Mystery at the Hedge Fund

by Eleanor Kittering

  “You're not going to start investigating this, are you?” Jill asked.

  “Well, no, but we were getting ready to invest our money and somebody pulled the rug out from under us. I'd like to find out who did this.” Mandy said.

  “Mandy, this always winds up in trouble.” Jill said.

  “It will be light investigating. More like talking to people we already know are related to this. I'll tell Fred, that way he doesn't think I'm snooping.”

  “Well, maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Here we were, all ready to invest our money and our investment counselor dies. We still have our money and there are no contracts compromising it. Yes we can still go back and see if the other people will handle our money. On the other hand, do you really want to invest your money where somebody died?” Jill said.

  “Or murdered. We still don't really know.” Mandy said.

  “Well, we don't know if he was murdered. He could have done this to himself.” Jill said.

  “In any event, it's a tough call. Hard to believe just yesterday Jake was giving us a tour of the place.” Mandy said.

  “Yes, that part is pretty insane. It's kind of sad, really. They were trying to make it a fun experience. And then this happens, completely out of left field and not in character with anything we were presented with.” Jill said.

  “Apparently, you can never tell with people. Mike could have been leading a completely different life behind every one's backs. Maybe it's the way he dealt with stress. Who knows?” Mandy said.

  “We'll wait for Fred's report and see if there was anything suspicious.” Jill said.

  Chapter Five

  Meanwhile, while Mandy and Jill were discussing the death of Michael, Roger and Lana went to another room to discuss their problems. Colin was also present.

  “So Colin, do you have any idea if I'm going to remain this way for the rest of my life as a cat, or is there light at the end of the tunnel?” Roger asked.

  “It's still too soon Roger. I'm still doing the research to see what we can do to get you into a livable situation. The only thing I can say is I'm sure there is a way to fix this. I just don't know what it is right now.” Colin replied.

  “Well Colin, I hope it's sooner than later, cause I'm gonna lose my mind if I have to remain a cat till the day I die. Come to think of it, didn't I already 'die'?” Roger said.

  “I'll definitely do right by you Roger. Have you noticed any other changes since you gained awareness of your human?” Colin asked.

  “Well, so far it seems to have affected my understanding of people speaking and the awareness of me knowing I'm a man, even though when I look at my arm, it's covered with fur and I see a paw. However, I don't have a problem doing cat things. For instance, I needed to take a tinkle, and I went to the kitty litter box and that didn't bother me. On the way past the kitchen, I went by the food bowl and ate a couple of bits of cat food, out of habit. It appealed to me. So, there's definitely a part of me that's still cat and isn't bothered by doing cat things. It's when I think of engaging in activities that I then realize I'm a man and chasing after the string with the toy no longer holds an interest for me.”

  “Oh, I love that string toy thing.” Lana said.

  “Spoken like a true cat.” Roger said.

  “So, you're not really a cat, huh?” Lana asked.

  “No, sorry to disappoint you.” Roger said.

  “Do you still like me?” Lana asked.

  “Of course I still like you. I think it's great we can both speak and to me, your speech sounds perfectly fine. That's another thing Colin, I can understand cat speech. Lana doesn't sound any different to me than Mandy. I can understand what Mandy says. But as you've noticed when I talk back, all she hears are strange meows.”

  “Well, at least it's not a complete nightmare. You can still survive while I come up with a solution. I guess if you want to look at it from the glass half empty or half full, that would be the full glass.” Colin said.

  “Yeah, right now I can use a full glass of something.” Roger said, annoyed.

  “Oh, Colin was just using a metaphor, he meant that as things stand now, it's a more positive outlook on your life.” Lana said.

  Roger and Colin both looked at Lana.

  “You know Lana, you remind me a lot of my old wife. She was a schoolteacher and she was always explaining things like that to me. Her name was Lana too.”

  “You had a wife?” Lana asked.

  “Yeah, she left me because I was a dope.” Roger said.

  “But you act very intelligent.” Lana said, surprised.

  “Not that kind of dope. I was too caught up in my job to pay attention to our relationship and pay attention to our lives. I kept crazy hours and then I would be asleep when she was awake. The whole thing turned into a mess, because of me, and eventually she asked to divorce me. Not that I blamed her. I realized I was no good for her, so I let her go.”

  “Oh, that's so sad Roger.” Lana said.

  “Yeah, I realized all that when I was at the waiting station.” Roger said.

  “What's the waiting station?” Lana asked.

  “That's where you go after you die before your time. And you have a guy like Colin trying to get a deal for you.” Roger said.

  “Colin got a deal for you?”

  “Yeah, I was supposed to come back as a cat for a limited amount of time. And that sort of blew up today.” Roger said.

  “We'll work something out Roger, eventually.” Colin piped in.

  “Let's see when eventually comes.” Roger said.

  “So, what happened to your wife, afterwards?” Lana asked.

  “I don't know. We lost touch, and I really didn't keep up with her, again because of my job as a detective. My guess is she probably met some other guy and now she's happily married somewhere. Meanwhile, I'm living my life as a cat.” Roger said.

  “Oh.” Lana said, at a loss of what else to say.

  “Well, let's not dwell on that and rather, let's see what solutions we can come up with. In the meantime, try to come up with something you can do with your time that will be constructive.” Colin said.

  “Constructive? What am I supposed to do, take up knitting? You can't knit with paws, you know.” Roger said.

  “Now Roger, I understand you're upset, I just meant think of something you can do with yourself. Test to see if you can read a newspaper or magazine. Mandy has those lying around, you can sit next to it and move the pages as much as possible with your paws. That's one possibility.” Colin said.

  “It's an idea. Maybe I can find out what happened in the world 70 years after I left.” Roger said.

  “You died 70 years ago?!” Lana asked amazed.

  “It's a long story.” Roger

  (For those of you joining us for the first time, everything is explained in chapter one of book one of the series, how Roger died, bumped off by the mob, how Colin, his guardian angel helped him, and how he became a cat.)

  “Well, I'll leave you for now, but I'll be checking in from time to time.” Colin said, sad at Roger's predicament.

  “Yeah, I'll find a way to pass the time. Plus I have Lana to talk to. I'll think of something.” Roger said.

  “Yes, I think you're going to find Lana a good friend.” Colin said.

  “Yeah, she's great.” Roger said, trying to make Lana feel better. He knew she was a sensitive cat and that she was still a little shell shocked at learning that he's a man. Upon hearing this, Lana beamed.

  “Oh, thank you. I'll do my best to try to help you.” Lana said.

  “I'm sure you will Lana.” Roger said.

  As Colin left, he thought to himself, 'that went better that I thought'. Roger still had enough catlike qualities to keep him grounded as a cat. He just had the awareness of a man. He was sure that would get him into trouble, but deal with that when it happens.

  “We better make our way back to the living room and see what Mandy and Jill are up to. The good news is, now I can translate wh
at they say so you can know what they're saying.” Roger said.

  “That's great. I never understand what humans are saying, and to know exactly what they're saying is going to be thrilling.” Lana said.

  “Well, don't get your hopes up. People usually say pretty mundane things and sometimes you don't want to hear what they're saying.” Roger said.

  “Yes, but at least we'll know what they're planning.” Lana said.

  As Roger and Lana entered the room, Mandy and Jill were still talking about Michael's death.

  “Another thing is, Fred is going to interview everybody working for the company. Which means nobody is going in a working mood for the next two weeks.” Mandy said.

  “I think we should get into touch with Jennifer. She should be able to give us an idea of how things are going and if she knew more about Michael's 'hobbies', for lack of a better term.” Jill said.

  “In addition to that, we have to come up with a Plan B, which is yes, it's a good idea to invest our money in IRA's but it doesn't necessarily have to be with this company. It's not the same anymore, we had a good person going to work with us, and now that person is gone. It's possible the other persons are qualified, but again, there's that whole question, do we want to work at a place where one of their employees died. Everytime we go there, we're going to be reminded of the death, whether it was accidental or murder, it's not something pleasant to be reminded of, especially when what you're trying to do is to get ahead.” Mandy said.

  “You're right. Let's take it one step at a time, speak with Jennifer and think about working with these people in the future. Also, let's find out what Fred has to say.” Jill said.

  “I think that's a good idea.” Mandy said.

  Meanwhile Lana is hearing the sounds Mandy and Jill make when they talk and doesn't understand. Roger is listening to what they're saying and it sounds like somebody died.

  “What are they talking about?” Lana asked.

  “Well, it appears somebody they were planning to work with died unexpectedly. They're not sure if it was an accident or murder, and now they're not sure if they want to work with the company on account of the death. Actually, this is right up my alley, investigating suspicious deaths.” Roger replied.

  “Why did you do that?” Lana asked.

  “I was a detective, I was a policeman. When people die unexpectedly, there's always a possibility they might have died due to foul play, and it's our job to figure out if they died of unfortunate circumstances, or if somebody killed them.” Roger said.

  “And what happens if somebody killed them.” Lana asked.

  “Well then, we try to find who did it, and then bring them to justice. People have invented this whole system of dealing with people that do harm to others, break the law, etc.”

  “It sounds like a horrible job. Why did you do it?” Lana asked.

  “Well, my father was a cop and I wanted to be a cop like my father, so I became a cop and because I was a good cop, I got promoted to detective, but I got too caught up in trying to get the bad guys. There are some really terrible bad guys out there. Those are the ones that killed me.”

  “But yet, you're still here.” Lana said.

  “Well, that was Colin. He was trying to help me out. I sometimes get impatient with him, but he truly wants the best for me. I don't know what happened, but his plan was to come back as a cat, live out the rest of my life comfortably, and then go to the next level. Now the cat plan has been shortchanged somehow, by remembering I'm a man while being a cat. That was not supposed to happen.

  During this whole exchange, Mandy was watching and listening to Roger. At one point, she says to Jill “Listen, I think they're talking to each other. Roger has that funny meowing and she meows back in return. They might be communicating.”

  “Definitely unusual behavior in cats. I've seen cats communicating at the shelter but it's usually long drawn out meows and they're usually under some kind of duress. These two seem to be communicating between the two of them.” Jill said.

  Roger heard this whole interchange and said to them “Ah Mandy and Jill, if you only knew.” Mandy and Jill only heard the funny meows.

  “See, it's as though he's talking to us. Roger honey, can you understand me?” Mandy said.

  Roger said “Oh sure, not that that's going to do you much good.”

  “You see, it seems as though he understands me. He never did that before.” Mandy said astonished.

  Roger turned to Lana and said “I'm going to have to start acting like the dumb cat, otherwise, these two are going to turn me into a lab rat.”

  “Why would they do that?” Lana asked.

  “So they can verify if they're communicating with me, or if it's just a coincidence.” Roger replied.

  “Now it looks as though they're talking among themselves.” Mandy said.

  Roger continued standing by Lana as though he had heard nothing. Mandy tried calling him.

  “Roger honey, come here. Roger?”

  Roger turned and looked at Mandy as though he recognized his name, but that was all. She finally used her hand to call him.

  “Come here Roger, come here baby.”

  Roger came to Mandy but as what he knew to be his cat self. He didn't meow to acknowledge her remark. Mandy petted him.

  “See, and now he's not making a sound, he's just his regular self.. Maybe the doctor is right, this is just part of the trauma of his accident.”

  “Well, he's acting like the Roger I know.” Jill said.

  In the middle of this, Mandy's phone rings. It was Jennifer.

  “Jennifer?”

  “Hi Mandy, I guess by now you've heard the news.”

  “Well, I more than heard it. We were supposed to meet with Michael this afternoon, and when we got there, the police had the placed closed. I know Fred, the police captain, and he told me what had happened.”

  “Well, I guess you know. I hope the press doesn't get a hold of this because they're not going to focus on a person dying, but how they died and that's what's going to create all kinds of sensationalism.” Jennifer said.

  “We don't know what happened Jennifer, and like I was explaining to Fred, Michael was a very nice man, and he's the last person I would have thought to have died under unusual circumstances. So, my condolences Jennifer, I know this must be very hard on you.” Mandy said.

  “It is. Even though Michael and I have drifted apart, I find it extremely sad.” Jennifer said.

  “I'm sorry to hear that. Listen, you want to get together tomorrow at Joanie's? Get out of the house and away from all this.” Mandy asked.

  “That sounds like a great idea. I'll meet you at Joanie's at 1PM?” Jennifer said.

  “Yes, that would be great.” Mandy said. She hung up the phone from Jennifer.

  “Well, that was completely out of the blue. That was Jennifer. I was thinking of calling her and she called me.” Mandy said.

  “It's one less phone call you had to make.” Jill added, smirking.

  “I'm supposed to have lunch with her tomorrow at 1PM. Why don't you come along?” Mandy said.

  “I'd like to, but I'm supposed to be at the animal shelter at that time. You can fill me in later as to what you learned.” Jill said.

  “Well, for starters, she told me she and Michael had been drifting apart. That usually spells some kind of trouble.” Mandy said.

  “I'm sure that conversation tomorrow is going to be interesting.” Jill said.

  Meanwhile, Roger was listening to these conversations and saying to himself “Things haven't really changed much. People die and they have lousy relationships. This could be 1946 all over again. I wonder what Mandy meant by died under unusual circumstances. Guess I'll find out, eventually.”

  Chapter Six

  The next day, Mandy got ready to meet Jennifer. She debated whether to bring Roger along or not. On the one hand, she worried leaving him along so soon after his accident. On the other hand, she wanted to focus 100% on Jennifer and w
hat had happened with Michael. However, so far that morning, other than the cats mewing among themselves, she hadn't heard him meowing at her in the strange way. So maybe a night's rest had helped balance his system, so he became more and more the Roger she knew.

  What really happened was Roger, not wanting to freak out Mandy and not wanting to draw attention to himself had stopped talking around Mandy. He only had conversations with Lana, and these were held with a low voice, so Mandy couldn't hear and start thinking he was strange all over again.

  Mandy decided to take Roger. She couldn't take Lana because it would turn into a handful with two cats. I'm sure Lana wouldn't be too happy to be excluded, but she wanted to keep an eye on Roger at least for the next couple of days and see how he progressed. She would buy Lana some kind of treat to make her feel special when she came back.

  “Hi Roger, I'm going to Joanie's, you wanna come.” Mandy said. She held only one leash. At the sound of Mandy's voice, both cats showed up, thinking they were going somewhere. Lana said,

  “Oh good, I think we're going to go to the park.”

  “I hate to break it to you, but she's going to Joanie's and she wants me to go with her. I'm sure she still thinks I'm crazy. Not that she's that far off the mark.”

  “What! She's taking you and not me.” Lana said hurt.

  “Now, take it easy Lana, this is not going to last for long, and besides, I'll fill you in on what they said, which is easier to do after the fact, as opposed to explaining everything they're doing in real time.”

  “Alright, but I don't think it's fair.” Lana said.

  “I don't think it's fair either. I'll try to bring you back something from Joanie's, if I can stow it.” Roger said.

  Mandy meanwhile, observed this whole exchange with Roger doing the weird meow and Lana seemingly responding. Definitely strange. She was glad she was taking Roger along. Then she said to Lana,