The secret of the Chinese Dog – Day 1

René von Tiger – Consulting Detective

Day 1 – Excitement in the palace

I received the call for help from a colleague from London, who faced a seemingly unsolvable puzzle. Rumors had surfaced that a mysterious Chinese dog would take control of the city. Was it about the code name of a nefarious underworld godfather? Did mischief threaten us with a failed genetics experiment by crazy Chinese scientists? Whatever was lurking in the fog of uncertainty: the metropolis on the Thames was in danger! So I dropped everything and hurried to the British Isles to help my helpless colleague.

The same day I arrived in Calais, from where I took the classic passage by ferry to Dover. In brilliant sunshine I set sail and even when leaving, I could spot the White Cliffs of Dover on the horizon with a good tiger’s eye.

On arrival in Dover, however, the sun had decided to go down without further ado. So the white chalk cliffs of the English south coast were shrouded in a purple-red play of colors as I left the ferry.

Hardly arrived in London, an invitation from the very highest point reached me. Obviously, even at Buckingham Palace, they had gotten wind of the affair arround the Chinese dog. So I had to put my urgent appointments behind to convince the Queen by my personal presence that everything is in the best tiger paws.

Unfortunately, my imminent visit to the Queen had come to the public’s attention due to a leak in the palace, so that at the scene of the event I was awaited by hordes of fans. In terms of secrecy, you can not rely on anyone anymore. Of course that was not what I had planned, because I prefer to work undetected in the hidden.

But well, I had to take some time to shake a few dozen hands and sign a few hundred autographs. For the photos, urgently required by the masses, I posted myself at one of the sculptures donated by New Zealand at the foot of the Victoria Memorial, which sparkled golden in the light of the sun.

Because I was there anyway, I checked the security of the palace and the Queen for a moment. In particular, I took a look at the correct classification of the guards, who stood in front of their guardhouses having everything around them firmly in their fixed view. But somehow the guys did not look that fresh anymore, so I immediately ordered a changing of the guards at the commander.

At the Changing of the Guards, they march across the square with drums and trumpets, mocking each other, running back and forth a bit, then pulling away with timpani and trumpets. This effectively distracted the masses who were lying in wait for me, so that I finally disappeared undetected in the palace.

I’m sure you’ll understand that I’ll keep absolute secrecy about me meeting the Queen, since matters of the utmost political sensitivity have been dealt with there. After all, I’m not a chatterbox!

After the people got lost again, I said goodbye to the palace and walked across The Mall and through St. James Park to Trafalgar Square. There I went to the pub “Silver Cross” to get my head free again with a little refreshment.

English food is not always known to delight the upscale tiger’s palate, but with a traditional serving of fish and chips you can not go wrong.

Of course accompanied by a small selection of local beers. Here it was a mild Pale Ale and a spicy Indian Pale Ale, short IPA, both very refreshing after the long day and stimulating my tireless Tiger Spirit.

When paying, I had to take one of these new five-pound notes in the paws for the first time. That was a big disappointment.

One thinks that in the land of many traditions and conservative values one would feel a valuable material when one touches a banknote. Not even close!

These new rags – and only as such I can name them – feel like cheap plastic film, and in one small part they are even transparent. Geez! But the financial geniuses of the Bank of England have not put a glorious egg into the designer’s nest. But when you look at it, as if it had some tiger stripes in the background of Big Ben, then the design is definitely a stroke of genius. 😉

But tomorrow is a new day, and then I have to clear my mind for the investigation. I’ll tell you then how the story goes on…


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