The Investigators, Inc. The Case of the Old Lodge. Chapter 7. Strange Things.

Darkness came for us at the Old Lake Lodge so Sky and Kitty took the first shift looking after the vans. They could do this while invisible, so that made it perfect since no one could possibly see them. If anyone was going to do something to our vans, they would still show up and we could catch them in the act to question them. Although I really doubt we would get anywhere with them, these villagers are not just ordinary people, they have been well trained to keep quiet and just do their jobs, whatever that is they are doing.

Ivy, who joined us during that case looking for Jacie’s murderer, knows a great deal about the criminal world and the way they do things. Especially larger organizations like she had. She just didn’t want to be in that life. She can pay attention to what is going on around her, even when she is playing a game on her phone. She is really quite a remarkable woman considering her young age. Anyway, Ivy told me privately that she didn’t think this was a typical gang at work, it was something more than that.

She was thinking maybe a conspiracy to assassinate someone, or more likely, several people, like the state government here in Maine, which could perhaps be a test run for something even bigger. That’s a terrible thought. Cristy had told me that Carmeline and her parents were okay, nothing in their lives or past that was negative. Carmeline has had 3 speeding tickets which means she is probably another wild driver like Sherry, but that part is not a problem.

Carmeline also told Kat that those 6 young men work for Ted Jameson, a millionaire from New York City. Jameson came and stayed at the lodge in town for 2 days and never smiled once. Carmeline smiles a lot and he told her that smiling and laughing are for juveniles, not adults. One of the young men staying at the lodge had been trying to get “friendly” with Carmeline. One day he was flirting way to much, she said, so she told him to stop and slapped him hard. It was the next day that her parents drowned. That is too much of a coincidence.

Anyway, after our ghosts switched teams to Angel and I, we spotted four men coming through the trees from the direction of the old house. That’s kind of interesting since we didn’t see any people in that house when we were there earlier. Is there another road that comes around to the back of that house? We never did check around out back due to finding Laura’s body. However, they may have been hiding in a secret room.

“Okay,” said one man, “just one package under each van, it’s enough to destroy those vans and they will be left walking all the way to town.” “Are you sure this will work?” I asked while staying invisible. “Of course it will you idiot,” said the man, “hey, which of you said that?” “None of us,” said another man, “the voice came from beside you.” He turned in my direction and I was now visible. “You boys shouldn’t be playing with explosives,” I said, “it’s dangerous.” The men then pulled out guns. “You’re a dead man,” said the man. “I know, I’m a ghost,” I said and disappeared.

“Hey, where did he go?” asked another man. “I’m right here,” I said and touched his chest causing him to fly backward 10 feet and lie on the ground groaning. Then the guns of the other men got too hot and they dropped them while yelling. Then Angel showed up as Courage. “Whoa, look at the size of that lion!” exclaimed one man. “Don’t try running or he’ll kill you,” I said. However, they ran anyway, dropping their packages behind them. I tossed one of the packages at two of the men and hit it with an electrical bolt.

There was a large explosion and the two men fell dead. Courage caught the third man and killed him. By now Sky and Kitty were outside with us and all the other girls were awake but stayed inside. Even the first man was dead, though I had tried not to kill him. “Well, they would not have talked anyway,” I said. Meanwhile, “Why haven’t those men reported yet?” asked man 1. “Vern said they never came back to the old house,” said man 2, “and there was only one explosion.”

“That means they failed their mission,” said man 1, “but how could they get caught with no one watching those vans?” “Watching from inside perhaps?” asked man 2. “No, they could easily stay out of sight,” said man 1, “but something went wrong. Well, if they don’t leave tomorrow we will give them another warning.” Now, back to us. The rest of the night was quiet, which was nice and the day began with a beautiful sunrise.

We had breakfast and Misty asked if Valeria could bring water in from the barrel on the back porch for washing dishes. I said no since I was sensing trouble, even though it wasn’t too close. Misty and Valeria were looking out the screen door when a shot was heard. Valeria fell to the floor moaning and Emily rushed outside having seen someone starting to run away.

She shot and the person fell. “Got him Steve!” she exclaimed, “And he will be alive.” “He’s just beyond that big pine tree back there,” she told me. We heard another shot, from a smaller gun this time. I disappeared and ended up next to the person, who was a woman, but she had shot herself. Guess she didn’t want to be captured. This is an interesting group…

To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.