“Look, I have a lot of money now,” she said, “let me go and I can make it worthwhile for you.” “Sorry Anne, but you are talking with some honest PI’s,” I said, “we do not bargain with murderers.” I called the police to come out and pick up Anne. Meanwhile we brought Fiona upstairs to the living room. “I guess we owe you and apology,” I said, “I did not know who you were or who you were working for.

I figured you were working for Toledo, and he is a well known criminal that we have been looking for a long time now. So that did not put you in a favorable light.” She had her head down. “It is my first case as a PI and I really messed up,” she said, “I did not realize he was a criminal or I would not have worked for him. After 15 months, things were getting rather tight. And the way I acted down there, it was embarrassing. Guess I am just not cut out to be a PI.”

Muffin looked at me. Meow,meow.=Sound like you and me when we start out being PI duo. We get tight, no car, no food. “We had a car,” I reminded her. Meow,meow.=That not car, not have tires, not have floor, not even work. “Okay, it did need a bit of fixing up,” I admitted.

Fiona and Kendra were looking at Muffin and I. Oops, forgot ourselves for a moment. Sky giggled. “Good thing the Kat is here to watch over you guys,” said Kat. Everyone looked around. Meow,meow!=It ghost of human Kat, it is ghost! “Muffin, there are no ghosts,” I said. Again Fiona and Kendra looked at us. Sigh. How do I explain this?

The truth, no other way. “Actually Fiona, when Muffin and I first started our PI business,” I began, “we were just like you, few cases, none paid us and things were very tight. We even had to diet at times. But look at us now, we have a successful PI business and we are always on the lookout for others to join our team, if you are interested.

Give it some thought anyway, no rush to make a decision. You would have to pass our tests though, but you will have the rest of the girls helping you with that. Um, and the cats too. They are special cats, as you will find out.” “Who said that about Kat watching you guys?” asked Kendra.

“Oh, that is Crystal,” I said, “she likes to pretend to be my previous wife, Kat, who was killed by Toledo.” Chomp! “AAAAAAA!” screamed Crystal, “why did you do that Muffin?” Meow,meow.=That for scaring little Muffin, it not nice to do. “Well, I wasn’t trying to scare you, really,” she said, rubbing her leg.

Kendra and Fiona looked at Crystal and Muffin now. “Okay Muffin, better go and talk with the ladies there before they think we are all crazy,” I told her. Meow,meow.=Me not crazy, not so sure about you sometimes. “Thanks a lot,” I said as she went over and jumped onto Kendra’s lap.

Meow,meow.=Me special cat, me can talk people talk and understand people talk too. “And that is very helpful in the PI business,” I added, “no one suspects her so she can pick up a lot of information to tell me.” Kendra just stared at Muffin. “You, you really can talk?” she asked. Meow,meow?=Yep, you not hear me? Something wrong with hearing maybe?

“Hey you,” she said, “my hearing is just fine. But I am not used to hearing a cat talk.” Then she smiled at Muffin and gave her a big hug. Then Muffin went to Fiona. Meow,meow?=You believe me that Muffin can talk too? Fiona giggled. “Yes Muffin, I guess I do believe you,” she said, “but like Kendra, I just never thought it was possible.”

While Muffin had their attention, the other cats looked at me but I shook my head no to them. I do not want the new girls to know about all the cats just yet. “I see you have a license for two guns,” I said to Fiona, “how good are you?” “I hit what I aim for,” she said confidently. “Good,” I said, “we will teach you to use other weapons as well.”

Just then the police arrived to pick up Anne. They also had some other news. The hotel where Andrew had been staying called the police after finding a dead man. It was the real Andrew. Then they got another call from a lawyer’s office from the secretary reporting her boss was dead. That was the lawyer working for us. Guess Toledo did not want him messing around with things.

I told this to the police chief. He also brought the deed for the castle that was lying on top of Andrew’s body. “Take a look Cinnamon,” I said, “she is our expert on antique ephemera.” “This is definitely real,” she said, “Andrew was the rightful owner.” “I know where Jim and Anne kept their copy of the deed,” said Fiona, “it is in a hidden safe in the basement.”

“I should have shot you too!” yelled Anne. Some of the girls went with Fiona and came back with the deed. “This is definitely a fake,” said Cinnamon, “not even the right kind of paper.” “But a perfect forgery otherwise,” laughed Anne, “that was the only thing Jim was good for, forgery.”

To Be Continued.

©2023 Steve McLeod.