The Investigators, Inc. The Stray Cat Mystery. Chapter 7. Getting Callison.

Robert and some other men came along outside the restaurant we were at for dinner and stopped just briefly to push Callison out onto the sidewalk and then they drove away. However, Sky appeared and shot a lightning ball high into the air and it came down hitting the car at the front and exploding, destroying the car and killing all of the occupants. The car was already a considerable distance from the restaurant, about 3 blocks, and the explosion disrupted traffic for some time afterward.

No one else was hurt by the explosion, thankfully, Sky was quite careful in her chosen location for the lightning ball to hit the car. She is getting quite amazing with those things, able to judge timing and distance and the size of lightning ball needed for the job at hand. Sky had already brought Friskie back from the Wemyss estate, so she took her and Callison back to our chateau for protection. Wemyss won’t realize that we have taken her away from here, which is okay.

I figure he just might come after her again when he finds out what happened to his men, though it would be hard to pin the blame on us since no one would have seen anything, except perhaps something bright falling from the sky and hitting the car before the explosion. “I have some bad news for you Mr. Wemyss,” said Stuart, “Robert and the others were killed when their car exploded after delivering Callison to those Investigators. Apparently witnesses said a bright object fell from the sky, hitting the car and causing the explosion. They were about 3 blocks away from the restaurant when it happened.”

“Those Investigators must have had something to do with that!” exclaimed Wemyss, “And they will pay for it too.” “How could those Investigators have planned for that?” asked Lola, “They didn’t even know what was going to happen.” “Hmm, perhaps, but then what happened?” asked Wemyss. “The police think it could have been a meteorite or a random piece of space junk falling to earth,” said Stuart. “I would believe that before believing those Investigators could have done it so randomly,” said Lola. “Yes, I guess it would be giving way too much credit to those Investigators,” said Wemyss, “and I doubt they are intelligent enough to plan that well anyway.”

“There is one more thing,” said Stuart, “bad news from Canada. Some gang called the Black Wolves have broken into one of your companies and stolen all of the money from safe #2, plus the drugs and guns. The leader of the gang has told you that you are not welcome in Canada and to go back home or the Black Wolves will feast on your investments. Oh yes, one of your warehouses was also burned to the ground, but no one claimed responsibility for that, though likely it is the same gang.”

“Naturally it is the same gang!” roared Wemyss, “That pitiful gang will regret picking a fight with me! I will get Russel after them right away and they will cease to exist by tomorrow!” “I wouldn’t be so sure about that William,” said Lola, “it says here that the Black Wolves are the largest criminal organization in Canada with an estimated 600 men at their disposal. Plus, they have a permanent presence in Europe now, numbering around 300 men. They won’t be so easy to destroy. If you go after them, it just might be the other way around.”

“What, well I can hardly let them walk all over me,” he retorted, “I have worked hard to create my empire and Canada was such an easy country to expand my operations.” “But is it worth a prolonged and expensive fight that you will ultimately lose?” she asked, “After all, they have had years to build up their organization, and they have likely built up alliances with other criminal gangs that would give them much more fighting power. Perhaps expanding to other countries would be better, for now at least.”

“You always have been more level headed than me, dear Lola,” he said, “it might be better to concentrate on getting those gems right now. I will just put in a protest to the local police there in Canada and let them take care of things for now.” “A very good idea William,” said Lola, “now, you need to keep an eye on those Investigators so they don’t suddenly try to leave without our knowledge. We must allow them to leave, of course, or we won’t find the gems, but we don’t want them leaving secretly.” “Very true,” said Wemyss, “I will put Wilbur in charge of following them, he’s one of the best men I have.”

Meanwhile, back at the clinic. Samantha is looking after Callison and has 2 girls inside the room with her, plus 2 outside the room. Friskie is inside the room most of the time since she doesn’t need breaks or sleep. Fuzzy, the stray cat, is well enough that he is able to stay in the room with Callison too, curled up beside her in bed. Jewel, Maple, Tandi, Princess, Blue and Sunny will take turns staying in the room too. Samantha contacted me and told me that Callison had high levels of two different drugs in her, likely being used to get information from her.

“But it’s very dangerous to use this combination,” she said, “it could do irreparable harm to her brain.” “Hmm, well, they haven’t been able to get any information from her yet about those gems,” I said, “hopefully they didn’t push things too far already.” “Well, I doubt she could actually resist these drugs,” said Samantha, “so maybe she doesn’t know where those gems are hidden.” “But that doesn’t fit what we read in her journal,” I said, “or what she wrote on the photo. Something doesn’t fit.”

Meanwhile, back with Wemyss. “We have checked the room thoroughly Mr. Wemyss,” said Stuart, “there are no listening devices anywhere.” “I didn’t really expect you would find any Stuart,” said Wemyss, “but I just had to make sure. What has James told us at the hotel?” “Apparently those Investigators are not allowing anyone into one of their rooms,” said Lola, “and the hotel manager is okay with it because of who they are. None of them have left the city though, which means Callison is in that room.”

“Naturally she is,” he said, “they just don’t want to move her until she is sober.” “Another interesting thing,” she continued, “after Callison was left on the sidewalk a bus drove past and Callison was gone. Yet no one had come out of the restaurant.” “Well, someone must have come out,” he said, “she didn’t just disappear.” That shows how little Wemyss knows about us, because that is exactly what happened, Callison just disappeared…

To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod.