Denise wanted an early bedtime, all the activity has kind of worn her out. However, I showed her a picture of Mack Carver after dinner, just to see if she knew this man or not. Her eyes got real big when she looked at his photo. “That is Max Barbeau!” she exclaimed, “yet you say his name is Mack Carver?” “Yes,” I said, “he is a jewel thief that stole a large number of jewels around 30 years ago, and also killed a guard at the same time. He was caught and sent to prison, but was released about 4 months ago.”

“That is about the time my husband was killed,” she said quietly, “I must make a confession. I always thought my husband was mixed up in something wrong, but never knew what. That day he was killed, he told me that he was off to see an old friend he had not seen in 30 years. That could have been this Mack person.” “Yes, I, um,” I stopped.

“Now listen here young man, I do not want you keeping secrets from me. If you know something, I want you to tell me about it. Do not worry about my feelings either. I want to know everything.” “Okay,” I said, “your husband did meet Mack Carver at a cafe. They argued about something, then he got up to leave. That is when he was shot. I believe he was deliberately shot because he would not give the jewels to Mack. That lost puppy of yours holds the clue.

I think there is a map, or directions, inside telling where those jewels were hidden. That note I received today was a warning from this Mack to stay away from this chateau.” “Oh my,” she said, “you will not leave me alone, will you?” “No, of course not,” said Sky, smiling at her, “we will stay as long as it takes to get this solved.” “But I want you to stay away from that door from now on,” I said, “let one of us answer the door if someone comes, please.”

“Alright, I will do that,” she said, “and I certainly will not sell my chateau to him!” “Actually, I know someone who would love to buy your chateau,” I said, “and he would be very happy to give you a fair price for it too.” “Yes,” Sky chimed in, “my husband and I have fallen in love with your chateau, and we think it would be a wonderful place to raise our family.” That surprised me a bit, actually, a lot, but I quickly played along with it.

“Um, yes, that is so true,” I said, “we just need you to give us a price that is fair for you, then you would be able to move into that flat you had told us about.” “Oh my, oh my!” she exclaimed, her face just glowing, “I am so happy! I was just thinking at dinner that it would be so nice to have someone like you two buy my chateau. And do not worry, I refuse to sell it at one of those high prices I have seen for other chateaux.

I know how hard it is to get started at your age. How long have you been married?” “Well, actually,” said Sky, “um, just this morning.” “Oh my, oh my!” she exclaimed again, “this is your wedding night, and I am taking up your time like this. I will go to bed so you can be alone, we will talk about things tomorrow.” “Um, thank you,” I said. We had already arranged for Tracy and Sephira, plus the cats, to stay with Denise at night, that way they can take turns staying awake to watch. We do not want anything to happen to her now.

She has a large bedroom, so it was easy to bring an extra bed in for the girls to use. And Denise was so happy to have the cats sleep with her, she absolutely adores them. We put our alarms on all the doors downstairs and made sure all the windows were locked throughout the chateau. Denise has her bedroom on the top floor, and that is where Sky and I have our bedroom too. We wanted to be close at hand.

The other girls, plus Benson and Carine are sleeping on the main floor. I called Baldwin to tell him what was going on. “You are going to buy the chateau?” he asked, “and what will you use for money?” “Well, we thought…” began Sky. “We thought we could use part of our retirement fund. This place is a good investment, it is in excellent condition. But it would need some upgrades, like bulletproof glass, and a few other things.”

“Which would be a great wedding present,” chimed in Sky. “You are not even married yet!” said Baldwin. “But we will be,” said Sky, giving me a rather firm look. I lay in bed thinking. “Obviously Mack did not find that puppy,” I said, “or he would have been back already looking for those jewels.” “Go to sleep Steve,” said Sky…

To Be Continued.

©2022 Steve McLeod.