The Investigators, Inc. The Nordic Family Mystery. Chapter 3. Something Strange.

We had two from the Black Wolves watching the front of Stellan’s house and two watching the back, plus there were two cats who made frequent trips on either side of the house. The houses are very close together and it takes a cat to walk between the houses. A small person could do it too, but a larger person would find it a tight squeeze. How did someone get into the house and drown Stellan’s wife? How did the person get into the bathroom without his wife knowing? If she saw or heard someone come in she could have called for Stellan, or screamed, or fought.

But there is no evidence that she did. Hannah pointed that out to me this morning. “There is something strange about these murders,” said Hannah. “I was thinking that too,” I said, “like why did the murderer break the pattern by killing Stellan’s wife first?” “Because if he, or she, killed Stellan first, then it would be more difficult to kill the wife,” said Helene, “she would likely look for more protection from us, someone living inside the house with her. Stellan likely won’t.” “Right now I imagine that Stellan is suspect number one for the police,” said Jazzy.

“Yes, he is the one person who could come into the bathroom and not scare his wife,” said Ivy. “Except it doesn’t make sense to set himself up to be the prime suspect so soon.” said Galyna, “Even his siblings will be thinking he could have done it, even if they don’t want to think that way.” “That’s very true,” said Valeria, “perhaps there is a tunnel from one of the other houses since they are so close together. Another family member could come in that way, and likewise not scare Stellan’s wife.”

Later I called Aari. “Okay Aari, what happened?” I asked. “We still can’t figure it out Steve,” he said, “those cats would have smelled any human scent as they walked around the house. No one went in or out of the house.” “I will send over the other cats to check for a tunnel in the basement,” I told him. “No point Steve,” he said, “this house and the houses on either side have no basement.” “You’re making this harder Aari,” I said, “I’ll send some of the girls over anyway, and a couple ghosts, to check around.” This is not going well. We have to convince the other siblings that we need to be inside their house to protect them properly.

Something tells me that won’t be easy. Right then Steffie comes in to my office. “I thought you and Auntie Misty were playing this morning,” I said. “We are,” she replied, “I just waiting for her to come so we can slide together.” That’s when Misty came crawling into my office. “Someone made these stairs longer,” she said. “Okay, here we go!” said Steffie as she pushed the small stone. “Wheeeeeeee! Yaaaaaaaaa!” Poor Misty. Hey, that’s it! “Cristy, check and see who lives in the houses on each side of Stellan, please,” I said. “On it Steve,” she said cheerfully.

It didn’t take her long and she had the information that I wanted. “The one on the left is temporarily empty because the people are away on vacation,” said Cristy, “the one on the right is empty and up for sale.” That’s the one we want, so I contacted Aari right away and told him to check it out. If they don’t find any evidence in that house, then they can check the other house. I told him those people are on vacation and won’t be home for another week. There was a brief silence. “Someone was there last night Steve,” said Aari, “the guys saw a man go into the house just before midnight, but didn’t think anything of it.

He turned lights on for a while downstairs, then went upstairs, likely to bed.” “That’s what he wanted anyone to see who might be watching,” I said, “the murderer knows we are watching the house. Sometime during the night he jumped across from one roof to the other and went in a window, then waited for whoever got up first. Or maybe deliberately chose the wife first. Killing Stellan while he was sleeping would have been too easy is my guess.” “You could be right about that,” said Aari, “the murderer might want more of a challenge.” Later Melody came to me with her findings.

“The family business is doing very well,” she began, “Stellan is the CEO and owns 50%, the next oldest brother, Leif, owns 20%, and is the manager which apparently is a position he enjoys. None of the other siblings works in the business, but the next two brothers own 10% shares each and the girls own 5% shares each. Stellan has tried to buy out the girls’ shares, but both apparently have said no. However, he has never pressured them to sell, just asked.” “He would profit by owning even 5% more in shares though,” I said, “any problems with the two brothers working together?”

“No, none on the surface anyway,” she said, “they both have their parts to do and they don’t interfere with each other since everything is going well.” Astrid, Sigrid, Engla, Angel, Friskie and Mac arrived and went in the back door, just in case neighbors were watching. They needed Mac to unlock the door and make sure there was no alarm system. Storm, Ginger, Tiger and Tiia were also along and they spread out sniffing around for clues. Tiger was quickly sniffing some old cigarettes left in an ashtray. Meow.= “These smoke recent, like last night maybe.” “Yeah, the guy was smoking when he arrived,” said Mac.

Meow.= “Not smoke by man, smoke by two human women.” Mac then took a closer look. “You’re right, they were smoked last night,” he said, “but how? Only that guy came in and only he left this morning. Friskie, are the girls in sight?” “Next bedroom,” she said. “Get there fast!” he exclaimed. She did so, very fast. “All okay here Mac,” she said, “what’s up?” “There might be two women hiding in here,” he said, “let the cats check closets for hidden panels and keep guns out.”

“Shall do Mac,” said Friskie. Angel and Astrid came into the living room just then. “Anything down there?” asked Mac. “The window in the bathroom was open,” said Angel, “so we closed it.” “That’s how they got in and out,” said Mac. “Who?” asked Astrid. “There were two women in here last night with that guy,” he said, “they must have used that bathroom window. I wonder if the sisters, or sisters-in-law, smoke?” “One sister-in-law smokes,” said Astrid, “the others don’t…”

To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod.