"Justice."
"Work."
"School."
"Fail."
"Lose."
"Win."
Joon stands patiently in front of Bud & Lou's cage within Brooklyn's animal regulations office, only this time, with an audio player in his hand. Johnny and Joon's conversation projects from the recorder while Jin leans against the cage and watches with folded arms.
"You recorded your conversation with the professor?"
"I record all of my conversations with suspects. Mr. Haley used an attack command to trigger these dogs, I know it. But there's millions of possibilities. He could dangle the word in front of me and I wouldn't have a clue... But these dogs would. If Mr. Haley did in fact say the word during our conversation, the dogs will react."
Just then, the office's telephone rings loudly from its little sub-room. Bud & Lou instantly stand up and whimper, reminiscent of the last time someone dialed.
"W-why are they getting up?" Jin flinches.
"It's something to do with the phone. It's like they react to it but not enough to turn violent. I'll answer it."
Joon places the audio player inside their cage and lets the recording carry on whilst making his way to the telephone.
"Detective Joon speaking."
"Joon, it's Bullock. I'm calling about the death order on these dogs. This judge is on my case about getting them put down tomorrow—"
"Commissioner, I understand that they killed a man but I'm not so sure it was really the dogs. I can't prove anything without them. Please just get the judge to hold off a little longer—"
"GRRR!! WOOF WOOF!"
"Joon! JOON!"
The Detective instantly abandons his phone call and hurries back into the room to witness Bud & Lou aggressively trapping Jin's pant sleeve between their growling teeth. Joon quickly pulls his friend free which diverts their attention to the record player, which they chew instead.
"What happened?"
"I don't know! I was just chilling here and they went crazy!"
Joon watches the two Dobermen run around their cage like a pair of moths in a jar. His gaze occasionally shifts to the record player as he pinches his chin and thinks...
Finally, he's got it.
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Mr. Haley approaches his home with a briefcase in-hand and a sophisticated work suit to hug his form. Upon entering, his brows slowly lower at the sudden blare of his telephone ringing from the kitchen. He lowers his suitcase and enters the dark room... Only for his eyes to bulge at the straw dummy that now dangles from the hook on his kitchen ceiling, dressed in Charlie's vest.
Johnny freezes in place at the sight until Bud & Lou suddenly enter the kitchen through their door flap and hurry towards the phone with familiar whimpers. It's as if the crime scene has been recreated through a nightmare.
Johnny slowly approaches the ringing telephone, his heart pounding with every step until the lights suddenly switch on. The paranoid professor immediately rotates to see Detective Joon with one hand on the light switch and the other in his pocket, standing there with a calm smile.
"That's quite a stunt, isn't it sir? The way the dogs run over to the phone like that. Can you believe I got permission from the regulation people to bring them home just to play this little game?"
Johnny places a hand over his chest to calm his racing heartbeat. "Y-You've got a morbid sense of humor, Detective."
"You know... It's like the dogs were trained to be in this spot when they killed your friend. I mean Charlie answered the phone right before he was murdered, and the caller had to be certain that only the kitchen telephone would ring. You know, since the dogs were trained to attack here. That's why the other phone in your study room was disconnected, right?"
"I-I wouldn't know."
"Then come, let's have a look."
Joon eagerly leads Johnny upstairs to the study room, leaving the professor to reluctantly follow.
"See? Unplugged." Joon crouches, "Well I unplugged it this time but the sight should jog your memory... Care for a game of pool, sir?"
"C-certainly." Johnny responds with a nervous swallow, leading the younger to pluck a cigarette from his pocket and set it alight. Smoke delicately dances in the air as Joon balances the cig between his lips, removes his trench coat and grabs a cue stick.
Joon's stance lowers as he jolts his stick against the white marble, causing it to saw through the velvet like a pinball. Satisfying knocks play out when the balls collide and disperse into one another until a couple fall into the corner pocket.
"If you'll kindly look in that pocket, sir."
Johnny's brows intertwine when he slowly reaches a hand into the table's netted pocket and pulls out a piece of fabric.
"They managed to obtain some torn fabric from Mr. Higgins' jacket the other day. See that? That's what the murderer dressed the dummy with. So the dogs would take Charlie's scent and reinforce the kill command."
"I see... What does all this have to do with me?"
Joon draws the smoking cigarette from his lips and shrugs. "Well Charlie died in your house. The dogs are your dogs. And then there's your fiancee..."
Taking his second shot, Joon successfully knocks another marble ball into the middle pocket.
"If you'll just look in that middle pocket sir."
Confusion and paranoia lace Johnny's features as the professor reaches into another netted pocket and pulls out a Polaroid. One that showcases Charlie and Lorraine sharing a romantic kiss.
"I plucked that from the pile of photos you keep in your drawer. Before you got to it, that is. Which means that you knew about the affair."
"You went through my office?"
"Call it a means of investigation. But what stumped me was the dogs. See, I couldn't figure out what would make them go crazy. Even after recording our conversations, I couldn't get a peep out of them... That was until they heard this part."
"She gardens often?"
"When it's warmer, yes. Spring and summer are real treats in this house. By then, the flowers are fully blossomed and the fruits are ripe enough to eat. She tends to stick to the easy things though. Oranges, apples, plums—"
Joon stops the recording.
"Plum. Now when the dogs heard this, they went crazy. My guess is you trained them to view the ringing phone as a sort of initiator. I'm also guessing that you tricked Charlie into shouting the attack word when you called him so the dogs would react."
"Me?"
"Yes, you." Joon balances his cigarette between his lips once again, letting its smoke cloud his vision as he hunches over and knocks the marble, letting 3 balls soar into their nets. "Because I know you killed Mr. Higgins."
"T-That's preposterous! Even if your theory does sound plausible, you have no proof that it was me on the phone."
"But I do. Your motive was the affair, your opportunity was knowing that Lorraine would be outside reading, and—"
"And I was nowhere near the crime scene. The judge will believe that it was solely the dogs. I was getting my heart exam, remember?"
"I was hoping you'd bring that up."
Johnny frowns tremendously as Joon rests his cue stick against the table and strolls closer, balancing his cigarette between two fingers while he reveals some paper from his back pocket.
"What's that?"
"A monogram from your heart exam. This is a visible representation of your heartbeat from 3pm to 3:10. But at exactly 3:05... Your heartbeat went soaring! See these spikes? It's like you'd seen a ghost. In actuality, you waited for your doctor to leave the room before phoning your own house. All while being hooked up to the machine. You heard Charlie dying through the phone which sent your heart racing, and then you hung up just as the doctor was returning. Does that sound about right?"
Joon's explanation leaves Johnny to tense up with nervously flexing lips. Safe to say, the professor was finally speechless.
"You know, for a man of your intelligence... I'm quite disappointed. I mean you left enough clues to sink a ship. Motive, opportunity, material... Literally. I caught you in a lot of stupid lies. You didn't even come up with a plan as to how you'd get the dogs back, or what Charlie could've done to provoke them in the first place. It was an easy case. Very easy case..."
Joon's words morph Johnny's frown into a vengeful scowl. He irritatedly tosses his cue stick onto the table and calls out;
"Bud! Lou!"
It takes only mere seconds for his two trusty Dobermen to hurry in from downstairs. Joon's brows furrow at the evil professor when he cracks a grin and points,
"PLUM!"
The Dobermen instantly charge at Joon with loud barks before lunging their paws against his chest and pouncing, causing the detective to fall on his back and struggle beneath their weight. Johnny grins massively as he walks towards them and watches his dogs...
Give Joon kisses.
"Well aren't you two the cutest? Alright alright, you get one more kiss before I get up." Joon gets up with laughter that fills the room. His messy hair and joyful grin only fuels Johnny's shock.
"I-I don't understand. They should've killed you!"
"You're right. They should've... If I didn't have a dog specialist deprogram them. Now when they hear plum, they kiss instead of attack. Neat, right?"
Now standing, Joon calmly recollects his burning cigarette from the pool table and picks up his cue stick. He leans forward once more and looks out the window alongside Johnny to witness Jin approaching the house with a squad of officers, all trotting through the snow to arrest Johnny. The successful Detective uses his low angle to spare the killer one last friendly smile.
"Still want to play that game of pool, Sir?"
This mystery was one of the easier ones but I still wanted to share it. Well done if you solved the case! Until next time! 🖤