Investigator: Mr. Alec Burke

Alec Burke took the train out of the city one Wednesday morning. Endless residential, market and industrial districts rolled past. He was on a case. His destination was Liltsburgh, a relatively small city, population just under twenty thousand, on the other side of the lake. His client was Mr. Douglas Sandow, husband and father of two. The Sandow family had suffered a sudden, and disturbing, loss, and consequently they had turned to the Detecting Company for closure.

Rex, the Sandow family dog, had been killed and gutted two nights prior. Alec grimaced as he recollected the case details. The dog, a three-year-old gray shepherd, was outside that night, roaming somewhat far from the house. The Sandows didn’t have close neighbors, so Rex had staked a wide perimeter when it came to territory. Some unknown assailant had poisoned the dog, luring it into eating a fish laced in paralytics, before cutting open the stomach and intestines with a bladed instrument. The introductory briefing provided to Alec described the killing in meticulous detail, highlighting the degree of savagery. The dog killer seemed to have taken his time dissecting Rex. Douglas discovered his dog’s mutilated body the next morning. The Liltsburgh Constabulary were conducting an investigation, but progress had been slow to nonexistent. There had been no arrests reported, let alone a motivation identified.

The train came to a stop with a grinding, metallic whine. Alec stepped out onto the platform, satchel strap over his shoulder. The air was cool, gentle mist contrasting with the train’s hissing steam. He had a view of the lake from the train station, where he could spot a few fishing boats out on the water. The scent of fish and lake algae lingered in the air.

The next leg of Alec’s journey was by hansom cab to the Sandow home. The cobbled roads of Cogdon were smooth compared to the earthen tracks that wound through Liltsburgh. The Sandow family resided on the wooded outskirts of town.

Alec rapped his knuckles against the door to the Sandow home. Douglas answered. He was a few inches taller than Alec, and his face was covered by a beard of thick brown curls. The time and effort spent explaining his gruesome discovery to his wife, children and the constabulary was visible in his tired eyes. He was a simple man with the shock of abrupt violence injected into his life.

“Good morning, Mr. Douglas Sandow,” said Alec. “My name is Alec Burke of the Detecting Company.”

“Of course,” said Douglas. “Come inside.”

The house was all wood. Douglas led Alec down the hall to the living room, where Mrs. Mossie Sandow was waiting by the window. She was even taller than Douglas, and much thinner, her skin tightly stretched over bone. On the wall above her, there were the taxidermied heads of two bucks, and a six-foot trout. At her feet, there was a dog curled up on a dog bed made up of a folded blanket and pillow. Mossie was petting the dog behind the ears as Alec and Douglas entered, and she looked up and offered a polite, if not forced, smile.

From the photographs that Alec had seen, the resting dog looked nearly identical to Rex, and so Alec figured that this must be Milo, Rex’s brother. The two dogs had been raised together since birth. They were relatively well known among most of the inhabitants of Liltsburgh, owing partly to the lack of restraint imposed by the Sandows. It wasn’t uncommon for Rex and Milo to stray from home and wander around the backwoods and edges of town. Milo perked up only slightly as Alec and Douglas walked into the room, and Alec thought that the dog looked sickly and lethargic. He observed the rapid beating of Milo’s heart and lungs.

“Hello, you must be Mr. Burke,” said Mossie. “My name is Mossie. Thank you for coming out to see us. Was the train ride dreadful?”

“It wasn’t bad,” said Alec. “Thank you for having me, and nice to meet you. Please, you can call me Alec.”

“Can I get you anything?” said Mossie. “Tea? Coffee? Water?”

“No, thank you,” said Alec.

Mossie turned to Douglas. “The girls are upstairs in their room,” she said.

“Good, good, that’s for the best,” said Douglas.

Mossie returned her attention to Milo. “Milo and Rex had been together since they were just pups, you know,” she said. “Most people couldn’t even tell the difference between them. Milo hasn’t been the same since Rex was… since that night. No one can tell me that dogs don’t experience grief.”

Alec produced a notepad and pencil. “Could you tell me about Rex?”

“He was a good dog,” said Mossie. “He never bit anyone, and he rarely barked. He liked to explore, just like his brother.” Mossie patted Milo’s head.

“Was he friendly to strangers?” said Alec.

“Yes, he was very sociable with people,” said Mossie.

“Tell me everything that you remember from that night, and from the following morning,” said Alec.

“It was just a normal night, nothing out of the ordinary,” said Douglas. “Both dogs were back here before sundown for their dinners. At night, Rex wanted to go outside, and Milo stayed in. By morning, Rex still wasn’t back, which is unusual, so I went out calling for him. I found the body about fifty yards north of the house.” Douglas dropped into the sofa. “At first I thought it must have been some sort of animal that did that to him, like a wolf or a bear, but we don’t have those kinds of predators around here. I’m assuming you saw the photographs.”

“I did,” said Alec.

“Have you ever seen anything like that?” said Douglas.

“Not exactly like that, no,” said Alec.

“Who would do that to a dog?” said Douglas. “He was treated like a hog in a slaughterhouse.”

“Doug, please,” said Mossie.

“I’m sorry,” said Douglas.

“Perhaps someone wished to cause you psychological harm, through physical harm to Rex,” said Alec. “Can you think of anyone that may have ill will against you?”

Douglas shook his head. “No. I have no idea.”

“Have you ever had problems with trespassers on your property?” said Alec. “Or have you ever been the victim of any acts of vandalism?”

“No, nothing like that,” said Douglas.

“Did either of you notice anything out of the ordinary before or after that night?” said Alec.

“Nothing,” said Douglas. “Like Moss said, Milo has been a bit lackluster—I’m sure he can tell that something is amiss.”

“What about what Georgia said this morning?” said Mossie.

“Moss, I’m not sure,” said Douglas. “The girls haven’t been sleeping well, and…”

“Georgia, our youngest daughter, said that she heard whistling last night, behind the house,” said Mossie.

“Whistling?” said Alec.

“She has a vivid imagination,” said Douglas. “By her own admission, she was half-asleep at the time. No one else, not me, Moss or Cele, heard anything.”

“That time being?” said Alec.

“Midnight last night,” said Mossie. “This morning she told us that she happened to wake up around midnight, and that’s when she noticed it. It was quiet, she said, but she thought she heard someone whistling.”

“And who is Cele?” said Alec.

“Our eldest daughter,” said Mossie. “Celeste”

“I went and checked the woods after she told us, and there was nothing there,” said Douglas.

Alec tapped the side of his pencil against the notepad. He studied Douglas and Mossie’s expressions. “Could you show me where you found Rex?”

The three ventured out into the woods behind the house. It was quiet but for the chirping of birds and the occasional rustle of a squirrel in the trees. The ground was moist and muddy from yesterday evening’s rain. They followed a narrow footpath that curved through the trees, the fog thickening around their ankles.

“I found Rex here, near the larch tree,” said Douglas. “The crematorium folks took the body away after the constabulary had their chance to examine it. The blood is washed away now, from the rain. There was a lot of blood.” He leaned against the tree and took a deep breath. “So, what do you think?”

“I think this is all good information, but I don’t want to jump to any conclusions yet,” said Alec. He spoke as if he had a plausible conclusion within jumping distance.

Alec looked back toward the house—it was almost entirely concealed by the trees and bushes. He imagined the dog killer staking out the Sandow home, and then luring, poisoning and dissecting Rex under the cover of night. Alec caught a flit of movement out of the corner of his eye, like something ducking down into the shadows of the foliage.

“I think we’ve been followed by two little birds,” said Alec. He called out. “Georgia and Celeste? Is that you there, behind the tree?”

Alec heard the hushed voices of two children conversing from the direction of the house before the Sandow girls gave up their hiding spot and stepped forward. Celeste had a strong resemblance to Mossie, while Georgia took after Douglas. Both were marked with dirt and grass stains on their clothing and bare feet.

“Girls! I told you to stay inside,” said Mossie.

“Are you a constable?” said Celeste. She looked to be in her early teenage years.

“No,” said Alec.

“But you are an investigator, right?” said Celeste. “From the city?”

“That’s right,” said Alec.

“Did another dog get killed?” said Georgia. She looked no older than ten.

“C’mon, back to the house,” said Douglas.

Alec checked his wristwatch. “I have an appointment with the Constabulary, but we’ll talk again soon.”