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“No, first they turn red, then purple, and finally when they’re dead they turn completely white,” said Harriet.

Cats, of course, always keep the same color, or at least on the surface. What we look like underneath our nice fur is our secret and one we will never tell!

“Loretta!” Marge cried, and in two great strides had reached the woman and was offering her support.

“We better get a doctor in here,” said Odelia with concern.

“No doctor necessary,” said Loretta, already recovering. “But a cop would come in handy right about now. That man tried to kill me!” she said, pointing an accusing finger at Sharif.

“I know, we saw it,” Gran said. “And as luck would have it, Chase here is a cop. Please do the honors, Chase.”

“You can’t arrest me,” said Sharif, who was sweating from the exertion, and panting, too. “I have diplomatic immunity, so you can’t touch me.”

“We’ll see about that,” said Marge.

“No, he’s probably right,” said Chase. “If he’s got diplomatic immunity he’ll walk.”

“So he can just try to murder Loretta and get away with it?” Marge cried. “No way!”

“Let’s get your uncle in here,” Chase suggested to Odelia, “and let him decide.”

“I think it’s pretty clear now,” said Odelia, “that your mother was killed, Loretta, and I think we know who did the killing.”

All eyes turned to Sharif, and when moments later suddenly the Sheikh walked in, carrying a bouquet of flowers, and took in the scene, he said, in a surprised voice,“What’s going on?”

“Your guy just tried to kill me,” said Loretta, still a little hoarse.

“What?!”

“It’s true, we all saw it,” said Marge.

The Sheikh turned to his advisor.“Have you lost your mind?”

“She’s a threat to you, sir,” said Sharif, who must have felt safe in the knowledge that whatever he said, nobody could touch him. “She was going to tell the whole story about what happened to her mother, and about the history of the Pink Lady. We don’t need that kind of attention, especially now that we’re about to sign a number of very lucrative business deals in this country.”

“I don’t believe this,” said the Sheikh. “You’re admitting that you tried to kill… my sister?”

“Merely eliminating an obstacle, sir,” said Sharif as he adjusted his costume and smoothed his hair, which had become ruffled in the scuffle.

“The same way you removed an obstacle when you killed her mother thirty-five years ago?” asked Odelia.

Sharif shrugged.“The lady was a nuisance. Something had to be done. She was going to flee the palace and tell the world what a backward nation we were, and what a terrible person the Sheikh was. So I handled her.”

“Handled her!” the Sheikh roared. “So you admit you murdered my father’s wife?”

“I didn’t personally kill her, sir. I merely supplied the materials, and organized the operation.”

“And what about my father? Did he order this?” asked the Sheikh.

“Oh, no, sir. I didn’t see the need to inform him.”

“But you did whisper in the man’s ear that he should distance himself from his wife, didn’t you?” asked Marge.

“Well, of course. The woman was threatening to destroy a tradition we spent centuries building. She wanted to abolish polygyny, the right of a man to marry multiple wives, and make sweeping changes, not just at the palace, but in society as a whole. She was a dangerous element and had to be isolated, then eliminated, for the greater good and to safeguard our traditions and way of life.”

“I don’t believe this,” said the Sheikh, upsetting his own very nice hair by dragging a hand through it. “So you murdered my father’s wife, and now you tried to murder her daughter, my sister.”

“Murder is such a loaded term, sir,” said Sharif. “I like to think of it as providing a permanent solution to a difficult problem.”

“Looks like this isn’t the first time you’ve done this,” Chase grunted, as he clearly had to restrain himself from giving the fellow a good thrashing.

“Look, I’m very sorry,” said the Sheikh. “If I’d known…” He turned to Loretta. “Are you all right?”

“I’ll live,” croaked Loretta, touching her throat, where we could clearly see Sharif’s fingers imprinted on her skin.

“This is just terrible. First off, I want you to arrest this man.”

“Sir!” said Sharif.

“I can’t,” said Chase. “He’s got diplomatic immunity, so we can’t touch him.”

“Fine. I’ll deal with him myself,” said the Sheikh. “And as far as you are concerned, I think I owe you all a large debt of gratitude. A debt of gratitude so big I don’t even know where to begin.” He offered Loretta a toothy smile—the man had a great dentist. “It took thirty-five years for us to meet, but now that I found you—or you found me—I don’t want to have this unexpected connection severed again. Please take me to meet your grandparents, so I can personally tell them what a fine job they did raising you, and to offer my sincere apologies for this man’s atrocities.”

“I merely did what was best for the country,” said Sharif stiffly.