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Where We Left Off:

Our previous case file was a bit unusual. We covered bears and two distinctly different formats. There’s coverage of the funny and engaging #FatBearWeek. Then there’s the sad news about the NJ bear hunt which has taken 392 black bears lives.

Baby Driver:

I’m not sure what got into Oliver, but I believe it’s the chillier air activating some of his energy centers. I know fall has always been Gus’ favorite time of the year. Together, they have amped up their indoor mousing activities.

October 2, 2024

The first occurrence was on October 2, 2024. The Cook reported that Oliver had caught a mouse downstairs, but as it escaped from him, Gus nabbed it. This happened at 4:30AM and I was not ready to be in action. However, the first mouse (no photos) got away and escaped into the walls.

The house was quiet again for a little while.

orange tabby Oliver in another terribly blurry photo; he is sitting behind some boxes. caption: I failed to get good photos in the low light of Ollie and Gus in action.

orange tabby Oliver's striped tail showing from underneath a chair in the small amount of light in the dark bedroom. caption: 02-October-2024 Oliver caught a mouse. Eventually Gus took possession of it.

mouse trapped by an upside-down glass jar on a carpeted floor; caption: This "unsub" appeared to be only a child. It was likely born inside the house and had never seen the outdoors until release.

a terribly blurry photo of black cat with his paw on the upside-down jar containing the mouse; and the human's finger pressing down on the jar to keep Gus from turning it over. caption: Fortunately, The Cook came to help since she witnessed the entire capture. Gus required supervision as the captee was prepared for transport.

living mouse in a glass jar; caption: the critter was detained briefly in the Witness Transportation Unit.

living mouse in the "transportation unit" glass jar in a dark room with a flashlight shone on it.

At 7:00AM, Gus delivered the mouse up to my sleeping quarters with the proof that he is in fact, a very good boy. I never doubted that for a moment. My photos documenting the cat detectives and the mouse are of course, terrible. They’re probably fire me except no one else on staff takes photos and videos or writes up their historical (¹) documents.

This time, the unsub was captured and taken away from Gus as he and Ollie circled the detective agency offices. I grabbed a Witness Transportation Unit with the wrong lid, but it would have to do. The subject was taken to an undisclosed location and released.

Subject: house mouse
Name: “Baby Driver”
Age: older than pinky stage, but less than a year

orange and white tabby Ollie inside his cardboard office for Caturday night office hours. He's looking out one of the windows.

black cat Gus inside the space where a drawer was removed so he could look for mice (in the garage's workshop). Gus: "Don't you remember when I found that Mouse City here?"

black cat Gus inside the space where a drawer was removed so he could look for mice (in the garage's workshop).

October 6, 2024

Within a few days, Oliver and Gus were hunting inside again and grabbed another intruder. I was grateful The Butler was here and that he was willing to get out of bed. He followed the disruptive noises and was still far more alert than I was. The Butler normally wakes up around then so I was relieved when he took charge of the situation. There was a key difference in this case.

The unsub was deceased. It could no be questioned.

The Butler threw the body up to the gods and we considered the case closed. The next day, The Grumpy Old Man found the body quite close to the back porch in the grass. Both of us were surprised none of the outside creatures took it. It was there for a few days before either being mowed over or a creature actually taking it. I prefer to hope it was the latter.

Subject: house mouse
Name: Matthew Squeak
Age: 6-12 months old

The Crime Scene photos are not what I would call graphic or gory. It looks like the mouse is asleep and a little damp (from cat saliva).

Expand for Victim Photos

black cat Gus underneath a bed staring as the human tries to contain the mouse in the bedroom.

blurry photo of black cat Gus looking away from the glass jar which contains the dead mouse as the human's hand is taking the jar away.

The Oct 6th deceased mouse belly up inside a glass jar.

The Oct 6th deceased mouse laid to rest outside on the ground between blades of grass. Showing its belly in this photo. caption: the mouse was put in the grass for another critter to have.

The Oct 6th deceased mouse laid to rest outside on the ground between blades of grass.

Ongoing Investigations

Gus and Oliver have not stopped sniffing around and listening at the walls for intruders. It can be difficult to determine what they sense. You never know around here. Could be a mouse in the wall. Could be a spirit floating at the top of the stairs.

Case Findings:

There is always more work to do when it comes to hunting down the rodents who live within the buildings and vehicles. The continued plan for Oliver and Gus is to catch them and release them into WitSec in exchange for information. The Grumpy Old disapproves of this plan. He wants all the rodents vanquished. Dead. Kaput. Sometimes the cat detectives can’t help themselves and are too rough with the critters.

Footnotes:

No, I do not know the difference of when to use historic versus historical and I don’t care. I also firmly believe that the heavier sound of the “h” in these instances allows for the article to be a historic not an historic as people insist. We say a hotel not an hotel.

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Winchester-Nabu Detective Agency Year Eight: Case File No. 24-388