We waited for Galyna and Angel, and they arrived safely. We then brought them up to date on what is happening. They told us there have been some complications with Tuva and it is not looking good at the moment. We were all tired, so we all went to bed. “What is that thing?” asked Sky. “It is an alarm,” I explained, “by putting them on the window and door, no one can get in here without us knowing. When either is opened, it sets off these alarms which are very noisy.

I am putting one on this secret door too, that way no one can surprise us during the night.” “Great idea,” said Sky, “I was a bit concerned about that secret door especially.” The night passed too quickly, but at least all was quiet. After breakfast Annelie phoned so I went to our bedroom to talk. She had some interesting information for us.

“Mandi is right,” she began, “Alonzo has not worked for nearly 3 years and mainly just stays home. But he does make regular trips to that town close to you and the city to the south of where they live. He is married, no children, his wife is 35, Alonzo is 28. She works as a legal secretary at the only law firm in town. They live well beyond what she earns each month. He sells drugs to smaller dealers so would make quite a bit of money with that.

He also is good with a gun and sells his services for quite large sums. He has been paid up to 5 million euros for one hit. He always carries 3 guns and one knife which is hidden on his lower left leg. He has been timed at pulling his gun and shooting, accurately, in 1.2 seconds.” “Well, that is certainly good to know,” I said, “I am definitely not that fast.” “Mandi is worth around 100 million euros now after David’s death,” she continued, “David was also mixed up with underworld connections and made most of his fortune that way.

But the police could never find enough evidence against him to put him in prison. Same goes for Alonzo. There used to be 3 police officers in that town, but they went missing 4 years ago and were never found. The 2 present officers took their place. Word is out that they are playing both sides.” “Thanks Annelie,” I said, “that is good information. It also shows that Mandi is not being fully honest with us.”

“Yes, and she was not pressured by her family to marry David,” she added, “just the opposite in fact. Only David pushed her to marry him, it is likely that he and David knew each other. Oh, and Mandi was not the only recipient of David’s fortune. He also left sizable sums to his ex-wife and their 2 children. She has not remarried and lives in that town nearby you.” “Hmm, it might be interesting to visit her,” I said, “providing she would be willing to talk with us.”

“I will let you know if I find out anything more Steve,” said Annelie, “but you have enough to let you know this is not a small matter and you need to be very careful. I was surprised that Mandi was not hurt worse, considering what that car looks like.” “I want to see that car too,” I said, “but in person.” I then got everyone together and told them about the news from Annelie. “What now Steve?” asked Angel. “I am not really sure,” I said, “but I want to go back to that hidden room and look around some more.

Galyna and Sigurbjorn, I would like you to stay with Mandi and quietly ask her questions from time to time. She is not being totally honest, perhaps because she is scared of someone, but we need to know.” “Okay, we can do that,” said Galyna. “The rest of us will do some exploring,” I said, “those 3 skeletons in that hole are likely those police officers that disappeared, but we will check on that a bit later.”

We went back down to the hidden room and looked around some more. We found a lot of fingerprints that were from Mandi, so she lied about not being down here. Someone stays here at times, but who? I am thinking that this castle was being used for some illegal purposes prior to David’s father buying the place and it kept on being used since his father never came to the castle the whole time he owned it.

Perhaps David did not want it used once he owned it, or perhaps he demanded more than the person, or persons, were willing to pay, so they killed David. I would say that Alonzo is mixed up in that somehow, and it is looking more like Alonzo did the killing. But why try to kill his sister? Unless he is going to inherit her fortune. But they do not seem like they get along. Questions, always questions. But things are not quite… wait, what was that?

To Be Continued.

©2022 Steve McLeod.