The Giant Paw is as big a mystery as ever – even Victor the St Bernard can’t work out what made it, so the strange events at Dendringham Hall a hundred years ago seem to be getting stranger and stranger. But maybe there’s someone who can …
“How do you mean, the Paw didn’t smell right?” asked Dot.
She knew that dogs could smell hundreds and hundreds of times better than humans – they had really clever noses.
“Well it’s hard to describe to you two-leggers” said Victor slowly (Dot realized that was old-fashioned dog-talk for humans.) “It looked like it should have been from an animal, but it didn’t have the scent of any animal I know… I couldn’t get the blood, or the fur, or the pawpad smell, or even the nails – specially not that!”
“Yes the nail-scent is always a really good one” said Wizard, nodding his silky head in agreement. “I can think of hundreds of different ones just in our park, to start off with. There’s all the cats – 140 of them – and all my dog-friends, and the foxes – 28 of them, and about 100 rats. You can always tell who’s been there from the nail-scent!”
Just imagine – Wizzie saying dogs can smell different kinds of nails. Just try smelling yours on the end of your fingers. You can’t! But he says dogs can!
“You said blood” said Dot. “But someone you were scenting might not be bleeding.”
Angharad bounced up to where Dot was sitting in a corner of where the dogs slept and put her paws up on her leg, looking at her with her head on one side and her foldy little ears standing up.
“Didn’t you know?” she said. “We can smell your blood inside you. That’s how strong our scent-powers are!!”
Yikes, thought Dot. That’s weird! Magic of the Internet again!
“So… ” she said slowly “What did this Giant Paw smell like?”
“Like a piano!” said Victor, shaking his head. “Just like the one in the Morning Room at the Hall!”
“I thought you guys weren’t allowed inside!” said Wizzie. “How do you know what a piano smells like?”
“Oh, ah” said Victor, looking a bit guilty. “Well, the French windows were open once, and we just went in… just for a look! Thought there might be food there!”
“Tee hee!” laughed Angharad. “It was such fun! Specially being chased out by Big Tummy!”
“Who’s Big Tummy?” said Dot with a giggle. There was something about Angharad – when laughed she made you laugh too. You just couldn’t help yourself!
“Oh he’s the butler!” said Angharad, rolling on her back and waving her curly-haired legs in the air. “In charge of all the servants! VERY important! Tee hee hee!”
“Hooff hooff hooff!” went Victor, laughing too in his deep St Bernard voice. “AND he split his trousers! Hooff hooff!”
“Yes, he bent over to try and catch me but he couldn’t and RIPPPPPPP! His trousers split all the way up the back! Tee hee hee!”
“Hooff hooff HOOFF!”
“Tee hee HEE!”
Dot and Wizard couldn’t help it – now they were laughing out loud too, Wizzie with his tongue hanging out and Dot spluttering and coughing as well as she breathed in the dust from the straw in the stables. Ha ha ha ha ha!
“Well!” said a voice suddenly. “I’m glad to see someone is having a happy time here at Dendringham Hall!”
It was the strange man – it was Mr Holmes!
