I didn’t think I would ever fall asleep, but finally managed.  And it seemed like I had just gotten to sleep and Muffin was waking me up.  Meow, meow.=Daylight now, we landing soon.  After she woke me up the flight attendant came by and said the same thing.  Were you listening to the flight attendants Muffin?  Meow, meow.=Just go visit, you sleeping, also heard something else. Man over there say he kill JR soon.  Hmm, well when we land I will try to phone this JR and warn him, or her.  But right now, keep your mind on our case, we can’t get involved in another detective’s case.  Meow.=Right.  Finally inside the airport I call this JR Detective Agency but no one answers.  It is a bit early so I’ll try again later.  Now we have to find the person who is supposed to meet us, hopefully it will be our client.

Well, we are greeted by the lawyer and his driver.  Maybe that lawyer is our client after all.  The driver went to pick up our luggage and the lawyer took us out to the limousine.  Very nice treatment for a change, even Muffin was impressed.  Once safely inside the limousine the lawyer handed me a briefcase which he said contained everything I needed, including my instructions and some expense money.  Also very nice.  But I wasn’t to open it until arriving at the house.  It was locked anyway and the lawyer said he would give me the key when we arrived at the house.  I asked if he would tell me the name of our client, but he just said again that everything I needed was in the briefcase.  This is all very odd and I’m starting to get an uneasy feeling about this case.  Muffin comes over and meows quietly, meow, meow.=I not like, something strange going on.  I just nodded to her.

Does anyone live at the house?  No, said the lawyer, but you can stay there as long as you need to, there is plenty of food and everything else you will need.  There is a housekeeper that will come in once a week, on Fridays, he added.  Hmm, must be expecting this case to last a long time, I thought to myself.  He kept referring to the house as a nice little country place so I was expecting a small house or cottage.  When we finally arrived I couldn’t believe how big that house was, so I assumed there was probably a guest cottage where Muffin and I would be staying.  But the limo stopped right in front of this big old stone house.  We all get out and walk up to the massive wood door which the lawyer unlocks, then hands me the keys.  In we go and he gives me a quick tour of the main rooms and told the driver to put our luggage in the “blue room”.

As the lawyer and his driver left, he handed me the key to the briefcase, said ‘good luck’, then they were gone in a hurry.  They were both very nervous acting while at the house for some reason and seemed to be relieved that they were leaving.  I discovered as we drove out here that the town where JR Detective Agency is located, is the same town that is nearby this house.  Interesting coincidence, or is it?  Meow, meow.=This house strange, I can tell.  It’s just a very old house, about 300 years old in fact.  We’re just not used to living in such a big place Muffin, but it certainly is a beautiful house.  I guess the first thing we need to do is open this briefcase and find out what is going on.  I put the key in the lock.  Meow, meow!=Probably have bomb inside, that it for us!  Thanks Muffin.

Muffin is sitting anxiously right beside me as I open the briefcase.  There is a loud “pop” and everything goes dark….

To be continued. (previous chapters and stories can be found on my home page under 20/20 Investigations, Inc.)

Steve and Muffin.

© 2020 Steve McLeod.