Conversations with Critters
Walk with the animals. Talk with the animals. And the highly anticipated high altitude release of Chapter 3 of The Case of the Jumping Gene...
Today Critters, the investigation is about to get heated as we feature the highly anticipated release of Chapter 3 of The Case of the Jumping Gene! Brought to you by the ever steady and at the ready J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Bright Shiny Objects Detective Agency! Because! It’s time once again for our Detective Tuesday Post!
Previously! With the double tap of a toebean on the flashing Orange biohazard emoji text message, the Critters solved a puzzling conundrum with the nondescript strip mall in the mountains, aka the Bio Lab Pacific Northwest By Northwest. Where will this literal and figurative open open opening lead them now?
Please, welcome our Core Community Critters, Jasper Kitten, Chris and Jojo in excellent experimental critter commentary and conversation!
Jasper: Hello and welcome, Friends! Fasten your headlamps!
Chris: Cuz we’re going in, Critters!
Jojo: Jump!
Jasper: Well said, Chris and Jojo! Let’s. Read. All. About. It!
THE CASE OF THE JUMPING GENE
BOOK 3 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 3
EXPERIMENTAL NATURE
Officers Clementine and Petal brought up the rear of the J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Bright Shiny Objects Detective Agency as they made their silent entrance into the Bio Lab Pacific Northwest By Northwest. The cement staircase descended into colder and colder air and the Critters shivered as they pressed on, keeping steady pace with the high beam cast ahead by Jasper Kitten’s headlamp. The ambient outdoor light receded farther and farther behind them.
Jasper Kitten stepped onto the landing, an airlock door squarely in front of him. He held up a white gloved paw and the Critters stopped and gathered round him.
A ping went off again and Chris checked his phone. An Orange glow flashed on the screen and in simultaneous rhythm, a similar light blinked above the door.
“Why, it’s a blinking biohazard emoji text again,” growled Chris, really low and really slow, almost in a whisper.
“Gosh, both the flashing emoji and the flashing light above the airlock door are in sync,” apprised Star.
“Correct,” commented Jasper Kitten. “Chris, when I give the go ahead, I want you to double tap the emoji.”
Chris gave a nod in the affirmative and Jasper Kitten angled the headlamp toward the metal bar on the side of the door.
“Go!” he cried under his breath and pulled on the bar while Chris double tapped the blinking biohazard emoji.
The door yielded to the force of Jasper Kitten’s intense finesse and dexterity.
“We’re in,” he mewed.
The door sealed shut behind them while they conferred and concurred on which way to go.
“Star, did we enter on the first level?” queried Jasper Kitten.
“Yes, Jasper Kitten, no doubt about it,” replied Star, the drawing of the maze, the very map of the levels of the lab itself, held in her cinnamon brown paws.
“Why, which way should we go?” asked Chris, examining the maze. “This away or that away?”
“Good question, Chris,” replied Jasper Kitten. “Have any other texts come in to give us a clue?”
“Nope,” replied Chris, tap tapping his phone.
“Throughout my career in Ginormous Group Rescue,” barked Jojo, “the most direct route is the best step forward.”
“Thank you, Jojo, and roger that,” said Jasper Kitten. “Star, please show us the most direct direction on the map of the maze.”
“Gosh and oh my goodness, it’s this way!” she cried.
Through the corridor, they inched forward slowly slowly when a crash and a cry rang out and stopped them in their tracks. Glass shattered and metal clattered. They detected a subtle but nevertheless acrid smoke with their keen olfactory senses on high alert.
“Why, something stinks down the corridor,” commented Chris, his low and slow growl disrupted by the onset of a cough.
“Correct, Chris. We must investigate this alarming development of noxious fumes. Please. Proceed.” Jasper Kitten forged ahead and scoped out a small laboratory, the door ajar.
Inside, broken beakers covered a workbench and a bunsen burner was knocked on its side. Flames exploded and raced across the tabletop. The Critters sprinted into the laboratory. Jojo grabbed a fire extinguisher and blasted the fiery chemical conflagration.
“Good work!” called Jasper Kitten. “This fiery chemical conflagration could have spelled disaster!”
“Safety is paramount!” bark bark barked Jojo.
“Gosh and oh my goodness, this laboratory is otherwise empty!” reported Star.
“Yes, I see, Star,” mewed Jasper Kitten, making a visual scan of the room with her.
“But who started the fire?” she inquired.
“That,” replied Jasper Kitten, “is a good question.”
“Why, this mess didn’t happen out of nowhere, no how,” growled Chris, clearing his throat loud and proud. “Furthermore, Critters, watch those toebeans. There’s a lot of shattered glass in here.”
“Thank you, Chris. Like Jojo said, safety is paramount,” replied Jasper Kitten.
“It most certainly is, Critters,” agreed Jojo. “Officers Clementine and Petal, please clean this workbench mishap up and remember, be very very careful in the process.”
“Understood, Ret. Sgt. Det. Jojo,” they saluted.
Guided by the map of the maze, Star circled the laboratory and evaluated it for any other exits, but found none. She felt a draft against her whiskers, coming from a back corner. An open cabinet caught her eye and she shifted her focus to the interior and double checked the map.
“Jasper Kitten,” she called out, “I have identified a rectangular gap on the floor. It’s approximately two feet by two feet.”
He bounded over to her along with Chris and Jojo and they felt the draft of cold air against their own whiskers.
“Excellent find, Star,” praised Jasper Kitten. “This must be the escape route taken by the mysterious Experimental Experimenter at the workbench.”
“Yeah cuz there’s no other way outta here except the door that we came through and I sure didn’t see anybody of an experimental nature leaving,” agreed Chris.
“It looks like a long way down,” apprised Jasper Kitten, the beam of the headlamp shining into the frigid depths. “However experimental in nature they may be, whoever took this way out must have intimate intricate insider knowledge of the floorplan of the building.”
Star consulted the map of the maze and hovered her cinnamon brown paw over a specific site.
“Look, according to the drawing, this route goes all the way down to the fourth level,” she pointed out.
“The basement,” Jasper Kitten swallowed hard, swatting the drafty air with a white gloved paw.
“Jasper Kitten,” commented Star with her can do Senior Chihuahua attitude, “I’ve only heard tale about this type of specific escape route in all of the years of my life experience, but it seems quite similar if not the same as a system built into many domestic houses.”
Star’s words resonated in a deep deep way as Jasper Kitten took in the full meaning of her observation.
“Yes, I see, Star,” mewed Jasper Kitten.
“Why, are you saying…,” growled Chris, low and slow.
“Do you mean…,” trailed off Jojo with his tried and true Terrier temperament.
“Yes, exactly. It’s. A. Laundry. Chute,” said Star.
“Your observation is quite astute, Star,” confirmed Jasper Kitten. “We now have a direct route to the innermost sanctum of the Bio Lab.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Jasper Kitten noticed a tuft of fur that fluttered in the draft and he reached out a white gloved paw. He gave a sharp intake of breath.
“Gosh, what did you find, Jasper Kitten?” queried Star.
He pried the piece loose from the edge of the laundry chute and held it up for inspection.
“This fur is Orange,” he concluded. “However. The texture of the fur is most unusual. It is both soft and scratchy simultaneously.”
“How is that even possible, Jasper Kitten?” cried Star.
“It is possible,” surmised Jasper Kitten and swallowed hard again, “if it has been genetically, shall we say, modified.”
A stunned silence fell over them and Jasper Kitten’s words floated in the drafty air. He released a strand of the fur and watched it rise and drift above the chute, only to sink back down and fall out of sight.
“Star, based on your calculations of the map of the maze, how far down is the basement level?” asked Jasper Kitten.
“Approximately forty to fifty feet, give or take,” she replied, counting on her cinnamon brown paw.
“Yes, I see, Star,” mewed Jasper Kitten and pulled a penny out of his pocket.
He dropped the coin down the chute, waiting, listening, counting each second that went by until a soft but distinct thud rose up and reached their keen auditory senses. Their ears and whiskers twitched forward and back.
“Your estimate of the distance of descent, Star, is correct. Although the coin made only a soft but distinct thud, rather than a plink or a clink and which logic would suggest indicates a laundry basket containing cloth items, we must proceed with more padding. It is too much of a risk in all other respects,” confirmed Jasper Kitten.
“Why, we’re gonna need to brace for impact if we go down this laundry chute,” growled Chris, low and slow.
“Chris is right, Jasper Kitten,” barked Jojo. “We could be in for a hard landing even with more padding in general. I recommend tossing as many specific cloth items down the chute as possible.”
“Your suggestion is well thought out, Jojo. Please. Proceed,” replied Jasper Kitten.
“Officers Clementine and Petal,” called out Jojo. “How is the workbench cleanup going?”
“The task is quite nearly complete,” they called back.
“As soon as you are done, please pivot to your next duty and round up all cloth items that you can find. Report here to the laundry chute immediately. Towels. Fire Safety Blankets. Lab Coats. Scrubs,” barked Jojo.
“Roger, Ret. Sgt. Det. Jojo!” they saluted.
Clementine and Petal conducted a thorough search of all drawers and cabinets and collected a big pile of requested and required cloth items. They forged ahead, buried under the weight, and dumped the load at the laundry chute.
“Thank you, Officers Clementine and Petal,” praised Jojo. “Good job. I will now briefly brief you on the situation and circumstance of the laundry chute which Star has discovered in this specific cabinet location.”
“Officers Clementine and Petal,” commanded Jasper Kitten, following Jojo. “Start with tossing the blankets and towels down the chute to form a soft but solid base in the laundry basket below. Add the lab coats and scrubs for extra padding. Please. Proceed.”
The Servals saluted and set to work, dropping the cloth items in the designated order. When the last of the lab coats and scrubs had been tossed down the chute, they stepped aside and saluted Jasper Kitten again.
“Laundry chute duties complete, Jasper Kitten,” they said, standing at attention.
“Thank you, Officers Clementine and Petal. You have served the purposes of our investigation with your full focus and efficiency.” Jasper Kitten adjusted his headlamp against his furrowed brow and hopped to it without hesitation, launching himself down the chute.
A muffled mew followed the thump of his lithe airborne body as he landed below.
“Jump! Jump!” he called up to the Critter Detectives who stared down the chute. “It’s A-okay! Follow the steady rate of the Law of Gravity! Do not, I repeat, do not hesitate! Go go go!”
Chris launched himself next and pounded down next to Jasper Kitten. Star shot through the chute, then Jojo, Clementine and Petal. All together, the J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Bright Shiny Objects Detective Agency popped out of the laundry pile, shook themselves off, tossed a lab coat here and a scrub shirt there, a toebean this way and a whisker that way, and climbed out into the room.
“Good call, Jasper Kitten,” growled Chris. “You were right about padding the laundry basket.”
“Correct, Chris. It. Is. Definitive. It is also quite large in terms of laundry baskets. I would even go so far as to say that it is on the scale of industrial strength and dimensions.”
A dim Orange glow flashed in the distance and the Critters scanned their basement surroundings. Star reached out with the map of the maze and she and Jasper Kitten consulted their precise position under the beam of the headlamp.
“We are here at the lower level of the laundry chute,” Star pointed out with a cinnamon brown paw on the page. “This is the innermost level of the lab, according to the map.”
“Thank you, Star,” mewed Jasper Kitten.
“And that dim Orange glow is here,” she repositioned her paw to illustrate an area adjacent to the inner sanctum.
“Yes, I see,” mewed Jasper Kitten. He gave the paws up signal and they padded toward the flashing Orange light. A ping went off and they all froze. Chris held up his phone.
“Is it a flashing Orange biohazard emoji?” queried Jasper Kitten.
“Nope,” growled Chris with a double tap of a toebean on the screen. “Why, it’s something else entirely, Jasper Kitten. But with one exception.”
“Go on,” urged Jasper Kitten.
“It’s definitely Orange,” he held up the phone and the Critter Detectives let out a collective gasp.
Jasper Kitten took a slight step back.
“Gosh and oh my goodness, Jasper Kitten!” barked Star.
“It’s a pic of the Ginormous Group!” barked Jojo.
“Correct,” exclaimed Jasper Kitten and took a full step forward, composed and steadfast. He gave a long hard look at the screen. “The Ginormous Group is Orange and nothing but Orange. However. Something unnatural stands out in the photo as well and while it could lead us into a trap, it could also and very well be exactly the reason we are here to crack the case. Open. Open. Open.”
He strode forward toward the inner sanctum, but froze as a cry rang out, quickly stifled. Again, glass shattered and metal clattered and the acrid noxious odor, now all too familiar to the J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Bright Shiny Objects Detective Agency, filled the basement.
A large test tube rolled across the floor toward the toebeans of the Critter Detectives, a coil of smoke spiraled from it and a spark ignited and leapt out at them, bursting into Orange flames.
🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
Poetry with Pets
Burst into Orange
Flames, both traps and clues abound
Not to be deterred
By Jasper Kitten, Chris & Jojo
Critters! Catch up on all of the mystery and adventure with The Case of the Jumping Gene! Book Number 3!
Chap. 1🐾Chap. 2
Critters! Catch up on all of the mystery and adventure with The Case of the Bowled Over Bowler Hat! Book Number 2!
Chap. 1🐾Chap. 2🐾Chap. 3🐾Chap. 4🐾Chap. 5🐾Chap. 6🐾Chap.7🐾Chap. 8🐾Chap. 9🐾Chap. 10🐾Chap. 11🐾Chap. 12🐾Chap. 13🐾Chap. 14🐾Chap. 15🐾Chap. 16🐾Chap. 17🐾Chap. 18🐾Chap. 19🐾Chap. 20
The Case of the Misplaced Priority Envelope! Book Number 1!
Chap. 1🐾Chap. 2🐾Chap. 3🐾Chap. 4🐾Chap. 5🐾Chap. 6🐾Chap. 7🐾Chap. 8🐾Chap. 9🐾Chap. 10🐾Chap. 11🐾Chap. 12🐾Chap. 13🐾Chap.14🐾Chap. 15🐾Chap. 16🐾Chap. 17🐾Chap. 18🐾Chap. 19🐾Chap. 20
(Coming soon to IngramSpark, too!)
The Case of the Misplaced Priority Envelo
Arya and I have confidence that the combined intelligence of the detective critters can solve all situational problems, including the dangers of chemical conflagrations.
Ooh a laundry chute slide and things that are getting hot hot hot! It is all becoming very exciting. Whatever will the Critters do next?🐾