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

Posted on April 7, 2026 by

497 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: , , , , , , , , , ,

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

    • Well, it made it up to 68 today and mostly cloudy with a thunderstorm that dumped a bunch more rain on us. Not that we need anymore right now, the ground is saturated and it all just runs off now. There was a river flowing down the street during that storm.
      I wasn’t sure how far a drive it was so didn’t know if you would have to leave soon or not.

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  2. It’ll be about 6 1/2 to 7 hours depending on rest stops. But this storm system down here has everything up in the air ( pun intended) 🤭😉 so I’m watching the weather closely to see if it’s going to keep raining or be to windy. It’s a long way to go and just get rained on or to watch the wind blow.
    There’s been a bunch of flooding in this state also. I watched a weather cast from Waco and they had one street where the water run off actually peeled the asphalt off the street! Unbelievable 😲

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    • That would be a long drive for nothing, you definitely want nice weather for such an event. 🤔✈️ Great pun!😃 We had a street here that lost its asphalt twice in one summer! That one is a rather big hill too.

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  3. Yeah, I’m hoping it’s still a go but I wont know for sure until tomorrow I suppose.
    So, how are things there besides rainy 🌧 🤔. Anything exciting happening in the complex? No murder mysteries ?😁

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    • Yesterday evening we didn’t have any PSW working our building. Apparently no one from their list of 40 or so wanted to come in. Even the girl that was “on call” didn’t come which made no sense. I mean, that’s why you have a person “on call”, they fill in when no one else can, but she didn’t feel like working last night. Amazing.🙄

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    • Yeah, some people really rely on these PSW’s, guess they had to call a friend or family member to help them. If they called the PSW number they would have found out that no one is coming, but that makes it late to find an alternative. She has top seniority so is protected by the union. Still, another PSW lost her job for the same thing, but she was at the bottom of the list.

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    • I was hoping to get out for a trip down the east highway this week, but tomorrow morning is the only time without rain in the forecast. And tomorrow is the one day my friend isn’t available to take me. Sigh. And next week is looking to be the same, rain every day. So I’m going to miss some wildflowers I was really hoping to get this year. I miss them each year but this year I finally found out a place where I could find them for sure, but they are finished blooming by around mid June. So this would be my last chance for finding them. Oh well. That’s the way the hobby camera clicks.

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  6. I’m sorry I missed your response. I just saw it now.
    Well, you have a good night sleep 😴 💤 I’ll talk to you again tomorrow evening.
    Pleasant Dreams 😴

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  8. Hi! It went well yesterday and today! Finally got back to my room at a decent hour. Being out in the heat all day sure wears a person out! But it is soooo much fun to fly with and see all of the different planes!!😯

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    • Hi Dusty, glad to hear you are having a good time! I have to sign off already, I’m in a lot of pain today and need to lie down. When are you back home? Have a good night, rest up, fly well, no crashing!😃✈️🌛😴

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      • That’s okay, I figured you would be busy last week. Did you get much flying time? Any crashes? Well, had my big day yesterday🎂 so I wanted to get out for pictures. Slipped on some wet grass and fell with a thump. Sigh. Kinda ruined the day a bit.🙄

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  9. A fall on your B-day? That’s just not right! Are you feeling better today?
    There were a few crashes, luckily not mine though. If you want to check it I ut on YouTube just search HOTMAC 2026 on YouTube and you’ll see my plane and me and the guy I went there with.

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    • Oh cool, I will have to check it out!
      Not feeling any better unfortunately, basically doing nothing today to try and rest my back so it will get better quickly.

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  10. That woukd be a good thing! I spent Monday and Tuesday doing absolutely nothing but resting. The heat and humidity there was bad.
    Did you get your massage tonight?

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  14. I’m not I t sure if that’s good news or not after how hot your place got a few weeks ago. Be sure you are prepared and have your fan ready.😁😉

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    • Yeah, I bought an air conditioner now, just a small one but at least it will keep the bedroom cooler. So if I need a break from the heat I can go lie down in there and cool down for a while.😊

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    • That’s Parlor Palm, and it’s doing quite well after being beat and battered while being repotted. Amazing it survived. Biggest plant I have ever repotted.😃🌴

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    • I just tossed the plant, I had already sprayed it twice before and I didn’t want to take a chance and allow those bugs to spread. Hopefully they didn’t lay eggs on any nearby plants, I will have to keep checking them just in case.

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  18. Sounds like the right thing to do. Did they follow your plants home? You don’t know who those plants have associated or cross pollenated with. They coukd bring that home.

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    • Yeah, I know, they may have come in a plant I bought last year or they may have come inside when I brought some outdoor plants in for the winter. I think they came from the store though. I try to keep new plants in a different room for 3 weeks now, if they have bugs or eggs then they will show up in that time.

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  19. I did I ever tell you that you’re pretty smart?🤔😉
    So… what’s going on tomorrow and this weekend? Anything exciting? Taking more pictures maybe?

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    • I won’t be doing much, I want to rest up well so that hopefully I can get out next week for a longer picture taking trip. It’s actually supposed to be sunny on Tuesday. That is a long ways ahead though and things could change, but I’m hoping. 😃📷

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  20. It’s good to make plans ahead of time. You can always adjust if needed? What kind of pictures? Nature? Bridges, rivers, maybe so.e birds or…. Butterflies??

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    • I’m hoping for birds, butterflies, dragonflies, wildflowers, and whatever else is out there.
      Well, my pain is painful so it’s time for bed to take the pressure off for the night. Have a good night Dusty, will chatter more tomorrow with some exciting news! 😃🌛😴

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    • Ooooo, good! It was nice today so I was out wandering around the area and found a new mushroom and got a picture of it. Also got some flower pictures, not many, but a few anyway. Other than that, just buildings and trees. Saw a chipmunk but he wouldn’t come close enough for a good picture so i decided to try anyway, but he then turned and ran off. Sigh. 🙄📷🐿️

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  23. Did you try your peanuts 🥜 with the chipmunk🐿
    I’m glad to hear you had a good time. Was it nice there today? Good picture taking weather i mean?
    Oh, what’s the exciting news you mentioned yesterday?

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    • It was nice and sunny, very light wind, a few clouds around, nothing serious though. Yep, I tried peanuts, but he was too far away I guess. I discovered that some people on the main floor have been feeding him, so I’ll go out and try again on nice days. Not hot today though, about 73 degrees. Oh, exciting news, I like to hear exciting news, what is it?😃🤔

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    • Oh right, it was my exciting news, haha, almost forgot.🙄 Um, actually, I guess I told you already. It was about the little chipmunk that lives out back of here somewhere. 😊🐿️

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  25. Ah… the chipmunks. I can see where that’s exciting. You haven’t had a chipmunk friend. Are you going to try again with it? I think you should. But it’s up to you and how you feel, if you can get it used to seeing you enough.

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    • Yep, I’m going to try and make friends with it, the problem is being there when he is there. Since it’s out back I can’t see him scampering around unless I go out. So it might be tough. Even if I get him once, there’s no guarantee that I will see him again the next day, or for the next week for that matter. Not quite like before. But maybe I can get a picture of him anyway.😃📷🐿️

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  26. Good! I think that’s a great idea.
    I found a new place. It’s larger and has a larger shop area for me to work on my planes. I’m hoping to move in next week. So that’s new with me. How’s your posts doing? Are getting good responses and followers?

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    • Hey, that sounds great Dusty! Yep, a bigger hangar is always a good thing when you have planes!
      I’m not getting a lot of attention on my new posts, but my older ones are sure doing great! I have had over 15,000 people check out my blog this month! From all over the world! It’s actually been like that all year so far. It started when people began sharing my blog on places like X (over 40,000 times this year!), plus Facebook (over 10,000 times) and others too. But mostly people are checking out my older blog posts, but that’s okay, getting lots of attention anyway!
      Well, time for the old bedtime again. I hurt my back again today bending over to take pics of a flower. I can’t win sometimes! Anyway, have a good night Dusty, sleep well and I shall return tomorrow!😊🌛😴

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  30. I’m really kinda out of sorts today. I don’t like this down time between now and moving day. It feels like wasted time. I can’t work on anything cause it’s all gotta get moved.
    Do watch TV much?

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    • Yep, I know that feeling, nothing really to do. No, I don’t have cable so no TV for me. I get news and weather on my laptop and I watch movies from my collection of DVDs.

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  31. That’s probably a good thing. I can’t watch it anymore, too many commercials and too much opinions on everything. Do you buy new movies to watch or do you re-watch the ones you already have?

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    • I do buy new ones now and then, but I have about 500 movies right now and since I don’t watch them every day I don’t mind watching them over and over. Plus I watch some on Tubi now and then too though there is a few commercials to groan through.😂

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  32. Yeah, I do a lot of streaming and I still can’t get away from commercials! You pay for the service! Why do I need to pay to watch commercials?ugh 😕

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    • Yep, that’s where Tubi is okay since it’s free and not too many commercials. Seems like the money they get from commercials would be enough so they wouldn’t have to charge for the service.

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    • Some of it is older stuff, plus TV shows and newer movies too. Probably not new released movies though, not sure, I haven’t checked all the categories.
      Well, time for bed again, very tired tonight for some reason, maybe it’s the weather. Have a good night Dusty and I will be around again tomorrow!😃🌛😴

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