February 26

6:01 PM

They say that the best clues come in small packages, which is why I always pack light, and you’ll never ever guess what I saw. I’m coming off a big solve in the Case of the Disappearing Bike and was stumped by the Evaporating Monkey, so I’ve been on the look out for some fresh action. I was scouting for the next hot scoop at the “Rafferty Crawl.” Miss King told me that that’s where all the tourists go to drink lots and lots of juice downtown. I guess it stimulates the local economy. 

I was just about to head to The Crime Scene Bar & Grill, and that’s when I saw it: Dog Catcher’s pure-bred, mutt-killing husky, Madame, killing a mutt in an alleyway. I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears, as the poor mutt whimpered, attacked by the other dog that was much bigger and scarier. It just wasn’t fair, and it just wasn’t just. I can still hear the squeals in my dreams. Why does our town have so much violence? That alleyway mutt had rights, but Dog Catcher’s vicious mutt-killing husky killed him viciously anyway! 

There has to be something deeper to this story, something at the bottom of the scoop, at the base of the barrel. Why would a dog do this? How can Dog Catcher let this happen? What else happens around here? There were bite marks on Mayor Eoghen O’Connor, and they seemed very dog-like, maybe even canine-esque. I know what I have to do: I have to interview local townsperson Dog Catcher to gather more information and get to the bottom of this. How deep does this dog-hole go? Seems like Dog Catcher is in the slammer right now, so that’s my next stop. This is your local detective Astrid Nilsson signing off for now.

—A. Beer