Mike comes walking out of a building across the street. “Hey, this old thing really works!”, he called out as he held up a crossbow. “Jennifer, Angel, go get that crossbow,” I said, “and tell Mike that little boys should not play with dangerous toys. But tell him gently.” So off they went. “Give us that crossbow please,” said Angel. “Take it from me,” he said with a smirk. So Jennifer put her knee in his stomach and pounded him on the back knocking him to the ground.

Angel picked up the crossbow that he dropped and they both returned. “He said to take it from him,” said Jennifer. “Good work,” I said, “though I am sure he will come and complain.” He did do that once he recovered sufficiently. “Hey, that was not nice,” he said, “I did not know you could fight like that.” “Well, now you do know,” said Jennifer. “And I would suggest you listen to them next time,” I added, “and if you try a stunt like that again things will be worse for you. I could have been killed, remember that.”

“Give me the crossbow now,” he said, “I found it so I keep it.” “No,” I said, “you shot it at me so I keep it.” He was obviously angry, but there was nothing he could do so he left, probably to complain to Sam, which will not help him either. That could have been accidental, deliberate or just plain stupidity. Then MC came over to me looking kind of sad. Meow.=Me need to talk with you, alone please. So we went next door to the barber shop and sat on the bench in front.

“What is the matter MC?”, I asked. Meow.=Human Benjamin and wife Brigetta jump out of plane but pairs of shoots not open. They die in fall. Human Baldwin say not accident. MC meant parachutes and that news hit hard, they were on their honeymoon, how did anyone know where they were? And why did they do it? I hope this is not going to be like our last case. But is this connected to this case, or something different? One thing I do know, I do not like what is going on around here.

We need more information from Sam, right now we have too many questions and not enough answers. I told MC to go stay with the others and tell Kat to come here. She came over and I told her the news. “I hope it is not connected to this case,” she said. “Right now I am saying no to that,” I said as we walked back to the others. I took the 3 cats with me and went looking for Sam while Kat told the others the news. I asked Maggie where to find Sam.

She said that he took those 2 tourists out to see the old mine and they would not be back until dinner. Great, he seems to be avoiding me for some reason. So I asked Maggie some questions. She basically told me what Sam had said, it seemed quite rehearsed. Then she told me that Sam has not been the same ever since he saw that ghost about a month before that nice man came to make his offer for the property. He has been scared ever since.

He never would tell her what the ghost said to him, just kept saying it was not important. Also, that nice man wanted to buy the property just to live out here because it was so peaceful and because of being the president of a big corporation he did not get much peace. That nice man is what she said, but his corporation is just a front for illegal activities. He makes most of his money from drugs, and other things. But the police have never been able to find any evidence to connect him with any illegal activities.

So why would he want this place? It is so far away from anything that it sure would not be convenient for his type of business. And why would he spend so much time trying to scare them away? I really need to speak with Sam before anything terrible happens around here. She also told me she does not like Sam’s friends, Mike really scares her. Right then Mike came into the house.

“Hey Maggie, don’t talk with this PI without Sam or me around!”, he yelled. I stood up, though I was not planning on fighting him, I have had too many injuries to get into a fight. Then he grabbed me, “now stay away from Maggie or your head will get messed up!” “Thwock!” Down went Mike. Muffin just used her rubber muffin on him which I picked up quickly.

“It must have been the heat,” Maggie said, “it can hit people hard when they are not used to it and being angry would raise his blood pressure which would make it worse.” “Probably best to just leave him until he wakes up,” I said, “he might have a headache too.” “Oh, most likely he will,” said Maggie, “his wife is in the hotel, please tell her to come over.” “I will do that,” I said and the cats and I left.

To Be Continued.

©2022 Steve McLeod.