Here's something you don't encounter often these days - the need to hire a guard to watch the gifts at a wedding - not for the happy event itself or the reception which follows, but just to stay in the room where the gifts are located. Our friend the Continental Op draws the plum job. "Hey, you're the one who's paying!" The wedding is taking place on exclusive Couffignal Island in San Pablo Bay just north of San Francisco. The island is fictional, the bay is real! A storm is raging, when all of a sudden the lights go out, the phones don't work, and explosions can be heard nearby. Shooting too. Is our private investigator up to the task of dealing with robbery and machine guns in the small town, and protecting the wedding gifts too? Librarian's note #1: this entry is for the story, 'The Gutting of Couffignal.' Entries for collections, and the other individual stories, can be found elsewhere on Goodreads. There are a total of 28 short stories plus one incomplete; they can all be found by searching Goodreads for: 'a Continental Op Short Story.' Librarian's note #2: there are also two Continental Op novels, 'Red Harvest' (also known as 'The Cleansing of Poisonville'), and 'The Dain Curse.'