Free Barking Detective 04 - The Chihuahua Always Sniffs Twice by Waverly Curtis Page B

said, “that’s an excellent idea. But what would I say? ‘Did you attack my dog last night?’”
    “I had something more clever in mind,” Pepe said in a mild tone that still managed to convey his superiority. “It is a ploy we have employed many times before.”
    “And that is?”
    “My dog got loose!” He squeaked a little, trying to imitate the hysterical tones of a female human.
    “Oh!” It’s true we had used this technique successfully to gain access to yards on previous cases. “But the fence!” I pointed out.
    “ Sí, ” said Pepe. “But the fence was designed to keep out cocker spaniels, not Chihuahuas. I can simply slip through it.”
    “But what about me? I can’t chase after you.”
    “ Es verdad, ” said Pepe, eyeing me up and down. I was afraid he was going to say something about the few pounds I had gained. Felix didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he was responsible for some of them as he almost always showed up at my house with a pint of chocolate-chip cookie-dough ice cream, my favorite.
    “You will have to go around,” Pepe said at last, gesturing down the road. “You can drive up the driveway on the other side.”
    “OK!” I wasn’t so sure this would work. “But, Pepe, I don’t think you can fit through there!”
    “Watch me, Geri!” he said. And he dove at the bottom of the fence, scraping away with his little paws, shoveling dirt as fast as a gopher. Pretty soon he had a nice trench dug out, and he scrunched down to get through it, pushing with his hind legs, scrabbling at the dirt with his front legs, his little white torso completely filling the gap.
    After a few minutes I said, “Pepe, you’re stuck!”
    “I am not!” he declared. He scrabbled some more with his front paws.
    “Decidedly not,” he said after a brief struggle, during which he used his hind legs to wriggle forward about half an inch.
    “Perhaps,” he admitted with a gasp.
    I studied him. “You remind me of Pooh Bear when he got stuck in Rabbit’s hole after eating all of Rabbit’s honey,” I said, studying his little white butt, “though you look more like Piglet.”
    “Did this bear manage to get unstuck?” Pepe asked.
    “Yes, he did,” I said.
    “Was it because his friends pushed or pulled him through?” he asked.
    “No, they tried that, but it didn’t work,” I said. “But just to be sure, let’s give it a try.” I tried pulling him by his hind legs, then tried pushing on his butt. Back and forth we went, with Pepe making the most heart-breaking little squeaks. Finally I gave up.
    “So how did this Pooh character get free?” Pepe asked.
    “I don’t think you’re going to like it.”
    “Just tell me, Geri. This is a most undignified position to be in.”
    “They left him there without food for several days, and he lost enough weight so he could slip through.”
    “Unacceptable!” said Pepe.
    “Here!” I said. “Maybe I can make the opening larger.” I grasped the wires of the fence with both hands and pulled up a little. With a gasp, Pepe wriggled free. He trotted out into the driveway and shook himself off.
    “I will reconnoiter,” he said, turning to face me. “You meet me!”
    “OK!” I climbed into my car and drove down the gravel drive. The turn was too tight at the bottom for me to make a U-turn. It was obvious the two driveways had been one long drive before they were divided by the fence. So I had to go down the road to the driveway of another farm, pull in, back up, and reapproach the entrance to the farm.
    This driveway was also paved with gravel. I could hear my tires crunching as I drove up toward the red barn. Off to my right, in the lavender fields, I could see hunched figures. Workers were out there with baskets, picking lavender.
    I was about twenty yards from the big red barn when suddenly I heard gunfire. Pow! Pow! Pow! The gravel rattled. And I saw a little white streak heading down the driveway. Pepe was heading straight for my car, running so