The Investigators, Inc. Update Post On The Various Characters.

Well, it has been a long time since our last update post, and so much has changed since then. Many characters have gone, and new ones have come to take their place. So, today I will give a list of all the characters and who they are and what they do or what position they hold on the team. This will be a handy reference tool for you to keep close by. Especially since not all characters show up in every story. So, let us get started.

Baldwin, he is the president of The Investigators, Inc., also the owner. Though Muffin and I started it, we sold it to Baldwin for no money, but he now pays all the bills and our wages. He is a multi billionaire with companies all over the world. He is 50 and single. He is a large man and has become a good friend of Steve.

Steve, he is the team leader and makes the final decision on cases and choosing new team members. He has been wounded many times, nearly died twice, most serious wounds were bullet wounds close to his spine. As a result he can no longer participate in things too strenuous. He needs daily massages and a drug to counteract another drug that was given him which makes him go into a “nowhere” state. He is 32, presently single but engaged to Sky.

Sky, she is fairly new but fell in love with Steve almost immediately. It happened to Steve too with Sky. She is from America, has long blond hair and blue eyes. Her blue eyes are why her mother named her Sky. She is an amazing fighter, also fast with a gun. She is 23. Due to things in her past, her family will not talk to her. Crystal, another new member, same size as Sky, also long blond hair and blue eyes, they look like they could be twins, but are not. She is also an amazing fighter and good with a gun. She is single and 25 and has no family.

Annelie, has been around longer than anyone else except Steve. She was with a criminal organization but because of her help she was given a whole new identity by the police and given freedom. She has no family. She is the tallest woman on our team at 6 feet. She is amazing with a computer and can find most any information for us. She was shot in one hip and had the other hip broken, so has had 2 hip replacements and no longer goes on cases. She is married to Rock and is 34.

Rock, the largest man on our team at 6 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 320 lbs. He is all muscle, a very strong man and Steve’s best friend, he is 33. Kristina, has been with us quite a while too, very good with guns of all sorts. She is fearless. She is 28 and single with no family. Angel, we found her trying to avenge the death of her friend. Her and her mother were working together, but her mother was killed. She joined our team after that and has been with us quite a while now. She is a fabulous fighter in martial arts and excellent with a gun. She is 26 and single, no family.

Sigurbjorn, from Iceland, speaks 10 languages and has an amazing memory, she just needs to read something once and she has it memorized. She is our masseur. She is strong, a good fighter and knows wilderness survival. She is 27 and single, with no family. Galyna, our counselor and advisor to Steve. She can usually tell when a person is lying or having problems that they are not dealing with. She will try to help them and if that fails she will tell me. She is 28, single with 2 sisters who will not speak to her.

Tracy, spent time in prison for drug trafficking. She was the sister of a man named Jake who had helped us many times. He asked me to give her a chance, which I did and never regretted it. She is fearless, great fighter, good with a gun, also has a great memory. She is 22, single with no family since Jake was killed. Chung, Chinese man, age 55, single. He is our doctor though no formal medical education. He can do most minor things however and does wonders with herbs and natural medicines. He is the head of our clinic.

Saranna, our medical doctor, new to the team, loyal and very knowledgeable in medicine and surgery. She is 34, single and from Canada where she still has family. Majori, our nurse, also from Canada and another very new member. She is 28, single with family in Canada and France. Carine, she helped Steve when he was in a “nowhere” state, not knowing who he was or where he came from. She is from a criminal gang but left it just prior to finding and helping me. She is 30 and married to Benson.

Benson, has been around for a while, used to be Baldwin’s driver, butler and numerous other positions. He is a big man and very strong as well. He is also 30, with family in America. Sephira, a new member, from France, she is 25, single and no family. She speaks 5 languages, and is very skilled in the outdoors. She knows an amazing number of facts about more than 100 countries. Ilda, we met her in Sweden where she was a big help on a case and joined our team afterward. She speaks 5 languages, spent time in the armed forces, is an excellent sniper and fighter. She is 25, single with family in Sweden. She is also a pilot.

Astrid, friend of Ilda, also from Sweden, was in the armed forces. She can use many weapons and is very knowledgeable about explosives. She is 25, single, with family in Sweden. Erisman, Swiss, very knowledgeable in outdoors and wilderness survival. Strong man and can use different weapons. Also an explosives expert. He is 30, single, with family in Switzerland. Walter and Crandall, two friends, new members, and mystery men.

Muffin, my cat, excellent with her slingshot and numerous other things. MC, husband to Muffin, joined us early on, first to join Muffin and Steve. Also excellent with his slingshot. Storm, Angel’s cat, is a Margay, a wildcat from South America, found in a sandstorm in the Sahara Desert. All 3 cats can understand humans and can make themselves understood to any human they want, but only do so to those they like and trust. All present members are loyal, except one. Can you guess who? I hope this helps everyone a bit to follow the characters…

©2022 Steve McLeod.

Solitude For Saturday. #8 Winter Walks.

Good morning everyone on this mild and snowy December day. It is 28F (-2C) this morning, which really is very nice for a winter day. But we are getting a little bit of snow, nothing serious really, but it must be dealt with once again. There was 2 1/2 inches (6.25cm) of new snow this morning, a wet kind of snow because of the temperature, and that makes it heavy. Good thing there was not that much. I cleaned that off the deck since it had stopped snowing.

However, it has since begun snowing once more, and there is already another half inch (1.25cm) of new snow out there. Enough to cause some problems with the feeders, although the birds are doing okay so far. But I will have to clean them off soon. The chickadees, nuthatches and a downy woodpecker have been here this morning. Only about 4 blue jays have shown up however, and there should be 12 of them. Their breakfast peanuts are still out there, at least some of them anyway.

A cold blue jay on a winter day.

Likely enough for lunch too unless more of them show up. That is very strange. There was a nice pileated woodpecker out on a tree this morning, but it was snowing too much at the time to get a picture. One time I was out for a walk in January and came upon a pileated woodpecker pounding away at the base of a pine tree, about 10 feet away. Solitude. That was the first time I had been so close to one. They are a big bird, the size of a crow. I watched it for a while before continuing my walk.

It was not much further when I came upon a young buck, a white-tailed deer. He was not quite so friendly as the deer around here, but he did not run away. He just slowly walked away, munching on some branches as he went. Solitude. I was in a new area for walking. There was not too much snow that winter and it had been very cold. I came to the shore of the lake where we lived at the time. I looked out there, it would be much shorter to walk across the lake than to walk around it.

Much like the little buck that I saw that day. This is only the second time I have seen this one around.

The ice is always good on that lake, especially with cold weather and not much snow, most of which blows off the lake anyway. I had a small axe with me so I could check and see how good the ice was. I walked out about 20 feet and checked. I chopped down 6 inches without hitting water, so that is plenty of ice for walking. Off I went and finally got to an area where there was no snow at all. The ice cracked. I stopped and chopped down again, still lots of ice. Off I went.

Suddenly it began cracking a lot. I stopped. I took another step and lots of cracking once again. I bent down and chopped again. My axe went through the ice with the first chop. I picked up a piece of ice. Half an inch, maybe. Not enough to hold a person. I looked behind me, there was water on the ice. That is not what I wanted to see. I was already half way across the lake. Crossing the lake was not one of my better decisions. Never do that, especially if you are alone, no matter how safe you think the ice will be.

A nice winter sunset.

Things happen and that safe ice can suddenly become hazardous ice. Since I had already crossed the ice to that point, I decided it was best to go back the way I came. At least I knew the ice will get thicker, and safer, going back. After that I never went on the ice alone. Much too dangerous, even for someone like me who does not mind taking chances. I made it back to shore and walked around the lake. Sigh.

Have I ever mentioned that I like summer? And warm places? Well, I do. The trees are covered with snow with some light snow falling right now. Solitude. Snow. It is cold, it is heavy, it is cold, it is hazardous, it is cold, it lasts a very long time, it is cold. But it does look beautiful. I hope you have a beautiful Saturday everyone and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2022 Steve McLeod.