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For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
After relaxing for a while I called Trixie to see if she had found anything yet. “It’s only been 2 hours Steve,” she said, “this will take a bit more time to find out where they make most of their money. Their trading company is rather strange though. They don’t trade anything like I thought they might.” “Am I supposed to guess?” I asked, since she stopped talking right then, “Can I at least have a hint or two?” “What do people live in?” she asked. “Lots of things, but I will guess houses,” I said.
“Right! That’s what they trade,” she said, “but not permanent trades, they only trade for one or two weeks. Kind of gives people a vacation of sorts where they can live in a nice house, rather than a small hotel room. Only certain value houses are accepted in the system of trades. It also includes everything you need, including food and a maid/cook/companion.” “That last part sounded interesting,” I said. “Yeah, well, it seems only the husbands, or the wives, travel,” she explained, “but not both together.”
“Seems to me that wouldn’t be quite legal,” I said. “Well, it depends on how you list it,” she explained further, “they are very careful about that and this “maid” is only there for 8 hours during the day. They word it very carefully.” “So, they not only trade houses, but they trade spouses too,” I said. “Yep, that’s the way it works,” she said, “but they are only making about $1,000 per month for each of them.
However, their income is $12,000 per month for each. I still don’t know where they are getting all that extra money. But I’ll keep digging.” “Switch me over to Cristy please.” I said, “What have you found out Cristy?” “You have an appointment with Jacie’s parents at 9am tomorrow, at their home,” she said, “and an appointment with Dan at 11, at his home. There was no problem getting an appointment with either of them. Also, both Dan and Barry have a perfect alibi.
They were at a business conference in Vancouver when Jacie supposedly killed herself. They even showed up on security video from the conference and at the hotel where they stayed.” “Hmm, there goes our two prime suspects,” I said. “I am also sending you a copy of the coroner’s report. It didn’t help me, but maybe you will see something I didn’t.” It would be nice if these doctors would learn to speak English, but this time I was smart enough to bring our own doctor along, Samantha.
So, she looked at it for us and explained things for those of us not accustomed to such language. As it turned out, Jacie accidentally drowned in the bathtub which was evidenced by her lungs being full of dirty river water. She was found in the bathtub, by an unknown person, who called for an ambulance. The person was gone by the time the ambulance arrived. The caller was a male who used the home’s landline phone. No fingerprints were found on the phone, or anywhere else.
Kind of interesting that the police didn’t pick up on that water problem. I wonder if they kept a sample of that water? I called Cristy and asked her to check on that for me. It is unlikely they will let me see that sample anyway, if there is one, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. After settling into our hotel rooms, we still had time to head over to the hospital and check with the coroner about his report, sort of, in a sneaky kind of way. Jacie’s parents had called the coroner and gave us permission to see the body and get him to explain his report to us.
I just wanted to see how he would explain things compared to what Samantha said. She was with us as we went to see him. There was Samantha, Crystal, my wife and I. He introduced himself and I knew right away he was not the coroner who wrote the report. He explained that the original coroner was in a car accident yesterday and was now in a coma and likely wouldn’t live. A rather interesting coincidence I must say. I asked if they had taken a sample of the water found in Jacie’s lungs.
He said they did, but they didn’t keep it since the case was closed. I told him that made sense. He had gone to the original coroner’s office to find out which body was Jacie and when he came back we were told that the body had been picked up by the funeral home earlier that morning for cremation, which is what the parents wanted. I then thanked him and we left. Out in the car Crystal asked why I didn’t question some of the things that doctor had said.
“It wouldn’t do us any good Crystal,” I said, “they were ready with their lies and unless we put a gun to their heads we would never find out the truth. They are definitely lying to us since Jacie’s parents gave us permission to view the body, and they wouldn’t do that if they already had the body cremated. Someone is trying to cover up this murder, and we need to find out who, and why.”
“Could it have been something random,” asked Crystal, “like some guy breaking in to the house and found her, so he killed her?” “But don’t forget the river water in her lungs,” I said, “the river is a considerable distance from the house, so he/they would need a car to take her down there, drown her and bring the body back to put it in the tub.
That means two opportunities for people to see the person, or persons, involved. Why do that when they could have just drowned her in the tub?” “Oh, right, good thought,” she said, “guess I’m a bit tired.” “Yep, we all need to relax this evening,” I said, “tomorrow will be a busy day for us.”
To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.
Well, here we are, two weeks since our last case. We always hope for a long rest between cases, but it never seems to happen. During this two weeks, however, we found out that Dinah’s organization is smaller, but still going strong. Although Dinah had not picked anyone to replace her, she did have a couple of men that she relied on a lot. One of them is now in charge of the organization in Brazil, the other is looking after the organization in Argentina and Chile.
Both have decided to stay in South America, which is a good thing. Tobias was being transported to court in an armored truck one day, but 2 of the four guards worked for him, or for the other guy that was in there too, no one knows for sure. Tobias and the other guy disappeared and the two real guards were found dead in the back of the truck. Police are still looking for them. We just might have to deal with Tobias again someday, but hopefully not soon.
Today we are relaxing in the library, some of us anyway, and watching the news. During one news item Jennifer touched my arm and pointed to Crystal, who was crying. Then Crystal suddenly got up and ran off to her bedroom. “She needs you Steve,” said Celestine, who was sitting on the other side of me. “Which is her bedroom?” I asked. “Number 27,” said Jennifer. So, I got up to go. “Cristy,” I said, “I want you to dig deep into that news item please.” “I’m on it Steve,” she said.
Then I went to find Crystal. It should be remembered that Crystal is the third triplet with Sky and Angel. Up to the third floor I go and down the hall. Her door was closed, however, I am allowed to enter anytime between 8am and 8pm, just like the girls are allowed to enter our bedroom during those hours as well. However, if the door is closed, I usually knock, like today. I didn’t hear anything, so, in I went and sat on her bed next to her, though she was lying down on her stomach.
“Want to talk about this?” I asked. She then sat up on the bed. “She didn’t kill herself Steve,” said Crystal, “I know she didn’t. We have been friends since we were 3 years old. We talk about everything. I talked to her just 2 days ago, she was happy as could be. Her and her boyfriend were getting married in 3 weeks. He had a good job, good income, he owned a house, she had a steady job too.” “What is his name and where did he work?” I asked.
“His name is Dan Giraud,” she said, “he and his friend Barry Bookman have their own company called DanBar Traders. It’s some kind of online trading company and they make a lot of money with it.” “Cristy,” I said. “Yes Steve?” she asked. “Two names for you, Dan Giraud and Barry Bookman. They own a company called DanBar Traders, an online trading company of some kind. Also Peter and Laurie Boardman, the parents of Jacie.” “Got it Steve,” she said, “and working on it.”
“Can we work on this Steve?” asked Crystal, “And find out what really happened?” “I would like to,” I said, “but, as you know, it’s an active police investigation, so we can’t get involved until they close it. We can ask Jacie’s parents if we can investigate once the police are finished, that will save a little time.” “But it could take weeks before the police officially close their investigation,” said Crystal, pouting. “You need to learn how to blink,” I said, smiling, “it’s more effective.”
“I tried,” she said sighing, “Misty tried to teach me, but I just can’t get it right.” “Okay, I’ll think about it,” I said. “Thank you Steve!” she said excitedly and hugged me. Next I went to see Misty since I saw her walk past to her room, which is just down the hall. “You’re supposed to knock,” said Misty. “Not during the day,” I reminded her, “sure looking good in here, and fresh donuts too.” “Help yourself,” she said. “Thanks, ooooh, hot, hot!” I said. “They’re fresh, and sneaked,” said Misty giggling.
I told Misty what Crystal said. “We have to investigate this Steve,” she said, “that’s why we’re the Investigators, right?” “But it’s an active police investigation still,” I reminded her. “Rats, I forgot about that,” she said. Then there was a knock at the door so Misty thought it must be Wisty, so she opened the door. “So this is where you guys go and hide!” said Celestine. Misty sighed, but invited her in.
She also made her promise not to tell anyone about the twin’s den. I explained to her our little dilemma with this case. “Hmm, can’t you kind of sneak your way in by pretending to do something else?” asked Celestine. “YES!” said Misty, “A new sneaker for our club! Have a donut, or three.” “Thanks, ooooo, hot, hot!” she said. “They’re not very hot now,” said Misty, “oooo, hot, hot!” “You were saying?” I asked, “Anyway, Misty, get your team ready to go tomorrow morning. We will bring Sky and her team too. And maybe the Wildcats.”
“Plus Celestine,” said Misty. “I think she should relax more after that last case,” I said. “But she’s a good sneaker,” said Misty. “She’s not officially a team member yet,” I said, “it wouldn’t be fair.” Later, as I was talking and making plans with Jennifer… “Umm, how did Celestine make the list?” asked Jennifer. “Uh, well, to be honest, I’m not quite sure,” I said, “it started with Misty and…” “Okay, now I know why,” she said sighing, “for this case you need a wife, and I’m not going this time, I want to stay with the kids. So, pick someone.”
“You know I can’t pick anyone,” I said, “I’m always afraid to pick the wrong one.” She sighs. “Okay, it’s Sherry,” said Jennifer, “she’s the best driver and you will probably need a good driver for this one.” “Sherry?” I asked, “But she has never played my wife, wouldn’t Dawn be better? She would be more comfortable in the role since she has done it before.” “Hmm, that’s true,” she agreed, “so Sherry it is.” “Glad you gave me a choice,” I said, “otherwise I would never know who to pick.”
For some reason that got her laughing, and laughing, and laughing. Sigh. However, Sherry talked it over with Jennifer and she will be the driver, as usual, and I have a new pretend wife. That pretend marriage didn’t last long. We are now flying to Canada, all the way to Calgary this time, which is where Jacie lived.
Her boyfriend was from Toronto, but moved to Calgary a year ago so he and his friend could start their company. That’s when he met Jacie. His friend Barry lived in Edmonton, but moved to Calgary when Dan did. Jacie was 23 and Dan is 35, Barry is 37. They both have an excellent income, but it certainly doesn’t come from their company.
Trixie is helping Cristy on this one, trying to find out where their income is truly from. Apparently they have a nice office in downtown Calgary, which would be rather expensive. We are also trying to find out what their trading company actually trades. Well, it’s a long flight, so may as well relax.
To Be Continued. ©2025 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 