Annelie was coming around just as the police showed up. They arrested her and off they went. Rock took Kat back through the store, but Rock stopped her long enough to buy the jacket she wanted. Kat didn’t want to but Rock insisted he was just following orders from me. Then they came over to the hospital to pick me up. Finally I came out and asked what had happened. They told me everything once we got back in the car. Then Kat asked about me, well, actually she had asked before, but business first. I was just badly bruised with a couple of pinched nerves, so nothing serious, but I’m supposed to take it easy for a few days.

“Good,” said Kat, “you need the rest.” “After this case I will rest for a few days,” I said, “too much needs to be done right now.” “And we can do it Steve,” said Kat, “while you rest.” “And who is going to look after me while I rest and everyone else is gone?”, I asked. Kat just looked at me. “Okay, you win,” she said, “but you stay out of the action parts.” “I’ll agree to that,” I said, “now we go home and figure out some things.” Back at the chateau I make arrangements and Rock, with his helpers, go back to that building to search it. “What if they say no?”, asked Rock. “Persuade them,” I said. So Rock heads out.

“Now, let’s see if we can figure out if Jennifer left us a clue on her phone,” I said to Kat. So we both took turns going through Jennifer’s phone to see if anything stood out. Then suddenly Kat shouts, “the key!!” I look and Jennifer had a picture of a key the time Baldwin took her to his luxurious home by the sea to hide out for a while. The key was a special one for unlocking the gate to get onto the property. “That could be it,” I said, “at least it seems to fit the clues so far.” Kat threw her arms around me and said, “we’re going to win yet, and we’ll get John too!”

“Right now I would be happy to just stop him from taking Baldwin’s place and taking over his Corporation,” I said, “and watch my back please.” “Oops, too tight?”, she asks. “Just a bit,” I said and laughed, “now we need to make plans to visit this house.” Unfortunately John, posing as Baldwin, has taken control of the Corporation already, and I can’t say the real Baldwin is dead because John can easily prove he is the real Baldwin since he has changed all of Baldwin’s ID to his own. So I need to provide the proof that he is not Baldwin, but what is this proof that Baldwin has hidden away? And can I find it quickly enough to stop John from creating chaos in Baldwin’s Corporation.

Fortunately I have Rock on my side and Baldwin has given him a lot of authority in the company, so I can still make use of things, like Baldwin’s jets. Rock stayed behind to try and locate John, while Kat and I, plus the cats, are headed to Baldwin’s mansion by the sea. I just hope that John doesn’t decide to go there too. Soon there we are, standing in front of this massive gate and high stone wall surrounding this mansion. Obviously no one is here, I know that Baldwin never kept staff at this house for some reason. He only used it for special occasions and would bring in staff from one of his other houses.

“So how do we get in?”, asked Kat, “it might not look good to stand out here like this, the police just might show up.” “Yes, that’s true,” I said, “I don’t even see a way to use a key on this gate, and we don’t have the key anyway.” “That’s a high wall, but I think I could make it,” said Kat. “That wouldn’t help me,” I said, “wait a minute, maybe we do have the key. I bring out Jennifer’s phone and get the picture of that key. But where to show it? “Normally this is where a key would go,” I said to Kat, and showed the picture at that location. There was a humming and the gate opened. We quickly drove inside and the gate closed behind us. “Good thinking Steve,” said Kat. “Thanks, but we still need to get into the house,” I said.

Meanwhile… “Okay, come quick,” said the man to Annelie, “these guys won’t be out for long and we need to get out of here.” So she followed the man to a waiting car and off they went. They came to a small house which the man unlocked and told Annelie to stay there and out of sight until the boss came. “What happened to that Annelie woman!” shouted John. “She was arrested and taken to jail, but apparently someone broke her out last night,” said one of his men. “Working with 3 different people is she?”, asked John, “then Steve will be looking for her too. Let him waste his time with her, I have more important things to do.”

To Be Continued.

©2021 Steve McLeod.