Hey Mom,

Cracked another caper in Spencerville, might need larger pants with all this sleuthing success. 🕵️‍♀️ Lost heirlooms, shady raccoons, and double-crossing corgis – it’s all in a day’s work for your favorite detective, Lola Lucille. Saving collars and taking names, then back to the beach for some R&R. Don’t worry, I’m keeping my snout clean and my wits sharp!

Xoxo,
Lola Lucille 💎🐾

You know, if there’s one thing they don’t tell you about becoming a detective in Spencerville, it’s the sheer multitude of puzzles that have nothing to do with buried bones or purloined pet snacks. No, the mysteries here are saucier than the special at Bow Wow Burgers, and I, Lola Lucille, found myself in the thick of the latest one.

So, there I was, sprawled out on the sun-kissed sands of Black Bulldog Bay, belly comfortably round with my brunch from Doggy Donuts – I take my donuts like I take my mysteries; seriously. My ears perked up when I heard the news. Buster, the Basset Hound, hadn’t sniffed out an adventure, oh no, he’d sniffed out a scene straight from an Agatha Christie novel, minus the tea and crumpets.

Buster had stumbled upon a conundrum at Upper Collie Canyon; Lady Fluffington’s prized jewel-studded collar had vanished into thin air during her promenade. Now, Lady Fluffington might just be a poodle with more poof than practicality, but the collar was a family heirloom, supposedly dating back to the age of Egyptian Pharaohs. I know, sounds fancy, right?

With a sigh heavier than Nana after Thanksgiving, I knew my nap would have to wait. Mysteries don’t solve themselves, after all. Tailing it out of Black Bulldog Bay with the composure of a butler on break, I made my way to the scene of the crime.

Upper Collie Canyon was bustling like Whiskers and Wings during the lunch rush, but my discerning eyes were searching for clues, not crudités. Lady Fluffington, looking less poofy and more panicked, recounted her tale between sobs and sips from her Pawpaccino from The Canine Café.

“I swear, it just vanished! One minute we were enjoying our stroll, the next, poof!” Her fluff quivered with each word, shedding tears and strands alike.

Honing my senses – which, if I may brag, are more finely tuned than the Shepherd Skyline radio station – I scoured the trail. No detail is too small for Lola Lucille. A glint caught my eye; a chipped piece of gem sitting innocently next to Happy Hounds Dog Walking. A clue!

The suspects? Everyone from the slick-haired Schnauzer (he owns a shop, Pet Partners Pet Supplies, where the collar could be a hot commodity) to the notorious corgi twins who treat Spencerville like their personal chessboard. I, however, needed to sniff beyond the obvious.

“I saw a raccoon,” piped up a pipsqueak of a Chihuahua. “Scuttling around the canyon, shady as a cat at a dog show.” A raccoon? In broad daylight? Suspicious indeed.

Gathering the fragments of the story, like I gather my elepha… never mind, I don’t have to share everything, do I? I retraced the route. Lady Fluffington’s flair for dramatic flourish made the task daunting, but remember that independent streak I mentioned? Well, it serves me as well when I’m sleuthing as when I’m snagging the comfy spot on the couch.

And then, it clicked. A raccoon out by day, a shimmering collar, pieces of gem matching those in the Pet Partners Pet Supplies display window, and the corgi twins suddenly flush with cash — or so I overheard at my last grooming appointment.

I confronted the raccoon (a known trading partner for the twins), negotiated with a combination of hard stares and gentle tail wags (it’s a Bulldog-Boxer thing), and before you could say “fido,” I had the collar back with its rightful owner. The collar had been a fake; the real one pawned off by the corgis to fund their next escapade. Clever pups, but not clever enough compared to Lola Lucille’s wits.

Lady Fluffington was ecstatic, the canyon breathed easy once more, and me? I was back at the bay, stretching on the warm sands like a boss, eyes closing against the setting sun, dreaming of the squeak of toy elephants and the undisturbed comfort of my backyard.

Mystery solved, detective Lola signing off — until the next adventure beckons with whispered promises of intrigue and late brunches.

The End.

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