Video shorts from Porch pirates

 

Brookstone mysteries-Porch pirate case solved

  

   Laura stopped into Beaver meadows garden center and talked to Mrs. Beaver and the staff. She found out that all of the poinsettias that had not already sold were stolen well before Christmas and all the other greenhouses in the area report the same thing. Mrs. B had no idea why or what the motive could be as she had not heard of them being resold anywhere near by. Mrs. Beaver (Betty) stated that she had just given up on the Holiday plants and was tending to the Spring seedlings. 

Laura moved on to talk to a group of pack rats hanging out on the corner, to her surprise they were very chatty and polite. They were listening to the local radio station and laughing up a storm. They offered to show Laura their stash of goods. Laura followed them to a shed behind a pub and they proudly presented a treasure trove of goods none of which were on the list of missing items from the porch pirate thefts. They had a large pile of shiny bottle caps which they bragged came from the dumpster right by the pub, several chicken bones and various pieces of wood. Laura thanked them as she left and crossed them off her list of suspects. As she walked away she heard the radio turned back up and tuned to KPAW7 as the DJ's laughed and announced "all feral all the time".

As she drove to her next stop she tuned into KPAW7 and listened as the the DJ's talked about a cat getting kicked out of the casino after losing everything. Apparently this cat and his family were well known, Boston Baby Shark had just moved into town a few weeks ago his wife was known as Mac the Butter Knife or (Macaroni) as she had once stabbed Boston with a butter knife after he lost all the rent money gambling. They had one kitten and they were all outside the casino right now trying to hustle gas money to get home. Laura made a turn around and headed to the casino on a hunch.

  Boston baby shark's dad sent his girlfriend Talia Tail Chaser to pick the the three cats up and Laura got there just in time to stop them for questioning. She checked her data base and got info on the cats in question. Macaroni did in fact have a history of butter- knifing Boston Baby Shark but did community service and was restricted to home until they left Boston and moved here, Boston Baby Shark had a reputation as a gambler who consistently lost and both were known for being high on cat nip 24-7, the kitten Olga  was caught and let go because of her age several times for porch pirate activity. Neither parent worked and they had Olga steal packages off porches and resold the items for gambling and nip money. Talia tail chaser was a little piece of work herself and said she was in charge of the three until her boyfriend ( baby sharks dad ) got back from driving over the road. Laura took all of them back to her office. 

After questioning all of them and contacting Charlie at the station they were all fitted with paw monitors and to be released to Talia tail chaser's care. Laura told Talia that they would be given community service assignments and to start looking for jobs and reputable kitten care. Laura and Charlie would be checking in weekly and monitoring nip use. Both Macaroni and Boston baby shark admitted to sending baby Olga to steal packages and then selling the merchandise. And that wrapped up the porch pirate case except for paying restitution to the victims.
 

Victor makes a few visits

 

Brookstone mysteries - Anubis gets wind of Laura

  The leader of the Anubis Associates, Rex gets wind of Laura snooping around and he isn't happy. He lets the group know he wants her watched. " I want weekly reports on her comings and goings. He tells the Jackal enforcers to send the pack rats, and make it worth their time. Make sure that bunch of Bozo's knows to be discreet. None of that car rolling. Rex barks orders at the group" Get me an appointment with the mayor,check in with Barbara make sure her mouth stays shut, and find Victor! 

Brookstone Mysteries- suspects and interviews

 Laura went out early in the morning to talk to some of the local trash raccoons, a rough and rowdy  bunch but not really good candidates for being porch pirates or the green house break-ins. They told her the boss paid them well and they had veterinarian  benefits too. They also informed her that they didn't need to steal off porches for anything because they found half eaten pizzas and other great stuff all the time and it was free for the taking. They laughed and gave each other high five's while they worked and ate pizza.

Next she went to a few local businesses and talked to a grey and black tabby with exceptionally good manners who seemed an unlikely culprit even though she was on Charlie's list of potential suspects. The Tabby's name was Felicia Cat and seemed very offended to even be questioned. Barbara Bunny recently had a fight with the kitchen manager who threatened to fire her, but that seemed to be smoothed over by now. Barbara was accused endlessly of eating the salads right off the customers plates and excessive farting on the job. She argued that  she didn't fart anymore than that slobbering old dog (the kitchen manager). Laura made some notes and put Barbara on her watch list, not for the farting but because she understood that she had over 20 bunnies just in the last year and possibly needed the Christmas gifts as they were all still living at home. Barbara stated defensively that she was to young to be spayed. Laura didn't argue just listened and took mental notes. Barbara had a good alibi for the time of all the porch pirate thefts as she worked full time and even some overtime during the holidays. Her boss (the slobbering dog) verified this and also said she was not the stealing type and all the cooks took a bite off plates here and there he was just sick of her farting little bunny butt.

She stopped into a few local bars in the Square which were all lively and full because of the holidays and heard a little useful gossip about The Anubis Associates being in town and maybe setting up shop but no idea where. By 4 in the afternoon the trash raccoons filed in and started drinking. Laura made her way over to one of the tables and sat with them. They were a fun group and she found out that the rumor was That some of the Anubis group had been hanging around the dumpsters and attempting to extort the trash raccoons, the raccoons said no way and told the boss. That's all they knew about that. Laura would check in with Charlie and see if he had any reports from the owners of the trash companies.

Garbage was a big business in Brookstone and there were several companies to check with. 

The pack rats were a likely candidate as they were a very organized group and their caroling scam work on a lot of people.

 

Trouble in the Kitchen

 

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Anubis Associates

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Brookstone Mysteries-The first assignment-Porch Pirates

   Once the starting tour was done Laura went home and studied Thomas's book, which seemed a lot  easier to read now. "Go figure that" she thought and smiled to herself. Her cats were laying lazily in front of the fire snoozing off and on while she prepared for her first day of work tomorrow. 

 

 The next morning Laura stopped in at city hall and then the police department and picked up files for her cases. There was a stack! She decided to go to the book store and set up her office a little better for the new work.

 

 She started by organizing the many case files, some seemed to be pretty clear cut and should be easy to close out others not so much. One in particular was multifaceted and would probably be on going.There were several photos of suspects and their backgrounds. Some of these photos looked daunting and were marked priority by the mayor and detective Puuge. Extra discretion and caution were to be used.

Apparently a well known crime family had been moving in to the area recently and needed on going surveillance.It looked like she would need to do some hiring for this, luckily Anna and Charlie had a list of potential candidates for her.

File notes

The Anubis Associates out the city

 have been moving into Brookstone and setting up shop

start a surveillance team**

Along with residential porch pirates there have recently been several break ins and theft of poinsettia's at the local green house in Brookstone Square.*****

This is high priority as it is believed The Anubis Associates may be responsible-motive may be to poison local cats and dogs in the work force and put them out of commission to take over the area,----Vinny the Jackal was seen vomiting violently and appeared to have major eye irritation in an alley near the greenhouse on Monday night-local paramedics found him and treated his symptoms on site as he refused to be brought into to the hospital. Local PD has not been able to track Vinny down for questioning. 

Porch pirates are always rampant this time of year and could be anyone from youth gangs to inquisitive cats ( orange cats specifically)  local residents and business owners have also reported several sightings of a gang of pack rats hanging around the town and posing as Christmas carolers.

Beaver Meadow Green House

   
 

Part 5 Brookstone mysteries-The Tour

  Laura Benson still sitting in Mayor Czechs office finally started to get a grip on herself and said "you drugged me!!" to Anna and Charlie. 

Anna said "No. Not really, we actually went to your physician well before we hired you for PI services and cleared the ah, small dose of magickal powder we put on your donut. Perfectly safe and Thomas knows too. Your welcome to call both of them and check if you like. Just, well I would suggest, if I may that you take our little tour around town with us before going out on your own. You are perfectly safe and we did want to wait but time was getting to be an issue. The powder just allows you to relax enough to see what is actually right in front of you and accept it,rather than brush it off as your imagination. It will be much easier to show you how the city has kept up with the workforce shortage and managed to thrive. What do you say"  Anna continued in a gentle persuasive purring. Somehow Laura was relaxed yet completely aware of everything so she agreed to go and see what she had gotten herself into.

Anna told Laura that not everyone of course could see and know what she did, but several people in the community did and she would be able to tell the difference now. She would need that skill for her new job as Liaison to the animal community. Her position would require her to help the mayor's office and the Brookstone police department sort through mostly small but some big cases that involved animal and human disagreements and some crimes that may have been committed. She was to be an essential cog in the smooth running of the city. And Anna said that Thomas, Charlie, herself already had full faith in her sense of fairness and compassion towards animals. Laura nodded and then said "Hey wait! What about my cats, are they?

Anna smiled and said "No" and then explained every animal had a choice to morph or stay as they were-pets or wildlife and her cats loved things just the way they were. Laura showed more than a little relief. Anna also told her she would easily be able to tell the difference between regular animals and Antaria's, which is the technical name for animals that have morphed.

Anna then said "Okay let's tour the city and meet some of your new clients.

  

  Laura took in the sites of her home town businesses and residents like she had never seen them before and handled them very well. Her biggest surprise was The clerk in her own bookstore, Gerald. He was a sloth! He was also a long time trusted employee and also rented the apartment above the store. She took it all in and by the end of her tour which was only the beginning of her Liaison journey  she felt she was ready to go home and look over her first assignments which would start the next morning. As she left for home Anna and Charlie smiled and knew they had made a good choice for the position.

Four The Brookstone Project

 Laura didn't get too far in reading the old book before her phone rang. It was the mayor of BrookStone asking her to come to city hall for a meeting. Laura agreed but had no idea what the meeting could be about. Laura also had no idea why she agreed to take on this little side investigation, she found it interesting at first but now just thought it was a stupid wild goose chase. She bundled up and kissed both her cats on the head getting yawns and sleepy looks from each one and headed out to her car. 

  At city hall, Mayor Anna Czech was in her office awaiting Laura's arrival. She talked to her assistant and Detective Pugge about her plan to bring Laura up to speed a little faster than had been planned. Eventually they agreed that there was no other way, they didn't really like it nor did the Mayor, but time was short and Laura would just have to be shown the hard way. They knew it would be hard on her at first but she was the best person for the job and they were sure once she saw the reality (and accepted it) that she would agree to it. Mayor Czeck's assistant left the room and returned quickly with a tray of donuts (Laura's weakness they all knew) and a fresh pot of coffee. 

Laura arrived right on time and was shown into the Mayor's office. The mayor tanked her for coming and told Laura to please call her Anna and then said "and of course you know detective Pugge." Laura nodded and took a seat saying "Hello detective I wasn't aware you would be here too so I'm assuming this is about the case you have me working on?" 

"it is "he said

Laura said "oh I'm very sorry to disappoint you detective, but I am just getting nowhere even after talking to Thomas, who was my best lead so far. It's just not coming together. I mean it is very interesting and Thomas did provide a good source book, but I just haven't put together any good theories as of yet."

Anna and detective Pugge exchanged glances as Laura talked. Laura said "I really have enjoyed the assignment but it seems like I'm missing something very important and as of right now I'm at a dead end. Both the Mayor and detective listened intently as she talked. Laura ended by saying "anyway I suppose that's not why you called me here then?"     

Anna said " Well Laura I can tell you that detective Pugge and I both chose to assign you this case and we are happy with your results so far. However there is some information that you have not been privy to and we would like to get you up to speed contingent on you accepting a full time position as combined liaison for the Mayors office and consultant to the BrookStone police department."

Laura was not expecting that at all and the look on her face showed as much. She asked "a liaison between The city of BrookStone then, and who? 

Anna got up and poured coffee for everyone and offered the tray of donuts and then sat back down glancing at the clock. She said smiling "unfortunately that information is contingent on you accepting the job offer" and she handed Laura a packet with pay and benefits information and waited for Laura to read it over.

Laura read as she drank her coffee and ate a donut (glazed - her favorite she thought) reading and munching. Then looked up after thinking a few minutes and said " this is a very generous offer, and I would be crazy not to accept. Generally I like to know all of the available information before taking on something like this but, well she blinked her, eyes getting a little blurry and then readjusting. Well I accept the position.    

    She rubbed her eyes and blinked a few more times trying to focus and said "oh I'm so sorry my eyes are playing tricks on me. Anna suggested she just relax and rest her eyes for a few minutes while her and Detective Pugge explained more about the job.

Anna went on to explain that ever since the shut down in 2020 for the pandemic the work force was forever changed and keeping things running was almost impossible, even more so when things tried to open up fully again. Some smaller cities will just never be the same without some kind of drastic and strategic planning. A few open minded leaders from several groups in BrookStone met and came up with a plan. Myself included. This meeting was very informal and held out at Whisper lake at Thomas's house. Anna watched as Laura tried to listen and adjust her eyes at the same time and tried to hurry through the explanation before Laura started to freak out. We came to the conclusion that to keep all of our businesses open we would need to get creative. Actually the CREATIVE idea came from Thomas who used to be my um, roommate. He and I and all the others in attendance agreed on a plan tiny bit of magick, from Thomas's great great grandmothers book which you are now in possession of. Thomas  and I had been using the bit of magick for years already just between us two. A little sprinkle of a very old recipe baked into any food would allow animals to seen and heard and Most importantly understood in the way any person sees any other person. Laura's eyes were growing wider as she started to understand. Anna continued " so you see I wasn't just Thomas's roommate I was his pet. His pet cat to be specific. Thomas has known for years of mine and other animals capabilities and we all thought it was an answer to the shrinking work force problem. And it turns out it was!! Laura looked about ready to pass out in her seat as she focused in on Anna the Mayor or Anna the cat sitting at her desk paws laid gently in front of her and talking softly - almost purring you might say. Anna smiled gently at Laura as she licked a bit of glazed donut off of her paws.

"Now" said Anna "if you just keep relaxed the detective and I will take you around town and show you our little project at work and let you decide if you still want the position. We think you will be excellent at the job and so does Thomas, who would like to retire but has agreed to stay on in a consultant position until you feel more comfortable and get completely up st speed. Laura? Laura are you still with us? No response just Laura's wide eyes and gaping mouth. Detective Charlie Puuge got up and gently put his paw under her chin and pushed her mouth shut and stood back as Laura gaped at him now, and then gaped back and forth between him and Anna still not saying a word.

Anna said "let's give her few more minutes her eyes are still adjusting.

Charlie said "you mean her brain is still adjusting"

Anna said " She'll be fine it's a normal reaction. 
    

  

Three-BrookStone-Legends of Whisper Lake

 Laura stopped into the bookstore after leaving Thomas's to grab a few research books from her office in the back.

Gerald was helping customers so she didn't get a chance to talk to him but it looked like everything was going good today and he waived as she went by. She finished up at the store and headed home to work on a pile of information she had gathered for her investigation.

At home Laura sat on her couch while her cats engaged her in a never ending game of play and pet me time and she of course obliged them. The research would still be there when they finally meandered off to sit in front of the fire and fall asleep. 

With one cat taking up each hand she thought about Thomas's statements. True,Thomas drank quite a bit but he always appeared to be in control of himself, it was just putting together the things he said in a logical way and making some use of them. This was a problem and she couldn't quite make sense of it, or his odd questions to her but she knew they had some meaning that she wasn't seeing. 

when she commented how tame the wildlife was here he chuckled and agreed with her and then asked if she had pets. She told him she had cats and he smiled big and asked if she was one of those cat lady's that talked to her cats and waited for an answer. She laughed and admitted that she did. He went on to talk about the abundant wildlife even in town, especially BrookStone Square and asked if she ever talked to the critters running around the Square when going about her business. She laughed again and said "oh yea I do that too and sometimes they seem to look at me like they want to say something. 

Thomas said " next time your in the square and you see one of the local critters hanging out ask em a question"  

"Like what?" she asked laughing again. 

He just winked at her and told her that if she were actually hyper aware-almost to the point of paranoia she may pick up on something useful. Perplexed Laura just agreed with a smile and moved on. She thought when she did he seemed to be giving her a hard knowing look before letting that subject go. 

Laura the asked him about the local legends of Whisper Lake. She had heard a few but wanted his take on them, like did he think there was a logical explanation or did he buy into the more supernatural ideas. Thomas said the he didn't really think there was anything so supernatural about it but that depended on what she defined as supernatural. He then told her that out here at the lake it was usually quiet and people were spread out more so it stands to reason that people hear more clearly than when they were in a group of people talking and cars going by and whatnot. She nodded in agreement. As they walked down to the lake Thomas told her there was not enough ice yet to walk on it just to be safe but that they could get down on the shore. They stopped and looked out at the lake and he told her to be a still and relaxed as she could and to just listen, listen with all your senses.

Laura observed several small animals out on the ice, they all stopped to watch the couple and Laura relaxed and listened. She heard no whispers or anything but the wind blowing through the pines. She watched closely as the animals meandered away back to whatever they were doing and the a soft whisper that seemed to be right by her ear said "I old you!" then another in answer "just give it time, you have no patience." then louder the first voice said we are running out of time, we have been patient long enough!" Laura looked around her and saw nothing but critters skittering around the area. With no small amount of shock on her face she looked to Thomas who just smiled winked and nodded his head. When she asked him where the voices came from he just handed her a worn leather bound book from his coat. He told her to keep it. 

Thomas want on to explain that in his opinion, there is a reason for everything and he could only tell her for sure what the whispers were Not.In his humble opinion.

Laura back on her couch now,cats content in front of the fireplace having had their fill of belly rubs and head scritches. She picked up some papers and looked at some of the theories she had written down.

She just couldn't get on board with any of these:

ghosts of those lost to the lake

radio frequencies picked up from past residents

cell phone picking up chatter from other conversations

Sasquatch type character

other monster

drug or alcohol induced auditory hallucinations  

 None of these fit all the instances and some were just unreasonable yet imaginative. She put this stack of papers aside to file in the trash later and moved on to the book Thomas gave her. It was old and worn and thick with pages. This was going to be really difficult to read.

 

 

 

 

 

Two BrookStone-Whisper Lake

   Laura made her way over to the old man's table after Sonny left with a drink and a charming smile to introduce herself. The man looked up at her through wise but faded eyes and told her to make herself comfortable.

No one at the bar took note of this except Fox. Now this interested him and also was an unexpected development, to bad they were at a table and not the bar he would have to settle for keeping an eye open as there were too many people in the bar right now for him to pick up any verbal information. He continued working his shift with one eye on the odd couple at the table. As luck would have it chicken Linda and drunk Linda asked him to take their picture, he conveniently posed them so he could get Laura and the old man in one of the pics without looking suspicious. Both the Linda's were well on the way to a rough night-for his relief bartender and were making their way back to their bar stools. 

 Laura and the old man who's name turned out to be Thomas talked for quite a long time Laura taking a few notes down as they talked before she left for home. She told him she would meet him tomorrow as he smiled and raised his glass in salute. Fox took mental note and watched Laura leave.

Laura got home about 5 pm, started a fire in the fire place and set out the plate of donuts she planned to binge on as she went over her notes and took in the information that she just learned from Thomas. She got comfortable and thought about some follow up questions she would have for Thomas tomorrow morning.

 Thomas made his way up to the bar about 7:30 and eyed up Fox at the next stool as he paid his tab. Fox said "your out early tonight Tom" Thomas smiled gently and said "yea I've got a little work to get to in the morning" Thomas walked out of the pub as Fox watched a perplexed look on his face. Fox finished his beer and left for his upstairs apartment. 

 The next morning Laura gathered her notes stuffed a donut in her mouth and grabbed her coffee as she walked out the door on her way to the south side of Whisper lake to meet Thomas.

She was dressed warm with heavy boots on ready for the walk around of the property on the popular yet mysterious lake.

The house and truck Thomas described were there and his directions were easy to follow. She was grateful it had quit snowing and the roads were cleared as she hated winter driving especially on roads she didn't know. Thomas met Laura at the door ready for some story telling.

The lake didn't have enough ice yet for safe walking so Laura was spared that part of the property tour at least for now. They walked and she listened as he talked and the made their way back to the house. Thomas made coffee and Laura took out her notepad. All in all it was a long morning for both of them but Laura thought she had what she needed and thanked Thomas as she left. Thomas followed her back to Brookstone Square where he headed into the pub and she made a stop into Benson's Books.