The Investigators, Inc. The Case of the Grandchildren. Chapter 8. Jennifer.

This case is just not making sense and we are not really getting anywhere, except for getting another group of professionals come after us. Professional thugs, that is. However, they are dangerous, so we can’t just ignore them. Then Jennifer called us with more news that didn’t make sense. “What are you doing?” asked Jennifer, “Or should I ask that question? Are you alone?”

“Um, not quite alone,” I said, “I’m with Cristy and…” “Are you two in the twins den again?” she asked. “Well, yes, that is just what I was going to say,” I replied, “and also…” “I just can’t leave you alone for a minute,” she said, “and there you are with one of the girls.” “Well, not quite,” I said, “but if I can…” By this time the girls were laughing out loud. “What’s going on in there anyway?” asked Jennifer.

“Sky and Angel are here too,” I said, “we’re munching on donuts.” “Of course you are,” she said, sighing, “you’re going to get fat eating all those donuts. That proves I’m right, I just can’t leave you alone. And you’re getting those girls to steal donuts for you.” Then she started laughing. Sigh. “Okay, enough fun time,” she said, “I have some information which is interesting, at least, I think it is.

Gabriel and Josephine keep wanting to go into town alone and I keep telling them it’s too dangerous right now so four of the girls need to go with them. Today they gave in and the girls went along and they all went in our car. They went into a clothing store and both the grandparents tried on some clothes at the same time, but they were in the change rooms a very long time.

They finally came out, at the same time, after 15 minutes, wearing the clothes they had taken to try on, and they walked out of the store without paying for them. The store employee knew it too, but never said anything about paying. Amerie was sure she saw Gabriel in a window upstairs overlooking the store, then she saw a woman look out the window at the girls.

Plus, Muffin found a photo of a couple on their wedding day, on the back it says Mom and Dad, only in French. But they look nothing like Gabriel and Josephine, though it could be someone else.” “That is interesting,” I said, “look around for more photos and send me that one please. Also, ask them about their other children, a son named Claude and daughter named Arielle. Though don’t mention the names at first, I want to know what they say about any other children.”

“Hmm, we found some new information and I wasn’t told about it,” she said, “that’s not nice.” “It is new,” I said, “which is why I couldn’t tell you until now. You just happened to phone first. Also, be on the lookout for any strange, new men around, especially speaking German. They are extremely dangerous, experts in martial arts fighting. Only you would be able to fight them, the other girls would not have a chance.”

“Hmm, that’s not fun news,” she said, “you can keep those guys over your way please.” Jennifer said that in the wedding photo, the bride is a couple inches taller than her husband, though that could be due to shoes she wore that day, which we can’t see. However, Gabriel is about 8 inches taller than Josephine, which means they are not the couple in the photo. That doesn’t mean anything though. Maybe it’s the parents of this mysterious wealthy and powerful woman that Rose kept talking about.

But, is that woman even real? To me, it didn’t sound like it since Camille said that Rose often made up things so it was hard to know if she was telling the truth or not. It gives us a good cover story for Misty though, which is why we made her out to be that mystery woman. We even gave her some high level influence to stop the police investigation. Well, Rossana did that part for us, and it worked very nicely, which made Misty’s story more real for Mr. Meyer.

Speaking of Misty and Mr. Meyer, I wonder how their next visit is doing? “Well, Mr. Meyer should be inside enjoying his lunch by now,” said Misty, “Kitty, you stay with me and Kristina, you stay invisible. Emerald, Astrid, Nakedra and Monika, you come along too. The rest of you stay out here and watch the area, closely and carefully.” Then Misty and the girls went inside.

Sure enough, Mr. Meyer was there with four men, including that rather large man named Ansel. Misty and the girls walked over to their table. “Good afternoon Mr. Meyer,” said Misty cheerfully, “amazing that we should meet here like this.” “He told you to talk with his lawyer from now on little girl,” said Ansel. “Listen here Chubby,” said Misty sternly, “if I wanted to talk with a lawyer, I would talk with my own. He is far better than any lawyer that Mr. Meyer could afford.

You made a mistake hiring that acrobatic individual to come after me. As you can see, aside from a bruise on my forehead, I am still doing just fine. That’s more than can be said for that Mr. Wolfgang character which one of my girls eliminated quite quickly. I don’t scare easily Mr. Meyer, all you have done is show me I’m on the right track looking for the murderer of my good friend Rose.”

“Look young lady,” said Mr. Meyer, “I did not kill this friend of yours and I don’t know who did it. Now, if you don’t leave me alone, I shall resort to calling the police.” “Go ahead,” said Misty, “but I’m afraid they won’t want to help you right now. Besides, if you are truly innocent, then you shouldn’t mind answering questions. I think we both know who killed Rose, and those people work for you.

Or, at least, Tony does, and Camille runs a child porn studio on the 9th floor of your building. Oddly enough, the 8th and 9th floors are occupied by a company you own, and yet that company doesn’t exist. It is just an office for Tony, to do nothing and get paid for it.” That’s when Ansel and the three others got up to escort Misty and her girls back outside.

They went along willingly until they were all outside, then Misty turned and began a fight with Ansel. He managed to hit her once at the beginning, knocking her to the ground. But she was up quickly and began to fight in earnest. The other girls started to fight the other 3 men, quickly subduing them. Kitty watched carefully in case Misty needed help, but she handled Ansel easily enough and he was soon on the ground unconscious with the other men. The waiter then came over to Mr. Meyer.

“Your men lost the fight with those women,” he said. Meyer didn’t say a word, he just kept eating. Later he called Camille again and told her to come to his house, with Tony, at precisely 15:00. Meanwhile, in Paris. “That’s her Steve,” said Sky. She was sitting at a sidewalk cafe when Sky, Colette, Melanie and myself sat down with her.

“I don’t know you,” she said firmly, “so leave.” I pulled 2,000 euros out of my pocket and put it on the table. “It’s yours for one hour of your time,” I said, “and if you answer some questions for me, truthfully, then I will give you some more.” “Are you cops?” she asked. “No, we are not,” I said, “but we are looking for the person who murdered your sister Rose.” She took the money and put it away…

To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.