Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. The missing Cat. Chapter 15.
Here we are, on our way out of here as fast as possible. Back in the safety of France we relax a bit and stop at a restaurant for something to eat. “Well,” said Lena, “what’s next for us?” “Next,” I replied, “is to get you back home quickly.” “What do you mean?,” she asked, “we’re not stopping now are we?” Meow,meow?=We going to give up and not go get Karin? Meow.=Right, we can’t let her get away. “Sorry you three,” I said, “but we were asked by the police to do a certain job, to track down the leader of this gang, and we did that. Now our job is done, they know who the leader is and now it’s up to them to somehow catch her in the act of a crime so they can stop her.” All three of them sit there looking at me.
“If we get involved now,” I explained, “we would be interfering in an ongoing police investigation. We can’t do that, I would lose my PI license. And we could end up in jail besides.” “It just doesn’t seem right to stop now,” said Lena. Meow,meow.=Me agree, it like giving up, we never give up. Meow.=Yep, that right, you always say we not give up. “We’re not giving up,” I tried to explain again, “we did our part and now we have to leave. It’s not like having our own investigation, we were helping the police with their investigation. And they can tell us to stop anytime they want.” Meow,meow.=Oh, now I understand, so now police catch Karin with Jade Cat and she go to jail.
“Well, hopefully that’s what happens,” I said, “but somehow I’m not too sure. I really think we will meet Karin again some day.” Lena looks at me. Finally we got to Lena’s place and dropped her off and then we continued to the airport. We had a room booked for us at the hotel there and our plane would leave in the morning. Once in our room we could actually relax completely. The cats curled up beside me on the bed and were asleep in no time. The room phone rang, I no longer had my phone after smashing it at that old building. It was a long call. The next morning we had breakfast in our room and I told the cats we would be staying an extra couple days.
Just then a knock at the door and a parcel was delivered to us. Meow,meow?=What in parcel? Meow.=This exciting, getting gift! “Well, it’s not a gift,” I said as I opened it. There before our eyes were all those jewels from the Jade Cat. “Remember the jewels we took out of the Jade Cat? Well, here they are once again,” I said. Unknown to anyone else, Mr. Cat had managed to get the combination right to open the Cat and we took the real gems out of it and replaced them with the ones the police gave us. Those were real too, but were marked gems that the police could trace easily, so if Karin tried to sell them, they would have her. Except that Joseph recognized a couple of those replacement gems because he had handled them before. For someone in his profession it’s easy to recognize certain gems.
So, the police gave me the real ones to give Karin since she will undoubtedly be looking for me now. We all thought of that possibility, that’s why I wanted to leave Lena out of this. Karin could find her easily enough, but she tried me first. And she didn’t sound happy at all. She’s supposed to be here at noon. Well, we have a couple hours to live anyway. We waited patiently for Karin and Gaston to arrive, and she did, right on time. But she had 3 other men with her too. Gaston just smashed his way through the door, gun ready, but I shot first. Then “Thwock, Thwock!” This time Karin had no reservations in pulling the trigger of her gun. The police came running down the hall, but before getting to the room there was one more “Thwock!” One man was left to arrest. Muffin had shot Karin and she died on the way to the hospital, Gaston and the other two men were already dead. They rushed me to the hospital as well, with Muffin and Mr. Cat beside me. It all happened so fast with no time to think. Such a sudden end.
The End.
Previous chapters of this story can be found on my home page under “The Investigators, Inc.” Other stories in this series can also be found on my home page under “20/20 Investigations, Inc.”
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Coffee At Steve’s Country #30.
Good morning everyone on this beautiful Saturday! Time to grab a cup of coffee and relax with Muffin and I for a few minutes. We always enjoy having a nice calm start to our mornings. Even though sometimes we can get quite wild playing before breakfast! Muffin wanted to play, so play we did and she was just flying around here. Sometimes she plays, and sometimes she really plays wild! We play in the living room, mainly, but when she gets wild she runs all over the place. She will run around the shelves that separate the kitchen and living room, come around the recliner, under the table, past me and into the bedroom, onto the bed, the window sill, up on the insulator display shelves, across her bridge and up to her cave. I have mentioned part of that route before, but this is a bit more.
And it’s all one smooth and very fast run, with some jumping involved as well. When she first started doing this she would lose control in the kitchen on the vinyl flooring and would slide into the cupboards with a rather loud “thunk”, but she would keep on going anyway. Now, however, she has learned to slow down in the kitchen, almost like a very fast walking, or maybe trotting, and once back on the carpet away she goes again, letting out a loud “yowrl” along the way! Gets rid of her energy that way which is a good thing. She needs that and she really enjoys our play times. It’s snowing a bit this morning with about 1.5 inches (about 3.5cm) so far, so I had to clean off all the feeders and put out fresh seeds for the birds.
Some people say I should have a roof on my main feeder, but birds prefer an open feeder, they can see enemies better so they feel more secure. Plus a roof doesn’t work if it’s windy. My one small feeder has a roof and it sits under the main feeder, but it still had just as much snow on it as the main one. But they are all cleared off and full of birds at the moment. Theodore the wild turkey was first at the feeder and since it was nice this morning I stood there and talked with him for awhile. He was actually quite talkative this morning. The other turkey isn’t so talkative, maybe it’s because he doesn’t come around as much. It’s a beautiful morning, all those bright evening grosbeaks and lots of blue jays this morning too. A great way to start the day. I hope you also have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 