The Investigators, Inc. The Mystery of Balding House. Chapter 12. Maps.

The girls have been eagerly looking for the hidden “treasure”, whatever it might be, and they were finally rewarded with finding it. However, they were somewhat disappointed with what they found in one of the mattresses of the two beds in what was a hidden bedroom. “Well Kat, don’t keep me in the dark,” I said, “what did you find?” “A piece of cloth,” she responded. There was silence. “Are you still there Steve?” she asked. “Um, yeah,” I said, “all you found was a piece of cloth?” “Well, it is a bit more than that,” she said, “it has a map drawn on it. Actually, I guess there are two maps. One is a map of some kind of treasure that is hidden down in Mexico somewhere, the other is a map showing where to find “money for Jenna. At least that’s what it says.”

“Does it say where to look for that money?” I asked, “Like, is it in the house somewhere?” “Yep, it seems to lead up to the attic,” she said, “there is still lots of stuff up there, I guess Dancer didn’t know how to get up there.” “Oh, did Jenna show you how?” I asked. “No, she didn’t know how either,” said Kat, “it was Roxie that showed us. She just found out after Jenna had been kidnapped. She didn’t have anything else to do, so she just checked around until she found out. That was before Chuck Henderson came and took all the furniture, otherwise there was one thing she would not have been able to reach. Roxie is much like Steffie, she enjoys puzzles, but she’s probably not quite as good as Steffie.”

“I don’t know about that,” I said, “she found something in here that even Steffie didn’t know about.” “Wow, that’s amazing!” said Kat, “The rest of us have tried to look for something interesting but end up with nothing for our efforts. Anyway, we will check this out and let you know what we find.” So, off the girls went to see what could be found in the attic. But, after 3 hours they decided it was time to rest because the only thing they were really finding was a lot of dust.

Downstairs Misty decided to draw the map on a piece of paper so it would show up better. She used a black marker to draw the map and she was so happy with the results. “I did it everyone!” she exclaimed, “I drew the map so it would be easier to see!” She then held it up for everyone to see. Angel was the only one to look over at it. “That’s it!” she exclaimed, “Misty, you’re a genius!” She came over quickly and took it, laying it down on the table. “But that’s…” began Misty. “Just perfect Misty,” said Angel, “look everyone, we were wrong and looking in the wrong place.”

That brought everyone over to look at the map. The marker had gone right through the paper and it was the map on the opposite side of the paper that got Angel so excited. “Look, we were looking at the map backwards, or upside down, or whatever it is,” she explained, “but Misty drew it the right way for us.” “That means we should have been going down, not up, from the main floor,” said Kat. Misty was grinning from ear to ear right then. However, Sky was a bit skeptical about Misty’s skills and she flipped the paper over to see that Misty actually drew the map on that side.

Sky pointed this out right away and Misty frowned at her. “Naturally she drew it that way,” said Angel, “it’s the best way to expose the way it should look. You’re amazing Misty!” Now Sky was frowning at Misty. “Let’s check this out,” said Kat. Everyone had renewed energy now so they got to the starting point and paced off the distance shown on the map. But, right then several cars drove up. “We have company,” said Amerie, “and I don’t think they are coming for tea. Oh, it is that Dancer character again. Maybe we need to teach them how to dance.”

“Hmm, that’s a good idea girls,” said Kat, “everyone in position now.” I was tuned into everything going on now so I could join the conversation if I wanted. Soon there was pounding on the door from the man at Dancer’s called Big Boy. Amerie answered and Big Boy pushed her aside so Sky stood in front of him. He tried to push her aside too, but she didn’t move. “No one pushes my girls around you big ape!” exclaimed Sky, “And no one pushes me!” She then pushed him and he went flying backward and right out the door and down the steps landing on his back, moaning.

“You attacked my man!” shouted Dancer, “I will have you arrested for that!” “He attacked me first,” said Sky. Then she grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back making him scream. The rest of his men then came running inside and the fight was on! The girls and ghosts were careful not to kill anyone this time though, but they did beat up the men quite conclusively, breaking some bones in the process. Finally some of Dancer’s men took out guns, but they found themselves surrounded by guns. The men quickly dropped theirs, even though they were not hot.

Kat then told them to leave and never come back. “Next time I will give my girls permission to use those guns,” said Kat, “and you won’t like that, these girls are experts with guns.” Dancer and his men then retreated to their cars and left. At the hospital the Captain asked Dancer if he should try to arrest the women. “Forget it,” said Dancer, “you and your cops are outnumbered and we don’t want to bring in the State police or we will be finished. I will deal with them.” “Oh, by the way, the big man called and wants you to call him back,” said the Captain.

“That’s just what I need,” said Dancer, “if he finds out what is going on, that will be worse than anything.” Later, as we listened in to the phone call. “Hello Mr. Flynn, good to talk with you again,” said Dancer. “I hear that things are not going so good over there,” said a strange male voice. Does Donna use a man to talk for her in order to hide her identity? “Well, we haven’t found the map yet,” said Dancer a little nervously, “but we are working on it. Jenna has some friends helping her right now and that has complicated things a bit, but not for long. I’m sure her friends will leave soon.”

“I thought you had Jenna in your possession already,” he said. “Well, yes, I did, but one of her friends took her away from here and back home,” said a much more nervous Dancer. “Just one friend took her away from you?” questioned Flynn, “And it was a woman too, correct?” “Um, yes, that is true,” said Dancer, “but I couldn’t really put up much of a fuss when the place was packed with people.” “That woman took down your big boy security man with one kick, I heard,” said Flynn, “you better get things done, quickly, and remember, you can be replaced.” “Yes sir, we will get it done very soon, I assure you,” said Dancer, trying to sound confident. That was the end of the conversation…

To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod.