The Investigators, Inc. The Museum Case. Chapter 12. Bad News, Good News.

Sienna had called Misty to find out how things were going on our museum case, she didn’t know we were back now. When she found out, she came right away to visit with us. Mandar was here at the time also, so he joined Sienna, Misty, Cristy, Aari, Kat, Sky, Jennifer and I in the huge library for a visit. “Now that I am the CEO of Baldwin Corp.” she said, “I need to keep track of my investments.

That includes the Investigators, Inc., since you are on our payroll.” As soon as she said that I got a huge knot in my stomach, figuring she was going to tell us that our support would be cut off. I’m sure that Mandar would pick it up right away though, but still, that immediate stress hit me like a hammer. There has been too much stress lately and it’s wearing on me way too much.

Jennifer was sitting on one side of me, Sky on the other, and both sensed my problem. Sky held my hand and squeezed it, while Jennifer put her arm around me, putting her head on my shoulder. “So, how are you doing through all of this Steve?” asked Sienna. “Oh, I’m fine,” I said, “I always get the easy parts.” “Liar!” said Jennifer and Sky at the same time.

“Well, there’s always a bit of stress with cases,” I said, “but that’s not like what everyone else has to deal with.” “Stress isn’t hard?” asked Kat. “Steve, I think you and me need to get alone and do some serious talking later,” said Sienna, “but for now, I have some sad news. Uncle Baldwin has passed away. He left everything to me now that he was sure I can handle things.

I’m not so sure I can though, but that in a minute. You probably remember what uncle Baldwin went through back when his house burned down, and he was badly burned too. He went through quite a bit of reconstructive surgery during that long hospital stay, but something else happened that you likely didn’t know about.

He also had a heart transplant near the end of all that, something I just found out about myself. With all that he went through during that time, he came out a different man than he was. He was much more stern, more rough than before. I was reading his journals, something he began when he was 15 years old. He became power hungry, wanting more dominance, he even talked about wanting to rule the world.

That’s where Karl came in. Uncle Baldwin backed Karl’s creation, as it were, but Karl was not like your ghosts, he wasn’t a ghost, he was kept alive by that shield around his body apparently. Uncle Baldwin didn’t go into details, he probably didn’t even know them himself. But he had hired Dr. W. to make him something like a ghost, so powerful, that together they could rule the world.

Uncle Baldwin was never like that before. He wrote about you Steve, and mentioned you were his only true friend he had his entire life. But after that year of trouble, he changed his feelings toward you, he viewed you as someone who would get in his way and try to stop him. But he still couldn’t bring himself to kill you, however, he did write that perhaps Karl could do something with you.

It was really such a tragic end to an amazing man.” “I knew there was a real change in him after his more than a year in the hospital,” I said, “I was sure that had something to do the change, since it just wasn’t like Baldwin to act the way he did.” “Yes,” she agreed, “now, I want you to know that I will continue supporting the Investigators in the same way as uncle Baldwin did before. But I will be doing even more.

I am not going to follow some of the ways uncle Baldwin managed Baldwin Corp., I want to have a life outside of work too. I will be hiring competent people to manage various companies that we have and I will just oversee things and make sure that everything keeps running smoothly. I am also selling off a good bunch of companies and let someone else have some fun for a while.

Uncle Baldwin left me so much money, I wouldn’t even need to keep anything of the Corporation. Some of what I sell will be put in a fund for the Investigators, to help any that might get injured and can’t continue working, or for any surgeries that need to be done, things of that nature.” Sienna kept talking, and talking. She likes to talk obviously.

Once we decide on which of Mandar’s houses we want for our new base, and since none are quite large enough for our team, Sienna will pay for the enlargement we need, including a safe room under the new enlargement. Plus any other additions we might want around the place. Sienna did talk with Jennifer and I privately as well, and we both believe that Sienna is going to be a good friend.

Well, this was quite a different and difficult case for us and I’m glad it’s over. It was unfortunate that 3 of the directors managed to get away from us, but I’m not going to worry about them, they are minor players working for someone else. Perhaps that person was Lauren. Jazzy was true to her word though and her people did find and kill Lauren, plus the 4 top people she kept around her.

She had a small organization, but that was being dismantled as well. I still need to go and visit Jazzy and will do that soon. I just wanted to make sure our ghosts were back to normal again, and all of them are fine now. Kat is going to start working on those bracelets for all the ghosts, plus some other ideas she has too, and Carine will be helping her.

I have some ideas too, very basic ideas, which Carine will turn into working plans that she and Kat can work on together as well. I hope we can get some time to relax and really recover for a while now, before the next case comes around. But with us that doesn’t usually happen. Guess we will find out.

The End. However, another case will begin soon.

©2025 Steve McLeod.