An Open And Shut Case
I love a good mystery and I always have. When I was younger, I cut my teeth on The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, The Box Car Children and Scooby Doo. As I have grown older, my love of mysteries has only deepened. I take it as a personal challenge to see if I can figure out the solution before the big reveal at the end of the book or show.
There are many famous fictional detectives. They range from Sherlock Holmes to Sam Spade (The Maltese Falcon) and all points in between. My favorite by far is Agatha Christie’s little Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. I was first introduced to Poirot through PBS Masterpiece Mystery at 10 years old. Thanks to actor David Suchet’s brilliant performances, Poirot became must-see TV in the Conley household.
In addition to the TV show, I quickly began reading every Poirot story I could find. Most of them came from our local library on audio book read by Suchet himself. That just deepened my appreciation for the character Poirot and his creator Agatha Christie. Even now, I have an 18 year old cat named Poirot after the detective’s “Little Gray Cells”.
One of the reasons I like Poirot so much is that even though he is brilliant and, as he says himself, “The greatest detective in the world”, Poirot is not perfect. Unlike Sherlock Holmes, there are a few times (four to be exact), Poirot fails to solve the case. He’s human, not some cocaine addicted, Deerstalker-wearing robot. Holmes is a quick dispenser of justice. Everything is black and white to him. A criminal must be punished. Poirot considers himself “Le Bon Catholique”. Justice is tempered with mercy. Based on the circumstances, he has let someone literally get away with murder if it was warranted, as he did in Murder on the Orient Express.
September 15th was Agatha Christie’s 136th birthday and as I was watching one of the documentaries that aired in celebration of her life, it struck me how much Gabe is like Poirot. He acts like he is the best and smartest dog in the whole world and makes no apologies for it because, well, he is. Gabe uses his own version of Little Gray Cells to sniff out the solution to many problems, including how to sneak in the house and eat the cat food or rip newspapers to small shreds. Like Poirot, Gabe is not perfect. He also chases after the squirrels, groundhogs and birds that criminally trespass in our yard. Mom says he acts like the demon dog in The Hound of the Baskervilles, but I disagree. Gabe has also convicted our cat Peaches of the same infraction but shows mercy by not catching him after a long chase even though he could. You get the idea.
Poirot often says that doing a job well is its own reward and feigns modesty while others marvel at how clever he is. Gabe prefers to be rewarded with Arin’s Good Girl Dog Treats and it’s no mystery as to why. They are made with all natural ingredients, they taste great and every bag purchased goes to support Arin’s mission of adaptability and inclusion.
So, when choosing a treat for your furry best friend, let me borrow a phrase from another famous detective: “It’s Elementary, Dear Watson”, pick Arin’s Good Girl Dog Treats. It’s an open and shut case.
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