That was disturbing news.  Both David and his friend Mario died suddenly.  There is a doctor on board and he seems to think it was poison.  That means someone on this plane killed them.  But who?  And does that tie into our case or was it because of something else?  Meow, meow.  No, we’re not going to die next Muffin.  You worry too much.  This probably has nothing to do with our case, people like that make a lot of enemies.  Meow. Well, yes, I guess we do too.  Still, there’s no proof this has anything to do with us.  I don’t know if that helped Muffin too much.

Must admit, I’m a bit worried now too.  If this has something to do with our case that could be rough.  It wasn’t so bad before when we knew who to watch, but now, we don’t know who it might be that is following us.  Well, the excitement has settled down and there is still an hour to go, I need to do some thinking about all this.  Our friendly flight attendant comes over again.  She has a few minutes and would like to talk with us.  I pick up Muffin gently and set her on my lap as I sit in her seat.  She’s good at pretending to be asleep, but I know she’s awake listening to every word.

The attendant introduces herself as Olivia Erickson.  She even showed me her ID to prove who she was.  Now why would she do that?  We talk quietly and I let Olivia know that Muffin and I are PI’s and we are heading to Italy on a case.  I don’t say anymore, just not sure if I should trust her or not.  I knew it, she said, my dad was a PI until he was murdered a couple years ago.  I was sure these 2 men were behind that, I even found people who claim they saw those men with my dad.  Now I don’t know what to do, I lost the only lead I had.  I was hoping I could ask you to help me.  I will be in Italy for 10 days.

Where was he killed?, I ask.  Along the shore of a large lake in northern Italy, she said.  Muffin’s eyes popped wide open when she heard that.  It was near some large palace or villa that is on an island, Olivia continued.  That was too much for Muffin.  Meow, meow! She said quietly.  No, we can’t tell the pilot to turn around and go back.  We’re almost at our destination and there wouldn’t be enough fuel to go back.  Meow. (rats.)  Olivia asked how I know what Muffin is saying.  Practice, was all I said.  Olivia looked a bit puzzled.  Honest, I said, that’s all there is to it.

You realize this makes you a prime suspect in the murders of those 2 men, I said.  No one knows the connection, except you, said Olivia.  Are you going to turn me in?  Meow, meow.  Muffin and I agree, we will trust you and not say anything.  Do you trust me enough to take me with you?  I think our cases are the same, or at least they overlap somehow, said Olivia.  I think so too, I said, so welcome to the case.  Meow.  We plan to meet at one of the coffee shops where I had arranged to meet our driver.  Then we could talk over the case more on the way to the palace.

Olivia goes back to work.  Who knows, maybe she will be a big help to us Muffin.  Meow. (right).  Or, maybe we have just made a big mistake…

To be continued.

Steve and Muffin.

© 2020 Steve McLeod.