The big day has arrived! Now, most people would think that since this is my fourth marriage, it would be a simple matter for me. Not so. I am just as nervous as I was the very first time. Well, actually, the very first time I was married was to Jennifer, except she had a different name and it wasn’t a marriage of love. She hated me, in fact. Although she did get to like me more as the days progressed.

The marriage was to confuse the enemy. Except we discovered the enemy knew all about it since it was the man who hired me. It was a strange case. Jennifer’s name at the time was Honey, although she was using a different name for the case. It was confusing. The whole case was confusing. Back to now. Rock was my best man, since he is also my best friend. Kat was Jennifer’s maid of honor, just made sense.

The male cats were on my side, wearing blue bow ties. The female cats were on Jennifer’s side, wearing pink bows. Jennifer was wearing a beautiful white dress with a bit of pink. Kat had a beautiful pink dress with a bit of white. Rock and I were wearing blue suits. Jennifer wanted tuxedos but there was just not enough time to find a blue tuxedo that would fit Rock. He’s kind of big. So she settled on suits for us.

We stood under an arbor shaped like a heart, covered with pink roses. Jennifer loves pink. Erika was also wearing a pink dress with white trim, identical to Kat, and she held the rings for us. Between Baldwin and Mandar, they had this place surrounded with guards, and two helicopters flew overhead to make sure no other helicopter could surprise us. Mandar paid for the wedding since Jennifer and Kat were very special to him.

If it wasn’t for him, neither of the girls would be here today. And that includes Angel as well. Baldwin paid for the feast afterwards, and it really was a feast. But, we do have some big eaters in our group, and that would include Baldwin and Mandar. It would have been nice to have our two youngest daughters here today, but they are still recovering, and will be for some time yet.

But, they were able to watch on their tablets, not as good as being there in person, but sometimes it’s the next best thing. Right after our kiss, Erika began jumping and yelling. She was just a bit excited. Anyway, when she did that, one of the helicopters flew right over us and showered us with confetti. I never saw so much confetti. The girls promised to go out later and vacuum the whole area.

Fortunately there was absolutely no wind today, so everything was just perfect. And nothing interfered with the wedding. Considering the size of our team now, we had to have the reception outside too, but everything went smoothly. It was just perfect. Erika kept moving back and forth from Jennifer’s lap to mine, many times. She was just so excited to have her mom and dad married. That was a rather confusing arrangement too, except for those who knew us.

I don’t think Erika stopped talking for more than 5 minutes out of each hour. Erika and the younger team members, those under 20, decorated the bedroom in tower 2 especially for us tonight. The next day it was back to business again, after all, we had that new case that just came in and it could not be put off any longer. Annelie showed the photos on our large screen in the library while Matt explained things. It was a smaller castle located along the back wall.

That back wall was right at the edge, and top, of a very high cliff that went straight down about 400 feet to the valley below. Not much chance of an enemy attack from that side. The other 3 sides were normal and would be where enemies would attack. The walled area was also not big, in peace there may have been up to 200 inhabitants. There were several stone buildings inside that walled area. There were also 5 towers, one being part of the castle itself.

There was only one entrance/exit. Now, how did those 2 sons manage to get poisoned? It was a fast acting poison, so it had to happen at the castle. They had no food on them, just water in bottles. The water was tested and it was okay. During the autopsy the doctor specifically looked for any kind of needle marks, but found nothing.

“They could have breathed it in,” said Melissa, “either as a gas or a vapor of some kind, even water vapor if the water had been contaminated with the poison first.” Melissa is one of our drug experts, the others being Carolyn and Patrick. They both agreed with Melissa. “If that is the case,” said Paul, “it would be smart to wear gas masks when searching that place.” Matt agreed and fortunately we have some.

Paul Hendricks is a new man here, he came with 10 of his friends to join us. They are presently going through our training and testing period so they are not full members yet. Monika, the woman that Matt rescued from one of the nightclubs in our last case, would also like to join us, so she has started the training and testing period as well. Though only 20, she has some unique and important talents that could really help us.

Her father was an electrician and started teaching her when she was 12. By the age of 15 she was an expert electrician, though not officially. She also knows more than any of our team members about alarm systems of all kinds. “So, Steve,” said Kat, “what do you think? Do we take the case or not?” “Did you forget, you and Jennifer are the leaders now,” I reminded her, “I’m still in recovery.” She walked over to me. “Would you like me to slap you?” she asked, “I asked a simple question and I want an answer.”

“I would prefer not getting slapped,” I said, “you slap much too hard.” She stared at me, then she sat on my lap. “I’m staying here until you answer me,” she said. “Okay, yes, we should take the case,” I said, “I am interested to see how those two were killed and why. I am actually thinking it could be an old trap put in place by the original occupants to guard something important.”

“Why didn’t you mention that idea before?” asked Kat. “You never asked for my opinion until now,” I said, “and since I’m on recovery, I’m not really supposed to participate in case discussions. It’s in the rule book.” Since all the team leaders were present, it was voted to change that rule, effective immediately. Matt is going to lead the team going to the castle. Some of the Knight Riders will go and some from Kristina’s team will go. This is not really a place where Kat and her Wildcats are needed. Matt and his team left after lunch…

To Be Continued.

©2024 Steve McLeod.