René von Tiger – Consulting Detective
Tag 4 – The conclusion
I had been wandering around London for three days, and finally, looking out from the giant Ferris wheel, the London Eye, I had discovered a very hot trace: Something was happening in Trafalgar Square! Something Chinese! Of course, I went there straight away to see the spectacle up close. On the way, I put on a more suitable outfit that would allow me to blend in with the crowd without being noticed.
Crowds of people were milling around the entire square. Even the streets surrounding the square were cordoned off and full of people. And then I saw something that made me doubt my watchful tiger eyes: to the sound of cymbals, drums and bells, a colorful dragon was dancing through the crowd! Geez! And not just one! It was followed by various other dragons, lions and many kinds of strange figures. Unfortunately, there was no dog in sight.
I gathered my courage and stalked one of the dragons, who had taken a short break from dancing. My plan to be able to move easily through the crowds with my inconspicuous outfit worked. This meant that I was able to make contact with the Chinese mythical creature quickly and easily. After a little distracting small talk about the weather, I casually slipped the question about the Chinese dog into the witness I was questioning. I don’t know whether I had mispronounced a few syllables of the Mandarin I don’t speak often and my conversation partner had misunderstood me, or whether he didn’t want to help me out of sheer dragonishness. In any case, his answer consisted only of a hoarse cough and hiss, with a few small clouds of smoke billowing out of his nostrils. If I apply my knowledge of the social behavior of Central European dragons to the behavior of this Chinese specimen, I come to the conclusion that he was laughing at me. What a cheek!
I realized that I needed other witnesses who were able to answer my questions more competently. So I made my way from Trafalgar Square through various side streets, almost to Piccadilly Circus. This area of the city is also known as China Town because there are a lot of people of Chinese origin living here and there is one Chinese restaurant next to the other. I asked other dragons, two pandas, a lion – OK, you couldn’t expect any sensible answers from a lion anyway – a real Chinese man and even Master Yoda. Nothing! Everyone just looked at me in amazement and laughed at me.
Eventually, using my fluffy, striped tiger charm, I managed to secure the help of a very friendly witness. The competent young lady told me that the largest Chinese New Year celebration outside of Asia was being held here. Incidentally, it is celebrated on a different day every year. The traditional Chinese calendar is based on the moon, and as we know, the moon does not follow the sun, like the calendar we use in Europe.
Now, in Chinese astrology, each year is assigned to one of twelve zodiac signs. There is the pig, the rat, the ox, the rabbit, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the rooster and of course the dragon. What makes me particularly happy is that there is also a tiger. And then came the outrageous thing: there is also a dog! And today, in 2018, the Chinese Year of the Dog begins with this huge party between Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus! Aye! The next Year of the Tiger begins on February 1, 2022.
So there he was, the Chinese Dog. Holmes had completely misled me. There was no dark conspiracy to uncover, no criminal mastermind to bring to justice. Geez!!! There was just a big New Year’s celebration for the Year of the Dog.
So I put the case, which had never actually existed, to the side, mingled with the crowd for a while and celebrated. Later that evening, I reviewed my experiences surrounding the mystery of the Chinese Dog over a delicious Chinese meal. I had to laugh at myself for falling for this devious trick of my colleague Holmes. And I laughed quietly to myself while I thought about how I would get back at him for this nasty trick.
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