Work Text:
The Addendum to the Case File
by Irena Adler
A few months after the launch, Colby, Charlie and Nena were gardening when Bonnie returned. To be more specific, Colby was digging holes, Nena was separating starter flower plants, and Charlie was talking about the mathematics of plant propagation, when the next-door neighbor's dog came lumbering across the lawn, Bonnie's battered head hanging from his jaws.
"Bonnie!" Nena cried, dropping the plants and running to the dog.
Charlie and Colby shared a look, uncertain how Nena would interpret this.
"Koota, drop!" Nena commanded.
The Rottweiler dropped his prize and looked guilty. Nena patted him while examining the muddy, scratched, and tooth-marked head.
"She musta had a tough re-entry," Nena commented.
Colby held back a smile. "No parachute."
"Lucky she didn't burn up," Charlie added.
"Yeah," Nena said solemnly. "I wonder where her body is?"
Colby said, "Perhaps it got separated again?"
"Naw, it stayed to help build the space station."
Trying to smother a laugh, Colby said, "They needed an extra pair of hands?"
"And feet?" Charlie added and they both broke up laughing.
Nena glared at them, then said airily, "Bonnie and me have some catching up to do."
"Give her a bath!" Colby called as she went into the house.
"So, Professor," Colby said. "Think you could get your hands dirty and help me with these flowers?"
"Sure." Charlie knelt next to the abandoned plants. "What clustering algorithm should I use to divide them, agglomerative or partitional?"
So ends the Curious Case of the Severed Head.
Bonnie's head took up residence on Nena's headboard, where she claimed it would whisper to her as she was falling asleep, stories of traveling among the stars.
The investigator closed the file, but remained vigilant. None could predict where, when, or in what mystifying way that the diminutive culprit would strike again.
end