Putting aside my thoughts of Paul’s visit, I drifted off to sleep in my yard. I was enjoying the most lovely dream. In it, I was chasing rabbits—I would never hurt rabbits, mind you; I just like to chase them—when I heard the sound of loud panting in my ear.

Opening one eye, I saw a dog before me. But not just any dog. This dog was sitting back on hind legs, and, if I had to guess, I’d say it was a Great Dane wearing a deerstalker hat. Odd choice of hat, I thought, closing my eye again. I wasn’t the slightest bit scared. In my experience, if I don’t bother other creatures, they don’t bother me. I figured if I just ignored it, it would go away.

But no.

“Dr. Catson, I presume?” the dog said.

This time, I opened both eyes.

“Who wants to know?” I asked warily.

“I am Sherlock Bones,” the dog informed me.

That name sounded disturbingly familiar.

“I believe,” the dog went on, “Our Mutual Friend said I would be stopping by?”

It took me a while to piece together what he was telling me. Yes, it had only been one day since Paul had come to call. But you must realize, I’d napped at least a dozen separate times since then. So for me, it felt like ages ago.

And then it hit me. Who this was. What this was about.

“He never said you were a dog!” I cried, outraged.

“And he never said you were a cat,” the dog said. “But since he is one himself, I deduced that you were likely one as well.”

“I told him,” I said, “that I don’t want a housemate.”

“Yes, I believe he may have mentioned that small fact. But never mind that now, though, because— ” And here, his eyes grew wide in excitement as he raised a paw in the air as though pointing at the sky. “The game’s afoot!”

“Which one?” I yawned.

“Pardon?”

“Well, you have four feet, don’t you? So I want to know: Which foot are we talking about?”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“Then why on earth did you say it?”

I might have been wrong, but it did seem to me that the dog was starting to look annoyed.

“What I meant was,” the dog said, a gleam of excitement filling his eyes again, “a crime has been committed!”