We were still at the graveside and Sky had turned to see where Muffin went running to and saw her with a beautiful, young woman. MC and Storm were there too. “I think someone is here to see you Steve,” said Sky. I turned and could not believe I was seeing Kathee, an old friend of mine. I just stood there staring. “Do you know her Steve?” asked Sky. I stood there staring, not saying anything, I was too busy thinking. “Hmm, I guess you do,” said Sky looking at me, “she is very beautiful.”

“Mmm, what, what did you say?” I asked. “I said, she is very beautiful,” repeated Sky. “Hmm, oh, yes, I suppose she is,” I said, half dreaming, “she is an old friend, sorta.” “Must have been some friend,” said Sky, “she turned you into a real dreamer. And she is not old, looks to be about 16.” “Hmm, what, what did you say?” I asked. “How would you like a nice slap to bring you back to reality, Mr. Dreamer?” she asked.

“Oh, I am sorry,” I said, “I was just kinda dreaming for a minute. Kathee helped Muffin and I a lot when we first started The Investigators. She put me in touch with a very good lawyer, her dad, who helped me get settled on some legal issues with being a private investigator. He also bailed Muffin and I out of jail once or twice.” “She must have been a kid at the time,” said Sky. “What? Oh, no, she looks young, she was 17 then,” I said, “that would make her the same age as you. People think you are only 16 too.”

“Hmm, guess that is true,” she said, “but I would say she was more than ‘sorta’ a friend.” “What? Oh, no, we really were just friends,” I said, “we went out a few times for dinner, that is all. I saw her a lot because she worked for her dad. Muffin did try to play the matchmaker though, without success.” “Well, do you think we should go and see what she wants?” asked Sky. “Yes, I guess we should,” I said.

We went over and Kathee literally threw herself at me, giving me a huge hug, and then a kiss. Meow,meow.=That a long one. Meow.=Yep, sure is. Meowr.=Me agree, very long. “Hmm, I agree with you 3,” said Sky. Then she giggled along with the cats. “Oh, I am sorry Steve,” said Kathee, “I forgot myself for a moment,” then she turned to Sky, “I am very sorry, kissing your husband like that. I, I, it is just that, well…” She put her head down, blushing.

“That is okay,” said Sky, “and since Steve seems to have forgotten my name, I am Sky, nice to meet you Kathee.” “Oh, you know my name?” she asked. “Yes, Steve remembered your name just fine.” She looked at me. “Oh, that is not fair,” I said, “I was really in dreamland with this funeral and everything that has happened. We just buried a very good friend of mine.” “True,” said Sky, “I just like to tease.” She smiled at both Kathee and myself.

“Did you just drop in for a visit, or do you have a problem to discuss?” asked Sky. “I, I, oh, I guess I should not have come,” said Kathee, “I am intruding right now.” “Nonsense, my dear,” said Mandar, “I know that Steve and Sky would be very interested in helping with your problem. It seems her parents were just buried last week, she told me, and she believes they were murdered.”

“What? Your parents murdered?” I asked very surprised, “yes, we must talk about this.” “I agree,” said Sky, giving Kathee a hug, “you will come home with us and we will talk about it.” The other girls were around by then and introductions were made. At home we immediately went to the library to talk. “A while back a man came to see dad, he wanted a lawyer to handle his business dealings,” began Kathee, “and he offered to pay dad double his regular fees.

Business had not been very good at the time so he was quite happy with this deal. It was fine for a while, but then dad changed. He did not talk much and he and mom argued so much, it got to be every day, at least on the days they even talked to each other. Mom asked me to check on the business because dad did not seem to have any money. In fact, he was in debt I discovered.

He was making regular payments to a certain company that I never heard of before. I checked and could not even find such a company. Then I discovered it was part of the Carnival Corporation. That is the company that dad worked for, owned by Carnival Alvares, the man that first said he would pay dad double. But he ended up paying nothing since dad was paying it all back to that company.

He worked for free and had no time for any other clients, so he had to borrow money, and that came from another company which was also owned by Alvares. I finally figured out that this man was likely a big time drug dealer, considering all the times dad had to defend his people in court. I confronted dad and he told me not to get involved, he would handle it.

That night the house burned down while I was out. It was considered accidental, with the fire starting because of smoking in bed. And the bodies had been burned beyond recognition. Here are the pictures I took when they found my parents.” “They are not burned at all,” I said, “what did the autopsy show?” “There was no autopsy,” said Kathee, “none was needed they told me. Here are more pics of my parents at the funeral home.”

“That is crazy, did you not show these pictures to the police?” asked Sky. “Yes, I did, they just told me not to get involved, just leave it alone or I might get hurt,” she answered, “they would not even let me see the police report.” I called Annelie and told her to get me that report and check for an autopsy report too, also to check on this Carnival Alvares. What she found was amazing…

To Be Continued.

©2023 Steve McLeod.