Dear Uncle,

I am writing you regarding a serious situation that has occurred at
my high school. No doubt you have followed the story in the news of
our missing mascot, Inky. Inky escaped three weeks ago while his
keeper was cleaning his cage. There have been several unconfirmed
Inky sightings since his disappearance but none of them has panned
out. The students in my school are taking Inky's disappearance very
hard. The basketball team has not won a game since his
disappearance. Members of the student body mill around the school
grounds commiserating about Inky. No one is getting any schoolwork
done. If Inky is not found soon the entire senior class is in
jeopardy of not graduating and the basketball team will not make the
playoffs. I have been investigating Inky's disappearance but I am
afraid his trail has gone cold. He always seems to be 2 steps ahead
of me. I have run out of ideas and time. Final exams are next week.
Here are the clues I have pieced together so far.

1. Mr. Bud E. C. Ancee, who lives across the street from Memorial
park, claims to have heard strange noises in the woods behind his
house.
2. Brenda aRussilliano noticed unusually large paw prints along the
nature trail where she jogs.
3. A town worker named Guido while walking his Beagle, Bessie, saw
strange scratches along a rock. It seems that Guido & Bessie were
out for their usually walk in the Town Forest. Just after they
crossed the small stream on the SW side of the second pond Bessie ran
off after something. Guido assumed it was just another rabbit.
Guido followed Bessie along the trail that goes west from the pond.
At the place where the trail starts to swing around to the east,
Guido spied Bessie through a break in the stone that runs along the
north side of the trail. As he passed through this break in the wall
Guido turned to the left and noticed strange claw marks along the
stone wall about 3 feet before a large tree. After pausing to
examine the claw marks, Guido called Bessie back and continued along
the trail back to his car.

I hope you will help us find Inky before it's too late.

Sincerely,

Your Nephew,
Christopher Columbo
JHS Class of 2003