Last night, Rupert, joey of Rowena the toy kangaroo, was badly mauled and mutilated.
Rupert’s body
By the time we found him, he had severe facial trauma and half an ear missing. My plastic surgery skills weren’t up to the task, so unfortunately, we had to pronounce Rupert dead.
There were tears from a very sad 10-year-old. Not to mention the bereft mother, Rowena, and her empty pouch.
The grieving mother
We set up a crime scene:
Crime Scene
And studied the body:
Rupert’s corpse
When we looked closer, we found a clue:
White hairs
There’s only one member of this household with white hair:
Gretel, the Golden Retriever
Moreover, there have been a string of other maulings and deaths:
A recent soft toy death
And two more …
We’ve also found other object trauma:
This mat is meant to have a neat, square corner.
So is this couch.
And this skirting
This was once our reticulation …
But the real giveaway was how we found this bed one morning:
Chewed dog bed
Yes, Gretel’s bed.
Believing we’d found Rupert’s murderer, we confronted her. She tried to look innocent …
Feigning innocence
However, she couldn’t fool Rowena:
Rowena having a few words with Gretel
And finally admitted her guilt:
Crime Solved. Case closed. Killer behind bars. Well, behind a fence.