The day went by rather quickly, especially after I found out she had an office with books on shelves from floor to ceiling. She had some mystery books, so I took one to read after asking if I could do so. She said I could read any book I wanted. We had an amazing dinner, then we talked more in the evening. “Do you mind if I ask why you are so interested in Alex?” I asked Helene. “I guess you should know,” she said, “she happens to be my sister.” “We have gathered a lot of information about you,” I said, “but we have not found any living relatives for you.”

“That’s true,” she said, “Alex isn’t my sister in the real sense of the word, but I regard her as my sister. She had a tough life and was nearly kicked out of the family because of her boyfriend. He wasn’t good for her and got her in a lot of trouble, stealing, selling drugs, doing drugs herself, lots of things really. She finally dropped him after about a year or so, therefore she was kept in the family will. Her brother hated that and thought she should get nothing for what she did. That’s when her father put in that clause that if either child went to prison, they would receive nothing from the family estate.

I think that Patrick, and perhaps Alex’s boyfriend, framed her for the murder of that elderly lady she was working for at the time. I don’t think Alex could do it, I really don’t. I met Alex 2 years ago and we quickly became best friends, finally calling each other sister. That’s how close we had become, even though I’m a bit older than her.” “As I recall, you’re 25, or close to it,” I said. “Yes, that’s right Steve,” she said, “you had to dig deep to find that information.”

“Hmm, a driver’s license does the trick,” I said, “except you don’t have one, unless you got one recently.” “No, I prefer to let someone else do the driving so I can relax,” she said smiling, “you would need a birth certificate and that means getting into my health records, which are minimal.” “Yes, you must keep in good health,” I said. “Quite true, unlike you Steve,” she said, “always getting beat up, stabbed, and shot, several times, including twice when bullets landed very close to your spine.” “You do keep track of me I see,” I replied, “now, what happens if my team are unable to find me within those 5 days? And what if we cannot prove that Alex is innocent?”

“I would be very disappointed if your team could not find you Steve,” she said, shaking her head, “then you should get a new team, I certainly didn’t make it very hard. I’m sure even little Steffie could figure out those clues.” “Steffie is great with puzzles,” I told her, “but not so much with clues, though I’m sure she will be trying to help.” That got Helene laughing. “Okay Steve,” she said, “this is my bedtime and I want to show you your room first.” Off we went to the third floor. “This is your room,” she said, “it’s the blue room which is your favorite color, right from a young child, correct?” “Yes, that’s true,” I said, “I must compliment you for doing your homework so well.”

“That is one area where we are very much alike Steve,” she said giggling, “now, my room is right next to yours, here, and there is a bathroom between us to use. Please knock before coming in, since we share that bathroom.” “Why don’t you just lock the door when you’re in there?” I asked. “There are no locks on any interior doors of this house,” she said, “I despise locks except on exterior doors.” “Okay, I will remember to knock,” I said. “You don’t need to go to bed yet,” she said, “I enjoy going to bed early and rising early.” “I do too, actually,” I said, “whenever I can, and I am a bit tired tonight, I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

I did fall asleep quickly but woke up before midnight when I heard Helene scream and it sounded like she was fighting someone. I ran into her bedroom and she was swinging her arms and kicking and yelling. But, she was asleep, having a nightmare. I knew what to do for her right away since Mandy also gets such nightmares. I got onto her bed and grabbed her arms so she wouldn’t try to beat me. I found out quickly that she was amazingly strong! Then I began to rub her forehead, then around to the back of her neck, then ran my fingers through her long hair.

She was calming down but still struggling hard and my big worry was that her guards would come in her and find me fighting with her. That wouldn’t look too good. Then she began to scream again so I closed her mouth and kissed her. Oddly enough she calmed down instantly. Then I started talking to her quietly and she woke up. “You’re really taking a chance,” she said finally, “if you were caught in here like this, um, you would not like the results.” “You were having a nightmare,” I said, “so I figured it was worth taking a chance to help you.”

“Thank you Steve,” she said, “I’m okay now so you may leave.” I did so quickly through the bathroom so I wouldn’t be seen leaving her room. A little later I woke up with Helene in bed beside me, with her head on my shoulder. “What’s with this?” I asked. “I needed someone to cuddle with,” she said, “but that’s all, nothing else. I admire you Steve, but don’t mistake that for love, I don’t love you, I hate you.” “Thank you for being honest,” I said, “but why do you hate me?” “I’m sorry,” she said, “it’s not you personally, it’s all men that I hate. My father abused me as a child and it made me hate all men.

That abuse is what causes these horrible nightmares. Alex always helped me when I had them, even though I think they scared her too. Please run your fingers through my hair again, I enjoyed that, it will help me right now. I also want to stay here tonight, if you don’t mind, I’m scared to be alone. I will just sleep, I promise.” “That will be okay,” I said. The next morning we again had a video call with Jennifer and Helene apologized to her about staying with me last nigh and told her why she did it. I noticed she was crying again as she told Jennifer and I could tell Jennifer noticed that too, though she didn’t say anything.

Jennifer said they found the second clue and the jigsaw puzzle pieces. “You will have to work faster to find Steve in 5 days,” said Helene chuckling. “Patrick seems to be a loner,” said Jennifer, “except for one friend, a man, though we haven’t identified him yet.” “I will send you a photo of a man,” said Helene, “perhaps the one you want.” “Yes, that’s him,” said Jennifer. “His name is Rodney Clark,” said Helene, “member of a street gang called Warwick Warriors.” “Send Aari after him,” I said, “it will be good exercise for them.” Jennifer giggled.

“One more juror has died, suicide apparently,” said Jennifer, “that’s three for suicide now, one man drowned in his bathtub, another fell off the balcony of his flat on the second floor breaking his neck, back, 5 ribs, his jaw and most of his teeth. The first died from a heart attack at the age of 25. Three others are presently missing and we are trying to track down the remaining three. They are at home but they refuse to talk with us. However, we are watching them 24/7.

All of the evidence in the case, including the knife which is the murder weapon, has gone missing. We did get hold of the transcripts from the trial. Our lawyers said they couldn’t believe she could be convicted, and so quickly. The knife, by the way, disappeared before the trial began, so they just used photos and just said that her fingerprints were on the knife, with no proof.” Hmm, this is getting interesting…

To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod.