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Where We Left Off:
The Winchester-Nabu Detective Agency discovered that Nicodemus the rat hasn’t been living alone. Not only that, he’s engaged to Muriel!
Ghost Dog:
As I bid farewell to my birthday and an amazing piece of the best chocolate cake, I put some stand-up comedy on the TV. It would have been extra nice if Gus had come to snuggle, but he went out for his Batman Time on the roof. Oliver was napping in bed with his favorite human, The Cook. The Butler was asleep. The Grumpy Old Man was still in the living room watching something on TV (likely uninteresting to me). All the security systems were set.
I didn’t hear anything unusual overnight. Gus and Ollie stayed quiet until around 3AM, their routine time for waking up to begin their begging for First Breakfast.
“Have you checked the cameras?” The Grumpy Old Man asked me while he figeted with his phone.
We were in the dining room with Ollie and Gus. It was barely morning, around 5AM and the cats were ready for their patrol and adventures. I slipped on my duck boots and began filling the three small containers with birdseed and peanuts from the large bins. Ollie jumped up on a wooden chair, walked across the long table, and jumped into his buggy. Gus paced and meowed as if that would make me move faster.
“Not yet. Did we have a bear visitor?” I asked.
“It looks like a strange dog,” he answered.
Hrmm. I had to finish getting all my gear and dressing Gus in his harness. I waited until we were outside to look at my phone. One of the motion-activated lights beamed over my head. It was hard to make out what the security videos captured. I could see a shape mostly white with large dark patches. It kind of looked like a small, skinny cow. I set up my phone inside Ollie’s buggy for him to watch the videos.
In the darkness, Gus walked up the path. I let go of his leash in order to push Oliver close to the corner of Moretti’s Rock Fortress, the first stop for distributing critter snacks.
A yowl came from the stroller. Ollie needed my attention, but before I could give it to him, I had to circle around and get Gus. That boy loves to escape and explore on his own. I know he can take care of himself, but other people in this neighborhood don’t welcome him on their properties. After redirecting Gus back towards Oliver. He watched the videos and immediately put his nose to the ground. He sniffed all around where the creature in the video had been. Gus followed the scent down the private road. In order to avoid a cumbersome step, I had to navigate Ollie around a hedgerow. This again meant I had to let go of Gus. Fortunately, he stopped before getting into the busy street.
“There’s something familiar about this subject’s scent,” Gus said.
“I had the same feeling watching the videos,” Ollie said.
“What is it?” I was pretty sure all of us were on the same page in regards to figuring out who the heck came to our property at night.
“Definitely canine,” Gus said. “Not necessarily domesticated.”
“What do you mean?” If it wasn’t a normal dog, that left wildlife like coyotes and foxes. The moving shape in the footage didn’t match those.
Oliver placed his paws on the front of his buggy’s frame. He waved his left paw and spoke to get my attention. “Human, I think you’re misunderstanding what Gus is saying. He not denying that the stranger was a dog. He’s trying to say that the creature was not alive when the cameras were triggered.”
“Are you two saying we had a zombie-dog here!” Oh no, I was not about to deal with zombies or reanimated beings.
Gus jumped up onto our wall where he could look down on his cousin’s carriage. He and I waited for Ollie to clarify the situation.
“No, no, no,” Ollie began. “Nothing monstrous like that. Merely a ghost…a specter…a phantom. That’s all.”
I couldn’t believe they were being so nonchalant about a ghostly dog running around the property. We have a lot of ghost cats here, but we’ve never had a dog. We’ve lived here almost my entire life. To the best of my recollection, a dog has never lived here. Although, the current and past residents next door have had a number of dogs. Even Lord and Lady Theodore have at least two up the hill. The closest link I could make in my mind was that there is a beautiful standard poodle next door, but it’s all black, not spotted.
Gus turned around and descended stone stairs to get back onto the pavement of the private road. I spun the buggy around and caught up with Gus. It’s not easy for me to push Ollie, keep pace with Gus, and simultaneously bend down to pick up his leash—yet, this is required often.
“Can we verify any of this with our informants?” I wasn’t the only one who noticed a deer mom and a fawn grazing. We resumed snack distribution to attract squirrels, birds, and chipmunks. My suggestion worked.
We found a red squirrel friend, Wendy (daughter of Squirla Moon). We had to wait for her and one of her sisters to stop scrambling around the tree before we could have a conversation. Our rusty-colored friend appeared to be starting a family of her own.
“I’ve been too busy to look for dogs,” Wendy said. “I’m busy! So incredibly busy! Don’t you see?”
Oliver continued the questioning while Gus was distracted watching the deer. “OK, we get it. You’re busy. But, by any chance, do you remember a time when something the size and shape of a dog flew through here?”
She spoke so quickly, I had to concentrate to follow what Wendy said.
“Obviously, I’m only a year old, so I don’t personally know any dogs that would have or could have lived here fifty years ago. That’s nonsense talk. I will tell you, I’ve heard about ghosts other than cats. There are all kinds!” Wendy stuck her entire upper body down the hole at the top of the tree stump.
The cats and I had a briefing in the office after Second Breakfast (first for me).
“All right, you two, what’s familiar about this particular spectral canine?” I had the first sip of my cinnamon-flavored coffee as the aroma tickled my nose.
They looked at each other then back at me, together admitting, “It was during a Nip Out!”
“While enjoying your dried catnip? I see.” I know Ollie’s visions are powerful on the nip. “It’s strange for you to share the same vision. You fight constantly. You’re not blood-related.”
“We have lived together for 10 years,” Ollie said.
“And sure, we fight, but we’re very close,” Gus said.
“Anything else?” I asked, but they didn’t have much to add.
Case Findings:
A blurry shape showed up on two of the security cameras one night. It was white with large dark spots and seemed to resemble a medium-sized dog closer than any other known creature. Oliver and Gus had seen this ghostly dog once before, but not in person. It was during a catnip-induced vision. There doesn’t appear to be anything fearful about the apparition. Hopefully, this is not a tormented spirit who feels trapped to this plane.
Case Status: Closed
Cake:
