The Investigators, Inc. The Case of Steve’s Daughter. Chapter 1. Disappear.

Posted on April 7, 2026 by

83 Comments

Here we are waiting for another case to come our way. Everyone wants another case so we can get out and be active again. Sometimes, though, we need to be more careful what we wish for, not all cases are good for us. Friskie told Jennifer and I about her secret that she had told Steffie, and she was right, she should have told us first. Jennifer looked at me. “You will have to make an announcement about this Steve,” she said, “otherwise everyone is going to spend all their free time trying to figure out what this secret is, so do that today.”

“But, everyone will know,” said Friskie with a worried look. “Better to find out now from Steve,” said Jennifer, “than to find out from Steffie later.” “Maybe we should wait a day or two though,” I said, “until everyone is out of the clinic.” “Right, I agree with Steve!” said Friskie emphatically. “Just a minute,” said Jennifer quietly, “keep talking though.” I was still in the clinic at this time. Jennifer went invisible, obviously someone was listening outside the door again. Steffie was here visiting again too.

Suddenly, outside the door… “AAAAAAA!!!!!, and then… “YAAAAA!!!!”, and there was a thud. I thought Jennifer would know by now, but guess not. Jennifer and Misty came inside the room. “It’s okay Steffie,” I said, “it’s just Auntie Misty again.” Steffie comes out from under the blanket again. “You always scare me with yelling!” she said, as she sat with arms folded and frowning at the two of them. Some time later, after Kat had checked me out thoroughly and made some changes to me, I was feeling much better.

“You should be okay now,” said Kat smiling. “I sure hope so sis,” said Jennifer, “it would be nice not having to worry about Steve all the time.” “Well, you can stop your worrying now,” said Kat, “he’s back to normal again, even better actually.” “Good thing you added the word ‘better’,” said Jennifer, “or I would have to start worrying again.” Soon all of us were out of the clinic, though some of the girls were still not cleared for going on cases yet. But, we don’t have a case right now anyway.

But maybe I shouldn’t speak too soon. One morning several of the girls had the younger children outside for some play time so I decided to go outside and join them for a while. All of the cats were outside with us as well and we were having a great time. That is, until something happened. Suddenly several armed men showed up and one of them quickly grabbed Steffie and put a gun to her head. I wish I had the ability to make guns red hot like our ghosts, but I don’t. The next thing that happened was we were all shot with some type of sleeping dart, even some of the cats.

Oddly, no one in the chateau noticed anything wrong outside, and our electronic surveillance hasn’t been working for the last couple of days. We always seem to have trouble with that. Suddenly the alarm went off when the cats pressed their alarm buttons! Code Red, Attack! This kept repeating while the team came rushing out to look for us, ghosts leading the way. The cats met everyone and began telling what happened.

The ghosts went to the spot and picked up the children that had been left behind, only Steffie had been taken, along with me, Dawn, Milena, Macy, Jackie, Valeria, Brandy, Celestine, Ivy and Catalina. Also four of the cats, Storm, Jewel, Ginger and Sir Night. I’m not sure why they took so many of us, but I guess they have their reason and will let us know eventually. Perhaps they want us to do something for them, that would explain taking Steffie, they can use her to pressure us into working for them. My idea was almost correct, but not quite, as we shall see.

Somewhat later at the chateau a car drove up with a lone occupant. The man got out of the car and was told to give his name and nature of his business. He said his name was Jeremy Copeland and he needed help rescuing some friends of his. He was allowed to come in after being thoroughly checked for weapons. He seemed like a very nice and polite gentleman in his early 40s, an American and his friends had gone missing while on vacation in Mexico. They are now being held against their will.

“We would like to help you Mr. Copeland,” said Kat, “but we already have a case that we are presently working on and that leaves us no time to help you.” “I think you will want to change your mind,” he said, “here, take a look at this bracelet.” He handed it to Kat and she recognized it right away. “So, you’re the kidnapper of our team and the little girl who was wearing this bracelet,” said Kat calmly. “Kidnapping is such a bad word,” he said, “we are just giving them a change of scenery for a while. They are being well cared for, I promise you.”

“And what makes you think I will let you go?” asked Kat. “Because if you kept me,” he said, “then your friends would be killed, one each day, until I am allowed to leave. If you work for us, then we look after your friends and they will be returned to you when the job is done.” “What, exactly, is the job?” asked Kat. “I have some friends in a Mexican prison, Anthony, Stanley and Herbert Rowland, three brothers. Plus Eugene Rainer,” he said, “and I want them out within the next 8 days. I know you have done this sort of thing before, so you shouldn’t have any difficulty.”

“I can’t make the decision myself,” said Kat, “we need to have a meeting of our team leaders first. I can let you know later today.” “Very well,” he said, “this is the hotel where I’m staying, you can reach me there.” He then got up and Kat said to let him leave, which he did…

To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod

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

83 Comments on “The Investigators, Inc. The Case of Steve’s Daughter. Chapter 1. Disappear.”

  1. Good thing that Kat helped Steve get better because he needs to be in top shape for this new challenge. Kidnapped from the yard of your chateau, makes the case for better security that does not rely on electronics. They were well organized had to have a number of armed men to take 4 cats, 10 adults and 1 child. With this efficiency they should have been able to rescue their friends in the Mexican prison. What is their true agenda?

    Mr. Copeland has quite a bit of audacity to come into your home and make threats. Not the nice man he initially appeared to be.

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    • I’m sure these people had something to do with our electronic security fence not working for a couple of days. Then they just needed to wait for the right moment to take us, by quickly grabbing Steffie to paralyze us. Well, kidnapping us was still easier than getting their people out of prison. Here they were less likely to get killed. Yes, I think there is more to it as well. The team needs to find out more about the prisoners and the gang wanting them.

      Will I be able to call Sky for help? Can we survive without any ghosts with us? Yes, Mr. Copeland is an interesting man, who is he really? Definitely not a nice man, that’s for sure.🤔👩👻😼🕵️‍♂️

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      • Yes, who is Mr. Copeland and his friends who he wants to rescue? They are definitely criminals and dangerous. Will Steffie be used as a weapon against Steve and his teammates?

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      • Good thing that Mandar is along to help with this case. With Aari, Hannah and Jazzy, they should figure things out. Yes, they are dangerous criminals, they have already shown their willingness to use Steffie against us. Somehow they thought she was my daughter, that shows they didn’t do their homework very well and that might help the team. We certainly can’t help them from where we are.🤔🕵️‍♂️

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      • This is a help to us, having the ghosts with us, now if only we could tell Kat our captors can’t kill us now, except with thirst.
        Yes, Kat and team should be able to get things done!

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    • Not much, typical Saturday. I enlarged the top of my one shelf unit to use for plants, so now I can spread them out a bit more. I’ll do that tomorrow. Plus I got another bamboo pole out and I’m going to get another vine climbing on that one. That will give me three of them. I’m going to start talking about my plants on my blog soon.

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    • Not likely since I don’t have pics to go with them and I don’t like to use pics from elsewhere.
      Well, time to sign off again. Chapter 2 is now out!
      Have a good night Dusty, hope you have a great day tomorrow!😃😴🌛

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  7. Hi!
    Yes, I did go flying again this morning. Yesterday and today were both a great time! Lots of people, lots of them from other clubs. There was a fella from. Amarillo I think it was? Anyway lots of cool planes to watch and fly with. Today was much more relaxed and laid back.
    I was exhausted when I got home yesterday. My shoulders and neck were really sore, so, I went to the hot tibe for a while. It did the trick!
    How are you today? How was church services?

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    • Wow, I thought that after a big day yesterday you would want to relax today. You have a lot more energy than me! Course that’s typical of you young folks. 😂 Oooo, you have a hot tub, nice. I’m slow answering because my internet was off for a while for some reason. Oh well, that’s what happens here in the wilderness.🙄
      My back was bad again today, and my neck too. Now my stomach is upset. Church was good, about 40 people were out.😊

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  9. I’ll hope along with you..😉
    Hey, I won another airplane at the get together yesterday! It’s one I’ve been wanting to get, but I’ve not been able to work it into the budget. But now I have it. It’ll be a while before I get to building it, but it’ll be fun when I do.

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    • Hey, cool! That’s a good way to build your collection! How many now, 5, 6? You’ll need a special building just to house your planes. That’s fantastic though!

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    • Wow and double wow! 😲 That’s a lot of flying machines. Are you drawing up plans for the addition to your home?😂✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️

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    • Aha, good shrinking!
      Well, I need to sign off and get to bed, early shopping tomorrow. Have a good night Dusty and I’ll be back tomorrow with more tantalizing tidbits of truly terrific, um, something. 🙄😂😴🌛

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  13. Nope! No crashes, but no flying either! Today was a recover and rest day today. It’s amazing how doing that flying 2 days in a row can wear a person out!
    How went the shopping trip today? Any super buys good deals or freebies?😁

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    • I can understand that, it takes a lot of energy to throw them big planes around! Sorry, couldn’t resist.😂✈️
      Free items at the store? You must have some amazing stores down your way. How do they stay in business? But amazingly several of my food items were on sale today. But they still insist on putting the items I want on the top shelf so I end up hurting myself. Sigh. 🙄 I bought a couple, or so, new plants today. hehehe!😃🪴

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    • Oh, you sneaked in on me.
      Well, there’s Warneckii, then there’s plant 2, plant 3 and plant 4, plus a new African violet. I’ll have to look up the names of the other 3 again, I don’t remember them at the moment. 😊🙄🪴

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    • Yep, they came from the ol’ Walmart store. We only have one nursery in town now, used to be 4. She has nice plants but her prices are sky high! Walmart has some good plants provided a person can get to them when they first are put out for sale, because they don’t know how to look after them and they quickly die. Safeway has some plants too, but mostly the flowering variety. They get some nice African violets in sometimes. I used to have 21 different African violets one time.

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  18. Wow! That’s almost as many as I have of my planes! Oh… wait! The other way around. I think 🤔 I’m not sure now! I’ll need to add up the one in MN when I’m there next week getting the pontoon ready for my daughter to use this summer.
    What are you going to be doing tomorrow? Wait!! I know…. repotting plants??😉 huh??😂

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    • Now how did you guess what I was going to do? Wow, coming back north already. Face facts, you love it up in the northland and can’t stay away!😂😂 How are you going to get that plane back south with you?

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  19. I’m not staying. It’s only to get the boat out of storage and into the repair shop to get the hydraulic tilt and trim repaired. Then I’m coming back. She’s living in the place now. That means she’s paying me to live there and paying the utilities. So, that takes a huge financial load off of my budget. And I get to live where it’s warm and sunny 🌞 😁 mostly!😂

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    • Hey, that’s great! The clouds are a beautiful pink and purple right now. Speaking of nice and sunny, it was cloudy with light rain all morning, then showers this afternoon. It was only 41 degrees today though and with the rain it felt bone chilling chilly. There are so many birds returning now though. Supposed to stay cool all week, then warm up for the weekend, then back to this cool weather next week. Sigh.🙄🌧️

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    • You don’t need to worry, even up north you’re still down south! 😂
      Well, time to sign off again. Have a good night Dusty and I’ll be back tomorrow with exciting news! 😊😴🌛

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  22. Hmmm… No, No, No, but I did kinda lounge around today. I watched YouTube videos of online scammers getting payback by a group that goes out and baits them into trying to scam them by appearing and sounding like senior citizens. It’s quite fun to see how frustrated and angry they get when they discover they’ve been hacked and exposed and turned over to the police!😂🤭 serves them right!😁

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    • Ah, good idea! We all need those lounging days now and then, it helps restore our energy levels. Works for most people anyway, doesn’t seem to work so good for stupid Steve, but he tries anyway. 😂
      Good for them! Nice that some of those people are getting caught.😃

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    • AAAAAAAAAAA! I dropped one of the new plants sending dirt flying all over the kitchen floor and table, breaking leaves and, and, all kinds of things! Hopefully it will survive. It’s called “morning beauty”. Siiiiiiiiiiiigh.

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    • It needs roots too and it lost a bunch of those, hopefully there’s enough left to support the size of the plant. It was a bit warmer today, but mostly cloudy. Still, it managed to reach 46 degrees.😊

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  25. Well, you better get some warm air on order before Monday! I don’t want to be a popsicle when I get there!!
    So what’s the agenda for the rest of your week?

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    • I’m hoping to get out tomorrow or Thursday for some picture taking time. Just depends on the weather, I want sunny skies if possible. I also want to clean up the balcony and get my plant pots ready out there.

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    • I wasn’t talking about a walk, I was talking about picture taking, that requires a car to get to places, plus sunshine to make the photos look nicer. 😊🌞📷

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  28. That’s counts as walking…😛 so HA!
    So you know how I’ve been wanting to get my heel bone let’s say reduced a little? Well last fall I went to get it checked out and start the process of having the surgery, well… it turns out they wouldn’t do it until I get the spinal cord stimulator replaced. So now I don’t know if want to go through that and then still have the surgery on my heel. What do you think?

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    • I don’t understand why the spinal cord stimulator needs to be replaced in order to have surgery on your heel. Isn’t that spinal surgery one rather serious? And painful?

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  29. Well, they need to do an mri on my heel before and because the stimulator is 10 years old it needs to be removed or replaced so that they can shut it down to do the mri. And yes, the stimulator surgery isn’t nothing. So I don’t know if it’s worth it.

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    • Hmm, it’s getting late, let’s pick this up tomorrow again.🤔 Have a great night and I will be here with some exciting news which I forgot to tell you this evening! 😃😴🌛

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    • Good morning Dusty! 😃 How’s things today? Very cold day here, cloudy and a high of 37 right at noon, then it cooled off to 33 an hour later and stayed there. It was even snowing this morning!🥶❄️

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    • I tried to stay warm! I also added a bit more plant space in front of my window, not much, but it was enough for 5 more smaller plants. 😃🪴 This comment sneaked in on me somehow. Sigh. 🙄 I don’t know how we survive either, but we are supposed to get 3 days in the 50s, then it will cool off again next week. The forecast is for below normal temps until at least mid May. Sigh.🥶

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    • It will likely be warmer down where you used to live,😃 after all it’s about 500 miles south of us, your lake probably doesn’t even have ice on it now, still frozen here.🥶

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    • You can’t wear long underwear this time of year anyway, it’s against the rules of the north!🙄😂 Going to be big northern lights tonight! Except it’s cloudy. Sigh.

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  36. How did we ever survive??🤔🙄 We never had car seats either!!😲 No wonder the kids are going crazy these days! They aren’t allowed to have any fun as kids anymore.

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    • Yep, that’s the truth! How did kids ever survive without car seats? Yep, kids can’t have fun anymore like we did. When I see playgrounds these days, I laugh at what we used to have as kids!

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  38. Yes! It’s crazy! If it was to high for you, you used your common sense and did go up the ladder! Lots of life lessons missed out on for kids now-a-days.

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    • Yep, it’s really kinda sad, even sand isn’t allowed in playgrounds now, it’s all shredded rubber. Well, gotta go again, time for bed. Talk again tomorrow! Have a good night! Maybe I’ll remember my exciting news tomorrow!😃😴🌛

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