The Investigators, Inc. The Jigsaw Puzzle Mystery. Chapter 8. Starting.

Alex was very nervous right now because a couple of the guards had come to her cell and she knew what that meant. They wanted to beat her and find out what those people were doing here visiting with her. I guess they didn’t believe the false conversation that we were giving them while the real conversation was going on. We have that ability now, that way we can talk safely in our bubble and instead of hearing nothing, people on the outside hear a real conversation. Just not the right one. All we need is a copy of the person’s voice. Anyway, the guards soon had the door open and began to enter the cell.

But, the first guard screamed in terror and pushed her partner back outside the cell and she slammed the door shut. “That was close!” she exclaimed. “What are you so afraid of in there?” asked the other guard. “Didn’t you see that huge lion in there?” she asked, “I don’t know how it got in there, but I’m not going in until it’s gone. Quick, call for help!” “What are you talking about?” asked the second guard, “There was nothing in there except for that brat Alex.” “There was so, it was a huge lion sitting on the far side of the room!” she exclaimed again, “Open the door and I will prove it, but let me get my gun out first.”

So, after she had her gun out the other guard opened the door and went inside. “Look out, there it is!” said the first guard and she fired her gun. But the bullets, three of them, just dropped out of the end of the gun and fell to the floor. “What are you doing?” asked the second guard, “There’s nothing in here.” She then went to the other side of the room. “Noooo! That lion is eating her, swallowing her whole!” yelled the first guard who then shot three more times. But, once again those bullets just dropped out of her gun onto the floor, so the guard ran out of the room screaming and slammed the door shut.

“What is wrong with that woman?” asked the warden, “Go check and see what is going on and take two others with you.” When the other three guards arrived the first guard met them and was talking so fast they couldn’t understand what she was saying. However, they did hear some constant knocking on the door. “Don’t open that door!” she screamed, “It’s probably that Alex brat wanting to get away from the lion! The lion ate Wanda, just swallowed her whole!” The other guards just looked at her in disbelief, then they opened the door and the second guard came walking out slowly.

“What is wrong with you?” she said to the first guard, “You act like you have gone completely crazy! There is nothing in there but Alex.” The other guards went inside with their guns out but they could not find a lion, or even a kitten. Then they were told to bring the first guard back to the office and leave Alex alone. Angel then communicated with me what she had done. “That’s perfect!” I said laughing, “That will teach them a lesson and hopefully keep them away from Alex the rest of today.” And it did too, so Alex had a nice peaceful evening and dinner, which they brought to her cell.

“Um, Steve,” said Jennifer, “I was just thinking, why didn’t you send Sky in there instead of Angel? Then all you would have to do is call Sky and she would automatically bring Alex here. Simple, right?” I looked at her and shook my head. “I overlooked something?” she asked again. I began to shake my head up and down, but she stopped me. “No, I want an explanation this time,” she said. “Fine, it’s like this,” I began, but just then Misty called to say they were landing and they wanted to know what to do next. Sigh.

“Check into a hotel,” I said, “then have dinner, then change into your Sneaker outfits and that includes the Bad Girls. Make sure everyone is ready, then get as close to that prison as possible so our electricians can get to work. The computer girls are ready on this end so it will give Sky more time to operate those doors.” “Right, you can count on us Steve,” said Misty, “I will make sure everyone is ready.” “I wish she hadn’t said that,” I told Jennifer, “now I have to worry.” She laughed. “Misty knows her job Steve,” she reminded me, “even though she’s a bit odd at home, she knows what to do when on a case. Now, back to my question about using Sky to get Alex out safely.”

“Well, she explained that when I call her then only she can come,” I said, “but she can’t bring anyone with her except another ghost.” “But one time she brought several of us,” said Jennifer, “and not all were ghosts.” “That’s because you two ghosts were holding her hands and the other girls were holding you.” “Oh, right,” she said, “that’s true. But what about another time she brought Misty with her?” “Hmm, does that mean Misty isn’t human?” I asked. “I have been saying that for a long time,” said Tracy. “That’s not nice you two!” said Jennifer. But I noticed she was laughing when she said that.

“You don’t really expect me to believe that you have ghosts on your team, do you?” asked Helene. “No, of course not,” I said, “however, there are some things we will try to explain to you later, even though they may be hard to believe.” “I look forward to that,” she said smiling, “especially how Sky can suddenly appear out of thin air. That must be quite an invention you came up with.” “Well, we can’t claim that one,” said Jennifer, “that was someone else who invented that, in a sense, though it’s not even really an invention.” She then sighed.

“By the way,” she began, “do I have any say in my new identity?” “Well, not really,” I said, “what we do is have the girls come up with three identities and names. Then you get to pick the one you like best. Or, we can pick 3 names, you pick the one you like and they will come up with an identity to fit that name which will go back to the time you were born. All identification papers will be real. There will still be 3 identities for you to choose from. If you don’t like any of the first 3 names, then we will pick 3 more until you find one you like.”

“That could take a long time Steve,” she said giggling, “so, I would like you to pick the name for me. If you like it, then I’m sure I will too.” “Ooooooo,” said Trixie and Tracy together. “You girls can take a break,” I said and all four of them went to the kitchen. I quickly ran after them when I realized what time it was, but the Wildcats were in there already. Sigh. I managed to sneak some donuts from the others while they were talking though and took them to Jennifer, Helene and Steffie, who had joined us in my absence. Soon it was time to get things going at the prison…

To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod.