one long hallway is a door, which opens but goes nowhere. That is because it has been closed with bricks. I wonder why? The whole place is made from concrete, except that doorway. Our team would never have found that door in the floor, but the cats found it quickly. The next day after breakfast, some of the guys stayed in the house to help move furniture and boxes around. Some were on guard duty and the rest were in that garden shed looking around underground a bit more.

Aasta had let Rascal go with Aari for a change, though she certainly didn’t like to be parted with her cat. Anyway, Aari and Rascal were on their way from the house to the shed when Rascal stopped and looked up. Aari stopped and went back to Rascal. “What are you looking at Rascal?” he asked. Meowrrr.= Look at windows on top floor. “Yes, I see them,” he said, “those are on the north wall of that big room we are staying in. What is so strange about them?”

Meowrrr.= Inside room is 3 windows, out here is four windows. And me saw human head in window that not there. Aari looked and realized that Rascal was right, there is only 3 windows looking from inside, but there are 4 outside. He thought that perhaps one window was covered up inside, though it must have been done a long time ago. However, that human head was intriguing. Aari never saw it, but he knew better than to doubt Rascal.

“Stay here and watch that window Rascal,” said Aari, “I want to go tell Matt.” Off he went with Rascal staring up at that window. Matt was curious when Aari told him about that window, so he took John, Clarence and Mac with him and they went to check on things. “See? There are…only 3 windows now,” said Aari frowning, “but there were 4 just a minute ago. I left Rascal here to keep an eye on things.” “Looks like Rascal is gone too,” said John, “probably saw a mouse and started to chase it.”

Just then Kat came running out of the house. “Where is Rascal?” she asked with a look of concern on her face. “He was right here about 3 minutes ago,” said Aari, “but he seems to have disappeared, perhaps out mouse hunting.” “No,” said Kat, “he is in danger, we need to find him fast. Matt called the guys out of the shed to come and help look for Rascal. They found him in the garage, lying on a work table with a meat cleaver stuck in the wood top next to his head.

There was also a note which read, “Leave now, this house belongs to us and we will kill anyone who tries to disturb us. John Silverton”. Kat checked Rascal right away and he was fine. He had been put to sleep somehow and Kat was able to wake him up without difficulty. He did not remember seeing anyone coming close to him, nor did he remember feeling anything. Whoever did this must have used some kind of tranquilizer dart shot from further away, then removed it afterward.

But how this happened so quickly is a mystery, unless Aari was gone longer than he thought. Matt called us right away asking that Annelie check on this John Silverton. “He must be a previous owner Steve,” said Matt, “perhaps this is where the ghost stories came from.” I told Annelie to get on it right away and reminded Matt to make sure there are always 4 of them together at all times, and that includes the cats. “And check on that disappearing window,” I said, “that might be important.

It could be the person Rascal saw is the one who drugged him. Though he must have moved quickly to get this done, or had help that was closer to Rascal.” Now we have 3 things going on at once, that is two too many. I asked Kat about Trapper, but he and his friends didn’t show up for breakfast. “That would be much too early in the morning for them,” I said, “but watch for him, he might be helpful to us, just make sure not to get them too involved, it could be dangerous for them.

“I will keep an eye out for them Steve,” she said, “and we will try to ensure they don’t get hurt.” I called Beryan to give me a massage before dinner. While she was doing so I strongly sensed trouble was near. Just then Jennifer came with Katresa and she said that danger was close at hand. She then left to get the kids and Dawn arrived with Melanie, Milena and Cynthia. They are four of my bodyguards…

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.