Case of the Secret Staircase by Jeffrey Poole

Author:Jeffrey Poole
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mystery, cozy mystery, holiday short stories, mystery short stories, stories with dogs, cozy mysteries with animals, corgi dogs in mysteries, haunted hotel books
Publisher: Columbine Publishing Group, LLC

Part III

“Son of a biscuit-eater!” I bellowed out, throwing myself backward and executing a half-roll, to land on my back. “What the fracknoggin’ …?”

“Such harsh language,” a familiar voice teased, not bothering to hide the amusement in his voice. “Whatcha doin’?”

Vance Samuelson, senior detective at the local police department, and a good friend of mine, leaned over me and looked down.

“Dude,” I started sputtering, “I’m gonna … I’m gonna …”

“… need a new change of underwear?” Vance teased, as he gave me a hand up. “I was driving by and saw you on the ground, so I thought I’d check to see what you were doing.”

“Besides giving me a heart attack? I’m just doing a little Ghostbusting’, that’s all.”

Vance regarded me for a few moments.

“Seriously?”

“It’s the Day of the Dead,” I explained. “And, wouldn’t you know it, a few things have disappeared from the house. We were brought here to try and figure out what’s going on.”

Vance stepped around me to gaze at the front entrance of the house, which was nearly twenty feet away. He took a few more steps as he studied the contours of the house, then he turned back to me. Then, his eyes dropped to the dogs, who were both chomping at the bit to be allowed to say hello. Eyeing Vance, who nodded, I gave both dogs permission and watched as they raced each other to see who could get to him first. For the record, Watson won this round.

“Hi, guys!” Vance cheerfully greeted, as he squatted down to give each of the dogs a scratch behind the ear. “Look what I’ve got for you!”

Doggie biscuits were produced. Two corgis were suddenly behaving so angelically that I’m surprised halos hadn’t appeared over their heads. Both dogs sat. Sherlock even raised a paw, as though he was expecting to be asked to shake in order to earn his treat.

“Enjoy, guys. So, you’re checking out, what, some burglaries?”

“Yeah, people have reported several missing items.”

“Izzat so? Anything I need to know about?”

“It’s just piddly stuff. Someone lost a scarf, another a mitten. The couple in the room up there lost the charging cable for their phone.”

“You’re right. It doesn’t sound like you need my help at all. All right, I’ll leave you to it. Let me know if that changes.”

“I will. Thanks, pal.”

Once my detective friend was gone, I dropped to one knee next to the dogs.

“That’s what you get for living in a small town like this. Friends can drop in at any time. However, I have one request: how about a little bit of a warning next time? If you see someone sneaking up on me, which means the person who feeds you, takes you for walks, and buys you goodies at the pet store, is about to get the bejesus scared outta him, then what about letting out a few warning woofs? Remember, you’re on my side, not his.”

Both dogs barked, in perfect unison.

“Okay, that’s just a little creepy. I didn’t expect an answer. And Watson, you rarely bark.

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