This work is supported by the generous backers who adore my cat stories at Patreon.com/amberunmasked and they also get first access to what’s happening with my books and projects.
Where We Left Off:
Oliver and Gus reviewed the research by a scientist who made a fascinating discovery about Cooper’s Hawks in urban spaces.
**This case file involves a deceased, found animal. Images are pixelated or behind a fold.**
Perri Tale:
After sunrise, the August mornings have been bright with sunshine. Oliver, Gus, and I have been enjoying our adventures and investigations before 7AM to avoid the heat that comes with that cheery landscape. That doesn’t keep me from dripping with sweat as I push Ollie’s buggy and try to keep up with Gus and distribute all the critter snacks. It feels strange to me to go out in the pitch darkness, where it’s hard to see anything, and then be blasted by the sun in less than an hour. When it is easier for me to see, I can help the cats look for evidence of crimes or artifacts to investigate.
The family next door went away on vacation. Gus always wants to go over there no matter what. With the humans and the dogs away, he was even more driven. Gus was on his leash leading the way with me pushing Ollie next to him (trying desperately not to tangle his leash in the wheels). We navigated up the stone path and around the first parking area. We got to the black pavement and went down towards the busy road first. Gus likes to look for signs of chipmunks and eat weedy grass growing through cracks. Sometimes we stop for a few minutes where Gus sits up on the wall in Lucky’s Spot (one of our OG cats who would sit on the wall and wait for the kids to go on the bus in the morning and wait for them to get off the bus in the afternoon).
We turned around and headed up the private road. Almost passed the neighbor’s cars, Gus and Ollie spotted something on the ground. I noticed them shift their attention. Since Gus loves to sniff all the cars, I wasn’t surprised he headed close to the neighbors’ cars.
“Gus, who is that? What signals are you getting?” Ollie directed to his cousin.
I saw what he was talking about. There was a dead body under the front bumper of a car!
“I didn’t do it,” Gus said.
“I know, Gus. You’ve been with us the whole time.” I pushed down the parking brakes on Ollie’s buggy so I could squat down by Gus and the body.
Victimology:
It looked like a type of North American Deer Mouse (Peromyscus). I could see a spot which appeared to be an injury, perhaps the fatal one.
This mouse had visible teets. At first, we assumed that meant she was a nursing mother. However, the next day, we went back in order to relocate the body and lay her to rest by the woods where another creature could possibly use it for food. While I carried the brown and white body, I noticed that her belly was quite round. Could she be pregnant? We were not going to perform a necropsy to find out, but the visual inspection seemed pretty solid. The only other possibility was that decomposition had caused her to bloat which does occur, but we don’t have that timeline for mice.
The body was not squished. This is important later when we covered our suspects. There were injury marks with saliva on the left and right sides of the body.
“I know who she is,” Gus began, “and, I have a pretty good idea who killed her.”
Name/Street Name: Perri Criscitelli
Species: North American Deer Mouse (Peromyscus)
Approximate Age: adult
Known Associates: Chipmunk Mafia – Moretti Crime Family
Suspects:
“Go on, Guster. Who killed that mouse?” I said, grateful for a quick solution to the mystery.
“Not so fast,” Ollie interrupted. “We should still work the case. Check the timeline. Compare data to the security footage.
Gus looked agast. “You don’t trust my Super Smeller?”
Ollie gestured for Gus to calm down. “I trust your nose to give us leads. We always go through the deduction process.” He looked from Gus to me and back to Gus. “No matter what.”
I wheeled the corkboard over. I pulled out the first set of photos from the file, first to identify the species. After that narrowed down our suspect pool, we could branch out the species into known visitors and visitors we’ve only heard about from our informants.
“You can skip hawks, owls, and snakes,” Oliver directed. “They would’ve taken the body.”
“Would most predators take the victim?” I asked. “Honestly, other than an animal seeing it as a fun toy, I can’t think of any creature leaving it behind.” I tried hard not to point the finger at Gus and Oliver. Lately, only two stray cats have shown up on the security cameras. I can’t even get a good picture of the tabby.
Oliver moved to sit on the floor at the front of his office. That signaled to me that he wanted catnip. “Human, you’re forgetting about accidental death. That’s why the deer and cryptid devil-deer are on the board.
Our Suspect Board showed several possibilities: fox, bobcat, stray cat, bear, and coyote. We kept the accidental death by Cervidae in our notes. We could only utilize sightings of our suspects that we personally saw or that were captured on cameras. Even though the neighbors’ security system probably shows the area where the body was found, we aren’t going to try hacking into that!
“But, Ollie,” I reminded him, “my visual inspection of the body showed that it was not flattened. It was bitten. There appeared to be a bite that left marks on both sides of the boy showing that the culprit carried the subject in their mouth. The mouse may have died during the transport from the primary location to the secondary one where we found it.”
After examining the timeline of visiting species by date leading up to the murder, we had a clearer picture of events. Of the suspects listed, bobcats have never been seen walking on the private road. They are specific in where they walk through the property which is the line called the Invisible Path. Most of the animals walk it. Other animals will walk away from it when there’s food or a mate detected. Bobcats are quite focused in traveling from the busy road to the mountain (now being deforested for livestock). Up and down that Invisible Path is pretty much it. They have been seen turning away from our property to go into the woods or on the Fire Trail which is no longer maintained.
“It seems like we can rule out bobcats,” I said to the cat detectives. Ollie was pleased that I gave him a sprinkle of catnip. “And, the coyotes haven’t been around regularly. Certainly not as often as Bud (aka, the Doppelgus stray cat).
The last species on our list to appear closest to the time of death was a fox. A couple of the foxes running through the estate this year appear skinny and young, perhaps growing youngsters. Bigger ones stand out easier in the black and white footage during summer.
List of Older Foxes:
- Johann vonFuchs
- Kirsten Killabrand
- Vivica B. Fox
- Joe Vulpesci
- Zorro
List of 2025 Younger Kits:
- Ruby
- Sonja/Red Sonja
“I thought for sure it would be my doppelgänger too.” Gus turned away from the board and spun the tubes of his empty treat-dispensing game. His not-so-subtle demand for rewards was not overlooked. I went into the treat drawer and grabbed the chicken prizes to fill his game.
“That doesn’t mean your Super Smeller was wrong.” I tried to show Gus that he wasn’t entirely wrong. “I’m sure Bud walked around, sprayed the hedges you always stop to smell, and investigated the mouse’s body. There was transfer of his scent, for sure.”
Oliver, enjoying the spiritual vibes of his catnip, agreed. “Of course, Guster. Your Super Smeller is unrivaled!”
Case Findings:
We discovered the body of an adorable brown and white deer mouse already dead from injuries. By breaking down the timeline of the last known appearances of the most likely subjects, Oliver and Gus were able to deduce that a fox was responsible for the little mouse’s demise. Unfortunately, we were unable to identify which fox.
Case Status: Closed