Mystery Solved

On Sunday morning, I was exiting the mud room into the garage when I looked to my left and spotted Della, our new Bassett Hound puppy, entering the mud room from the basement stairs.  This was startling to say the least as the dog was never to be in the basement unsupervised.  My rule.  Since Della is not yet house broken, she is only allowed in her play area in the upstairs mudroom unless supervised by a human.  When I queried the adults who were responsible for the dog, Laura and Mike, both insisted that she had been in the front yard when last seen.  

It is possible to get from the front yard into the basement.  It normally involves walking from the front yard to the back of the house, through the back gate, into the backyard and through the basement door or in the case of a dog through the doggy door in the back door.  It was impossible for Della, the Bassett Hound puppy to have entered the house this way as the back gate was locked to prevent her from doing exactly that.  So we had a conundrum.  How had she entered the basement?

Mike and Laura decided to set up a sting.  Laura stationed herself on the back balcony.  Mike let the dog out into the front yard and then stationed himself on the back patio.  

Of course, as anyone who watches television knows, the key to a good surveillance sting is patience.  We had none.  Laura complained of cold and Mike abandoned his post.  I decided to check the front yard to see if I could spot the dog.  Sure enough, I could see her from my office window.  She was sniffing my front flower bed.  

Laura came in to verify my sighting although I suspect it really was to get warm.  Then she lost visual contact with the dog.  She rushed back to the balcony and spotted our subject.  Della was wandering from the front yard down the line of the fence to the locked gate to the backyard.  Della whined at the gate but when she found it locked she eventually continued around the fence.  Once Mike was updated on the situation, he hurried to the basement and picked up the surveillance.  

He spotted Della pacing at the top of the concrete retaining wall that serves as the third side of our "fence".  She apparently was preparing to jump from that wall into the back yard.  And of course, once in the backyard she could enter the house through the doggy door in the back door.  Once Mike spotted her and determined her plan, he put an immediate stop to it.  

Now that our mystery was solved, we need to prevent Della from entering the back yard in this manner.  She could hurt herself as the retaining wall is between three to five feet higher than the back yard depending on where she begins her descent.  So for now, the back gate is left open when Della is outside.  We just block the doggy door entrance to keep her from sneaking into the house from the backyard.  

Jessica Fletcher would be so proud of us!  Mystery solved and foul play thwarted.