The police were out front, how did they find us here? Mr. Cat watched from outside and let us know when they went in the front door. We were already outside and ran over to the big octagonal building that looked somewhat like a silo. Yep, that’s what it was alright, but this certainly didn’t look like a farm. It was more solid looking than the house however. We went up to the second level and there was a ladder that went up to a trap door in the ceiling. Up we went and I pulled the ladder up after us. The police did come in and look around but left quickly. Meow,meow.=My tummy still hurt sometimes. Hmm, that’s not good, I thought to myself. I started to rub her tummy, hmm. It was hard to see up there. “Sniff here Mr. Cat,” I said. Meow!=Something inside.

“Probably a tracking device of some kind,” I said, “that’s why they can find us so fast.” We go back down to the main level where we had some light. “I need to remove this Muffin,” I said to her gently, “but I have something that will dull the pain.” Meow,meow=That okay, get it out, I not like this inside me. Mr. Cat gently rubbed his head against Muffin’s while I gave her a needle. Then to the operation. The little transmitter, actually not so little, is out and Muffin is sewn up once more. “You’ll be okay Muffin,” I said, “but it might hurt for a day or two.” Meow,meow=That okay, now it gone so I feel better. “How far will that transmit?”, asked Lena. “Not too far,” I answered, “which means the police are never too far away.” “It also means they know we are here,” said Lena nervously, “let’s break that thing.”

“No,” I said, “if we do that they will know we have found it. For some reason they are waiting for something before moving in on us.” “They want us to contact the jewel thieves first perhaps,” said Lena, still nervous. “No, that’s not it,” I said, “the regular police don’t know what we are doing. Only the special unit of undercover police, and only a few of them.” “Then what are they doing?”, asked Lena. “I wish I knew the answer to that,” I said, “and…that’s it!” “What is it?”, asked Lena. “Sorry,” I said, “but this idea must remain a secret, with me only. It can be dangerous to know too much sometimes and I want to try and keep you safe.” I’m not sure if she believed me or not, but it has to be this way for now. “Okay, let’s go,” I said, and I picked up the tracking device. “You’re not taking that with us, are you?”, asked Lena. Meow?=Why not leave it here, then they not know we leave.

“I want to know we left,” I said, “it’s part of my plan to get rid of them for awhile. Just watch.” Off we drove back to the main highway and after about half an hour we came to another highway heading west. Right there was a place to pick up gas, well, they say petrol around here. And I noticed another truck very similar to ours sitting there. I pulled in close to that truck and stopped. The driver was obviously inside so I hid the tracking device on his truck. Then we sat and waited. It didn’t take long and the driver came out and drove away on that highway heading west. “Hey, that’s great,” said Lena, “now they should follow him.” And in a few minutes a police car came by and turned down that same highway undoubtedly following that tracking device.

“It worked!”, exclaimed Lena. “Yep, now we head back to that old building,” I said, “doubtful that they would look for us there tonight, so we’ll be safe.” The big door on that building opened just enough that I could drive the truck inside to keep it hidden. The night passed uneventful, except I didn’t get much sleep. I was too busy thinking about all that was going on. And although I did have a couple blankets to lay on, that floor was still rather hard. Before Lena woke up I went over to the cats who were watching out the window and whispered to them. Their ears went straight up! Pieces are beginning to fall into place. When I was talking to the jewel thieves, Sabine was called the ‘boss’ and Gaston was ‘doc’. That tracking device was inserted by a professional, perhaps Gaston. And their voices, now I know…

To Be Continued.

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

Previous chapters can be found on my home page under “The Investigators, Inc.” And other stories in this series can also be found on my home page under “20/20 Investigations, Inc.”

©2021 Steve McLeod.