I will tell you why we won. First, when I found those papers I noticed an old copier machine in the garage which had been used recently, so I tried it and got all the papers copied. I put the copies in the briefcase, which is what Katharina got in the end, and thankfully she didn’t notice they were copies, she was in too much of a hurry. I put the originals in Muffin’s backpack to give to the police, I figured it would be better for them to have the originals, they stand up better in court. Then I scanned all the papers with my phone and sent them to my police friend in Italy, Rossana, so she could get things going quickly. Muffin, get my phone out of my backpack for me. Meow, meow?=You not remember? Katharina shoot your phone. No, she shot a phone, one that I had found at the cottage when I went back to look for clothes for Karin. It probably belonged to Sofia, but I thought it might come in handy, and it did.

Very good thinking Steve, said Karin. There, use that and call Rossana. Hi, said Rossana, you must be Karin. Yes, I am, we have made it out alive. Hi Rossana, how’s things going? Great, there is a big operation going on right now rounding up all the people on those papers and putting an end to their operations for good. And, as per your request, Karin’s past has been wiped clean, she no longer has a police record, no record of her being in prison, plus she will be given a new identity to keep her safe. She will also be given a recommendation from the police which she can use when applying for whatever job she wants. It turns out that Karl was the head of the syndicate and there is a 60 thousand euro reward for his capture, and he is now in police custody, along with his wife, and they will soon have Katharina too. So that reward will be yours Steve.

I want Karin to have half of it, she helped a lot with this case. Okay, she said, that will be done then. When you get to the hotel, the police will take care of Karin and then take you to the airport. There will be two first class tickets waiting for you and the cats, enjoy your flight home Steve. Thanks so much Rossana. There you go everyone, we didn’t lose at all, we won that case big time! That’s what I call great teamwork as well! Meow!!=YAY!! say both cats at the same time. Meow, meow!=New part for play structure! Meow!=We don’t starve! And don’t forget, a new car, one that will actually work this time, I said laughing! Wow, said Karin, I don’t know what I’m going to do yet, I just want to relax and take some time to think before my next step. Good way to do it Karin, I said. And that’s what we are going to do as well Muffin and Mr. Cat, we are going on a vacation and relax for a while, I think we need it after this case.

Meow!!=YAY!! they both said at the same time once again. Meow, meow=We need vacation! Meow!=Me too! Um, what is vacation? Meow, meow.=It some place nice and warm where we just relax and have fun all day. Meow.=Oh, sound nice. Where we go for this vacation? We’ll figure that out once we get home, I said. Once we made it to the hotel the police were already there and Karin went off with them. Meow, meow.=Give her kiss, what you wait for? That better. After we all said good bye then we were taken to the airport where they had been holding the plane for us. Hmm, first class is kind of nice. Even though it was a long flight it still seemed to go fast and we were soon back at home and in our own beds. But already making plans for our big vacation! Yes indeed, some place nice and warm.

The End. Please join us again on Monday when we start our next case, The Vacation!

©2020 Steve McLeod.