A Short, Intensely Powerful, Era, Has Come To An End

I really cannot take it in just now.  Our handsome, nay, beautiful, ginger pussycat, "Peeps"; so loving, so adoring of Ann, my wife, so much a scamp, so fun to watch playing with his toy mouse, or a newspaper on the floor... has died, suddenly - cause currently unknown - yesterday afternoon.
It was a lovely, sunny, mild day, and I'd let Peeps out into the front garden for a 'change'.  Peeps rarely went out the front, preferring just our back garden, and which we, only once, ever saw him jump up onto the back fence as if to go 'exploring' elsewhere, but he never did.  In fact, even when the back gate was opened to take the wheelie-bin and recycling bags round to the front of our property, ready for the "Bin Men", Peeps would never venture past the gateway!  I don't think he was a 'wuss', as they say these days, I think he was just too unsure of the big, bullying, cat from two-doors up, to want to venture out.
But yesterday, I thought I'd let him out into the front garden - he wanted to come with me while I replenished the bird food in the feeders and bird table - and, as it was daylight, I figured I'd see how he arrived back inside our bungalow through the back door?  Did he come over the roof?  Did he go down the side alleyway and then over the back fence?  Considering he never ever jumped over the back fences, just *how* did he get back indoors when he went out the front?  All previous times for this, was night time - because we only got him last October, so this Spring we were *really* looking forward to seeing how he liked the south-facing (so *very* sunny) back garden.  Now we'll never know.
After an hour of him being out the front and not returning - highly unusual for Peeps - I went to find out where he'd got to.  And found him just inside our next door neighbour's front gate, very recently dead.
I couldn't believe my eyes!  "Peeps!" I cried, and looked around for meanings... There were no visible signs of poisoned foodstuff, or saucers of antifreeze (a common poison used by cat-haters); nor a sign of a scuffle with another cat.  No visible wounds, broken bones from a car hitting him - and the driver then moving him off-road into our neighbour's garden - nothing to tell me how he'd expired so suddenly, at hardly three years old, and apparently still as fit as a kitten...
We've taken him to our veterinary practice for a post mortem, and they say the results - such as they will be - they'll communicate to us this afternoon.
Actually, I don't think I can write anymore, I'm getting choked up...