That morning, after finishing breakfast, I decided we should do what Cynthia said and check those fireplaces to see if we can find any treasure. Or perhaps a secret door leading to somewhere. It has happened twice before when we were looking for treasure in an old house. It was found through a fireplace. And once it was a trap, way back in our first case. Muffin and I were not too happy about that one, it was embarrassing.

Then suddenly we heard the tires of a car screeching away from in front of the house. We all raced to a window and some of us went to the front door. Viktor lay on the steps, he had been shot in the back of the head. That was a definite hit. Someone wanted Viktor dead, other than Jazzy and Lauren. Meanwhile, over at Jazzy’s office. “Hey Jazzy, listen to this news item,” said Paula. “I hate news,” she answered. “Not this one,” responded Paula.

“This morning one of our prominent business leaders was gunned down walking up the steps to his home. Police say it was a targeted killing by one of the criminal organizations in the city. He was known to be a big gambler and had large debts at 5 nightclubs in the city…” “Well, I must say, this Matt doesn’t waste time,” said Jazzy, “I like that. And he seems to be at least somewhat trustworthy, for a man anyway.”

“Careful about trusting a man too much Jazzy,” said a woman walking into the office, “not many men can be trusted like Toledo.” “I agree, Toledo was a rare gem of a man,” said Jazzy, “by the way, it is nice to see you back again Karla.” “Thank you,” she said smiling, “now, what has been going on while I have been away?” So Jazzy filled her in on everything that has been going on. “So, Lauren’s multi million dollar robot slave turned on her!” laughed Karla, “That is the funniest thing I have heard in a long time!”

“You don’t believe in ghosts?” asked Jazzy. “No, I do not!” she said emphatically, “But I do believe that Dr. W. created some amazing robots and it is just sad that he did not leave his designs behind for someone to continue his marvelous work.” “I don’t know,” said Jazzy, “that girl sure seemed real to me, not a robot by any means. But, whatever the case, that ghost no longer exists, and that is a real shame. The things I could have done with such a creature as that.”

“I agree, she would have been a great addition to our selection of weapons,” said Karla, “but with Carine out of the way, then Lauren is no longer someone we need to worry about.” “She still has a lot of money,” said Jazzy, “so she can buy herself a lot of help.” “Why not get this Matt Knight to get rid of her for you,” said Paula, “then you don’t need to be involved, the police will just blame him for her death.” “Paula has a good point,” said Karla. “He won’t be cheap for someone like Lauren,” said Jazzy.

“I don’t care about the cost,” said Karla, “money is nothing. Get hold of the man Paula.” “I will meet you at the same spot, 1400,” said Matt, “please bring the rest of the money for the first 2 hits.” “You only killed one so far,” Jazzy reminded him. “Enid will be taken care of by then,” he said, and hung up. “He’s a very confident man,” said Jazzy. “How does he know she will leave the house before that time?” asked Paula. “I’m not sure,” said Jazzy.

“Enid needs to be at her flat around noon,” said Calvin, “she is meeting a new customer at that time. Remember I told you about it yesterday.” “Oh yes, that’s right,” she said, “too much going on right now.” Then Enid called to warn Jazzy about Matt. She had heard me talking to the girls about Matt, I was wondering why he was here, he doesn’t normally go after small people like a gambler with huge debts. He goes after those who are more prominent, where there is more money.

“Steve figures he was hired by you to kill Lauren, or she hired him to kill you,” said Enid, “or maybe Ethan hired him to kill both of you.” “Ethan Solberg!” exclaimed Jazzy, “When did he come back?” “Apparently he came home about a week ago,” said Enid, “I saw that Viktor had a note about him on his desk, so I got rid of it before Steve found it. I also found out from Lauren that she hired Arthur Lund to kill Steve.” “Sometimes I wonder if that woman has any brains at all,” said Karla, “if she kills Steve, then his whole organization will be here and they will destroy everything we have managed to build. That Arthur Lund must be called off.”

Jazzy called Lauren, but to no avail, she was determined to kill me, no matter what the cost. “I was right,” said Karla, “she has no brains. When you meet with Matt Knight, tell him to kill Arthur Lund and Lauren.” “I will gladly do that,” said Jazzy, “what should we do about Ethan?” “Hmm, tell Knight to kill him also, and make sure you take enough money with you. Men like that don’t work on promises.”

Later, Jazzy and Matt met at the cafe as previously arranged. “I heard on the news that Enid was killed outside her flat at noon,” said Jazzy, “I like your work.” “Thank you,” said Matt, “Viktor and Enid were easy targets. Normally I only handle more high profile targets.” “Yes, so I have heard,” she responded, “so why did you take the job?” “I had some time to kill,” he said, “and I like to give my boys some practice now and then.” “So, who are you really after?” she asked. Matt chuckled.

“Maybe you don’t want to know,” he said. “I will pay you double to kill the person who hired you to kill me,” she said. “Well, I never actually said I was hired to kill you personally,” said Matt, “maybe it is for someone close to you instead.” “Who might that be?” she asked calmly. “Perhaps a young woman named Karla?” he asked in return. Jazzy suddenly turned angry. “I will pay you triple!” she said. “That would make it 4.5 million dollars,” he said. She looked at him.

“Done!” she said, “But I will have to call my man to bring it to me. I don’t carry that much, but it will only take a few minutes.” “That’s fine,” said Matt. She called Calvin and told him what she needed and he showed up in about 10 minutes with the money, in cash, which is the only way these people work. She then left with Calvin and before they were out of sight Matt’s van stopped to pick him up. “That same van picked him up again,” said Calvin, “obviously they are not far away.”

“Neither are my men,” chuckled Jazzy, “we don’t trust each other. I like him more all the time.” Meanwhile, prior to this meeting we had gone to check on Enid’s flat and had found her body in the hall just outside her door. She had been shot in the back of the head, like Viktor. The door was wide open so we went inside while waiting for the police to arrive, but being careful not to touch anything. But what we found was terrifying.

We found 10 children, ages 7 to 12, locked in a room with nothing but 4 blankets. Two more children were locked in a very small room that the other kids called the prison. It was where they were kept if they disobeyed their owners. Those two kids were half starved, a boy and a girl that were siblings. There was camera equipment around the flat and various other things. However, the Enid we found at the flat was Viktor’s original wife, not the Enid that we still had at the house…

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.