CSI Stormstown: MURDER Most Foul!

In which there is MURDER in the milkweed patch!

WHO committed the crime? 

Was it the Shield Bug, who was discovered on scene, suspiciously, right next to the body? Or was he merely the first opportunist to stumble upon the corpse?

Was it a Wasp? Or a Spider?

Was it Colonel Mustard, in the library, with the Revolver?

Or Professor Plum, in the kitchen, with a Dagger?

Whatever the weapon, and whoever the culprit, we have untimely DEATH in the milkweed patch. Alas and alack, our biggest and most glorious monarch caterpillar was dispatched by an Unsub (as we say on Criminal Minds) whose identity we may not ever know.

Since I was not sure if the remains might be contaminated - as T. Tiger sadly looked on - I took a big leaf and used it to remove them from the milkweed patch. They were taken to a remote part of the yard and buried. 

We are sorry, poor caterpillar. We did not mean for this to ever happen. We had big hopes for you. Now, we can only look on in sorrow. . . . 

Our soundtrack song is Duran Duran, with A View to a Kill.

WE INTERRUPT THIS BLIP WITH A LATE-BREAKING NEWS FLASH!!!!

A second body of a large, deceased monarch caterpillar was discovered by my husband this morning one day after the first murder. A Shield Bug, not unlike a vampire, was discovered actively sucking the life juice out of the monarch caterpillar!

Justice was immediate, and swift. My husband instantly dispatched the Shield Bug, and removed the body of the deceased caterpillar. We do not know if it was the same Shield Bug from yesterday (which I did NOT kill, as at the time, I did not know yet that they were predators of our beloved caterpillars), or a different one. Did we have a single serial killer Shield Bug? Or perhaps a whole FAMILY of death-dealing Shield Bugs?

And now my husband is mad at the Shield Bugs. It is DEATH TO ALL SHIELD BUGS time in the milkweed patch. He wants them DEAD! He wants their families DEAD! 

And to admit it, he is also a bit upset with ME for not killing the first one - seen in this photo, probably wearing the murder weapon on his face! - outright! I guess as I look back on this scene, I reflect: As a murder investigator, never ignore the obvious!