The Investigators, Inc. The Case of Richard’s Family. Chapter 8. The Machine.

I was having a little fun with Herman, allowing him to see Sir Night briefly, then making him invisible again. Now Herman is down in my little room looking around trying to find this black cat he thinks I have with me. “Where do you think this black cat is going to hide?” I asked Herman. “How should I know,” he said, “but I know you have a cat because I saw him.” “Did your friends see that black cat too?” I asked again. “No, they didn’t,” he said grumbling, “now keep quiet. Hey, move over there so I can look under the bed.”

So, I moved to the other side of the room and he checked under the bed. He then went over and looked in the toilet and I went and sat on the bed. “Hey boss,” said Gordon, “Herman actually looked for the cat in the toilet.” “I hope Dinah doesn’t find out about this,” said Tobias. “What don’t you want me to find out?” she asked as she came in the office. “Herman is looking for a cat in Steve’s room,” said Gordon. “You saw a cat in there?” she asked.

“No, but Herman said he saw a black cat lying on top of Steve,” said Gordon. “And how is he supposed to get a cat?” she asked, “Tell him to get out of there.” “Hey, there’s the cat, on the bed!” yelled Herman. I look around. I even stood up to see better. “Can you see him now boss?” asked Herman. “No, we can’t Herman,” said Dinah, “now get out of there.” “But the cat is sitting right there on the bed,” said Herman. “I think your man Herman is on drugs,” I said. He turned around with an angry look on his face and that’s when he saw Angel.

“Hey, he even has a dame in here with him!” exclaimed Herman. “How long do I have to put up with this idiot?” I asked. “That did it!” yelled Herman and he punched me in the stomach, then he threw me onto the bed. “Get him out of there!” yelled Dinah to Tobias. Then Herman saw Courage. “What is that thing?” he exclaimed, “Stay away from me you monster lion, stay away or I’ll shoot.” “Henry, Charlie, get Herman out of Steve’s room now!” yelled Tobias and they came running down the hall.

Herman was screaming and shooting his gun by the time they arrived, but since Herman was up against the door, they were having a hard time getting in. Then all was quiet and they pushed the door open, but Herman was on the floor. I was standing on the bed, acting suitably scared for my captors. “He’s dead boss,” said Henry, “doesn’t look like there’s a mark on him either.” “Well, get him out of there,” said Tobias, “and make sure no one else goes in without permission.”

“Please accept my apology Steve,” said Dinah, “I didn’t know about this.” “Thank you,” I said, “I thought he was going to shoot me.” “I must apologize again though,” she said, “for something I am about to do. But I need to test something.” I told Angel to hold Sir Night and keep him safe, this was the trouble I had sensed. She did so and suddenly I was holding my head and screaming. Meanwhile, back at the hotel. “Danger, it’s Steve!” yelled Jennifer. Angel was busy communicating with Sky to bring Kat immediately, I was in danger and she didn’t know what to do.

Sky arrived right away with Kat who laid me down and began rubbing my head. I started to feel better right away. Angel told Sky to take Sir Night back to the hotel and she did. “What’s going on Sky?” asked Jennifer. “I don’t know,” she replied, “but I brought Kat to help Steve. Something was being used against him that was hurting his head, but it didn’t bother us.” “Oh no!” exclaimed Celestine, “My dad was working on some kind of weapon that he called a ‘brain killer’.

It’s a machine that sends some kind of magnetic noise wave through the air and can be aimed at a crowd or just an individual. He was going to use it against government officials and other important people…” She didn’t get any further and Jennifer told Sky to get me out of there, quickly. Sky disappeared right away. Celestine just stared. “Um, Sky disappeared just like she appeared,” she said, “is she a real person?” Jennifer came over to Celestine and sat beside her on the bed.

“Yes, Sky is a real person,” she said, “but she, and some others, including me, are a bit different. When this is over I will make sure that Steve explains things to you properly, but please don’t be afraid of us, okay?” “I won’t be afraid of anyone in the Investigators,” she replied. “I also want you to know that Steve felt terrible that he couldn’t tell you certain things,” said Jennifer, “but it’s a rule we have. But you were helping Steve so much and he felt that he was lying to you by not telling you everything and it really did hurt him. I hope you know that Steve loves you a great deal and he wouldn’t deliberately hurt you for anything.”

Tears were now falling down Celestine’s cheeks and she hugged Jennifer. Meanwhile, Sky had returned and told Kat and Angel about this machine that Dinah has. “Sky,” I said, “you and Angel find that machine and destroy it, leave Kat with me.” Off they went to Tobias’ office first. They stayed invisible and listened to the others talking about this machine.

“Gordon,” said Dinah, “this notebook is the only copy telling us how to make this machine, so I want you to copy and save it onto your computer and then print out 4 more copies which we will keep in different locations. That way nothing can happen to it. This machine is the only one that Celestine’s dad made and it works just fine. We can take over any company or even any country with this machine. And we are going to start off with Mandar Corporation and we will be multi billionaires!”

“Hard to believe that something so small can be so powerful,” said Tobias. “Well, it needs to be small so it’s portable,” said Dinah, “now, let’s put this in your safe where it will remain safe.” It was sitting on Tobias’ desk at that moment, so Sky went over and touched it. Sparks and smoke erupted from the machine and it burned itself out completely. Angel then grabbed the notebook and soon it was in flames and was very quickly nothing but ashes.

“NOOOO!!” screamed Dinah, “What is happening?!” Then Sky touched the computer destroying it and every computer in the Black Swan! Although all of this seemed to happen quickly, it actually was spread out over the course of the day and it was now time for the Black Swan to open. Although some things were not working properly, most things were still working and they were able to open on time.

There was already a good crowd of people waiting to get in, including the Black Wolves, the Bad Girls and the Wildcats! Angel then put a little gadget on the wire leading from the monitor in the office into the wall, which was connected to all the security cameras in the Black Swan. This will make things easier for our teams. Then Sky took me back to the hotel before returning to her Bad Girls…

To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.