The "Five"

I've always loved mysteries.

I read mysteries, watch mysteries, write mysteries, the idea of the unknown and trying to solve the unknown is endlessly fascinating to me. Since my shameless obsession with the detective genre is well known to my family (they were all characters in a weird Agatha Christie / Clue hybrid I wrote when I was 10) I actually ended up a suspect in an unusual episode this week.

My grandfather's wake was on Wednesday (NOTE: The funeral is in May since the ground is frozen solid at the moment. No I have never heard of this before either). Since the funeral is kind of the main event and weather conditions have been abysmal in Oneonta, the family around the country was told not to travel and come in once May rolls around. As much as I hated to miss the first service my budget / vacation days only accommodate one trip back and I had to settle for calling home to see how everyone was doing.

Due to my screwy sleep schedule I often knock out for an hour or two when I get home. I woke up Wednesday night to a message from my mother which simply said:

Mom: Hi Honey. It's mom. I just had a question for you. Call me when you can.

It was too late to call her back that night but I was a little concerned something might have gone wrong. She didn't sound upset per say but her voice was odd.

I called yesterday to get a full recap of Wednesday's events. There had been a great turn out and full police escort. The radio did a tribute to him and people shared stories including the time he saved someone from a burning house which no one in my family had heard before. Overall my mother sounded very happy with how everything had turned out. We talked for several minutes before she got around to asking whether or not I had sent over a certain floral arrangement.

A large "shield like" arrangement of flowers had arrived. Whereas the other flowers and gifts had names attached this one did not. The flowers on the wreath spelled out "Five". . . and no one has any idea what in blue blazes that means. By default the families thoughts drifted to me since I wasn't there and with my four other cousins that would make us "The Five" but sadly this odd familial tribute was not mine.

So now we have a conundrum on our hands. What is the "Five"? The shield brings up the idea of it being someone on the police force but they were all at the service and no one took credit for it. And why "Five"? My favorite theories so far:

1. Rich's idea was that the wreath was intended for the "Five" family. The thought of there being a "Ted Five" amuses me to no end.

2. My personal favorite, my Grandfather was part of some sort of experimental super hero group back in the 1940's entitled "The Five" whose last surviving member sent the flowers.

My mother is playing Sam Spade and calling the delivery company in the hopes of tracking down the sender.

That's all I have to report for now...we'll see how this pans out.