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Where We Left Off:
The Winchester-Nabu Detective Agency staff met with an unexpected visitor who popped out of the ceiling.
The Glove:
This case was one I had to present to Oliver and Gus because I’m the client. I’ve been busy, anxious, and depressed lately. There was an opportunity to have lunch on a weekday with The Butler and a couple of family members. Did I want to back out? Of course. I wanted to stay in my cocoon with Gus and Ollie. I summoned my inner Leo and drove to the next town in the rain.
I arrived ridiculously early which meant I sat there in the parking lot watching seagulls circle. We’re not near the ocean, but gulls are smart enough to stake out restaurants. I thought about bringing my Kindle and I should have. Nonetheless, I needed an Android OS to read the comic I wanted to review. It was annoying reading on a small phone screen. I don’t know how people do it routinely.
My stomach was getting angry. I felt like Gus. It had been four hours since I ate anything. In my defense, that’s not as bad as Gus and Ollie who want to eat every 2-3 hours. I put on my wide-brimmed summer hat and found a tiny umbrella in the car. I debated about putting my gloves on. It wasn’t far to the restaurant’s door. There was no purpose to my inner debate about whether to wear gloves. I stuffed them in my bag, grabbed the things I needed, and left the car. Lunch was delicious, by the way.
The next day, I realized I was missing one of my gloves. I was pretty sure I checked and again debated about them before leaving the restaurant. I didn’t notice the missing glove in my parking space or inside the car, although I did not do a thorough search.
This is where Gus and Oliver enter the picture. Why would I search for my glove when I live with two perfectly skilled cat detectives?
Ollie showed up in the office when I requested. I tossed him a few treats. He has a new type of game. I cut a toilet paper tube in half. I stand them up on the floor and drop treats inside. Ollie either knocks the tubes over with his hand to get the treats or butts his nose against them until he can reach the treats.
Gus trotted in and sat next to his spinning game. I dropped two treats in each test tube. He quickly won and I refilled it. I said they had eaten enough snacks, but both of them kept asking for more. Gus clawed his game until it toppled over.
“Here’s the remaining glove.” I presented the glove to each of them for sniffing. “I lost the other one. I need you to find it.”
“No offense,” Ollie said, “But these gloves are getting threadbare. The lining of the thumb already has a hole.”
“My partner means this case isn’t worth our time,” Gus said.
“Hey! I gave you a lot of treats,” I said.
Oliver walked over to a skinny plastic chest of three drawers. “If I’m not mistaken, you have spare gloves and thick mittens in here.”
I checked in the drawers and Oliver was correct. Nonetheless, I did have a legitimate case of one missing glove. We had days of rain and no outside adventures. In other words, they had nothing else to do.
The (Possible) Plan:
Oliver suggested that Gus and I take a short car ride back to the restaurant and search the parking lot. I disagreed. That area is heavy with traffic in a congested “historic” area that borders strip malls and shopping plazas for the next mile until and even worse traffic area.
“Ollie, man, come on,” Gus whined to his marmalade partner. “You know I get car sick. I’m not doing that. Why don’t you go?”
“I don’t get car sick, but I also don’t love rides,” Ollie replied.
Now What?
“I don’t feel like driving back there,” I confessed. I should have. It’s not far. Getting me to leave the house for anything optional is, as noted, difficult.
“Can you ask our Butler to stop there?” Ollie suggested.
“I could, but he does a ridiculous amount of driving. I don’t want to bother him,” I said.
“So, then what? Do you want to send a carrier pigeon to check the parking lot and retrieve the glove if it’s there?” Gus snarked.
“Yes!” I said. “Let’s do that!”
“I was joking.” Gus walked away from his game and yoga mat. He jumped up onto the desk chair. His paw nudged the mouse to wake the computer up and get online. Even though he was kidding about sending a carrier pigeon since we don’t have any, asking a bird to fly out there and back wouldn’t take long.
We don’t have carrier pigeons. There are beautiful rock pigeons at the Raritan River around the bridge by the Clinton Red Mill. There are probably rock pigeons in other nearby towns that have downtown areas with buildings and bridges the species was known to like. However, we do have a different type of pigeon. Mourning doves (Zenaida macroura).
Zendaya MacRora was willing to take the job. We agreed on a mileage rate. It was low risk for a bird. No hazard pay consideration were necessary. Zendaya succeeded! She returned with my lost glove!
Case Summary:
When I lost a winter glove, Ollie and Gus thought it was best for me to forget about it. I considered that. I had another pair at home. Plus, winter was basically over by March. They had nothing to do that week. I needed a distraction from the Kickstarter and my anxiety. We moved ahead with a plan to ask a mourning dove, Zendaya, to fly back to the restaurant where I lost the glove. She did indeed find it and return with it.
Case Status: Closed