“Yes, I know a lot about Cynthia, Baldwin’s little sister and the only member of your family that will even talk to you,” I continued. “Then I guess you know why my family disinherited me,” she said looking down. “Hey, no need to look down like that, I’m your friend,” I said, “you got yourself mixed up and spent some time in prison and now your family doesn’t want anything to do with you. So you changed your name to Calanthe Beauchamp and moved to France to start over. And Baldwin kept an eye on you because you were always his favorite little sister. By the way, you have a wonderful brother, I knew I could trust him from the start, even before I knew anything about him. And I trust you also, so let’s continue to work together and get this thing figured out.”

She looked at me. “Thank you Steve,” she said quietly, “but I don’t think I’m much help with this case, I have no idea what’s going on.” “That’s okay,” I said, “I don’t really know what’s going on either, but I want to find out.” We enjoyed our meal and went into the living room to think about things. “First thing I want to do is knock down that wall in the tunnel,” I said, “well, maybe second, we should go and have a talk with Rochelle, the banker, in the morning.” “How do you stay so calm, when these people want to kill us?”, asked Calanthe. Mr. Cat jumps onto her lap. Meow.=It okay, Muffin and I here to take care of you. Calanthe smiles. “Thank you Mr. Cat, and Muffin,” she said, and Muffin went over to her as well. Meow,meow=Oh, she here again now. Muffin pointed with her tail toward the fireplace.

Calanthe looked and went pale again as Linnea stood there looking at us. “Don’t faint this time,” I said to her, “this isn’t really Linnea.” “No, it’s me, Lena, but you don’t really know me since you weren’t here the night I came,” she explained. Calanthe looked at me. “Yes, Lena has been here and there helping out on the case, but in the background, checking on people in town and hiding out here,” I explained to Calanthe, “I didn’t even know she was here at the beginning, but Rossana suggested it, the police have been watching these different people for awhile to find out what they are doing and all about their operations. That’s how I found out your brother is clean.”

Calanthe shook her head, “This is all a bit confusing, but I guess you were not really trusting me at the beginning.” “That’s one problem being a PI, we have to be careful at the start who we trust and what we believe, or we could end up in trouble,” I said, “after all, anyone could be the guilty person. But now I know I can trust you, so Lena can come out in the open again.” We talked about things for awhile and then the ladies went to bed. The cats and I stayed awake a little longer, talking about things. Meow,meow?=Not time to tell everything yet? “No Muffin, not yet, I don’t want any slips right now, too close to the end,” I said. Meow?=You go talk with banker lady in morning? “Yes Mr. Cat, and you two will come with me,” I said, “everyone else around here has bodyguards, so I think it’s a good idea for me also.”

“Just make sure you’re careful Steve, Rochelle, I think, could be dangerous, so you need to watch.” “Oh, I plan to be careful, that’s why I want the cats with me,” I said. Meow,meow?=It safe for human Calanthe and human Lena to be here alone? “Yes Muffin, they will be fine,” I said, “Lena knows this place inside out now and they both know how to use a gun if necessary.” “I don’t know, maybe Calanthe’s idea to sell the chateau to Baldwin and let him handle these people, isn’t such a bad idea.” “Hey, we still have to find that treasure after all this is over,” I said. “And you keep saying there is no treasure.” “Well…maybe there is,” I said slowly, “the problem is not many people like to read, but I do, and that big library has a wealth of information in it, including the possible location of that treasure.” “Hmm, sounds like fun.” “And when I sell this place to Baldwin, I want those books,” I said. “Do you think he’ll agree to that?” “Probably not, but I can try,” I said. Yes indeed, I can try…as I drift off to sleep…

To Be Continued.

©2021 Steve McLeod.