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…

I whispered to Caren to remain quiet while the cats and I checked the entry. Just then the voice came back and said, “I can see you!” And then more laughing. Meow!=Under table is something! I looked and there was a small recording device. Meow,meow!=Picture on wall is what look at us! I check and sure enough, it was a sunset picture but the sun had been redone. The picture was screwed to the wall so I took it off and there was a mini spy camera which could see the entire entry. “Do you…do you think there are more cameras in here?”, Caren asked almost crying. “Yes, there probably is more,” I said, “do we have permission to check your house thoroughly?” “Sure, anything, do what you need to do,” she said, “I’m just so scared now knowing he has cameras in here.”

“That could be something new,” I said, “it would take a while to set up cameras, possibly it was done while you were staying at the hotel.” “That means someone is keeping track of everything I do,” Caren said, her eyes wide now. “Hmm, did you recognize that voice?”, I asked her. “No, but I was kind of scared,” she said. “Do you think you could listen to it carefully now?”, I asked her. “Knowing it’s just a recording, yes, I could do that,” she answered. I played it again, but she didn’t recognize the voice, which doesn’t mean anything, he could have been disguising his voice. “Has anyone in town been paying attention to you lately, more than normal?”, I asked. “No, the only men I have spoken to are the two at the hotel and the owner of a shop in town where I buy vegetables and bread,” she said.

“When did those two at the hotel arrive?”, I asked. “About 2 weeks ago,” she answered. “When did all this start?”, I ask again. “Well, about 2 weeks ago…that’s the time those men showed up!”, she exclaimed, “could it be one of them?” “It could be one or both of them,” I said, “but we can’t jump to conclusions yet, they may not be involved. However, they are definitely suspects. Any other young men in town that perhaps liked you in the past?” “No, I have only been living here for just over a year and have only worked at the hotel,” she answered. We all started our search around the house and found 3 more cameras. The cats found two listening devices as well.

We plugged 2 of our scrambler devices in, one in the living room and one in the kitchen, so we can make certain those rooms are free for talking. It was an odd house for sure, each room was square, the entry and off that, to the right, was the living room, to the left was the kitchen and dining area. There was a short hall with 2 bedrooms and a bathroom on each side of the hall. That hallway was the only part of the house that wasn’t square. Each room had square sliding doors, all windows were square, much of the furniture came with the house and most of that was square. Even the beds were square, and dressers, closets, a large old desk, all square. Out back was a square garden, a stone walkway through the garden, that went in a square. A small square pond, the whole yard area was square.

There were two sheds, also square, which Caren said were full of all kinds of junk. And a trap door in the back entry, also square that led to the cellar which Caren had never looked at. There was also a second story which was one big room, full of all kinds of antique items, boxes of stuff, which Caren has never looked through either. I told her we need to look through these things, there might be something valuable here and this stalker might just be trying to scare her away from the house so they can take whatever it is they are after. “So it might not be me this person wants, but something valuable in the house?”, she asked. “Yes, that is very possible,” I said, “that’s why it’s important to check things and see what might be here.

There might even be a hidden treasure of some kind that someone found out about, so they might be hoping you will sell the place cheap just to get out of here. Then they could buy it and grab that treasure. The fact there is a legend of this place being haunted makes me think that could be a real possibility.” “You believe the place really is haunted?”, she asked quizzically. “No, but that kind of legend is often used to hide the fact people are looking for something,” I said, “however, this is only one possibility, right now the main possibility is a stalker, so we need to concentrate on that.”

To Be Continued.

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

©2021 Steve McLeod.