Excerpt: The Gerbil Who Told a Lie

There was a gerbil sitting on my shoulder when they took my mug shot down at the police station. No one seemed to notice at the time, but Detective Neil wasn’t happy about it once it was discovered.

Actually, nothing about me made him happy, especially since I was found standing over poor Mr. Peeble with a blood stained wrench in my hand and a matching dent in Mr. Peeble’s head. That I was also toting a gerbil merely added to Neil’s frustrations.

I wasn’t particularly happy about the event myself, Mr. Peeble being murdered, I mean, especially since I didn’t do it. But I had a hard time convincing anyone else, much less Detective Neil. So in my bewildered and panicked state, I hardly noticed little Pip poking her head out from under my collar and getting her mug shot taken as well.

I’ve often wondered if they would have gotten a tiny little pair of handcuffs if they had known she was there.