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For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Jennifer’s call to me came in loud and clear and since Celestine was standing next to me, I pushed her to the ground and with me landing on top of her! I figured there must have been a shooter nearby and Celestine and I were likely the targets since she is playing the part of my wife on this case. As soon as we hit the ground, four bullets struck, two in the ground and two on my back. The two hitting the ground narrowly missed Celestine. When the bullets struck everyone hit the ground.
Everyone except Sky, Friskie and Blake Swann. Friskie, who was standing next to Sky, pointed to a tall pine tree and Sky tossed a lightning ball causing a man to yell and fall to the ground. I got up and stared at Swann. “And why didn’t you fall to the ground Mr. Swann?” I asked, “It’s quite a normal reaction when someone is shooting at you. Unless, of course, you know the person is not shooting at you.” “I have had enough of your accusations McCann!” he yelled, “Arrest that man!” “Seems to me, officer,” I said, “that you should be going to check on that man who shot at us.”
“Oh, yeah, I better do that,” he said, “uh, but there might be other shooters in the area so I better call for backup first.” While he was doing that I started to walk over to the man. “Get off my property McCann, now you really are trespassing!” he yelled, as he came running after me. I just ignored him this time until I came to the shooter, until we came to the shooter actually, since Sky, Friskie and Misty came along. Celestine went inside, Sky had told her it would be safer for her that way.
Swann was still yelling at us when we came to the body which, unfortunately, had no identification on him. I kind of figured that would be the case, guy’s like this don’t generally carry ID. “You can’t dig through his pockets!” yelled Swann, “Only the police are allowed to do that!” I then stood up and went right up to Swann. “This man shot at my wife and I,” I yelled back, “I will do whatever I want! Strangely enough, he is on your property when he shot at us!” Misty was continuing to look through the man’s pockets while I yelled at Swann.
I thought perhaps since he likes to yell all the time that he might be hard of hearing, which is why I yelled too. Misty stood up as the police officer finally made his way over to us. “Arrest them! Arrest them!” yelled Swann extra loud this time, “They are trespassing! Arrest them!” “Um, Mr. McCann, perhaps it would be better for you to leave,” said the officer, “we will check on this man and give you an update.” I thanked him and we then went back to Elenore’s house.
“Rats,” I said, “I wanted to get the serial number off that gun, he likely got it illegally, but it’s possible he bought it legally too.” Misty smiled. “I got the number for you Steve,” she said triumphantly and quickly wrote it down. “I also finished going through all of his pockets,” she said, “and found these items.” She gave me a piece of paper with a phone number and 25K written on it. Odd for a hitman to carry such information, but maybe he is new at this. I will check on that phone number later.
She also spotted a handgun in one pocket, but she let Sky take it so Misty’s fingerprints wouldn’t get on it. Our ghosts don’t leave fingerprints on things they touch, so they are perfect for certain activities. There was also another piece of paper with a letter and number on it, but it didn’t make much sense, however, I sent that to Mac, he might have an idea. He got back to me right away with a simple answer, the letter was the first letter of the hotel name, the number was his room. Why didn’t I think of that?
Guess that’s why I have such a large team. I should have brought some of the guys along on this one. I also got in touch with Jennifer to let her know what was going on and she was not happy with the shooting part and told me to be more careful, and to make sure I look after Celestine! She also told me that the guys are on the way. Since I didn’t take any she decided to send them all. Most will stay in the city, but 5 of them will come out here to help us.
“I’m glad you thought of that,” I told her, “I love you.” “Uh huh, just be careful,” she said, “if you get yourself killed I won’t talk to you again. And…I love you too.” Poor Elenore was quite scared now after the shooting and she was talking about selling and getting away from that mad man next door. Just then the surveyors showed up, three of them, so I watched out the window. Two of them began to dig holes in the yard, so Sky, Misty, Tracy and myself went out to talk with them.
As we got to them, one of the men picked up his shovel which almost looked like he was preparing for a fight, but Misty and Tracy had their guns out in characteristic time of one second. The men both dropped their shovels saying don’t shoot, they didn’t mean anything, they were just lifting their shovels. I’m not sure I will believe that one, but I will let it go for now. The “surveyor”, who had no ID to prove he was a qualified surveyor, showed me a town planning map which showed the property line should be 4 feet closer to Elenore’s house. I took a picture of it and sent it off to Melody to check out its authenticity.
I then told the surveyor that if it was true, then Elenore’s property would go 4 feet past the fence that Mr. Swann put up on the other side of Elenore’s property since the lots are all marked out at 40 feet wide. We measured it together and he agreed with me, so he phoned Swann who then came running over, screaming at us once again. I guess he doesn’t know how to talk normally. The surveyor explained to Mr. Swann about the problem and that’s when he really exploded and hit the surveyor.
The police officer then held him back from doing anything more. The surveyor then hit Swann and his two helpers held him back. I then told them all to get off Elenore’s property or I would have them arrested. Just then more police arrived who had been checking things around the dead shooter. Everyone then left quickly, so we started back to the house. Before we got there a guy on a motorcycle stopped and said “Hey!” He then tossed a baseball, nicely, and Misty caught it easily with one hand.
The guy then rode away. Sky told Misty to toss it to her right away, which she did. Sky was concerned it might have been a bomb. However, it was just a baseball, nothing special, but it was kind of odd. The man had the name of a gang on his jacket, one that I recognized, but why the baseball?
To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod.
Elenore was so saddened to hear of Muffin’s death. Muffin, Cupcake, Elenore’s cat and Elenore got along so well. She asked if Storm could sit with her once she found out he was Muffin’s mate. Storm was very happy to sit with her and get his head rubbed, but he still paid attention to what was being said. Elenore gave us permission to check her house for listening devices, cameras and anything else that might have been put in her house. I called more of the team to come and help us with this. I separated the team into two groups to hopefully try to hide how many of us came today.
But, in a small town like this it can be very hard to keep things quiet for very long. Jazzy had come with us on this case too, I thought perhaps her expertise in criminal affairs might prove helpful to us. She is here now too as we search the house. We had been using our scramblers while talking before, just in case someone is listening. All 7 cats are here checking the house too, although I asked Storm to stay with Elenore while the others were searching.
Sky and I were outside looking around the house, although we were not really sure what to look for at this time. While outside I called Cristy and asked her to check on Blake Swann, the man who wants Elenore’s house. I want to see if he owns other property around this town, or elsewhere in Canada, and maybe any companies that he might own. “This is a terrible place to build an apartment complex,” said Misty loudly right behind me. I didn’t know she was there, so it caused me to jump.
“Kinda jumpy today, I see,” she added. “I am not jumpy,” I said, “but when people sneak up behind me and yell in my ear, that makes me jump.” “I did not sneak up on you,” said Misty, “I walked normally, you should have been able to hear me, you need to pay more attention to what goes on around you. And…I did not yell, I was talking in my normal voice.” She was standing there with her hands on her hips frowning at me. “Now wait…” I began but was interrupted by Sky.
“I agree with Misty,” she said. “YES!” said Misty emphatically. I looked at Sky. “I meant concerning the property,” she said. “Oh,” said Misty quietly. “However, I also agree that you didn’t yell,” she added, “but you did sneak up on us.” Suddenly we heard someone yelling. “Get off my property, you and your oversized furry rats!” yelled a man as he and a police officer came walking, rather quickly, over to us. “Get off my property right now or I will have you arrested for trespassing!” he yelled.
“I am not deaf,” I said, “there is no reason to yell. And we are not on your property, we are on Elenore’s property.” “Liar!” he yelled, “This property line has not been properly surveyed and should be over there next to her house!” “Sky, shine the beam please,” I called to her and she did. “Looks to me like you are on Elenore’s property,” I said, “if you don’t remove yourselves I will have you arrested for trespassing.” “What?!” he exclaimed, “You can’t arrest a police officer!”
“If he is trespassing, he can be arrested,” I said, “now move over to your side of that line please.” The officer said they should do so until things are sorted out legally. “Well, I have a surveyor coming here in about an hour and he will have it sorted out for us,” said the man. This was Blake Swann, the man who wants Elenore’s property. “Well, he better know his job,” I said, “or we will bring in a professional surveyor to do the job correctly.” “And who are you?” he asked smugly.
“Steve McCann,” I said, “I am a private investigator. Elenore hired me to check on some strange things that have been happening around here lately. The police have been unable to find out who is behind all this property destruction, so we are going to find out.” “You think that you’re better than the police?” asked Blake. “The police have lots of things to look after,” I said, “this is our full time job, so yes, we can often do better. And I find it rather strange that all these things began to happen right after you tried to buy Elenore’s house.”
“And what are you trying to suggest?” he said angrily, “That I’m responsible?” “You said it, not me,” I told him, “but whoever is responsible will find himself in jail. Break and enter is a serious crime. Putting listening devices and cameras in someone’s house without their permission is even more serious. Tossing a projectile through the window which landed on her bed while she was in it and causing glass to fall all over her and the bed, is even more serious. And then there is the shooting of her cat.”
“Are you accusing me of all that?!” he yelled. “Not yet, but I will accuse whoever did it, once we find that person,” I said. “And we will find that person,” added Misty confidently as she stood there smiling at the two men. “I’ll wipe that smug smile off your face young lady!” he retorted. She walked right up to him. “Go ahead, start wiping,” she said calmly. “Do something!” he yelled at the officer. “What am I supposed to do?” he asked Blake, “She hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“Well, you better not interfere with my surveyor this morning!” Blake growled at me. “And he better not come on Elenore’s property,” I said, “or I will throw him off.” “He has a right to be on her property,” he said, “how else is he supposed to do his job?” “He doesn’t need to set one foot on Elenore’s property,” I said, “and if he wants to do so, then he can ask, plus show his credentials so I know he really is a surveyor. I won’t just take his word for it, so you better tell him to bring some proof. And just why do you want Elenore’s property anyway?”
“I don’t have to tell you anything!” he said emphatically, “I already told the old lady, ask her!” “She didn’t quite understand what you were talking about,” I said, “perhaps you would like to tell her again, but in language that she can understand.” Just then Celestine came outside to join us and she whispered something to me. I then asked Jazzy to go inside and talk with Elenore and take the cats with her.
As she went in, Friskie came out to join us as well. When she did I noticed that she was looking around, but not at ground level, she was looking at all the trees, high up in those trees. I thought that was kind of odd, but I wasn’t going to say anything. Meanwhile, back home. “STEVE, DANGER!!” yelled Jennifer…
To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 