The day it all changed was the day when I met Otis Shemloh, the Otter of deduction. I bumped into him at a city block, and after the collision, he quickly said “Follow me. We are heading to a scene”, and without question, I followed. I have no logical reason as to why I followed Otis. He was a stranger to me. Maybe it was his enigmatic persona? We walked to his car. Once we settled in his car, I immediately started asking “Where are we going, and why did you tell me to come? ” He curtly responded “A scene, and because you are a dog, now silence. As infuriating as he was, I kept silent because he enthralled me.
As we rode along, I watched the skyscrapers turn into trees, and the sidewalks turn into grass. We went from urban to rural in an hour. During the ride, I thought about my career as a writer, and how earlier that day I was talking aloud to my interactive voice typewriter. I could not come up with anything noteworthy, so | left my house out of frustration. I was headed to a park for inspiration when I ran into Otis. Eventually, we arrived at a demolished straw house that was torn apart and stained with blood.
Otis picked up what looked like a halved hoof, and then we went to the next house. Upon arrival at the second house, I realized that Otis was investigating the story of the three little pigs that I heard about on the news two days earlier. There was a mutilated pig ear in a pile of wood, but there was hardly any blood. We left and reached the last destination. The third house was in perfect shape. Everything seemed unscathed. Now! needed answers. I sternly exclaimed “Unless I am mistaken, we have been investigating the three little pigs’ story.
This case was resolved already. The wolf ate two of the pigs, and then the third pig killed the wolf in self-defense. Right now we are trespassing, so tell me why we are here. ” He ignored me, and opened what looked like a cellar. He then ordered “smell down there” I took a woof of a dreadful smell. “It’s a human carcass. ” | stuttered. Otis turned on a light, and we proceeded down into the cellar. “Direct me to the smell” he whispered. Then I realized it: Otis wanted me to come because I am a dog and I have an acute sense of smell.
My nose lead me to a large crate. Otis opened it, and the smell intensified. The wretched smell burned my nose, and my eyes filled with water. I ran up the cellar. Otis then shut the crate and came up to me. He spoke softly “The wolf is not guilty. It was a human butcher. ” “What? ” | dumbly blurted. Otis explained “Listen closely. A human butcher came to kill the pigs for their meat. At the first house, he lashed through the straw, and as the pig was defending himself, the meat cleaver sliced right through his hoof which is why we found half of the hoof.
For the next pig, the butcher realized it was better to have the meat fresh, so he knocked the pig unconscious and took him alive. When the butcher tried picking the pig up by the ear, the ear was ripped off. The third pig happened to witness the butcher carrying the second pig off. The third pig plotted against the butcher. The butcher showed up to his house. He welcomed the butcher in, and convinced the butcher to go down to the cellar, and peer into the large crate. He then pushed him inside and locked the crate. The butcher rotted to death and the pig contacted the authorities.
The government covered it up with the big bad wolf story because they did not want to deal with the mass panic of the human animal killer. ” “You have to publish your findings. ” | urged. “I won’t. ” he calmly spoke. “What, why not? ” | questioned. He smiled and spoke “Do you think it was mere coincidence I bumped into you? ” When he said that, it all made sense: Otis knew I was a writer. We drove back in silence. He dropped me off and said “by the way my name is Otis Shemloh. ” As I was about to introduce myself, he interrupted me saying “I already know who you are. ” and he drove off.