That night Angel woke me up and said that she heard people talking downstairs. That did seem unusual considering it was 2am and everyone was in bed. Well, everyone went to bed at around 10pm, so why the voices now? I called Mac and Alfred and asked them to come here and stay with me so Angel could look around. They arrived quickly and Angel went downstairs. She was invisible which made it perfect to spy on those who were talking. She could hear them all the way down the stairs.

The living room light was on but as soon as she was at the doorway to the room the lights went out and everything was quiet again. She looked all around, then came back to the bedroom. “There is no one down there Steve,” she said, “though it sounded like 3 people were talking until I arrived at the doorway to the living room. Then the light was turned off and no one was there. I looked all around, but there was no one to be found.

I do not see how they could have gone so fast, unless they quickly slipped into a secret door. But they could not have heard me coming since I was invisible. But I know there was 3 people, a woman and two men.” “Hmm, Enid has 2 brothers,” I said, “but they have not talked to each other in 5 years. It must have been someone else. Could you recognize any of the voices?” “One of the men was Viktor,” she said, “I am sure of that, but I do not know who the other 2 were. Viktor was telling them they need to be a bit patient and that we would likely find the inheritance for him.”

“Just for him?” I asked, “Or for them?” “He just said “him”, said Angel. “Now that is interesting,” said Mac, “seems like he wants to leave his wife out of this.” “And in reality it is her inheritance,” said Alfred, “I wonder what he plans to do with her?” “He better not try to kill her while we’re here,” I said, “or he will not like the consequences. Of course, there could be a different reason for that conversation. Perhaps he owes money to someone and they are putting pressure on him to pay up.”

“That was my thought,” said Mac, “it would fit the conversation.” In the morning before we went down for breakfast, I decided to call Brook and have her check up on Viktor and see if he has any regular debts. And perhaps see if he is a gambler where he might pick up some irregular debts with the wrong people. Penny called back after breakfast and said Viktor had no outstanding debts, but he is definitely a gambler, and she told me 3 places where he is known to be a frequent visitor.

All 3 places are shadowy spots that love to trap people like Viktor until they pile up large debts. Then suddenly they are not so nice and want payment right away. “Um, what happened to Brook?” I asked. “She has been fighting a headache since yesterday,” said Penny, “so I told her to lie down for a while, that seems to help.” I then called Jennifer. “Brook goes in for a checkup right now,” I said, “get four of the girls to take her, please.” “Right Steve,” she replied, “I was going to ask you about that.”

“If it is health related, you don’t need to ask, just do it,” I told her, “that is a long time to have a headache. Samantha can call Miles after Brook’s checkup and if it’s something serious Miles can go home right away.” “Okay, I will get some girls on it right away,” she said. Back to us, I told Mac to take the guys around and look for any hidden doors, starting on this floor, and to take the cats with them except Tracker. Muffin and Storm are the two best cats we have for finding hidden doors, which is why I specifically brought them along.

I asked Caleigh to give me a short massage while the rest of the girls started looking around at various things and talking to Enid. After about 15 minutes I asked Caleigh to stop so we could get busy with some things too. I took John and Mac, plus Angel and Milena and we went to check around the city a bit to see exactly where these gambling establishments were located. I didn’t expect to find any open this time of day though, but it’s nice to know some things before we visit the place later this evening.

“Are you sure it would be good for you to join us this evening Steve?” asked John. “Sure, Angel, Milena and Caleigh will be along,” I said, “so it will be safe enough for me.” “Why Caleigh?” he asked, somewhat puzzled. “You forget she has been involved in this sort of thing,” I said, “her eyes will be very helpful in those places. She will know exactly what to look for and how to spot trouble quickly.” “That is true,” said Mac, “if you want to know how something works, get someone who knows the system.” “Well, here is the last of the 3,” said John, as he parked across the street.

“Hmm, I sense trouble in that place,” I said. “And it’s the nicest looking of the 3,” said Milena. “That often hides the worst places,” said Mac. “We will check that one first this evening,” I said. Just then Viktor came out the front door. “Hmm, that’s interesting,” said John, “the place isn’t even open yet.” “He has been worked over, but just lightly,” said Mac. He was right, Viktor was walking a bit oddly. “Okay, let’s go back to the house,” I said.

Viktor works not far from that place, though it doesn’t open until 5pm anyway, but apparently he works late one or two evenings per week. Easy enough to come over here on the way home. Enid didn’t say how late he worked. Once home I asked Caleigh to massage my back. “But lunch is ready Steve,” said John. “With my back like this, I’m not really hungry,” I said. “But Caleigh might be,” he said again. “Oh, I don’t mind missing lunch,” she said, “this is more important.”

Going into the bedroom Sky was already there with our lunch. “I brought you chicken with your fries today,” she said, smiling, “some for me too, and Angel if she remembers to come and join us.” Just then the door swung open and in came Angel. “Whew, almost forgot about your private food service,” she said, “they are having some kind of fish soup.” “Please, not while I eat,” said Caleigh. That got me laughing. Sky just pointed to the table and Angel got her food and joined us on the bed.

“Just like a picnic,” said Angel, then she stopped and stared at that wall again. “Gone again,” she said. I went over to look at a picture on the wall. There was a small hole in the painting, right where a small flower should have been. “They can’t hear us because of our new scramblers,” I said, “but with the right viewer, they can see us just fine. We will have to change that.” I took a tube of glue from my backpack and filled the hole.

“That will put a stop to their spying,” I said, “but we should check around for more such spots after lunch.” We didn’t find anything though which made us feel better. We spent the afternoon looking around and just before heading out to that gambling place, which also had a nice restaurant, Victoria discovered a piece of paper folded up inside of an old book in the study. She showed it to me while Enid was busy with something else. We all went up to our bedroom and took a look at this piece of paper.

It had been written a long time ago and was full of clues for finding the Stone House Treasure. It sounded very much like what was written on another paper that Enid gave us which listed clues for finding her inheritance. Perhaps it wasn’t her inheritance after all, but a treasure we were looking for, although it could be a treasure and an inheritance too.

There were some differences between the two papers however, which was a bit odd. We would look at them closer later, but now it is time for dinner. We had a good meal and I then asked to talk with the owner, or manager, but was told she was not in that evening. “But if you leave your name and phone number, I will have her get in touch with you tomorrow,” said the waitress. Just then I started to feel odd. “Sky…”

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.