The Jellicle Chronicles - Year Four

Macavity's Ball

One nice thing about being the Boss - you issue the orders, and no one tells you what to do. Certainly, you have advisors … who may tell you things you should do. But, in the end, you make the decisions, and you do what you think is best - even if your judgment is jaded a bit. 

      “If only you could talk to me,” a low cultured voice growled softly. 

      It was once speculated that the difference between madness and genius was very slight. Was it genius that robbed a brain of sanity? Or, did the madness conjure the wisdom? Were all madmen geniuses, or were all geniuses mad? 

      “What would you tell me?” 

      Macavity now had a permanent advisor on his desk. No matter what location he went to, or stayed in, one object went with him and reminded him constantly to never assume you had the upper hand. The Aegis of Bastet, its replica actually, lay serenely against a green hooded desk lamp that sat on a Human’s desk in an abandoned warehouse. The golden cat’s-head and end cap were actually made of quality brass. The polished dark brown shaft was highly sanded, smoothly lacquered, and stained walnut wood. It would make a great viewing object, but was hardly the actual piece that came from another planet, and then survived over three thousand years of Earth’s History. And yet, it sat on the desk as a reminder for the “Napoleon of Crime” of the Jellicle world. All because he thought he had taken care of all the pieces. 

      “How could you have known, Munkustrap? Who told you? How did you find out about the Staff?” 

      In the past twenty-five days, ever since the Jellicles of the Junkyard intercepted the mated piece to the Aegis, the “Hidden Paw” investigated how the Jellicle Leader, or any of his minions, could have known about the Staff of Sekhmet. Every lead or even suspicion was relentlessly tracked down and subjected to the utmost scrutiny. Any every single one of them failed to produce one shred of evidence on how that knowledge was leaked. No one but his contact on the Continent, the Courier, and himself knew about the transaction. The Courier was the best at what he did, and was not followed. And yet, Mungojerrie, that small-time operator that Macavity would not even think was capable of planning something like this, managed to be at that train depot at that particular time with a prepared switch. How? A simpleton like Mungojerrie could NEVER have known about the Staff, much less when it was arriving here! Of course, he could very much perform the switch. Macavity at least allowed the Tiger Cat that much. 

      “How did you pull this off, Munkustrap? Old Deuteronomy might have scented this, but you are not even HALF the wise Elder he was!” 

      Everyone in the area of his office had been harshly questioned. The nice thing about it was that hardly a drop of blood was spilled in doing so. Sun Ken, a Siamese under his employ, performed some interesting work with this investigation. In fact, in certain cases, the Siamese never even had to lift a finger. Just his presence alone made a subject wish to talk. True, some tended to babble, but that is where the blood came from. Even so, no one subject told him anything pertinent to the Staff. 

      On Day 26, just two days before the Jellicle Moon would rise, and Munkustrap would call the Jellicle Ball, Macavity threw the investigation to the winds. The case was now immaterial. He had the Aegis of Bastet, and he would use it. After all, the Aegis determined who the Leader of the Jellicle Tribe was, and he intended to use it somehow. Striding down the corridor to where a laboratory was set up, Macavity entered without knocking. A pair of gray shorthairs were at work at a far table. The Aegis of Bastet stood in a rack in the center of the room. Two new Enforcers, named Hades and Styx, stood guard in the room. They came to attention the moment Macavity stepped inside. The gray shorthaired cats stopped their work and faced Macavity with a fearful look.