Hercules Detective Agency Case Files are Copyrighted with the U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress

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Proprietor Hercules (Roman name), also known as Heracles (Greek name), also known as Herc (Nickname)

Hercules was awaken from a sound sleep by a thunderous knocking on his front door.

"Go away," mumbled Hercules. "I am sleeping."

"Hercules! It is I, Leto the Warrior. I need to hire the Hercules Detective Agency."

"Leto," mumbled Hercules. "Just a moment while I wake up. Come on in while I get some breakfast and get ready for the day."

After Hercules had done his morning wake up actions, he began to make breakfast for himself and his guest.

"Leto, you are a great warrior. What could be a problem that you could not defeat?"

"I am a great warrior, but I do have a problem. I am very shy when it comes to women. No matter how well I am prepared for battle, I get tongue-tied and don’t know what to say or do if I am facing a woman. I end up scaring women away."

"You do remember to remove your armor, right? A warrior in full armor would scare anybody," Hercules laughed as he polished off his plate.

"Hercules! Do not laugh at me. This is a serious problem. Ever since I was a young boy I have been in love with the goddess Athena. Before you say anything, I know that love affairs between the gods and mortals seldom end well. So I have never until now voiced my love for Athena. And after this, I will never say anything about it again. Athena is not my problem. Hercules, I wish to find a spouse and begin my family."

Hercules saw a solution right away. A matchmaker.

In ancient Greece, matchmaking was an honored profession. Tying two families together was seen as a major service. Good matchmakers had to keep abreast of which families were at what level of society, as position in society was very important.

"Leto, you don't need me. What you need is a matchmaker. There is bound to be one in the village, more than one probably, the village has grown so."

"But Hercules," sighed Leto. "Unless the matchmaker is a warrior like myself, I would not be able to answer her questions. I would be completely tongue-tied. I want to hire you to go in my stead. Please!" A light sheen of sweat had beaded on Leto's forehead. He appeared to be approaching a near state of panic simply talking about talking to a woman.

Hercules could see his problem. This was going to be difficult, thought Hercules. In response to Leto's begging look, he agreed. Putting on his good sandals, Hercules was soon on his way to town, leaving Leto waiting nervously, washing up the breakfast dishes.

Arriving in town, Hercules checked in the barber shop to find out which matchmaker was considered the very best. Once he found out, he made his way to her house.

Hercules knocked on her door and was soon ushered into her home.

"Hercules!" she exclaimed. "I have been waiting for some time for you to enter my home. I have several lovely young women who might be a match for you. Sit down and tell me about your heart's desire so I can find the perfect match. One who will enhance your standing in the community."

"Matchmaker, you appear to have a mistaken idea about why I am here. I am not looking for a mate for me."

"How silly of me," the matchmaker apologized quickly. "This is for a good friend of yours, of course, as it so often is. So, tell me about this friend of yours. Is he a great warrior?"

"Yes," said Hercules. "He is one of Greece’s greatest warriors."

"Has he killed any monsters?" the matchmaker asked.

"Well of course," said Hercules. "He is a great warrior."

"Has he gone on any quests or had other adventures?"

Again Hercules answered in the affirmative.

"Is he a half-god?" the matchmaker asked slyly.

"No," answered Hercules. "I don’t think so."

"You mean it really isn’t about you?" the matchmaker blurted in surprise.

"No," laughed Hercules. "It really isn’t about me. It is about Leto, the great warrior. He gets so tongue-tied around women that he can barely speak. He asked me to come here and set things up so you can find him a good match."

"I see," said the matchmaker, her mind already running though a mental list of available young women. "Hercules, I appreciate that you wish to help him, but for me to help him you really need to bring him to me so I can find out a bit more about him. It is not only the answers he gives in response to my questions, but most importantly, it is how he looks and behaves when my questions are answered. Tell him you can stay with him, if he wants, while I do my job. That might help him to relax."

"Okay," agreed Hercules. "I will bring him in tomorrow. He will be very nervous."

"I am used to nervous, Hercules. Trust me. I am very good at my job."

The next day, bright and early, Hercules and Leto showed up at the matchmaker's home.

They were greeted by a young woman, who was brushing out the front room.

"Have a seat, Hercules. The matchmaker will be right out. And who is your handsome friend?" she asked boldly, managing to look a bit bashful at the same time.

Hercules smiled at the lovely young women. "This is Leto, one of Greece's greatest heroes."

"Hello, Leto," said the young woman softly. "I am called Athenera. I was named after the goddess Athena. My father was smitten with her as so many Greek men are. I was raised up on all the myths and legends about her."

Leto brightened. "I too know most of the myths about Athena."

"Have you heard about the golden apple?"

"Yes!" said Leto. His face lost its nervous look. He was not being asked to talk about himself. He was doing something that made him quite comfortable. He was talking about one of his favorite subjects - the goddess Athena. The only thing that might make him as comfortable would be to talk about battle strategies. But, at the moment, he was not thinking about battle or about his difficulty in talking to a woman. He was talking to Athenera, who loved tales of the gods as much as he did, especially tales of Athena.

"I know she is the guardian of Athens," Athenera was saying. "But I never heard how that came about. My father said it had something to do with a well, but he was not sure."

"It was a spring," Leto told her. "I know that tale well. It was a contest between Athena and Poseidon, and Athena won, of course. She is so wise."

They were soon deeply engrossed in the many tales of the goddess Athena, the two of them - the warm young woman, who was in search of a good and brave husband, and Leto the warrior, who was in search of a warm and caring young wife.

The matchmaker appeared in the doorway unnoticed by Leto. She gestured for Hercules to come with her.

"It looks like we have the start of a good match, Hercules. What do you think?" the matchmaker whispered.

"This was not a coincidence?" Hercules exclaimed in surprise. "How did you know Leto admired Athena more than any other goddess?"

"I know everything about everybody, Hercules. That is my job."

Hercules was quite impressed. He probably still would have been impressed had he known the matchmaker had simply asked her brother, a great warrior himself, if he knew anything about a warrior named Leto, who was a friend of the mighty Hercules. She had found out all about Leto the night before.

"You certainly found someone who could talk to Leto and bring him out!" Hercules thought it was absolutely amazing that she had accomplished such a difficult task so quickly.

"That is why I am one of Greece’s best matchmakers," the matchmaker announced modestly. "Perhaps even the best. Now, about payment. One day I will need the services of a great Greek hero. On that day I will call in that favor. Do we have a deal?"

Hercules considered for a moment, then said, "That is the deal you should be making with Leto. He is the one you did the match making for. So go make your deal with him. He is an honorable warrior and I am certain he will approve."

Approve he did. Hercules himself attended the wedding.

Hercules named this case The Case of the Amazing Matchmaker. He gave the file a pat, as if to say nice job. Feeling very glad for his friend, the great warrior Leto, and for his wife to be, as they were well suited, Hercules filed this case away with the other case files from the Hercules Detective Agency.