Open and Shut Case

Harry DeMaio

Description

Imagine if Sherlock Holmes was a bear? Alternative Universe Mysteries for Adult Animal Lovers that relate the exploits of super-sleuth Octavius Bear and his cohorts. Just for fun, this series swaps anthropomorphic animals for humans in a world very similar to our own 21st century. Earth minus homosapiens.

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 28 mars 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781780926902
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Title Page
The Open and Shut Case
Volume One of
The Case Books of Octavius Bear
Harry DeMaio
“Alternative Universe Mysteries for Adult Animal Lovers”



Publisher Information
Published in the UK by MX Publishing
335 Princess Park Manor, Royal Drive,
London, N11 3GX
www.mxpublishing.co.uk
Digital edition converted and distributed in 2015 by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
© Copyright 2013, 2015 Harry DeMaio
The right of Harry DeMaio to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998.
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without express prior written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted except with express prior written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious or used fictitiously. Except for certain historical personages, any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and not of MX Publishing.
Cover design compiled www.staunch.com



Dedication
Dedicated to GTP
A Most Extraordinary Bear



Acknowledgements
These books have evolved over a long period of time and under a wide range of influences and circumstances. I am indebted to many people for helping to bring Octavius and his cohorts to the printed page. Thanks most especially to my wife, Virginia, for her insights and clever suggestions as well as her unfailing enthusiasm for the project and patience with its author. To my sons, Mark and Andrew and their spouses, Cindy and Lorraine, for helping make these tomes more readable and audience friendly. To Cathy Hartnett, cheerleader-extraordinaire, for her eagerness to see this alternative universe take form. To some fellow authors, Richard Hoskin, Charlie Colman, Barry Raut and members of the Monday Morning Writers Group for their valuable observations and to friends like Dan Andriacco, Lisa and Pete Taylor, Joe Querciagrossa, Paul and Jeanne Bernish as well as Steve Appel for taking the time to read, comment and enthuse.
A special thank you to my editor and coach, Coleen (Ms. Comma-kaze) Armstrong for her critical support, excellent suggestions, enthusiasm and battlefield survival techniques for my punctuation and grammar. Kudos to Jim Effler, my illustrator, who so wonderfully made visible the characters I saw in my imagination. If, in spite of all this help, some errors or inconsistencies have crept through, the buck stops here. Needless to say, all of the characters, situations, and narratives are fictional.



The Players
The Good Guys:
Octavius Bear – Narcoleptic war hero; consulting detective, scientist, inventor; seeker of justice; mega-billionaire owner of Universal Ursine Industries; gourmet/gourmand; somewhat sedentary and grouchy just on general principles.
Mauritius (Maury) Meerkat - Part-time narrator; assistant to Octavius; African émigré with a French-Dutch background; clever with a shady history;
Inspector Bruce Wallaroo – Irrepressible but brilliant marsupial; an international law and order genius from Down Under; often calls on Octavius and Maury for support.
Bearoness Belinda Béarnaise Bruin (nee Black) – Romantic interest of Octavius; very rich widow of Bearon Byron Bruin living in Bearmoral Castle in the Shetlands; Owner-pilot of the last flying Concorde SST; Gorgeous polar superstar, with the Aquashow, “Some Like It Cold.”
Bearyl and Bearnice - Belinda’s stunning twin sidekicks; Actress and singer, respectively. Co-pilot and flight engineer of Belinda’s SST.
Frau Schuylkill – Octavius’ beautiful Swiss she-wolf housekeeper/cook/pilot with many other mysterious and military talents. She rescued Octavius from his dive off the Breakurbach Falls struggling with his nemesis, Imperius Drake.
Wyatt Where – Another wolf. Former military intelligence officer who had retired to a security post at the Bank of Lake Michigan in Chicago and then quit to join Octavius.
Howard Watt - A porcupine, high tech security authority who also left the bank with Wyatt to join Octavius. A laser and particle beam accelerator expert.
The Chicago Police Department - Irish Setters and Polish Retrievers all named Daleyor Dzawlicza (pronounced Daley.)
The Bad Guys:
Imperius Drake - “ Moriarty with wings .” Arch-villain, Leader of the Black Quack gang; Brilliant but loony duck who has developed aserum to make the animal kingdom his slaves; Seeks vengeance for ridicule by the scientific community and the death of his beloved Lee-Li-Li.
Bigg Baboon - The major muscle in Black Quack; the archetypical dumb heavy
Chita - Imperius’ clever, deadly and not always trusted associate; beautiful, fascinating, clever, sexy, immoral and highly independent feline who joins forces with Imperius but entirely on her own terms. Chita reappears in subsequent books as a principal character in her own right.
Assorted Other Characters: Montgomery Moose III , Chairmoose of the Bank of Lake Michigan and overstuffed jerk; Bombey Megatunni, Komodo Dragon, a Casino Security Chief; Henry, Ozzie and Izzie , Nevada Desert Patrol; Win-Win , Panda, Owner of the Golden Pagoda Casino. Ferrucio Ferreti, genetics sleaze; Il Professore Roberto Rabbito , genetics phony.



The Development of Civilization - Part 1
Our Origins
(From “An Introduction to Faunapology” by Octavius Bear, Ph.D.)
“About 100,000 years ago, according to scientific experts, a colossal solar flare blasted out from our Sun, creating gigantic magnetic storms here on Earth. These highly charged electrical tempests caused startling physical and psychological imbalances in the then population of our world. The complete nervous systems of some species were totally destroyed.
For example, Homo Sapiens lost all mental and motor capabilities and rapidly became extinct. Less developed species exposed to the radiation were affected differently. Four-footed and finned mammals, birds, and reptiles suddenly found themselves capable of complex thought, enhanced emotions, self-awareness, social awareness, and the ability to communicate, sometimes orally, sometimes telepathically, often both. Both speech production and speech perception slowly progressed with the evolution of tongues, lips, vocal cords, and enhanced ear- to- brain connections. Many species developed opposable digits, fingers or claws, further accelerating civilized progress. Some others (most fish and underground dwellers) were shielded from the radiation and remained only as sentient as they were before the blast.
This event is referred to as The Big Shock . It remains under intensive study.”



Prologue
The Peacock, with art-deco tail
Spreads it out like a billowing sail.
The poor Peahen does not.
She can’t share his proud lot.
Eyes unveil in the tail of the male .
“If that damn peacock shows his beak in here one more time, I’m going to nail his feathers to the wall and turn him into performance art.”
Opening day of a new museum exhibit hardly qualifies for a World Peace and Tranquility Award. Opening day at the Loupe Museum in downtown Chicago showed early signs of re-starting the Great Inter-Species War.
The Director was sitting on top of his desk next to the phone, whiskers quivering, tail aloft and eyes glowing with righteous anger. It was 8:00 AM, two hours before opening time. He’d already gone through two pots of prairie coffee and had just called out to his secretary for a third.
“This museum has been managed by my family of pack rats for over a century and no damn art deco feather duster is going to tell me how to open a new show. That bird’s squawk is enough to set off the burglar alarms. ‘Docteur Loupe, the lights in Hall Three are too soft. Docteur Loupe, the gift shop doesn’t have enough copies of my monograph. Docteur Loupe, the walls in the Deep Blue Sapphire Room create echoes. The room should be still and silent.’ If he wants still and silent, he should swallow a sponge.”
The speaker - Montebello Loupe Ph.D., Director of the Loupe Museum for the Decorative Arts in Chicago.
The target of his ire - Phillipe de Peacoq, Parisian Curator Emeritus and Senior Fellow for Manifestations Artistiques from the Global Association of Exquisite Jewelers and Gemologists.
The event - Day One of the blockbuster show - Jewels to Die For - Bijoux, Baubles and Blood - a traveling treasure trove of beauty and evil. Each gem in the collection bore its own unique curse. Each, it is said, had inflicted hideous mayhem on those who had crossed its glittering path. The public and the press ate it up. Between phone interviews, requests for private showings and the constant bitching of the peacock, Loupe was at the end of his ordinarily short temper.
The “star” of the show was the Deep Blue Sapphire, a magnificent 372 carat, faceted gem whose name didn’t begin to describe the intensity of its unfathomable indigo depths. Males had killed for this stone and a few females had been caught up in the collateral damage. Legend has it that since its discovery two hundred and thirty five years ago, at least seven individuals lost their lives, all in “unusual” circumstances and all due to ownership or attempted ownership of the sapphire.
In all, there were thirty five “cursed” pieces in the show. Radiant emeralds; deep lustrous rubies; shimmering dia