We hear something, but it not mouse. Meow.=Yep, it come from human Mandi room. Meowr.=Yep, she talk on phone, not sleep. Meow,meow.=Not could hear all she said, but she say Alonzo name and tell him to stay away from castle. Meow.=Yep, she say want no more part. Meowr.=Yep, but not say what part is not want. “Hmm, now we are getting somewhere a little faster,” I said, “Okay everyone, time for bed, busy day tomorrow.”

“So, what are we doing tomorrow?” asked Sky. “Well, we are going to visit David’s ex-wife, if we can,” I said, “that might give us some extra info about what David was actually doing.” “I hate this big bed,” said Sky. “What?” I asked. “I said, I hate this big bed,” she said again, “I can barely hear you talk.” “This bed is so big I can barely hear you talk,” I said, a little louder. “That is what I just said,” replied Sky.

Meow,meow.=Why you not move closer, then maybe I can get some sleep. Meow.=Yep, that good idea, hard to sleep when you talk so loud. We start laughing. Except the cats. Meow,meow.=Me think they go crazy. Meow.=Yep, must be old castle, make human people go flippy. Meow,meow=Yep, me agree. That made us laugh even more.

In the morning, after breakfast, Sky and I went to visit Bella, David’s ex-wife. She lived in a nice house just a little outside of town. A maid answered the door, and I introduced Sky and myself as private investigators looking into David’s death. She led us into the living room and Bella arrived in a few minutes. She was fairly tall at about 5 ft 10 inches and dark, very curly hair. “I thought that David fell down the stairs,” she said.

“Well, there are some details that do not add up,” I said, “and we have reason to believe he may have been murdered.” “It would not surprise me,” she said, “he was mixed up in so many crooked deals, drugs, blackmail and more.” She then went to a safe and pulled out an envelope of pictures. “David did this kind of work too,” she said shaking her head, “these are all kids from school. I got hold of these and they have kept me alive, quite literally, or I would have ended up as one of those accidental murders that happen around here.

But he was getting in too deep and got mixed up with Mandi’s brother Alonzo. They killed him. I cannot prove that, but I know they did it. By the way, did she tell you her age?” “Yes, she said she is 17,” I said, “and she showed us her driver’s license to prove that.” “Did her license look like this?” she asked, and she showed us hers. “No,” said Sky, “hers did not have this on it.” She then pointed it out to me. “That proves hers is a fake,” said Bella, “Alonzo does them.

He can produce a lot of fake documents, but no one can find out where he does it.” That got me thinking, no wonder that castle is so important, that is where Alonzo does his forgery work. We need to find out where exactly in the castle he does it, and then catch him doing it. We talked a bit more, then left and went back to the castle.

“Okay Mandi,” I said, “I think it is time for us to have another talk, but we will do so in our bedroom where no one can hear us.” All of us came into the bedroom. “You do not have to worry in here,” I said to Mandi, “these little machines scramble our voices so no one can understand what we say, or even who is talking. Now, we need some truth from you, or we will pack up and leave right now.” “What do you mean?” she asked nervously.

“Mandi, if you need help, we are here to help you,” I said, “but if you are going to lie to us, then forget it, we will not endanger our lives for someone who lies to us. We know you have been in that room, quite a bit, your fingerprints are all over that room and the same goes for Alonzo. Last night you talked to him on the phone and said you did not want any more part of this. Part of what Mandi? You are involved with Alonzo is criminal activity, such as blackmail, drugs, and forgery.”

Her eyes got quite big when I mentioned the forgery. She put her head down. “Yeah, I have been working for him,” she said quietly, “but I did not want to, he was blackmailing me too, I had to work for him.” “Did you have to kill for him too?” I asked. “NO, I never killed anyone!” she exclaimed. “Not even Tuva?” I asked, “you faked that crash and managed to jump out before you got too hurt. But it was meant to kill Tuva, and you succeeded. That is murder Mandi, and it will put you in prison for a long time.”

To Be Continued.

©2022 Steve McLeod.