Just wanted to let everyone know what finally happened with the stranger in town. He was Jamie Jay's (Judy Juggs) former boyfriend and lover and had come to the Neighborhood from Amsterdam trying to find her or what had happened to her after she was spirited off by our Nedl.
As a good friend of Nedl, I enlisted the services of the famous Pink Panther and the two of us began a surveillance of this man and finally catching up with him in downtown Muscatine, we decided to conduct our own interrogation. It was then that we learned that his only motive was to find out what had happened to Judy and how manpons had ended up for sale in our city. We decided to get straight to the point.
We took him to see Jeff in his store where he was able to see the manpons for sale. He was somewhat amused by the style saying they were a fair copy but not of the quality he was selling in Amsterdam. To prove his point he asked Jeff to model one of the manpons he had for sale. Jeff obliged him by putting on his favorite orange colored one. I must say the spectacle before us is hard for me to describe but the stranger and the Pink Panther were doubling over in laughter. I had focused on his gracious walk up and down the isle and the smug look of confidence on his face and I was impressed until I noticed why they were laughing. Apparently Jeff had put on a couple of pounds or was wearing the wrong size. Anyway the stranger said he was no longer concerned how Jeff had stolen his idea for manpons but knew it had to do something with the disappearance of Jamie Jay.
We decided it was now time to end this man's pain and told him the following.
Judy was very popular in our neighborhood and was cared for in a loving way by our Nedl. His devotion to her could not have been matched by anyone and she was equally devoted to him. She was very popular and did a lot of volunteer work in our city. However, the long hours of helping others began to take a toll on her. She had aged gracefully but it became apparent that her health would not return and that she had expired two weeks before the stranger had arrived. He was shocked and wanted to see where she was buried. We told him that Jeff had written her obituary and after reading it he cried and began hugging Jeff kissing him on both cheeks over and over. I guess this was a classical example of why one is asked to "turn the other cheek."
His attention then became focused on Nedl, his whereabouts and the kind of man he was. We assured him that Nedl was a man of the highest quality and character and was loved by all who knew him. Unfortunately, we could not honor his request to meet Nedl. With our quit wits about us, we decided this might not be a good thing so we shared this with him.
It seems Nedl was more distraught over the passing of Judy (Jamie Jay) more than anyone realized until his good friend Drunken Fool went to check up on him. He found him sitting in a dark room barely able to move but he found a way to bring him back to reality by offering him a beer and suggesting they go out for some more. Once outside, they could see a paddle wheel boat docked on the riverfront and DF suggested they have some beer there and go for a ride on the river. To make a long story short he had this to say to the stranger. He had gone to pick up a couple beers, leaving Nedl standing by the railing of the boat, and had met several friends inside and was gone longer than he had intended. When he returned, he noticed that Nedl was no longer standing by the railing and he could not find him anywhere no matter how hard he searched the ship. An investigation determined he fell overboard accidentally or jumped on purpose. And with that, the stranger left and returned to his home in Amsterdam
Was this the demise of our Nedl? Of course not. His neighbors protected him so be looking for a post from him soon.
The posts on this topic were to be considered a kind of romantic tragedy but ending in a happy way. Only time will tell.
