Spot and the Garden Murder Mystery

Spot the dog and his pal Bacon the Chihuahua were tossing Zinnias out of Dad's garden when Bacon
suddenly stopped and looked down at the hole where he'd been digging. "What?" asked Spot with dirt on
his nose. He shook it off and looked at the hole in front of Bacon. A very large bone was sticking out of
the dirt. "A gift from the Doggie Gods," said Bacon in wonder. He dove down to grab it in his teeth. "No
wait!" said Spot. He leaned down and sniffed the bone. "Something's not right." he said. "It's a bone
Spot," said Bacon matter-of-factly. "In my book, that makes it okay." He dove down for it again, but Spot
smacked his cheek. "Snap out of it Bacon!" he said. "I thinks its a human bone." Bacon's face turned sour.
"Oh gross!" he said. "Human bones aren't worth breaking my teeth over." He turned his head and looked at
some nice ferns. "Hey, let's see if we can find some cat!" He went back to work digging a new hole, but
Spot remained puzzled. How did this get here? "I need to tell Daryll," he said, and he ran through his
doggie door.

"Ruff! Ruff!" Spot barked at Daryll and one of his older brothers. They were playing games on their Xbox
and weren't paying attention to him. "Ruff, ruff, RUFF!" Spot barked at them again. "Shut up Spot," said
Daryll as he maneuvered his controller. This required something major, so Spot wound up his butt, and
pounced on Daryll's arm. "Spot!" both boys shouted at him. They swatted him away. "Humans," said
Spot. He went back through the doggie door, and returned with the bone in his mouth. "Don't throw up,
don't throw up, don't throw up," he told himself on the way. He spit the bone in front of the boys.
"Whoa!" they both said as they lept to their feet. "It looks like a bone," said the older brother. "Genius,"
Spot muttered under his breath. "Dad!" Daryll called. Dad came in holding his newspaper, and looked at
the bone. "It's human alright," he said. "Spot," said Dad. "Where did this come from?" Spot lept up. "Ruff!
Follow me!" he shouted. Of course they couldn't understand what he said, but they followed anyway.

Bacon was still hard at work on the ferns when they arrived. "Huh?" he said as he looked up. "My
garden!" shouted Dad. He ran over to inspect the damage, and Bacon dived under the fence to be safe
in his own backyard. "Well," said Dad. "Let's see." He looked closely, and began to push some dirt around.
The boys watched wide eyed, as more bones were revealed. "It looks like we have a whole skeleton
here," said Dad. "I'd better go call the police." Everyone went inside, and Spot waled over to the fence
to talk to Bacon. "There's a whole skeleton down there," he said. Bacon was whimpering. "Bacon, what's
wrong?" asked Spot. "It's the hoosecow. He's calling the hoosecow. I've been lucky, but now my
number's up. I'm going away for good. I want you to have my bone stash Spot. I'll tell you where they're
buried." Spot laughed. "Whoa!" he said. "Calm down. They're not calling the police on you." Bacon looked
through a hole at Spot. "They're not?" he said hopefully. "No, silly. They just need to find out how a body
got into Dad's garden, that's all." He peered at Bacon through the hole. "But uh, let's talk about those
bones..."

* * * * * *

The police swarmed the backyard, and Spot hung around for a while, but even he started to get bored.
While they excavated the garden, Spot napped on the sofa inside. "So when will we know anything about
this?" asked the Dad. Spot opened an eye, and listened. "The medical examiner will have to take a look at
it, and she'll try to find out what happened to the person," said the police officer. "We can already tell that
the person is an older male, but beyond that, we really don't know how he died, or how he got into your
garden. We'll call as soon as we know anything." He tipped his hat, and disappeared down the front
walkway with the other officers. Dad closed the door and sighed. "What a day," he said. As soon as he
walked away from the door, the doorbell rang. "Again?" asked Dad. He opened the door, and old Mrs. Hurby
stood in front of him. The boys groaned, and even Spot hid under the coffee table. She had a reputation
for being very nosy.

"I heard you had quite a day," said the old woman. "Found a corpse in your flowers did ya?" she asked as
she weaved her way inside. "Yes, Mrs. Hurby. Quite unpleasant," said Dad. "Hmm, I wonder if it's old Jack
Randall's body down there?" She sat down on the sofa, and glanced around herself, inspecting the house.
"Who?" asked Dad. "Oh, well back in 1965, or maybe it was 1966? Jack and Mable Randall were my
neighbors. Old couple, always fighting, and then one day Jack is nowhere to be found." She shook her
head. "Mable always said that Jack ran off with some other gal, but I never believed it." She sighed and
looked over at the television and wrinkled her nose. "Do you ever clean this screen?" she asked. "It's filthy!
And you should really do something about your drapes. So dusty!" She began dragging her fingertips
across surfaces, and Dad thankfully led her back to the door. "Thank you Mrs. Hurby," said Dad. He eased
her out, and closed the door. "You think that really is Jack Randall?" asked Daryll. Dad shrugged. "I don't
know," he said. "We'll just have to wait and see what the medical examiner says."

* * * * * *

It was three weeks before the police called back, and they gave the family some shocking news. The body
had been positively identified as the remains of Jack Randall after all, but the cause of death was
inconclusive. A story was printed in the paper. It read:

Deceased- The body of Jack Randall has been found in the garden of his old backyard,
nearly 37 years after he disappeared. The cause of his death remains a mystery, though
there has been some speculation that his wife, Mable Randall, who has been deceased
forthe last 33 years, may have been the murderer. Police are currently investigating.

Spot pondered the mystery for a while, but a blowing leaf caught his attention, and like a good dog, he
just had to catch it. He chased it across the backyard into the garden and stopped. There on the garden
bench sat an old woman with white hair. She sobbed with her face covered by her hands. Spot cocked his
head to the side, and wondered who the old woman was. She looked up finally, and her clear blue eyes
were full of tears. "I didn't do it," she said to Spot. "I wouldn't hurt Jack." She looked over at the giant
hole in the garden surrounded by yellow police tape. "Jack and I had a complex relationship. We would
argue sometimes for hours going back and forth over the same tired things." She sighed. "But I loved that
man, and I know he loved me." She looked back down at Spot and smiled. "It was a heart attack you
know, that killed him. I didn't have the money to bury him, but I thought that if I saved it... but I didn't
last long enough, and nobody even knew." A breeze lifted her white hair. "At least you know," she said to
Spot. She reached down and patted his head. "Hey!" shouted Daryll. Spot turned his head to see the boy
standing at the back door. "Come on Spot, it's dinnertime!" Spot jumped up, and turned back to see the
old lady, but she'd already vanished. "Bye," he said, and he ran through his doggie door.

The humans continued to investigate, and eventually a legend sprung up about Mable and Jack. Spot
heard Mrs Hurby saying one day that Mable was actually a black widow who murdered several husbands
before Jack, but Spot knew it wasn't true. Humans come up with the weirest ideas!