Pictures of Mr. Cat are kindly supplied by his human, Nina.

Previous chapters of this story, and other stories, can be found on my home page under “The Investigators, Inc.” and “20/20 Investigations, Inc.”

Now our story continues…

Caren seemed to be having a very tough time in here, I wonder why? I know we’re trapped, but it’s a very nice and large room, but something about it bothers her. Hmm, the walls are painted an off white, sort of yellow, nice and cheery really and…hmm, maybe that’s it, the walls. Caren is either hiding something or running from something, but what? And does that tie in to what is happening here? Is this house important to someone? Caren said she got it quite cheap, so anyone could have bought it then. Why wait until she buys it and then try to scare her out of it? How did these people know about me and the cats? Is this about me? Or was that just coincidence?

Things just don’t seem to fit together right now. Some important pieces of the puzzle are missing and I need to find them, hopefully before someone gets killed. I think it’s time to get out of the cellar anyway, before Caren falls apart completely. “Okay,” I said to Caren, “let’s get out of here.” “But…but, how?”, she said, her voice quavering. “Come and watch,” I said with a smile, “I wouldn’t come down here like this without making sure I could get out again. I have picked up a few new gadgets recently and this one should do the trick quite nicely.” I went up the stairs and put this disk on the lock, then pressed a button on my watch. There were a few sparks and the lock popped open and out we went.

“That’s amazing,” said Caren excitedly, then sternly she said, “you could have told me that at the beginning you know!” “I was hoping that it would be easier to find the other door if this one was locked, ” I said, “sorry, but it’s part of being a PI.” “Sometimes you’re hard to understand,” she said again. “It’s just part of being a PI,” I repeated with a smile, “it has nothing to do with you, I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on here. And it has gotten personal now too because they hurt Muffin.” “And if I hadn’t asked for your help, she wouldn’t have gotten hurt,” said Caren with her head down. “It’s not your fault,” I said, “it’s all part of being a PI. We know the risks, but it’s still hard when it happens. Now we better get back to town, I want to check on Muffin and then we can stay at the hotel tonight, I think that would be best.”

“Okay,” said Caren, and she got some things together to bring along. “Can I drive my car this time?”, she asked kind of sarcastically. “You don’t like the way I drive?”, I asked. “No, I don’t!”, she said emphatically. We stopped at the doctor’s office and Muffin was doing very well, breathing normally and her heart was normal, but she was still very weak. I talked with Mr. Cat to make sure he was okay staying alone with Muffin to guard her. He said the nurse suddenly got sick this afternoon and had to go home. Hmm, I don’t like that, so I told Mr. Cat not to take chances. I asked the doctor about the nurse, he was concerned about her but figured it was just the flu, even though it hit her so fast and hard. I told the doctor to lock the door to the room when he left and to give me a call before he left.

He said he would do that, and Mr. Cat has his special collar on so he can contact me quickly. The hotel is not far from the doctor’s office, which is also good. We get to my room at the hotel, a different room than last time which is what I wanted, I don’t like surprises. And I got one for Caren across the hall from mine. I hadn’t gone to bed yet when Caren was pounding on my door, so I quickly let her in. “That laughing…in my room!”, she blurted out. I ran over there but all was quiet so I came back. “There’s nothing happening now,” I said. “Well, I’m not going back there, I’m not staying alone!”, she said. “Okay, you can have the bed, but I get both pillows,” I said to her. “Wait a minute, where are you sleeping?”, she asked. “On the floor, there’s a couple extra blankets in the closet and I’ll get the duvet from your room,” I said, and I went over and got it, plus the pillows on her bed. “You can’t sleep on the floor with your back,” she said, “I will.” “Okay,” I said. It was only a few minutes and she was asleep. Then my watch lit up, it’s Mr. Cat!

To Be Continued.

©2021 Steve McLeod.