The Investigators, Inc. The Mystery of Balding House. Chapter 14. This and That.

Kat and Sky had gone to see Dancer about selling the map to him, though Sky remained invisible the whole time. She had a specific job to do if everything went well, and a different job if things didn’t go well. But, Dancer bought the map because “Mr. Flynn” ordered him to do so or he and his whole family would die. However, he planned to outwit Mr. Flynn by buying the map and then taking off to look for this huge treasure trove himself, with a few trusted men. Though Dancer and Chuck, the man from the company that claimed all of Jenna’s belongings, which we returned to Jenna.

Anyway, the two men planned to kill the other men once they had the treasure secured somewhere so they could divide the whole thing themselves. Then they would head down to Brazil to live a life of luxury, without their wives and families. We are going to try and disrupt their little retirement plans. That’s why Sky remained behind and burned the map and then left a note for Mr. Flynn’s man in Dancer’s organization. Apparently Mr. Flynn didn’t trust Dancer very much, and for good reason. Now, Dancer had cleaned out his safe of all the money he had on hand so they could go treasure hunting.

He came back to find that the map was not on his desk where he left it. There was just a few ashes. Very tiny pieces of ash. Sky made sure that nothing would be left that could help Dancer. She had noticed that he never took a picture of the map with his phone, something that would be very logical to do. Thus, burning the map stops him suddenly and puts him in a precarious position with Mr. Flynn, who will not likely believe the map was accidentally burned, or that no one thought of taking a picture of the map. Dancer was now quite afraid knowing that Mr. Flynn would keep “his” word and kill him and all his extended family.

He called everyone and they gathered together to figure out what to do. “Obviously you have someone working here that works for Mr. Flynn,” said his sister. “Yes, but who?” he asked, “I don’t have time to question everyone. Flynn will likely have men here by tomorrow and we will all be in an early grave.” “I think someone took a picture of that map,” said Bob, the man at the bar, “then he burned the map. That stops you, but, he can then take the picture to Flynn and maybe even sell it to him.” “But who had a chance to do that?” asked Dancer, “There was no one in the office with me except Granger and he’s my right hand man, he would never do that.”

“Are you sure about that?” asked the Captain. Granger was called and the Captain stood up and began to take out his gun. However, Granger was faster and he shot the Captain, then Dancer, then shot several others at the table. He then took Dancer’s gun and headed toward the door, keeping his eyes on the table of people. But he didn’t notice the man at the bar take out his gun and soon Granger was lying on the floor dead. Dancer, the Captain, Chuck and one other man were also dead, plus 2 women were wounded. Well, that seems like a just end to Dancer, his family and friends.

We had been in touch with the State police all through this and gave them our report of things. They moved in to restore order in that small city. We had a copy of that map which we handed over to the police. Later they informed us that the treasure had been found by Mexican authorities some time ago, much of it now on display in one of their museums. Dancer would have lost out anyway, and so does Mr. Flynn, who is Donna Filing. As a reward, Jenna is allowed to keep the 1 million dollars that Dancer had paid for the map. However, she didn’t want anything from Dancer, so she donated it to our orphan fund.

She also sold her house, including all the furniture and she will keep that money for her and Roxie to start over, somewhere. I reminded her that they are very welcome to stay here, after all, Nadia said we do need another cook and we have already discovered that Jenna is a great cook! Jenna said that her and Roxie would love to stay and be a part of our big family. “Roxie loves Steffie and they get along so well together,” said Jenna, “plus she likes all of her new aunties, and her Uncle Steve. She thinks you are just fantastic!”

“That’s because she doesn’t know me too well yet,” I told her. She just giggled. “Will I need to learn how to use a gun?” she asked. “Yep, that is a requirement of everyone,” I said, “and you will be part of the home team. However, as the name suggests, they stay at home. If you don’t want to cook there are other jobs around here to do as well.” “Oh, I love cooking, that’s number one for me!” she exclaimed, “I just need a little practice cooking for so many people! But I will learn quickly.” “Well, we are all happy with your cooking abilities so far,” I told her, “so I’m glad to hear you say that.”

“Um, do any of your team members ever get killed on the job?” asked Jenna. “Yes, it does happen,” I said, “we do try to provide the best protection possible, but it still happens. Not very often though, for which I am thankful. Even Jennifer was killed by one of our enemies, as was her sister Kat.” I then realized what I had just said as I saw the look on Jenna’s face. Now how do I explain my way out of this one. I communicated with Jennifer and Kat, telling them what I had just said, so they came to my office right away.

“I can’t wait to hear how you explain this to Jenna,” said Jennifer. “That goes for me too!” said Kat, smiling. Sigh. So, I explained to Jenna that Jennifer and Kat are actually ghosts. The two of them affirmed that I was telling the truth and did some things to prove it to Jenna. I was concerned that this information might scare Jenna and Roxie so that they leave us, but just the opposite. Jenna was amazed by this and she was actually excited by it, not scared.

“And we thought Steffie would be the one to tell about the ghosts,” said Jennifer, shaking her head, “I should have known it would be you.” She was speaking to me of course. Oh well. Another case is over and two new additions to our family. We didn’t find out positively who killed Jenna’s parents and husband, but it likely was ordered by Dancer or Donna Filing. Jenna was content to leave that in the past and move on. I guess we can have a break for a while, but for how long is the question.

The End of this Case, but another one will be coming along soon. ©2026 Steve McLeod.