The Investigators, Inc. Best Friend Murder Case. Chapter 2. Carmen.

Although Kat and Jennifer are in the Leader 1 position right now, they did ask me to call a leaders meeting about this new case we decided to take. So, Kat, Jennifer, Aari, Misty, Dawn, Sky and myself were in the library, along with Cristy, Rock, Mac, Celestine and the other ghosts. And Rossana has joined us via video link. She has already sent me what the police have found out so far and she will be showing us some photos as well. I had already talked to Samantha and she told me I’m still on recovery and can’t participate in this case.

The same goes for Misty, and she is really disappointed about that. However, I told her it wouldn’t be her team’s turn for a case anyway, the Wildcats are next in line. But Aari and the Black Wolves will be heading up this case. “This is a perfect one for you Aari,” I said, “I think you probably know a lot about such things.” I then asked Rossana if we would be able to talk with Carmen, privately. “I can get you in to talk with her Steve,” she said, “but it won’t be private, others will be listening.

I can also get you on the yacht to look around, but if you find anything that might be connected to the case, you will have to hand it over to the police afterward. But you can look at it on the yacht and take photos of anything you want. I have been trying to get you permission to look at the house too, but so far that one is off limits.” I then told reminded her that I won’t be part of this case, it will be mainly Aari looking at it from his viewpoint. His involvement is not public and she understood that. Permission will need to be for Kat and Jennifer, and possibly Sky as well, plus their teams.

We have a way to talk with Carmen privately and no one will know about it. She said that using our scramblers would just bring the guards running in quickly and get us thrown out. But I said we would use something different which they would not be able to detect. Aari would go first and start his work of looking around for any criminal connections for Vincent and Carmen. He will have Carine with him as usual, but I said to take Kristina and Kitty as well, a little extra ghost help won’t hurt.

They also have their own cats to take along. Kat will have her Wildcats, plus Jennifer and Sky. Friskie and Angel will be staying at the chateau, Jennifer insisted. It won’t be easy for me to sit this one out, but I need to get used to that. From now on I will be fighting from home, sigh. However, they did make a nice new office for me to use at the top of tower 3. I wanted a room with lots of window space, or it would be too gloomy and I didn’t want that, not right now anyway, this was going to be hard enough.

While they are away I will be rearranging the teams a bit, though it won’t affect the teams that are out right now. Aari has his new team members already and each of the girl’s teams will be getting some new members, plus the home team will as well. We have been getting several new women added lately and all have now passed their tests and are ready to join the teams. Alyson has already asked if she can stay with us, though she isn’t sure if she would be good enough for one of the regular teams, but maybe the home team.

Mac, after seeing some of the photos from Rossana, said that Vincent was killed by a hit man. However, that doesn’t prove Carmen is innocent, she could have hired someone to kill her husband. Of course, that would be expensive, but something we have to look into anyway. Meanwhile, Kat and Jennifer are now in place and are going to visit with Carmen. However, only Kat will be seen, Jennifer will be invisible on this one. That way she can talk with Carmen privately and no one will even see Carmen’s lips move when she talks, one of the cool things about the ghost’s bubbles.

Kat just asked some simple questions, the usual type, mostly what the police had already asked, but she did toss in a few new questions as well. She found out that Vincent kept track of the finances and never showed her how much they had and she never questioned him about it. She didn’t know anything about looking after money properly, so she was happy to let him have total control of that. And, that is why she let her have 500 euros each month for spending money for herself.

She was quite happy with that arrangement. She didn’t even know what her husband’s salary was. Kat didn’t really learn much, but she didn’t think she would. Now it was Jennifer’s turn. They had been visiting Carmen in her cell and Kat now left, but Jennifer stayed and made herself visible to Carmen. “Please don’t be afraid,” she said, “I’m Kat’s twin sister and no one can see me but you, also no one can hear us talk. What would you normally do now?” “I would likely lie down,” said Carmen.

“Good, then do that,” said Jennifer, “and we will continue talking. Please answer my questions truthfully, our team is putting their lives at risk and we want to help you.” “I am being truthful,” said Carmen, “I did not kill Vincent, I knew nothing about his yacht or parties or girlfriends or criminal dealings, and that’s the honest truth. I only learned about the yacht from the police.”

“What about his friends?” asked Jennifer. “He didn’t have many friends,” she said, “he was kind of a loner. However, there is one man that I never mentioned to the police. I didn’t like him, he sent shivers all through me. The way he talked…he was cold…no feelings or emotions…and his eyes were scary…and the way he stared at me, it was terrifying. I don’t even like to think about him…”

To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod.