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

Posted on April 7, 2026 by

400 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: , , , , , , , , , ,

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

  1. I kinda retired my one plane today. The wiring was a mess, I didn’t do a great job of wiring when I built originally. So I took most of the first half of the to clean it up. So it’s done now.
    I’m glad to hear the storm wasn’t severe, to bad you didn’t get the rain.
    How ya feelin? Headache go away?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Yep, headache is gone now, much cooler today with a high of only 64. Hard to believe the difference, but I guess that cold front finally moved through here. Hot weather returns on Saturday. Too bad your plane had to retire today, hey, put it on display on your roof!😃✈️

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • You just said you retired it, that was a short retirement. Make up my mind. I repotted my Parlor Palm today and dumped two plants into the garbage. Those crazy thrips came back out on one after being sprayed several times so I said that was it, out it went. The other one died because I overwatered it and it got root rot. I tried to save it, but lost. I did take a couple cuttings so hopefully I can get them to root. I have never grown this plant before and it’s quite picky for watering needs. Hope I can get another one at some point. Have to wait and see if Walmart will get them in again at some point. No one else sells them.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  3. I meant to type “rewired” my plane. But I can see where this confounded machine changed it. Oh, I’m so glad your palm 8is in a better pot now. Is it growing well?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      • It might soon need to be updated, or at least a new battery. It’s been getting weaker it seems.
        So, what’s up for you tomorrow?

        Liked by 1 person

      • Not sure really. Hopefully our maintenance guy will show up tomorrow and get my new chair in place and get the old one out. Unfortunately, he’s kind of busy this week, so it might have to wait until next week. Have to wait and see what I will do for excitement tomorrow.
        Well, time for bed again. Have a good night and I will be back with more exciting chatter tomorrow!😃🌛😴

        Liked by 1 person

    • Although it was only 74 today, it managed to get very hot in my apartment again, which made things hard for me again. So, I didn’t do anything exciting. My back was real bad today as well for some reason.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • You are joking of course. Who would bake in this weather? Besides, that would qualify as doing something, which I didn’t do. We had some thunderstorms last night which gave us quite a bit of rain. That was nice. Knocked the blossoms off the trees around here though.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • Actually they already were nice and green, but we did need the rain anyway, it was very dry. People will be happy to have it for their gardens also. 😃🥦🥬🥕

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • No rain landed on my balcony, that only happens when there’s a south wind. Some very dark clouds have moved in now and it smells like fresh rain though it’s not raining yet.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • Yeah, me too, except there’s no sun shining on anything this time. Just dark clouds. And getting darker. Especially in here. My headache is back too. Sigh. My neck is aching as well. Sigh again.🙄

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  11. Oh…yeah…..😁😉 Sandy in hair and between your toes!!😂 And maybe a few other places…😂😂
    Speaking of sand, I must get back to the beach soon! I miss walking the beach. So pleasant and relaxing.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I’m surprised you don’t go there more often, I would be there a lot. But I guess there’s not much to do at the beach. Don’t forget your camera when you go.😃

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  12. Yeah, the road on the way to the island goes past the port and they are building a huge LNG plant along that highway and it’s a pain if you miss the window when the traffic is low. But the weekends aren’t usually to bad. But I’m flying on the weekends at least in the morning.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • It is open, it’s always open in this hot weather, I wouldn’t be able to breathe otherwise. The rain has stopped already. Sigh.
      Well, time for the old bedtime routine again. Have a great night Dusty, have fun flying tomorrow!😃✈️🌛😴⛈️

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • My PSW was here for quite a while this evening, just left a few minutes ago, then I began writing but realized I should check my comments since my notifications thing is still not working and there you were.
      Glad it was a good day. No mishaps i would guess?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  16. Not for me.🙄 But Bruce completely destroyed a plane he had completed several weeks ago, but was having trouble keeping the engine running while it was in the air. Today his luck ran out and it nosedived right into the ground… poof! Destroyed
    He was very disheartened 😔. But, you pickup the pieces and move on to the next project.
    How was your day? Not to hot in your apartment. I hope?🤔

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • That’s too bad about losing his plane, but I guess it’s all part of the hobby, like when I drop one of my antiques and break it.
      It got hot in here again even though it was cooler outside, but it turned sunny and warmed up in here again. Now the next 3 days will be close to 90 and sunny. I was shaky again today and fell twice, no serious damage though.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  17. Yepper…. it certainly is. It’s mostly all the work and effort that goes into the detailing to make sure it’s an accurate representation.
    That’s not good that you fell! That can be hard on the chassis if do that to much!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Yeah, that part would be time consuming even though rewarding too.
      Yep, it does make for a few extra dents and scratches for sure, but no broken bones which is a good thing.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • I know it, I know it! Good exercise though, for the squirrels. I sure didn’t sleep much last night, not sure why though. It was cooler, but I still couldn’t sleep.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • The wind didn’t help, the angle was not quite right to come in good, but there was a bit. I think it might have been even hotter outside today. Tomorrow it’s only going to be 75 degrees with thunderstorms and possible severe storms. In Manitoba to our west they had lots of severe storms with tornadoes, golf ball and baseball size hail.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • I watered about half of the plants, I’ll do the other half tomorrow. Too hot for anything else. I did go and sit outside behind the building for a while. Nice under the shade of those big maple trees.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • Hmm, yeah, palms are not as good for shade as some other trees. Then a couple ladies decided to come out and smoke and it drifted my way, so I came back in and sat on my deck. Then the guy under me came out on his deck and began to smoke, so I came back inside. Sigh.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • Well, it’s against the law to smoke in the building or even on the balconies but our building management says they can’t do anything about it since these people only do it after hours so they can’t get caught.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  30. Sounds as if they would rather avoid conflict than to enforce the rules and law. It seems like all of society is moving that direction. That will lead to a very bad place.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • To their credit they did finally get rid of the two drug dealers which has made the place much quieter and safer. Only took two years for that to happen. Sigh. But you’re right, they do try to avoid conflict. Yep, society in general is the same way.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • Shopping first thing in the morning, watering plants, not sure what else, depends how I feel tomorrow.
      Well, time for bed, it’s still hot in here. Have a good night Dusty and I will be back tomorrow with more exciting chatter!😃🌛😴

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • I didn’t sleep well again last night so I’m kind of worn out again. It got up to 92 again today, wasn’t supposed to get that warm. Tomorrow should be the same. Went shopping, did some banking, not much else.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • I don’t read much in the summer, though I don’t know why. Before I was too busy in summer for reading so I guess I just got in the habit. My PSW just left, she was late tonight. Ambulance had to come for someone and when that happens they have to stay with the person until it arrives, so it puts them behind a lot.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • They always fit me, and all other clients, in each day, they have no choice, even if it means working later than normal. However, if two ambulances show up in an evening shift, then a PSW from the building next door comes over to help for a while.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • They have a very mixed up schedule now that they combined the two buildings so I don’t get to see my favorite ones much now. One is only here once this week, Wed morning. One was here yesterday, but she got behind so I got the substitute PSW. I never know who comes now until they get here. Most are nice though, but with some it’s a job, they come and go as fast as possible.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • There’s only one man and he mainly works the other building. Problem is they are not getting much work, it’s mostly part time workers, cheaper for the company that way since they don’t have to pay the same benefits as full time. My favorites would prefer to just work here, but they don’t get a choice.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • The parlor palm is doing well, I was a bit worried it might have gotten a bit too shocked since I had to handle it a bit roughly. It was really a two person job since it’s 3 feet tall and it was hard getting it out of it’s old pot.😊🌴

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • Yep, guess they are tough plants. Well, time for bed again and hopefully get some sleep too, we’ll see. Have a good night Dusty and I will be back tomorrow! The next chapter is out! 😊🌛😴

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Leave a comment

Steve’s Country Archives
Translate Steve’s Country

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Follow Steve`s Country on WordPress.com