The Investigators, Inc. The Jigsaw Puzzle Mystery. Chapter 1. Children.

Posted on July 6, 2026 by

68 Comments

Detective reviewing documents with a translucent ghostly woman sitting beside him in a dimly lit office

We have had a few nice, quiet days since our last case and it has been very nice, but we could definitely use more such quiet days. Today Jennifer, Kat, Friskie, Carine, Mandy, Erika and Steffie are in the city shopping. I wanted to go along with them, but for some reason they all said no to that idea. Jennifer said that having 3 children to look after was enough while shopping. Not sure what she meant by that, though maybe it’s because I don’t like shopping. While at one large store they were walking along one aisle and suddenly Steffie screamed, “TOYS!” She then took off running in that direction with Erika right behind her, followed by Mandy.

The ghost team were not really that far behind, so I was told, but when they got to the toys none of the girls were in sight. They ran around quickly and frantically, checking every aisle and asking people if they had seen the 3 girls. Oddly, no one had seen them which made no sense. Before they even had a chance to inform me that the girls were gone I received a video call from an old “friend”. It was Helene. “I have your children Steve,” she said, “and I know you would like to have proof, so here it is.” She then showed me the girls, who were not looking too happy.

“Sorry Daddy,” said Mandy, “she got us, but we’re okay though.” “There you go Steve,” said Helene, “but don’t worry, I don’t plan to keep them, I’m not really a big fan of children. I will gladly give them back to you, for a price.” “Yes, I thought we would get around to money sooner or later,” I told her, “so, how much are you wanting?” “Oh, you have me all wrong Steve,” she said, “I am not looking to sell them back to you, not at all. I want you, dear Steve. Just give yourself to me and your girls are free to go.”

“And how do you propose that we make the switch?” I asked, “Especially since we don’t trust each other.” “Yes, that is always such a problem,” she admitted, “so we will meet at a popular beach in the city. You can have one person with you, of my choosing, who will take custody of your daughters. And my men will take you. If you do things correctly and follow orders, then your daughters will be returned safely. If you try to trick me, then they will have to die. Please keep your snipers away from the area. I am very good at spotting such people and that will not bring favorable results.”

“And who would you like me to bring along to pick up the girls?” I asked. “Misty,” she said, “not for any particular reason except that she is one of your team leaders, so she would be a good one to kill if anything should go wrong. However, I’m certain you will make sure that everything goes smoothly.” We then agreed on a time to make the exchange, which will happen tomorrow at 9am.

Meanwhile, back with the others in the city. “I can’t seem to communicate with Steve,” said Jennifer. So Kat tried next, but again I didn’t answer. Then Kat tried Sky who answered while I was just finishing up with Helene. “Helene has the girls,” said Kat, “and she is going to trade them for Steve tomorrow morning.” “He can’t do that,” exclaimed Jennifer, “it goes against our rules, well, sort of anyway. Okay, I guess it doesn’t really since this is a personal matter, not a team matter.” “Right,” said Kat, “so we will need to handle this very carefully, or we could lose those children.”

That made Friskie sit on the floor and begin to cry. “Hey, don’t worry,” said Kat, “we’ll get the children back safely. Let’s all go back to the van for now.” They began walking out to the van when Carine noticed that Jennifer wasn’t with them. Kat looked around. “She’s with us,” said Kat, “just invisible. She’s crying too.” Once back at the van Kat called me so we could all talk together. I told them what Helene wants and I will trade myself for the girls at 9am.

I told them to stay in the city, but to stay away from the exchange area until after the exchange has been made and I have been taken away. Then they can come and pick up Misty and the girls. “I will make sure there is a good escort for you coming home,” I said, “though I realize you don’t really need it, but I want it to look good in case you’re being watched.” “One of us could come along with you Steve,” said Jennifer, “we can’t just let her take you away somewhere. I mean, she obviously wants to kill you.”

“Yes, I figure she wants to kill me too,” I said, “but I want those girls home safely, that’s the most important thing.” “Yes, I agree, we want them safe,” said Jennifer, “but, we can do both.” “No, not this time,” I said, “we will play by her rules since she has the upper hand for now.” I didn’t get much sleep that night, yet the time went by quickly and soon I found myself sitting on a bench with Misty overlooking the beach waiting for Helene’s men to show up.

At 9:02am a van showed up and a man got out with the girls and came over to us. Before they got to us Misty whispered to me that she could easily deal with that man. I told her no, Helene likely has other men around the area, waiting for an opportunity to kill us all. She sighed, rather loudly. The man told Misty to take the girls and leave, which she did. Then he told me to get into the van. I was sure they would take me somewhere and kill me since they had blindfolded me.

However, we drove a long distance instead. A very long distance. Ten hours later we finally stopped for the last time and we all got out. We then got in a helicopter and flew for some time, then landed. We drove again until at midnight we arrived at an airport where we boarded a small jet and flew, somewhere. We then drove to a country estate where Helene was waiting for us. She allowed me to shower and she had clean clothes ready for me. I was then escorted down to the dining room for breakfast…

To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod.

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

68 Comments on “The Investigators, Inc. The Jigsaw Puzzle Mystery. Chapter 1. Children.”

  1. Helene keeps showing up and likes to do things her way. She did not waste time in kidnapping the kids, and exchanging them for you. Trust a ghost is with you, Steve and that you have a tracker in you.. This would be proper protocol. It seems to be a long trip or maybe they just went in circles. Helene wants Steve to work for her in some delicate manner. Helene has sometime type of sophisticated technology to snatch the children so quickly.

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    • Yes, Helene does show up at odd times. She is very secretive and comes and goes rather suddenly, so we have not been able to catch her yet. She does like to do things her way. There is no one with me, though I did think about bringing one, however, I can always call Sky if I need to. Yes, Helene wants to hold me so the team will work for her, no doubt about it, however, this is not how we do things, so she might be surprised. She did grab those kids quickly, much too quickly.
      I did reply, but forgot to hit the reply button after writing it. Sigh. So it just sat there. Very sorry about that.

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      • Yes, Helene snatched those kids extremely quickly, even though there were others watching them. Kidnapping can happen extremely fast.

        It is easy to forget the reply button. Those things happen to the best of us. Praying for you, Steve. Know that life has been challenging for you. Coming against the pain you have experienced. John 10:10 Amplified Classic: “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I (Jesus) came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).” Speaking overflowing enjoyable life to you. It is amazing how much you write. Trust you are continuing to rewrite your first segments for publication. You have a virtual serial mystery with much variety.

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      • Yes, it doesn’t take long to kidnap someone if people know what they are doing.

        Yep, there are definitely daily challenges with my health and some days it gets very hard to even concentrate on anything due to the pain. God helps me continually so I can still have that overflowing joy in life. I do enjoy writing and now it is my main hobby. I have to admit, my work on rewriting the stories kind of stopped when Muffin passed away, it was hard at the beginning since Muffin and Mr. Cat were so much a part of the story. Then, because I stopped, it has been hard to start up again, however, work is continuing slowly. Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement!! 😊☕☕

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      • Have you tried telling pain to go in the name of Jesus? It has no place in you. Tell the trauma of pain to leave also, in the name of Jesus. Pain often leaves when this is done. Hard to get much done when pain is there. Hope you get back to rewriting. Writing does seem to be a part of your life. Have a blessed evening. You are welcome!

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      • Yes, at times when the pain gets unbearable, I do and the pain does subside. Not for the regular pain days though. A long time ago when I did do that I was reading and a verse about being content was before me and it was like the Lord said, “Can you be content knowing I am with you through the pain?” I had to think about that for a while and finally I said “yes, I can be content.” That helped me a lot. On a scale of 0 to 10, my regular pain sits at 6, today it was 8.5.

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    • Hey, the ancient Egyptians liked to scroll, they didn’t mind. 🤣🤣🤣
      Anyway, back to more serious matters. After all that time you spent finding a new spot, I have to say good night again, so, good night again! I shall return tomorrow with more exciting news from Stevescountry Newsroom!😎🥱😴🌛🍂

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    • Got you beat, my neighbor woke me up by talking loudly on the phone at 4:30 this morning! As for me, it has been an absolutely terrible day for pain in my back. I couldn’t do anything today, I couldn’t even concentrate on things. Plus it rained all day and with such heavy cloud cover that it was dark and gloomy in here all day so I had to use lights. Other than that it was a great day. I think.🤔🤕😮🙄

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    • All I did was to put a coat of urethane on it, easier to do all the pieces before it’s put together. I was hoping to start putting it together today, but pain kept me from doing anything on it. Hopefully tomorrow I can start.

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    • Yeah, I agree with you on that, but it’s hard to convince my brain that would be a good idea. If I’m feeling good, I just keep going which isn’t right, I need that break even if I feel good. Sigh. They don’t call me stupid Steve for nothing!😖

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    • Yep, everyone says it once they get to know me.
      Well, that depends on whether or not. Speaking of weather, it rained all day, still raining, supposed to rain tomorrow too.🙄🌧️🌧️🌧️

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    • Yeah, I know it and this temperature is supposed to be with us, well, until it gets colder. Sigh.
      Well, time for bed once again. I forgot to tell you some news, but I will tell you tomorrow. Have a good night Dusty!🥱😴🌛🌧️

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    • Well, I sat and thought about where I would put these new shelves, on the right side or the left side of the table. There are pros and cons to both sides. I finally decided to do the only logical thing, I flipped a coin.

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    • Well, it’s not the same toe, it’s the one next to it, it’s almost completely purple. It got into a fight with the chair leg and lost. On the plus side it’s not broken and it doesn’t hurt right now. Sigh.

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    • Actually it’s not swollen at all and this is day 3. Oh well, the PSWs are keeping an eye on it.
      Time to say good night again, have a good night again! I will return on the tomorrow with more fun and fun!😃🥱😴🌛

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    • No wait, I’m a day behind, Friday was the good day, yesterday wasn’t, it rained all day and I was aching all over from my feet to my heat.
      Feeling not toooooo bad today, although my leg is bothering me a lot. Did I tell you about my toe? It isn’t bruised, it’s a ruptured blood vessel, nothing serious but it will take a while for the color to return to normal.

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    • Sunshine and a temp of 68 degrees helped too. Cooler tomorrow with more rain later tomorrow The geese have their own pond back again at the park across the street. They enjoy swimming around in that pond, though only 20 at a time can fit! 😂🪿

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    • Yes, that’s what they do, while some are swimming, others stand around the edge and wait for their turn. Yes, I went to church this morning, took a few pics around the building but that’s all. Some trees are completely yellow, others have lost their leaves, the ground in places is literally covered with leaves. Tomorrow morning should be sunny, so after shopping I will try for some more pics around town if possible.😃📷🍂

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    • I listed the pros and cons of both sides and both were even, so that didn’t help. Therefore I did what every normal person would do, I flipped a coin. If it was the queen side, she faces right, so it would go on the right side. If it was the loon side, it also faces right, but because it’s the reverse side then that would mean the left side. It ended up being the loon, so the shelves go on the left side of the window. Very simple, like me.🤣😎

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  31. Ah yes, but the process was uh… so.ewhat nit as simple.🤪 You almost lost me on the last turn. But I managed to make the turn with my limited mental faculties still intact!😂

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    • I knew you could follow the program with no problem whatsoever!
      Well, time is flying by so must head to the ole bed again, early morning for shopping. Have a great night Dusty and i will be back tomorrow! 😃🥱😴🌛

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