Meanwhile back with Lena….She had called Rossana and talked about this situation, Rossana had told her to get away from here quickly and don’t get involved in this case. It could be very dangerous, for Lena, and for me. Lena admitted it really seemed very strange, but she was so tired from her trip, so she decided to sleep for a couple of hours and then leave. She made sure the doors and windows were all locked and then went to bed. She lay there thinking for a while, remembering the conversation we had before leaving on this case. We had both decided that though we liked each other, it certainly wasn’t love. So we would stay friends but that’s it. Lena couldn’t see herself as a PI or married to a PI, she said it would just be too much stress for her. And that makes sense, being a PI isn’t for everyone. Right now though she was worried about me and what we had gotten mixed up with, and where was I if I wasn’t here? Or was I already captured, or maybe even killed by now? Finally she fell asleep.

Voices! That woke her up quickly! It sounded like 3 people talking in the kitchen. She listened quietly. They were talking about her, about killing her and tossing her body in front of Steve to give him a good scare. They wanted to get rid of Steve somehow because he had gotten in the way of their plans. Then all was quiet. She got dressed quickly, grabbed her bag and went out of the bedroom. There was no one around. Her car was still parked up at the chateau and it wasn’t raining now. She ran to her car and took off out of there as fast as she dared drive! She didn’t know the bridge had been washed out with the high water because of the storm, and someone had removed the signs and barrier. She came around the curve so fast and by the time she saw what was ahead there was just no time to do anything….

Meanwhile, back at the chateau with the cats and I…That was no ghost, but how did he get in and out so fast? Meow?=Maybe it real ghost? “No, Mr. Cat,” I said, “no ghost could choke me like that, it was a real live human, and someone strong and tall. Meow,meow.=Yep, ghost was tall, no one here that tall, not even human Karl. “Karl is the tallest that we know, but we haven’t met Francois or Henri yet, one of them might be tall, I will have to ask Calanthe,” I said, groaning a bit and holding my lower back. Meow,meow?=Ghost hurt you? Maybe you sit down. I looked at Muffin and took her advice to sit. That “ghost” did put his knee up against my lower back as he choked me, and that’s where I had been shot. That was quite painful, but it’s not going to stop me getting this case done! “Check around for a secret door,” I said, “there must be one close by.”

So they did and sure enough it looks like there is a sliding panel on the wall right where the “ghost” disappeared. Now, how to open it. Hmm, we should be right above Calanthe’s bedroom right here. I know it wasn’t her that choked me, she’s too short, and so is Giselle. Ah, here we are, a button on the top wood piece and it opened the sliding panel. Amazing how quiet things are in this chateau. Down some narrow stairs which led to a door into Calanthe’s closet. Is she helping someone? This doesn’t look good for her. However, the stairs did continue downward, passing the main floor and going to a large cellar. Strange that Linnea never mentioned this cellar before. Sometimes I think that Linnea is hiding something, but she should be trying to help me, after all, she did hire me to find out what’s going on.

Now I think that Calanthe is also hiding something. Is there no one here I can trust? There’s an old wood chair in the cellar, so I sit down and think. The cats prowled around checking the whole room. They come running back, meow,meow!=Come quick, we find ghost clothes! I followed them to the other side of the cellar. Sure enough, clothes that had been treated with something to make them glow. “Someone in this house has a very sore side now, that will help us identify the “ghost”, I said. Meow,meow.=Lightning flash mess up my shot, or I get him in head. Meow.=That okay Muffin, we still get him now. “Yes,” I said, “this is still very good.

To Be Continued.

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 under “20/20 Investigations, Inc.”

©2021 Steve McLeod.