A Midwinters Morn Mystery Part III

If you haven't been following this non-fiction story, you need to catch up. Go here and here.

No blood on my patio or on the sidewalk as it wound its way back around the side of the house. I followed the Scooby gang out my gate.
“Stop here.” Debbie reached around me and pulled my gate shut. Then she shone her light at my feet. There on the concrete, in front of the hole that the ferals had knocked in the slats of the fence, were three to four drops of blood. It was if someone or something had stopped there for a moment.
“It continues down your sidewalk.” Was it my imagination, or had Debbie’s voice taken on an ominous tone?
I turned my light (torch for you Brits) on the walk and slowly followed droplets of blood. “So it goes across your driveway, up my sidewalk where it mysteriously disappears before re-emerging at my car?” What was it, a kangaroo? Stephen opened their and moved a ladder away from the fence that divided our yards.
“Was that there the entire time?”
“Nope. We left it against the house. There’s a drop of blood on the bottom rung too. And look.” Debbie turned towards where our fences met. There on the bottom post, right below where someone on the ladder would have hovered, suspended before dropping to the ground, was a single drop of blood. I felt a headache coming on.
“There’s also a single drop on the sidewalk in front of Moses’ house.”
Moses was the neighbor on Debbie’s other side.
We all walked around to the front of my house. I noticed that Debbie’s terriers Beau and Maverick (actually, a coincidence) were outside too. I felt better, after all no one’s ankles would be safe from them. Walking over to the ramp, I stood and watched as the other three went around my tree on their way to my other neighbor’s yard. Since I had my slippers on I decided to let them continue the snooping alone. I walked up to my porch and sat on the swing. Debbie and Lana stopped by Gwen’s car, Stephen and the dogs went on to her house. Of course, my mind is going in circles. It couldn’t have been a dog – it/they would have had to jump over two 6 foot wooden fences. Cat’s? Why didn’t they go under the fence, or up the tree? The tree? I called to Debbie to check the tree. Nothing. Not a drop of blood. She and Lana came on over to the ramp.
“What did you find?”
Debbie looked over at Stephen, who had continued on up the street. “The blood picked up at the edge of Gwen’s driveway on up to her porch and then disappears into her yard.”
The end of my ramp, where all of the blood splotches were, faces Gwen’s yard. Evidently, whatever it was, went off the end of my ramp and across the yard to her drive. I watched Stephen as he reached the corner. I wasn’t too scared, after all he had his trusty golf club.

Come to find out, the blood went on up the street, around the corner a little and then disappeared. That kangaroo was back. There wasn’t much more we could do then. I couldn’t talk Stephen into going into the alley. Wuss.

To be continued.

I know, but I don’t want to make the post too long, do I? *gg*