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Where We Left Off:
Ollie and Gus worked with the human biographer to add to the family trees of the local cervid populations.
Out for Blood:
In mid-June, our outside adventures could begin a pleasant 64°F and creep to nearly 90°F. This was before THE heatwave that devastated countries in the beginning of July and storms knocked out electricity. Oliver and Gus didn’t seem to care about any of it as long as they could go on their stakeouts, nature walks, and investigations. The blue jays and Ollie almost always have something to discuss.
There were plenty of days when Gus would keep me out for two hours. Not that he wanted my partnership all those times. He had his days where he wanted to be solo and catch up to me later. That rarely happens because it’s too dangerous around here. I caught Gus in time as he headed towards the busy street. His leash was on and he was pulling me like he was a sled dog. I prefer to carry him across the street, but something go into him on that day. Fortunately for me, the Butler was around to take Ollie home.
The Super Smeller picked up information taking control of Gus. There were a lot of scents and noises around. I could still detect some honeysuckle when the wind blew just right. That also meant I could smell the farm fertilizer at times too. With his heightened olfactory sense, I can only imagine what Gus was going through.
Following the Trail of Clues
Gus hurried through parking lots only pausing to take in more clues. He knew he was onto a scent that grew stronger as we headed north.
“Gus, what is it?” I asked.
“My Super Smeller tells me it’s blood and metal,” he said. “I can also clearly pick up the odors of fluids that go into machines. A car, most likely. I reminds me of The Grumpy Old Man’s work area.”
He checked out an area of weeds before pulling me over to the Raccoon House. There are low windows that have metal half-circles that must be to hold the ground away from the glass and allow light to come in. If that barrier was supposed to be for a human’s egress during a building fire, it would have only been useful to people of flexible and very thin stature. With all the overgrowth, this looked even scarier than usual. Someone or something could be down there in that space outside the windows or even inside the basement*. The last thing we needed was for Gus to encounter a skunk or dangerous creature down that window well.
“Gus, I can’t follow you there,” I said.
He turned around and immediately picked up the scent trail from a different direction. We checked out space under a dilapidated exterior staircase. Gus moved along to the front of the building where there is barely two feet of space from the siding to the actual white line of the traffic lane. Cars going by had to swerve (if the drivers were paying attention) and I had to pull up on the leash to make sure Gus couldn’t run. This is one of the reasons why filming adventures is a challenge. I could use both hands free in order to scoop him up as soon as I hear a car coming. That doesn’t happen if I’m recording and need to find a pocket for my phone. I drop it a lot.
“I need higher ground to get a better view of neighborhood.” Gus ascended up the intact staircase on a different side of the Raccoon House. It provided a decent view to the north until the streets curved away. With his senses though, he fared better than I would.
We had to keep moving. We carefully went down a hill and around another building. Gus continued his quest for clues as he hiked up and down more stairs. He kept going through shrubs where I did not fit. At one point, he climbed up large rocks so I had to release his leash and find an easier way. We were far enough from the road by then.
“I can see it from here!” See what exactly, I didn’t know, but followed Gus in his excited state.
He brought me to an area where there were different kinds of vehicles parked willy-nilly. But there was one that wasn’t exactly parked. It was more like thrown. I took in the scene of the white car broken up into pieces like shrapnel. My eyes caught something bright and reflective in the morning sun.
“A body! Gus, look!”
“I saw it. I’m gathering forensic clues.” He crawled under what was once the roof of a sedan before both of us headed around to inspect the body.
It looked as if a firefighter had gotten trapped under this car while trying to help someone else get out. I posed my theory to Gus.
“Sure, this person is wearing the correct boots and pants. Where’s the coat and helmet? And what do you make of that?” Gus pointed to the body’s torso. It was an unusual sight. From the pelvis to the chest was wrapped in duct tape.
“This is weird,” I said. I bent and squatted trying to get a look at the whole figure. I couldn’t even see the face of the person. It looked like the size and shape of an adult white male, but I couldn’t be certain.
Gus made sure not to step on anything important. He sniffed the whole scene from pebbles to broken brake light covers. I asked him what he thought about the peculiar condition of the body.
He stopped next to what was left of the car’s trunk. “Ask yourself, why would someone be taped like that? Would they do it to themselves? Would someone have done it them? Would it be beneficial or harmful or both?”
“I have to be honest,” I began, “I mostly see people do that to themselves sometimes with help in order to make a sewing dummy. It gives them a copy of their body for drafting patterns in fabric or armor.”
“Can you think of any other reason?” Gus came close to my feet on the gravel path next to random thistle plants.
“Well, in movies, when someone breaks their ribs they need to tape them up.” I offered plenty of petting during this contemplation.
“I think that is a better theory in this case,” Gus said. “I don’t think we’re looking at a real firefighter here. Let’s take some more photos and then we’ll go back to the office and show Oliver all of our evidence.”
Reviewing the Evidence
We met with Oliver on the second floor in his office. I downloaded the images and videos to the computer and had them open in a collage of slides. Then I was able to write notes on the board as Gus relayed all the information he gathered. Ollie required snacks before diving into his intellectual points of consideration.
“I think the broken ribs theory is accurate,” Ollie said as he knocked over a paper tube and gobbled up the treats that were hidden inside. “And, we are definitely not looking at a legitimate firefighter. He might have been at one time which is how he got that gear.”
I added details to the lists on the board as the cats talked through the crime scene details. Fake firefighter. Broken ribs. Able to blend in.
Gus took a long stretch on his side, rolled over, and made himself into a comfortable Sphinx. “One of my questions is obviously why. If he wasn’t trying to save someone under that wreck, why was he there?”
“I think the answer is also part of the question,” Ollie said.
“I’m sitting like the Sphinx right now. Not you. Don’t give us riddles.” Gus titled his head while keeping his eyes on his cousin.
“Fine. I guess I’ll just solve the crime by myself.” I think Ollie mumbled like always but actually wanted us to hear it. “What we have here is a criminal on the run. There was something in that car that could identify him and connect him to his crimes. He drove one of those other vehicles, I’m betting the Jeep, towards this white car to intentionally make the driver scared and crash.”
“Then he grabbed the fire uniform and wasn’t trying to rescue anyone. He was trying to get whatever evidence was inside the car!” I finished part of Ollie’s train of thought, but there was more.
He picked up where I left off and filled in more. “Correct, Auntie. Now, as for the ribs and the tape. He knew he only had ten minutes at most for the real rescue teams to show up. He didn’t expect to get hurt, but he did. Before pulling on the gear, he quickly wrapped himself up. If the pants, boots, and other gear are set up correctly, a skilled person can jump into them and be ready to go in a matter of seconds. He ran out of time which is why he’s not wearing a proper coat, gloves, and helmet.”
Gus stayed where he was. I noticed his eyes closed for a few seconds. “We still need to ID him and figure out what his crimes were that he was trying to cover up.”
Oliver and I were on the same page. With our technology, we could take the high resolution images and try to zoom in enough to find dirty fingerprints on the white car’s roof. And, we sure got lucky. It worked!
Case Findings
Gus followed a trail of trace evidence using his Super Smeller to locate a fresh crime scene. He discovered a car crash where someone was disguised as a firefighter partially stuck under the wreck. Before the man could be freed, Gus knew something was wrong with this scene.
Authorities were called in, and while waiting for them to arrive, we took as much camera footage as possible.
Charles Blood was a prolific con artist up and down the east coast of the US particularly from Philadelphia to New York to Boston, but he also hit Chicago. He learned how to manufacture nitrous oxide (N2O) and use its reputation as “laughing gas” as a homemade method of getting people to tell the truth. He sought out anyone with a cough and said he could cure them with his treatment of oxygenized air. Then, he would ply information from people and use it as either blackmail or to get access to their banking accounts.
The real emergency workers were able to pull Blood and the car’s driver out of the wreckage. If the driver of the white car doesn’t survive, additional charges like vehicular homicide (2nd degree murder) would be in order. It looks like Blood will be facing prison time regardless.
Case Status: Closed
Notes:
* If you want to read an intense and fantastic novel about a heroic cat who comes across a similar kind of window, read Nine Lives by Catherine Steadman! I reviewed it for my own site, NetGalley, and The Story Graph.