The Investigators, Inc. The Case of Ivy’s Missing Life. Chapter 13. Lives Erased.

Posted on December 15, 2025 by

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It is quite amazing how Vincent was quick to leave the safety of the Shining Moon and go check on that other house that Jennifer told him about. But, I guess all that City Club wealth was just too much for Vincent, so he had to go and check. He did wear a bullet proof vest, but that wouldn’t have protected him from our snipers, they would have shot him in the head. But, I had told them to leave Vincent alone, not because I was trying to help him, but the police were quite adamant that we leave him alone.

However, we could do what we wanted with the town leaders, and there were many involved in ruling this town. The judge was working with them, and all the lawyers, the six doctors in town plus the top people in the hospital. They will all find themselves in prison for messing around with health records of Ivy and many others. They helped to erase the life history of all those children we rescued too, plus the women we rescued. Our home team did an amazing job uncovering all of this for us.

It was sad though, a whole town taken over by these people, and it included the main business people in town as well. They were able to do what they wanted, charging exorbitant prices in stores and in construction. If people complained, the construction company would deliberately knock out a wall in their home, then charge them an outrageous price to fix it. And if people tried to leave town, their bodies were added to the cemetery. It’s amazing how much damage they did in just a couple of years. I guess Ivy’s family were just too scared to tell her about what was going on here.

It has hit Ivy very hard. She feels responsible for the deaths of her family. Big brother Steve is feeling kind of helpless at the moment. Sky is feeling a bit better since she didn’t really miss much of a fight, and she got to go with Jennifer to visit Vincent and Winters. Sky was the power behind the deaths of the two men. Winters was not killed by our snipers though, he was killed by his own sniper, on orders from Veronica, apparently. They don’t seem to have much loyalty in that group. When Jennifer, Sky and Kitty returned, Ivy and Dawn were sleeping on the bed and I was back sitting in that big armchair with Celestine on my lap this time.

She was trying to convince me that I was not responsible for what happened to Dawn and Ivy, so I need to stop thinking I was responsible, stop beating myself up, so to speak. But it was hard. Jennifer smiled when she saw Celestine curled up on my lap with her head against mine, just like with Dawn, except this time I needed the hug. Jennifer took another picture, so did Sky. Then Celestine got up and Jennifer sat curled up on my lap. Sky took a picture, so did Celestine.

Aari and the Black Wolves went to check the spot the Curator told us about. They found the grave, marked just like the Curator said. He believed that if he didn’t mark the graves, then something bad would happen to him. Apparently he was quite superstitious, which was helpful to us. There were several other marked graves in that small ravine, so I called the police in the city about an hour and a half away. We had talked with them extensively before coming here. They sent out a team who could properly handle the bodies.

They were indeed Ivy’s family, so we set about the process to bring them home with us to bury in our cemetery. Meanwhile, Vincent wasn’t too happy at the moment, even though he found most of The City Club’s property. He had all of their financial books (they still did things the old fashioned way, which in some ways, is safer), plus all other legal papers and not so legal papers, all the guns and drugs. But, some minor items were missing, such as all the money and all the gems and jewelry. That added up to quite a large amount.

Alfred looked at the gems and jewelry and he assured me that none of it was stolen. That was certainly a surprise. He thought perhaps they had a deal with some mines in different countries where they could pick out their own gems of emeralds, sapphires, rubies and diamonds. Then they cut them and made expensive jewelry to sell. There must be something illegally done somewhere along the way, but perhaps not. Maybe they actually had one legitimate business operating, but I still had doubts. The missing money was with Veronica and mayor Dean.

They have an apartment on the top floor of the town municipal building. Back to us again. We went down to the restaurant for dinner, well, most of the team did. Ivy and Dawn didn’t feel like going to the restaurant, so Jennifer and I stayed in the room with them. Celestine, Misty, TJ, Chantelle and Chelsea stayed with us too and we ordered room service. Our girls brought the food up to us since the hotel is short on staff right now. Chantelle, TJ and Chelsea had their lives erased, just like Ivy. The night passed quickly and quietly for us which was very nice.

We stayed in our room for breakfast too, while all the others went to the restaurant. Sky informed me that Vincent had come in with some men, so I went down to talk with him and let him know where he could find his money. He thanked me and left with his men after eating. He found the remaining group members having a meeting in the mayor’s office, they were talking about what to do after finding out that Winters, Scott, the Surgeon and the Curator were all dead.

That’s when Vincent came in with his men and he told the mayor (who had been shot before, but only wounded) not to call the police, since they were all dead. Vincent then shot the fire chief (who also was only wounded before) and the councilor, plus 3 other men who had joined the meeting. The mayor then stood up with a gun pointed at Vincent, but Veronica shot the mayor thinking that would put her in favor with Vincent, however, he just said thank you and shot her. Then he and his men recovered their money and decided to head back to New York City with all of their property.

However, they were met by the police before they left the state and all were arrested. Then a very large number of police, plus state and federal authorities came to the town. As they were coming into town, we were leaving, heading back to the city where our planes were waiting for us. Soon we were over the ocean, heading home once again.

It seemed like there was unfinished business, but it was necessary to let the police take over and finish things this time. We were awarded the gems and jewelry as a reward for our part in taking down the City Club and freeing this town, although I’m not so sure that town is truly free yet, it might take some time. It was good to get back home and relax once more, with 3 new additions to our “family”.

TJ is 16 and Chelsea is 15 so they won’t be joining the Investigators just yet, but Chantelle has expressed an interest in joining, if she can pass the tests. I guess now we can start our Christmas preparations, since everyone will be staying home this year, a new tradition beginning for us. But will something interrupt our Christmas plans?

This Case Ends, but another one is coming. ©2025 Steve McLeod.

Category: Adventure, Danger, Fiction, Mystery, Story, Strange Happenings, UncategorizedTags: , , , , , , , ,

160 Comments on “The Investigators, Inc. The Case of Ivy’s Missing Life. Chapter 13. Lives Erased.”

  5. Good, spent the afternoon at Bruce’s breaking in the new engine for my plane and going over everything before I take it to the airfield next week to start flying it. It all went really well. How about you? Is it still pretty chilly there?

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    • Sounds like fun! Weather isn’t so bad now, it was -20 this morning but warmed up to -4 and it isn’t supposed to be as cold tonight. Tomorrow night will be cold again, but then it warms up on Saturday and looks like it will stay that way for a while.

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  6. That’s good news! Soon it will be spring and flowers and birds and butterflies 🦋 and honeybee and mosquitoes and flies and hornets and gnats and frogs and BEARS!

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    • Spring is still a long way off, however it’s always nice to think about it. It’s almost time for our groundhog forecasters to tell us if it will be an early spring or an early spring.

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    • Whether they see their shadow or not, it still works out to an early spring for us. Oh well. I’m finished cleaning out my closets now! Plus I hung 5 pictures without putting even one hole in the wall with the nails!

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    • Very well actually. They’re really just normal nails, the right size for hanging a picture. First I get some thin plywood, tack the nails in, hang the plywood on an over the door hanger, then hang the pictures. So, no nail ever enters the wall, or in this case, the door. I used my bedroom door since I never close it, however, the pictures are secure enough that even with using the door normally they won’t fall off.

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    • All but an African violet, for some reason it’s struggling to stay alive, not sure what the problem is, usually they are easy to grow. But the last three I bought died after they finished blooming. I think they must be doing something with these new varieties so they don’t live after blooming. That way people have to keep buying more. Still, it might just be a coincidence.

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    • Yeah, it seems if I can get one to survive a year I’m doing good, some only last 3 or 4 months. Oh well. I must sign off again, time for bed, more or less. I have to turn the screen off for a while or my brain won’t settle down. Have a good night! I’ll check in sometime tomorrow!

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    • Except they are not wearing uniforms so it’s hard to know what team is who. These kids just practice here, the real team playing is at our rec center. I can’t see them out the window, I have to stand at the door to watch. The rink is on the other side of the park at a diagonal direction from here, so it’s kind of far away to really see well.

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    • Yep, just staying indoors, safest thing to do these days. But that’s normal for winter. If it gets a bit milder I might try to walk down to the river. Okay, a lot milder.

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  18. Still it gets long. I go crazy here after just a few days of the cold and being inside. I guess it didn’t take me long to grow used to being able to be outside most of the time.

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    • Yeah, easy to get used to that. I really don’t mind being indoors, except in summer I like to be outside as much as possible. Well, got to get going again, I’m actually quite tired tonight and I’m almost falling asleep sitting here. Sigh. Have a good night and I shall return tomorrow! zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz😊

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  20. No, no flying today. A little to much wind and it was a bit chilly this morning, around 40 to 45 degrees. It’s not much fun when it’s like that. I. Not feeling the greatest today anyway. I may go in the morning if I’m feeling better. How about you? Did it get above zero up there today?

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    • Yep, it hit 15 today but a very strong south wind so it still felt cold anyway. Oh well. Felt great this morning, then I did too much, this afternoon I felt terrible, then at supper I started getting muscle spasms in my back so now I feel even worse. Sigh.

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  21. That’s not good! But, it is understandable. I don’t blame you for wanting to do more on a nice day.
    Kinda my deal today also, doing more than I should. I was up at 4:30 this morning. I haven’t been right all day, but I didn’t want to just lay around so I did some stuff out in my workshop. Not the best idea.😒

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    • My nurse was late this evening, she had a bleeding nose. It’s so dry in this building I get that problem sometimes too. The humidity is down to 11% these days in my apartment.

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    • Yeah, that’s a good thought. I have several bowls of water around my plants and it sure evaporates fast! Good for the plants though. I will put a pot of water on tomorrow when I get back from church. Oddly my lips are only mildly chapped but my eczema is going crazy in this dryness!

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    • I think that wind is getting stronger out there, though it’s supposed to quit after midnight. I’ve been having trouble writing blog posts lately, my brain just hasn’t been working, not even with my story though I have finally started a new case.

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  25. Well, don’t stress about it. You’ve been blogging a long time I’m sure it’ll start coming back to you. When do you think you’ll be publishing the next chapter?

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    • Chapter 2 of the latest story is coming out this evening. Called “The Case of Jazzy’s House”. Starting out sort of similar to a couple other cases but it will quickly change.

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  26. Oh great! I need to move to a different conversation, I have to scroll through about 5 pages to get to your last comment!😂
    I’ll read the first chapter and the second before tomorrow night. How’s that?🤔

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