Conversations with Critters
Walk with the animals. Talk with the animals. And the highly anticipated release of Chapter 6 of The Case of the Bowled Over Bowler Hat!
Today, Critters, we are pleased to present the highly anticipated release of Chapter 6 of The Case of the Bowled Over Bowler Hat! This latest episode is brought to you by none other than the incredible J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Bright Shiny Objects Detective Agency!
Previously! Things were heating up with a hot wire and a Snug in a Pub. Was the pint glass half empty or half full? Where will the action and adventure lead the Critter Detectives next? Please, stay tuned for the exciting twists and turns. But will our sleuths get bogged down on the brink of new discoveries?
Please, welcome our Core Community Critters Jasper Kitten, Chris and Jojo in excellent touch and go of the toebeans critter commentary and conversation! Take it away!
Jasper: Hello, Critters! The waters are about to get muddied!
Chris: But! My friends, the waters still run deep deep.
Jojo: Furthermore, I’m not afraid to get my paws wet. Yeah. I’ve got this, so let’s get ready! Get set! Go go go!
THE CASE OF THE BOWLED OVER BOWLER HAT
BOOK 2 FROM THE J KITTEN, SLEUTH & PURVEYOR OF BRIGHT SHINY OBJECTS DETECTIVE AGENCY
BY JASPER KITTEN, CHRIS, JOJO AND STAR IN HEAVEN FUREVER AND EVER
DEDICATED IN LUVLUVLUVING MEMORY OF STAR
CHAPTER 6
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE BOG
The J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Bright Shiny Objects Detective Agency checked in on their Client after returning from the Village of Mewingham and found Lord Archibald sound asleep in his four poster bed. They padded down the hall to their adjoining rooms and turned in for what was left of the night.
The Critters fell into a deep deep sleep, dreamless and restorative. As the morning began to dawn, they woke up to the continuous patter of the rain against the window panes and the lightening gray in the sky. Chris stoked the fires as they arose and stretched and groomed themselves.
“Gosh, how is your toebean, Chris?” asked Star as he grasped the poker and stirred the logs. The fire jumped into a roaring blaze.
“I’m A-okay, thank you, Star. The electric shocks last night were really quite minor in the bigger picture of our investigation toward cracking this Manor House mystery open open open.”
“That’s such a relief, Chris. I don’t see any evidence of discomfort or tentativeness in your toebean this morning,” she commented.
“My dexterity is as good as ever, Star,” said Chris, tap tapping the handle of the poker.
“Thank you very much for severing the live wire at the Top Cat Pub last night. That Smooth Operator is not a very nice person, but I do believe we have thwarted any further threatening emails against Lord Archibald.”
“Why, I’ll do the same thing to that Smooth Operator that I did to that wire. I’m gonna shred ‘em.”
“Chris and Star,” mewed Jasper Kitten, “let’s not jump too far ahead. We must stay focused on the latest developments and the next stage in the investigation.”
“Thank you, Jasper Kitten,” replied Chris. “I will remain calm and carry on. Where and when do we eat?”
“Breakfast is served in the Tea Room,” barked Jojo, reading a note slid under the door by Sebastian.
“Thank you, Jojo,” said Jasper Kitten. “From there, we will return to the bog. Please. Proceed.”
Jasper Kitten strode from the room, followed by Chris, Star and Jojo. They stopped by Lord Archibald’s room at the end of the hall.
“Gosh, Mr. Lord of the Manor is still sound asleep,” noted Star.
“He needs to rest and recuperate,” replied Jasper Kitten. “The hour is still quite early and it is entirely within reason that his body clock is set for a later natural wake up time. Furthermore, perhaps it will be in his best interest to be served breakfast in bed. I do not expect to see him until later this morning at which point we will bring him up to speed on our findings.”
They continued on to the Tea Room and encountered Sebastian carrying a tray of breakfast kibble scones and a tea set.
“Good morning,” said Sebastian with a gracious bow of his head. “And how did the J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Bright Shiny Objects Detective Agency find the accommodations overnight?”
“Thank you and good morning to you, Sebastian,” replied Jasper Kitten. “We found the rooms much to our liking and comfort. Thank you very much.”
They hopped onto their chairs and sipped their steaming cups of tea that Sebastian poured for them. The Butler set bowls of porridge and small plates of breakfast kibble scones before them and stepped toward the door.
“Sebastian,” mewed Jasper Kitten. “If I may so inquire, kindly inform us of what time the guests are due to arrive for the Annual Gathering of the Royal and Incredible British Shorthair Society.”
“Very well, Jasper Kitten, I believe they are due to arrive tomorrow morning at the top of the 10 o’clock hour.”
“I see,” replied Jasper Kitten. “Thank you, Sebastian. Thank you very much.”
“Of course and if any of you need anything else, please do not hesitate to ring the bell,” he said, exiting the Tea Room.
Jasper Kitten sat with his spoon suspended over his bowl.
“Gosh, what is it this time, Jasper Kitten? You have that far away look like you have a clue about something super important,” said Star while Chris picked up the pace with his own spoon.
“Thank you for the question, Star,” he mewed. “If my instincts serve me correctly, a bog can preserve all forms of evidence. Am I correct in this, Jojo?”
“Correct, Jasper Kitten. Throughout my years of experience in the Sheriff’s Department, bogs hide but also preserve all manner of materials,” confirmed Jojo.
“This is true for clothes?”
“Correct.”
“And tea sets?”
“Correct.”
“And monocles?” asked Jasper Kitten with a deep furrow of his Orange striped brow.
“Roger that, Jasper Kitten,” confirmed Jojo.
“Because of the anaerobic and tannic acid chemical composition of the bog?” Jasper Kitten further furrowed his Orange striped brow.
“That is correct. The acidic chemical composition of bogs with low oxygen is quite conducive for the preservation of evidence.”
“I see,” mewed Jasper Kitten and dropped his spoon into his bowl and hopped down from his chair.
“Critters,” he declared, “this has been a most satisfying meal, but time is of the essence and we must return to the bog.”
He swatted the air with a white gloved paw and strode from the Tea Room.
Chris downed the rest of his tea, Star gulped the last of her breakfast kibble scone, and Jojo scooped up the remainder of his porridge. And then they, too, hopped to it and raced after Jasper Kitten.
They followed him into the main foyer under the watchful gaze of the ancestral portrait gallery of British Shorthairs. They each grabbed a black umbrella from a stand by the front door and headed outside into the steady rain.
The Critters traversed the soggy grounds back to the bog. In daylight, the Catio sat nestled in the wetlands, small and in shabby contrast to the Manor House, imposing in the distance.
“Star and I will handle this!” barked Jojo as the dogs sloshed forward into the peat, Jojo with his tried and true Terrier temperament and Star with her Chihuahua can do attitude.
Jasper Kitten and Chris stood with their toebeans poised on the brink of the bog.
The Canine Unit of the J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Bright Shiny Objects Detective Agency wasted no time whatsoever in wading further and further into the bog, the tandem teamwork of their toebeans pressing deep into the peat. Utilizing the full extent of their keen olfactory canine senses in the ooze, they scanned and skimmed and sniffed the surface in a grid pattern, methodical, meticulous, dogged and detail oriented.
“Gosh, if there is any evidence buried in this bog, we have yet to detect it,” observed Star, the light flashing in her eyes.
“We could very well be here for a good long while, Star,” assessed Jojo. “This bog covers a vast surface area. We must continue the search for any physical evidence that may be connected to the Catio crime scene.”
He pressed on into the expanse of the bog and detected a certain olfactory signal. Star caught his eye and waded over to him.
“We’d better start digging, Jojo,” barked Star, detecting the olfactory signal herself.
Star and Jojo simultaneously sniffed the area. With her cinnamon brown paws, Star went to work in rapid excavation of the mud. She touched something solid buried in the bog and froze.
“Alert, Jojo!” she cried.
Jojo began to dig by her side and helped uncover the form. They gently pried it and pulled it loose and then howled at the sight. For in their paws they held aloft a muddy yet perfectly shaped Bowler Hat.
“Jasper Kitten and Chris,” they barked. “Can you see this?”
“Yes!” they meowed back. “That is a striking find! Is there anything else?”
“Gosh! Wait a minute, Critters. Wait. A. Minute. I have my cinnamon brown paw on something else!”
Again, Star excavated the mud and pulled up a small circular object.
“Gosh and oh my goodness, it’s a monocle with cracked but intact glass!” She barked with the evidence before her, rinsing it in the water.
Jojo leaned in and confirmed the finding. As he stepped down next to Star, he found the mud unyielding against his toebean.
“Star, there is something else of preserved and possibly evidentiary value right here in the bog,” he barked.
He set to work and soon excavated a bound diary. Star leaned in to look at it.
“A Bowler Hat. A monocle. A diary. All in excellent preserved and identifiable condition,” she exclaimed.
“Roger that, Star,” confirmed Jojo.
Together, the Canine Unit carried their findings back to Jasper Kitten and Chris on the brink of the bog.
“Thank you, Star and Jojo. You have done an excellent detective excavation and returned with this preserved evidence in the line of duty. I commend you as the Canine Unit of our agency,” praised Jasper Kitten.
“Thank you, Jasper Kitten,” saluted Jojo, mud plastered to his wirehair.
“Gosh, thank you very much, Jasper Kitten, but perhaps we should change our professional name to J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Dull Muddy Objects Detective Agency,” barked Star.
“Yes, I see,” mewed Jasper Kitten.
With his own mud stained white gloved paws, Jasper Kitten conducted an examination of the excavated bog evidence.
He held his pocket magnifying glass up to the Bowler Hat.
“This is most curious,” he said upon examination. “Even as I remove the mud from the material, it is so well preserved that it could have gone into the bog in the previous months or in the previous centuries.”
“Gosh, Jasper Kitten, in addition to reading up on Snugs in Pubs on our transatlantic flight, I also learned about customs and conventions of various articles of clothing of British Shorthairs. Did you know that the Bowler Hat was first invented in 1849?”
“Thank you for this important historical hat insight, Star,” commended Jasper Kitten.
“You’re welcome, Jasper Kitten. This Bowler Hat excavated from the bog could even be an original of the iconic design. That would give us a real clear timeline on the Catio crime scene,” surmised Star.
“Yes, your point is well taken, Star. Our examination of the evidence may yield further clues and confirmation of the Catio crime scene timeline as you have described so well and so succinctly,” said Jasper Kitten.
He wiped the mud and peat off the cover of the diary and inhaled sharply, then exhaled all the way out.
“The diary is in fact embossed with the year 1850,” he remarked.
“That gives us a real shot at accurately establishing the age of the Bowler Hat,” growled Chris, low and slow.
“Correct, Chris. Furthermore,” said Jasper Kitten, peering through the pocket magnifying glass, “there is also an embossed emblem on the diary cover.”
Jasper Kitten wiped more mud and peat from the diary.
“Yes, it is as I suspected. This diary bears the Purrington-Smith family crest, the same crest which I deduce was scratched off of the tarnished teapot in the Catio in the commission of the crime, the specifics of which we must still determine,” declared Jasper Kitten.
The Critter Detectives huddled round the diary held in Jasper Kitten’s muddy white gloved paws.
“The family crest on the diary is in fact a Bowler Hat. However and Furthermore. Nowhere have we seen a family crest in the Manor House. We did not and have not seen it from the outset. Not on the light blue Airmail letter. Not on the ancient and ancestral oak door. Not in the Portrait Gallery. Nor in the Library. Nor in the Tea Room. Nowhere,” summarized Jasper Kitten.
“Gosh, it really has been erased,” said Star, the light flashing in her eyes.
“Yes. And here too on the cover of the diary, we observe the inscription of the Latin motto, murmurillum ad infinitum meaning purr furever.”
“Gosh, Jasper Kitten. I wonder what went so wrong in the Catio so long ago,” mused Star.
“That. Is. A. Good. Question,” said Jasper Kitten. “If. Not. The. Question.”
“Why, I mean to crack this case like this cracked monocle,” Chris growled, loud and proud.
“Perhaps,” mewed Jasper Kitten, “if my instincts serve me correctly, there was an ancestral rift between the Purrington and the Smith sides of the family. I have been most curious as to the nature of Lord Archibald’s double barrel name, Purrington-Smith, since we first received his light blue Airmail letter back home at our Condo.”
“Why, his Lordship’s double barrel name is also hyphenated,” Chris continued to growl. “That’s a kind of split in and of itself.”
“I beg to differ on that point, Chris” barked Star. “It could be a way of bringing opposing sides together.”
“Both of you are right,” mewed Jasper Kitten. “And therein lies the conflict as I see it. These personal items may have ended up in the bog during a chase from the Catio, during that fateful violent encounter so long ago.”
“Gosh, Jasper Kitten, you mean like some kind of turf war that dates back to the mid-nineteenth century?” asked Star.
“Why, are you saying it was a territorial Victorian era catfight?” queried Chris.
“Family conflict really is an inside job, Jasper Kitten” observed Jojo.
“Yes, Chris, Star, and Jojo. I will make an in depth feline forensic analysis of this preserved evidentiary diary, monocle, and Bowler Hat under indoor conditions with my larger, more powerful magnifying glass when we return to the Manor House. If my instincts continue to serve me correctly, we now have critical and crucial clues to crack this case.”
Jasper Kitten pocketed his magnifying glass and gathered up the diary, monocle and Bowler Hat. Chris bundled the umbrellas as the rain let up and the Critter Detectives turned toward the slog back to the Manor House.
Chris, Star and Jojo started across the grounds, but Jasper Kitten refused to budge a single toebean and they ambled back to him on the brink of the bog.
“Critters, before we go, I cannot help but wonder if there still remains the possibility which could be of a most unsettling nature yet to be found in the bog.”
“Why, do you mean…,” gasped Chris as he clasped the umbrellas.
“Are you saying…,” barked Jojo, standing at attention.
“It can’t be…,” cried Star, sinking her cinnamon brown paws into the lawn.
“Yes, you are correct. Even with the thoroughness of our Canine Unit’s precision grid search, we cannot yet rule out if there is a deeper family secret buried in the bog.”
Star, Chris and Jojo huddled close to Jasper Kitten and said not a word.
“A Bog Body. Of a British Shorthair,” declared Jasper Kitten and swatted the air with a somewhat less than white gloved paw that sent the mud flying.
🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
Poetry with Pets
Search within the grid
How deep do still waters run?
Do not get bogged down
By Jasper Kitten, Chris & Jojo
Ah, the intrigue...and the wonderful haiku at the end that says so much! I'll be waiting with baited breath for Chapter 7 and the following chapters, Heidi and critters. I'm luvluvluvving this weekly adventure.
Loved the suspense and discoveries in Chapter 6, Heidi! Bogs do indeed hold many secrets. I liked the haiku as well. Looking forward to Chapter 7.