More dreaded that the funeral was the obligatory gathering of family and friends at Ingrid's home. Beautiful, stately, spotless and filled with all kinds of flowers and food, the family and friends gathered, greeted and ate while Ken and Mickey, along with Starsky stayed in the corner, finding themselves resenting the takeover of the mansion.

People drifted by to pay compliments to Ken on his beautiful song, several women wiping their eyes, and a few men giving him a hearty slap, saying, "Well, what else can you expect of a Hutchinson?"

Mickey was complimented for playing the bells, singing, and everyone saying, "My dear, when you changed into the pastel dress, I could have sworn Lena came back to life."

Mickey answered politely, "Ingrid always wanted me to wear the dress. I finally got to."

Their parents and Joshua and Judith came by to greet their littlest brother and sister. Judith was stately, and Joshua walked with a slight limp. Both hugged and kissed Ken and Mickey, as did their parents, before walking off to greet others. Starsky was sure the other two families and their children came by, though he couldn't keep track, he did notice the resemblance in the three boys of Ingrid and Carlton Hutchinson. The sons seemed to be sizing him up as well as Ken and Mickey. The girls giggled and flirted with Starsky. The friends of the family, the girls not related to the Hutchinsons flirted both with Ken and Starsky, stating they had forgotten how handsome Ken was and how beautiful his voice was.

Red came over, bringing two glasses of wine and a glass of tea for Mickey.

"There Is plenty of food. Why don't you three get some? I know you didn't eat much today."

Starsky's stomach rumbled and he grinned. Ken and Mickey shrugged, picked up small bites of most things while Starsky filled his plate, as did Red. No one could complain about the food, and Starsky was quiet as he took enjoyable bites.

Finally, he looked over at Ken and Mickey's plates and snorted. "Honestly, rabbit food again, Buddy? Devilled eggs, I guess that is protein. What are those little triangles of bread?"

"Cucumber sandwiches," Mickey and Ken answered. "Ingrid's favorite, and ours. Want to taste one?"

Starsky did but frowned and both Ken and Mickey laughed. Getting to his feet, Starsky stated, "Well, since I am plebian – and I still don't know what that means, buddy, I'm be nice and go grab some more cucumber sandwiches for you two."

"Of course, you'll also be refilling your plate, too, Buddy."

"Well, if I'm gonna be such a nice guy, I might as well, right? The food is excellent. I may not even want a midnight snack after this."

"That will be the day," Hutch shot back at him, but Starsky just grinned. True to his word, he brought several cucumber sandwiches back plus a newly filled plate for him. Red brought more tea for Mickey and red wine for Ken, while Starsky had snatched a beer.

"Plebian," Hutch laughed.

"What does that word mean," Starsky said around a mouth full of shrimp.

"Well, Dave, among royalty, it means a commoner."

"Well, I think I'd rather be a commoner than some of those stuffed shirts."

"Did you try the caviar?"

"What's that?"

Mickey exchanged a quick glance with Ken. "I'll go get some. Kenny, how about you?"

"A little bit. And you might as well get yourself some, little sister."

Mickey gave a mock courtesy and then left and came back with, to Starsky, some strange looking stuff and crackers.

"Jelly of some kind?"

Mickey and Hutch looked at each other, picked up a cracker and put a small amount on and then ate it.

"The best of course," Mickey sighed. "No plebian food to be found at this gathering."

Starsky kept staring at his, but finally shrugged, put a big spoonful on his cracker and stuffed his mouth. His eyes widened, and he grimaced, but washed it down with several gulps of beer. "What is that?"

Ken said mischievously, "Why Starsky, this is food of the gods. Only the rich can afford. Russian Ossetra Crown Farmed Caviar."

"It's so salty! I need another beer!"

"Don't put some much on the cracker all at once."

Red brought back two beers for Starsky.

"Okay, what is this?"

"In plebian terms? Fish eggs."

Starsky tried not to gag. "You gotta be kidding! You rich people can have this stuff. I'd rather have pizza."

"So plebian," Ken and Mickey laughed.

Starsky frowned at them both, then relented. It was good to see them laugh, even if it was at his expense.

"Here, Prince and Princess, you can have mine."

"Well, I guess we had better not waste it. Not at around $20,000 for one can."

Starsky simply couldn't help it, he spit out his beer. "You people are crazy! You can buy a fancy car or two for that."

"Mickey, you shouldn't have said anything, now he'll buy two striped tomatoes to make me ride it."

Red had enjoyed the show tremendously, but after taking a telephone call, he came back to the three. Chief McCallum requests the presence of you three. It's urgent."

"I want another tea, Ken?"

"How about a beer for me and one for Starsky."

Red said, "You got it."

Mickey's face hardened. With a quick whisper, she said, "Do not trust Red."

Before the surprised partners could ask her why, Red appeared and all four went to the door and opened it, where a limo waited.

"Get in," Red ordered, opening the door for Mickey first, while Ken and Dave made their way around the other side. McCallum, a stocky man of around 50, with gray hair and sharp brown eyes, nodded to the four, but otherwise said nothing on the ten-minute drive. McCallum led the way to the nice, but not ornate home. Red followed last.

They were escorted to a large room with a plump sofa and arm chairs and each sat down. To their surprise, McCallum brought Captain Dobey into the room. "Harold, I am sure you recognize your dream team of detectives. This is Officer Mickey Hutchinson and Officer Red O'Brien."

Captain Dobey had a warm handshake to his favorite team of detectives, a courteous one to Mickey and another to Red. "Miss Hutchinson."

"Mickey, please."

Dobey shook at finger at his old friend, Ian McCallum. "Ian, how did you get Mickey in the academy at age 18?"

"Probably the same way you got Ken in at 19."

"We were being pressured to bring in females. Mickey had graduated high school at age 16, college at 18, aced the written exams and proved her worth in the physical courses. I was able to get special permission to put her in early. And with her well-known history, if she became a policewoman, we felt others would follow."

"With Ken, it was a push to get college educated men in the academy. He graduated high school at 16, college at 19. I had to get special permission to get him into the academy."

"And meantime, there is poor old, uneducated Starsky."

Dobey shook a finger at him. "Your tour in Viet Nam, your leadership skill and streetwise knowledge made you a very valuable part of our police force. Don't ever sell yourself short."

"Except for when he stands by me," Hutch cracked.

"You may have two inches on me, Blondie, but you're to thin and I have nothing but muscle."

"Gentlemen," McCallum spoke up. "I know this day has been hard, and I wouldn't have called any of you here lightly. Red, go out front and keep a watch."

After Red exited, McCallum spoke to the three officers. "I have filled in Bernard in our situation, and he also knows someone threw a brick through your window last night."

"I grabbed my pistol and ran out the door and I saw nothing," Mickey reported.

"I was a couple of minutes behind her and saw nothing."

"Starsk?" Hutch questioned.

"Come on, Buddy, I was wearing nothing and had to negotiate a strange house in the dark. "Did you want me running out of the house nude?"

Captain Dobey sighed. "See what I have to put up with Ian?"

"Hutch?"

"Sorry, Captain, I saw and heard nothing. I didn't know anything until the next morning."

"Red reported he was gone for about five minutes when it happened."

"I didn't hear anything, either," Mickey stated. "No tire squeals, no running. It seemed awfully convenient."

"A warning?" Dobey questioned.

"Yes, but to who?"

McCallum looked at Mickey. "Did you tell them you were shot at and run off the road one month ago?"

"No, and I don't appreciate you telling them, Chief."

"About the notes that keep popping up?"

"No."

"About your partner being killed two years ago."

"No."

"Do you know I'm being pressured to transfer you, to keep you from being killed?"

"I assumed."

"Do you know why?"

"I'm getting close to some really bad guys."

"You know, the name Hutchinson has helped you some, hurt you some. Word is no wants to put a contact out of the famous Mickey Hutchinson, but are getting desperate."

"And your priority Chief McCallum, should be to support me getting the evidence I need."

"Hutchinson's are all alike," McCallum muttered. "I don't think I need reminded of my job, Officer Hutchinson. It is also part of my job to keep my officers safe."

For once, Starsky and Hutch had sat there, open-mouthed, unable to speak.

"You forget one thing, Officer Hutchinson. If you know too much, the assumption will be that you have shared information with the one person you trust – your brother Kenneth. And Kenneth would naturally share with his partner, Starsky. Your actions have put their lives in danger, too."

Mickey's eyes flashed at that, but before she could say anything, brother Ken stood up. "I don't know how the Duluth PD is run, but it sounds like you are scolding my sister for doing her job too well, instead of supporting her."

Starsky also stood up. "Captain Dobey tried to make sure we are safe, but he supports us in solving our cases."

"What I am trying to say in the nicest way possible, is you just buried your favorite grandmother – a woman more like a mother to you than your own. Are you ready to sing at your sister's funeral, too Detective Hutchinson?"

Starsky had to hold Hutch back from hitting the man. Captain Dobey was shocked as well. "That's a helluva thing to say to my detective, Ian. He has been through enough already."

Mickey started sobbing, saying, "I'm so sorry, Kenny, I can't go on like this, I can't lose you, I just can't, nothing else matters." Ken took his sister in his arms and Starsky said brusquely, "We're getting outta here. Nice seeing you, Captain Dobey. You too, Chief."

With that he led them out the door where Red was waiting. "Get us back to the house now," Starsky barked.

The only sounds were Mickey crying, Ken trying to soothe her and Starsky cracking his knuckles, one of his tells when angry.

Red let them out and took his familiar position outside the house. Once in the house, Mickey ran to the music room, pounding the drums furiously when Ken picked up his guitar. After a few minutes, Mickey turned on the television sets in each room, the radio in another and then beckoned the other two to a large picture of their grandparents and pulled the picture aside and pressed a button. The panel slide open and she led them into a small room. Just as quickly as the panel slid shut, she stopped crying. "Don't know if the house is bugged or not. I just wanted to get out of that room. Sorry, Kenny. You know I'm not a crier."

"You don't trust Chief McCallum?" Starsky asked.

"Trust a Chief that's trying to hard to get you transferred? I don't know. And not Red either. He was too eager to step up as my partner after Jed was killed."

"The attempts on your life?" Hutch asked sharply. "You promised to never lie to me, Mickey."

"I wanted to keep you away to keep you from being in danger. That's why I didn't visit for a while, I'm sorry."

"How would you feel if I were in danger and didn't tell you?"

"I'd be very worried and very angry."

Ken nodded.

"Who do you two trust?" Mickey asked.

"Me and thee," both said together. "Huggy Bear. Captain Dobey. Others, too, but when it comes down to it, it's me and thee."

"I'm glad. Up here I can't seriously trust anyone. Especially not some members of our family. I've been trying to check people out, feed some info and see who takes the bait."

"And Ken – I'm not sure I am the target. It could be you – it could be both of you. It could be all three of us. I feel like the cheese in a mouse trap."

"How?" Starsky asked.

"The threats, running me off the road. The brick, the shots. Whoever it was, expected I would tell you and you would come running. But I didn't tell." Mickey was silent a moment and then went to her brother, gazing into his blue eyes. "Please don't hate me. You have every reason to, and if you do, I'm glad you have a friend to help you."

"Mickey, I could never hate you. Nothing you say or do could make me hate you." Ken said earnestly, taking her arms.

"Even if I tell you I think Ingrid was murdered to get you up here?" Her voice was soft, her eyes gazing in the startled ones of her brother and then she slumped into the nearest chair.

Ken was shocked, he was too stressed, too tired, and he picked up a vase and smashed it against the wall and then began pounding on the wall.

Starsky had to grab him, manhandle him to the couch where he put his arms around his best friend and let him cry out his grief, while his little sister looked like she had lost her best friend.