Good morning. My name is Murphy and I’m a dog. I used to live with Ben Ventris but for unforseen and gruesome reasons, I now live with Pat and Jasper Harris.
Dogs don’t get credit for being the world’s smartest creatures. They should. Poor ol’ Jasper, the boy I’ve adopted, really needs me. He thinks owls are wise but all they do is ask questions. I never did hear one give an answer. Limited vocabulary. All they say is, “Who?” Huh! I communicate with humans a lot better than that. Tail wags, a few whines, some barks, a lick or two–they say a lot. But, does Jasper pay attention?
I knew who shot poor ol’ Ben. I was right there and I growled and bit that sorry murderer, but he just howled worse than I do, and took off. I chased him, but he was faster. I coulda told Darcy and Flora but did they ask me? Nope! They have this thing about owls too. Sometimes I fear for the human race.
Right now, snow and ice cover everything in Ventris County and I heard an owl last night flying around saying, “Who? Who?” Dumb bird! Did he think someone was guilty of causing the bad weather? I tell you truly, bad weather didn’t slow me down at all. I trailed up a rabbit, treed a squirrel, and then scared away a burglar that threatened to come into Pat’s house. She never knew a thing about it, just slept on, but Jasper may find out when he notices those big ol’ tracks the burglar left under his window.
This last scrape that Darcy and Flora got into had even me puzzled. For one thing, it went way, way back when my great-great-ever-so-great Grandpappy Orlis was a pup. Who knew? I have one consolation: not one owl in the whole woods knew what happened either!
The people in Ventris County and Ednalee, Oklahoma, like dogs. 
They like cats too. For more about these animals and the people they have adopted, go to Amazon.com and take a look at the cozy mysteries by Blanche Day Manos.
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