Petectives: Under Fire

Chapter 7

   Nothing notable happened until around three in the afternoon of the next day. It was the Fourth of July which was apparently a big deal. Since it was on a Friday our people were leaving town to spend the three day weekend with relatives. I spent the morning hoping that Nails would hear about this and show up to try to take over my house.

   Yoshi had spent the morning either reading or napping and was now sitting in the kitchen window waiting for our first guest. He was in a bay window on the side of the house and I was sitting outside in the grass beneath him. Willy showed up right on time, exactly at 3:00. He approached from the front of the house. For some reason he looked a bit nervous. He wasn't shaking or anything obvious but he definitely seemed like he was worried about something. When he saw me he said, "Here I am. Where's Yoshi?"

   I nodded up towards the window. Yoshi was sitting in the window but Willy had to concentrate to make him out. The bright sunlight outside combined with Yoshi's black body behind a screen made it difficult to see him clearly. Yet another way for Yoshi to be mysterious.

    "Good Afternoon Willy. I'm Yoshi. I was flattered to hear about your action figures. They sound very creative."

   Willy didn't faint but he didn't seem that far away from passing out. "Uh, thanks! Or I mean, you're welcome! Wait, I mean thanks."

   I figured that I'd better say something before he stammered himself to death. "I think that what Willy is trying to say is that he's honored to talk to us and what can he do to help?"

   Willy shot me a dirty look and said to Yoshi, "He said that you wanted to talk to me."

   Yoshi gazed down at him. "Please have a seat."

   Willy settled down in the grass next to me. "Ok."

    "As you're well aware, Percy the bulldog who lives across the street from you has been accused of mauling Sophie, another dog who lives across the street from you. The fact that you can usually be found in your front window makes you a likely witness but you say that you happened to be away eating when the attack occurred. Is that true?"

    "Yes."

    "Fine. That's the answer that you've given multiple times and I'm not going to attempt to change your position. How well do you know Sunshine?"

    "Sunshine?" The change in topics seemed to confuse Willy.

   "Yes, Sunshine." Yoshi repeated patiently. "Your next door neighbor."

    "I don't know her that well. She's only been here for a few months. Whenever she's outside she's usually in her backyard. Since I stay in my front window I don't really see her a lot."

    "But you know her by sight, right?"

    "Well, yes."

    "How well do you know Sophie? Since she lives across the street, I assume that you see more of her."

    "Yeah I know her. She's very nice for a dog. Sometimes she would come up on my porch and talk to me."

   Yoshi took a moment for a huge yawn. When he was done he asked, "What did you and she typically speak about?"

   Willy pounced on that question with the enthusiasm of a kitten going after a crinkle ball. "She always talked about Percy! He was constantly bullying her and telling her that she wasn't tough enough to be a real dog. I heard him tell her that if she ever stepped a paw on his property that he'd tear her apart."

    "Is he meaner to Sophie than he is to anyone else?"

   Willy paused for a moment to think. "No, he'll yell at anybody who gets too close to him."