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Sunday 14th June
Artemis was asleep when the bell rang and woke him from his slumber; it was most annoying for the little dog. Yesterday had been a hard day at work for them with many bushes being hidden behind in pursuit of an adulterous human, but Arty thought it was worth it for the multiple snacks eaten.
‘What da ring noise?’ thought Arty, ‘don’t ya know I am having me a snoozel?’ He lifted his head and stared at Hazel who was talking on the phone. Eventually she put the phone down and let out a squeal of excitement.
“Come on, Arty, time for a trip to Les Liens! We’ve got a murder to solve!” exclaimed Hazel.
‘Heckums lady, don’t ya fink yous got to put some clothes on you before we do murder solving?’ barked Arty.
“I think I better get dressed first, though. What to wear? Nothing too fancy, got to be professional.”
Artemis ran into his mistress’s bedroom and pulled her favourite scarf from a pile of clothes on the floor. He scampered back to Hazel, the scarf flying behind him.
“Dis one, lady. Da man gave it you before he did do vanish. It puts you a smile.”
“Perfect. Chein intelligent.”
Arty loved being told he was a good dog, but he would have preferred a chicken flavoured treat from the box in the kitchen.
"Why you make so much bumps, Henrietta," barked the dog as he sat next to Hazel in the 2CV, "you doin me a shake!"
Arty hated Henrietta with a passion; he needed a clear mind to concentrate when sniffing for clues, and any shaking beforehand severely disrupted his ability to focus, and increased his need to relieve his tiny bladder.
Because of his diminutive size, all that was visible to Artemis was the sky, so he didn’t see that they had turned off the main road and onto the lane towards Les Liens. However, he could sense an abundance of grass, and bushes to be explored.
Hazel parked up at the gate to the drive of the club. They could easily have climbed over the fence, but she didn’t want to leave the 2CV behind as the car often came in handy. Hazel opened the door and Arty jumped out, desperate to relieve himself after being shaken so vigorously. Hazel pressed the button on the pad to be let in.
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It had been a long morning.
Artemis and Hazel had sniffed all over the chateau and spoken to lots of rather defensive and unpleasant humans. They had been fed pastries and sandwiches (Arty’s favourite was very eggy and made him toot, much to his embarrassment), and the dog had even enjoyed a gin and tonic which Hazel had been quite jealous about.
Arty already knew who the killer was, but Hazel refused to listen to him, even though he had told her several times.
“Artemis - come on! We’ve got to go out on the course again! It has stopped raining now.”
“We could have done snooping in da rain too, lady. Tis much fun. Yous too soft.”
“You know what, Arty? I think we deserve a break before we carry on. Let’s go and hide somewhere for a bit.”
He knew exactly the place. Hazel had called him back when he tried to go there earlier, and he had not been happy.
Arty scampered across the grass as fast as his little legs could carry him, and Hazel ran behind, trying to keep up. She hoped that no one would see them running, especially any of the greenkeepers as they were quite formidable.
The light tinkling sound that danced through the air made Arty’s ears prick up and his feet race faster. When he saw the light sparkling on the surface of the water, he couldn’t wait to jump in.
“Come in, lady! It makes your paws do a tingle!” he barked excitedly.
“I’m coming! I’m coming!”
Hazel stepped cautiously into the stream and she felt instantly refreshed. These moments together really were the best.
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Coming soon: 'Episode Seven: Cover stories".
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