the trial of the dog man

8/13/2019 The Trial of the Dog Man

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The Trial of the Dog-Manby Devon Pitlor

Preface: Jared Nescott, the precocious son of Brooke Nescott as

nearing the end of his eighth grade year and preparing to enter high

school hen he suddenly began asking another of his far-reaching

!uestions" This ti#e it as si#ply $%hat does it #ean to be truly

hu#an&$ The !uestion did not bother Brooke in the slightest, as sheattributed it to Jared being intellectually challenged by his teachers

and as pleased, but she did not have a ready anser for the !uery"

'nstead, she postponed a response and pro#ised to give the !uestion

#ore thought hile Jared and his friends, #e#bers of the aeso#e

Plus (i)ed *lub, spent a #onth at a nature ca#p far fro# +ristock"

%hen Jared returned before the start of his ninth grade year, Brooke

had reason to provide hi# ith a kind of anser" But for once in her

life, she hesitated to do so" This is partially the story of hy"

'" (cott oda#ar visits Brooke Nescott and ric Palobay

+lthough (cott oda#ar didn.t kno it, a s#all but significant

coincidence as about to happen as he pushed his sports heel chair

up the slight incline of Brooke Nescott.s side drive on a particularly

ar# afternoon in early June of /012" (cott had been friends ith

both Brooke and her do#estic partner Dr" ric Palobay for years, and

he as alays a elco#e guest in their ho#e" (o elco#e in fact that


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he invited hi#self to visit that afternoon ithout giving a precise

reason hy" $Just ant to chat ith ric about so#ething,$ he said

on the phone" $'.ll be there in a fe"$

$*o#e for drinks and dinner,$ said Brooke, ho at age 23 as still

full of the sa#e incessant curiosity about the things that interested

(cott and her lover ric, hich ere respectively the solving of s#all

cri#es and #ysteries for the for#er and insects and cryptids in the

case of the latter" 't #ade life in usually drab +ristock #ore

interesting" Jared, her brilliant and see#ingly poerful son and

(cott.s son Tyshan, certainly Jared.s e!ual, ere off at su##er

ca#p, as ell as the other boys of the infa#ous Plus (i)ed *lub"

4oever, as (cott pushed his ay up to Brooke.s door, a perennially

unpleasant o#an na#ed 5orelei Par#eter as leaving, she as a

o#an ho had alays been #eddleso#e and officious enough to

keep her overly involved ith the #inutiae of 5ykes Middle (chool tothe degree that, as perpetual president of the PT+, she busied herself

ith nearly every class activity her son 'an as involved in and had

often in the past endeavored to get both teachers and ad#inistrators

relieved of their duties due to things that she and apparently she alone

considered $inappropriate"$ 'n fact, inappropriate alays appeared

to be 5orelei.s favorite denigration of activities in the school" +s she

bustled ful#inating and in a flouncy huff past (cott in his heelchair,

5orelei as still fu#ing" (he paused in her invective long enough to

glance don at (cott and snort: $+ #an in a heelchair&$ Then she


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continued looking backard at Brooke, ho stood nonchalantly in the

dooray visibly un#oved by 5orelei.s anger"

$'nappropriate, si#ply inappropriate,$ continued 5orelei" $To have

e6posed the eighth graders to this #ovie" 'ne6cusable,

inco#prehensible, intolerable, i#proper, inappropriate,

inappropriate"""""$

$5ots of in-ords,$ said Brooke indifferently" $'.ll be happy henyou get in your van and leave"$

The little 7oke as not lost on (cott, ho grinned perceptibly at the

passing #other"

5orelei glanced back don at hi# and scoled: $+ #an in a

heelchair" +nd no ' recogni)ed you" 8ou are Tyshan.s father" 4e

is in the sa#e class" 8ou should be as incensed as ' a#" 6posingchildren to that sort of #ovie"""" That #an *ook has not heard the

last of it" The board is going to call a special su##er""""$

$%e kno,$ inter7ected Brooke" $No toodle-doo" (ee you soon

so#eday"$

5orelei Par#eter, #other of 'an, ho as also a #e#ber of the ae-

inspiring Plus (i)ed *lub, sla##ed the door of her van and nearlyran don a rose bush at the side of the drive as she hurried off, her

face flushed ith righteous anger about so#e #ovie that 'an.s eighth


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grade teacher had shon the class on the day before their graduation

fro# #iddle school" 't as supposed to be a fun event, and one of the

boys had asked to see it" 9rion *ook, their teacher, as not only

open-#inded but so#ehat of a #ovie buff, having, it as said, one of

the hugest collections of classic fil#s in +ristock" +s the #ovie in

!uestion had no e6plicitly se6ual parts, *ook, reali)ing the age and

#aturity of his class and to help celebrate their passage into high

school and the ninth grade, had consented to sho the fil#"

The #otion picture in !uestion as Tod Broning.s 132/ horror

classic Freaks, a pre-code fil# that had undergone heavy editing and

still re#ained one of the #ost controversial orks ever #ade" 't had,

in fact, been banned in rance, ;er#any and the


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ric Palobay rose fro# his seat, here he had been oblivious to

5orelei Par#eter.s tirade, and greeted (cott oda#ar" 4e nodded at

Brooke ho had hastily e6plained the source of the controversy to

(cott"

$Pretty ra #ovie,$ said Palobay ith a kind of backard glance

that revealed that he as searching into so#e #o#ents of his ninety-

nine years on arth" ' re#e#ber seeing it back then"" ' as eighteen

in 132/, and e ere in the boels of the Depression" 't as before '

received #y life-e6tending vap, hoever" ' as in an institution, a

kind of refor# school here they could not contain #e" ' as already

a heroin addict" 'n7ected #yself every day" +nd ' had co##itted

enough robberies and other #ayhe# to put #e aay forever" ' didn.t

kno it then, but #y kidneys and liver ere already failing" +nyay,

they shoed us the #ovie ' suppose to keep us !uiet, 7ust like they

in7ected us ith Paraldehyde and 4alcion every day" 5ucky ' broke

out, and of course, lucky ' later got #y vap, this lifegiving #udslug'.ve orn on #y back for seventy years"$

'n fact, ric Palobay, chair#an of the Depart#ent of nto#ology at

*entral (tate


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tu#bler" $Bigger shots that ' can afford to pour,$ said (cott"

$Did you co#e as a bar oner or, as ' suspect, a detective&$ said ric"

$veryone in +ristock knos you still like to dabble in cri#e, cold

cases, insoluble #urders and the like"""and don.t say you don.t"

unning that ca#pus hangout has #ade you a living, but ' con7ecture

your heart is still in being one 7u#p ahead of the police"$

$Not any#ore,$ said (cott" $8ou and ' have orked on a fe real

eird cases, and it as fun" But today it is all DN+ and advancedforensics" ' did #y degree in cri#inal 7ustice and can.t hold a candle

to today.s #edical e6a#iners"$

$(o hat is the coincidence&$ said Palobay"

$' ca#e to ask you about freaks, and no it looks like our sons have

seen a classic #ovie about the#"" ' could not care less" Tyshan and

Jared""""and no doubt 'an and the rest of the Plus (i)ed *lub boys"""have seen #ore than #ost people tice their age, and done #ore too"

'n so#e ays, the Plus (i)ed *lub still controls the s#all ti#e politics

of this ton" 'f that teacher is on their side, and he appears to be, the

boys ill never let one #eddleso#e bitch do hi# any har#"$

$(o hat about freaks&$

$%ell,$ continued (cott, $like here did this guy Broning find the#for his #ovie& 4u#ans ith heads co#ing out of the front of their

chests or fangs like serpents& %here are the con7oined tins of


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today& The li#bless #en ho can roll cigarettes ith their #ouths&

The bearded ladies&$

Palobay rolled his eyes back into his #e#ory again" 132/ had been

#any years before, a different life" Palobay as a different person, a

respected professor, not a vagrant and felonious *hicago street kid

ith a drug and alcohol addiction" The secret of his life-e6tending vap

as knon to very fe, but (cott as one of the#"

$'.ll tell you" *ircus sideshos ith live perfor#ers, defor#ed freaks,have nearly been banned everyhere" +nd there are #edical

breakthroughs today that cure so#e of these abnor#alities at birth,

operations and so on" +nd then so#e are 7ust left to die, #ercifully, on

the delivery table" The fe freaks of nature that are alloed to live

are carefully hidden aay by benevolent organi)ations or by their

fa#ilies" 't as different during the Depression" People ere less

sensitive, had a greater sense of doo#, and ere looking for anydistraction that ould relieve the# fro# the i#pending pain of the

#o#ent" rgo freakshos in the carnivals" Thus Broning.s #ovie"

' re#e#ber a sidesho here ' sa a so-called %olf Boy ith real fur

and a tail" 't as not a trick either" (o#e of us snuck into its cage and

checked" 8ou don.t ant to kno ho" The freaks ere real" (o#e

fa#ilies ere so poor and destitute that they gave thanks hen a

defor#ed baby ca#e about because they could use it as a #eal ticket"

That is, after all, hat Broning did in his #ovie" 4e as an old

circus #an hi#self"


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traveling sho" They ould bury hi# alive in eight feet of dirt, and he

ould dig his ay out" 4e as friends ith an ar#less knife throer

and later #ade a #ovie about hi# called $+lon)o the +r#less"$ That

as also censored and banned hen +lon)o slipped and sent a dagger

through the forehead of his leading lady, so#ething that in those days

they ere able to cover up" No, Broning as an old runaay like

#e" 9nly he ran ith the circuses" They used to be all over"$

(cott oda#ar thought so#e #ore, drank a fe #ore deep sallos

and finally said: $9kay" But here do these freaks co#e fro#&

adiation" 9veruse of >-rays like they did in your ti#e& *he#icals,

like your Paraldehyde& People of #y generation have heard so#e

pretty chilling accounts" %hat causes freaks& That is hat ' ca#e to

ask you about"$

Brooke Nescott crossed the kitchenette ith another tu#bler of

hiskey in her hand" This ti#e she as drinking" (he stared at (cottand said $*olorado *hris& e#e#ber hi# fro# hen e ere in

school& They say they ran hi# out of ton"$

ric Palobay looked over his shoulder as if to ascertain that Jared nor

any of his friends ere in the roo#, although he kne they ere at

ca#p" 4e loered his tone and spoke ith a kind of deliberation"

$8ou to ere raised in this county" Brooke, you right in this house

and (cott in Marshcove across the river" +side of you to, ' a# aneco#er, and #y ork ith cryptids hasn.t on #e any local

friends" But e.re not talking about cryptids here" %e.re talking


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about genetic #utations----and there are a lot #ore of those than the

local #edical societies ould have us believe" 'n short, ' have heard of

your *olorado *hris and so#e of the reasons he as run out of ton

#ore than once back hen you to ere kids"$

$' never sa any of his sideshos,$ inter7ected Brooke, $but ' have

heard so#e stories" rightening crap" Dogfights, rooster #atches"

Things in glass bottles ith the hands of children and the faces of rats"

The dead body of a girl ith a snout like a cat and hiskers"$

$Probably fake,$ said (cott, $like all of those carny attractions"$

$Probably not,$ said ric Palobay" $8ou see your *olorado *hris

and his little traveling #enagerie ere doing so#ething else too,

so#ething that is fairly co##on in certain countries, like in ;uiana

here ' got this vap" (o#ething people used to pay a lot of #oney to

see back in the 20s" (o#eti#es they ent all the ay to (urina#e or

*uba 7ust to e6perience it" But it as also here in the dark of the backbrush" 'n places here the local police or snooping 7ournalists could

not find it" +nd ' think that a fe years back---that is, before he

disappeared, your *olorado *hris as keeping the tradition alive"

+nd there ere those in +ristock that loved it #oreover"$

$+nd hat as that&$ said Brooke, biting her loer lip" $Displaying

freaks in glass 7ars" 4aving dogs fight until the death& That is all

pretty ta#e in +ristock" %e.ve had it all"$

$The stories ' got hen ' ca#e to the university go along the lines of


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ell"""ani#al se6" Bestiality" Mules or donkeys, horses, dogs or chi#ps

having penetrative intercourse ith illing hu#an fe#ales for sho

and profit" 't still happens in *uba and in (outh +#erica and +frica

all the ti#e"$

$'f you.re e6pecting #e to cringe,$ said Brooke, $don.t" There is

nothing that people do that is capable of revolting #e" '.# kind of

like you ric in that ' have seen it all" 9r nearly"$

(cott oda#ar inked at Brooke, grinned slightly and said $(till thesa#e Brooke, aren.t you& (hocked by nothing" Bored by

everything&$

$6cept Jared, ric and Dragonsnort"""but it is not a good ti#e to

discuss Drag" 4e.s back in his tree for# no" 's that enough of a

genetic #utation for you& Jared.s father and #y other lover is a tree"

9f course, you kne that"$[The details of the infamous Dragonsnort

and his transmogrification from tree to person is, of course, covered inother accounts and does not form part of the intrigue of this episode.]

ric Palobay interrupted the conversation, herever it as going, by

saying" $9kay, all three of us kno that genetic #utations are

possible" ' see the# everyday in insects" ;iant brush roaches hich

so#eho #ate ith arachnea and produce #onstrous offspring,

insects hich are not really insects, the e6istence of hich #y

conservative university colleagues i##ediately deny, e6cept those ho

are in secret #e#bers of the *ryptological (ociety, but of course e


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rather peculiar killings that for #ostly political reasons had not yet

reached the press" +ll three had taken place over a period of one eek

in May of that year, and Bliss insisted as had others, that, hile the

killings ere brutal and strange in their on ays, that they ere

probably not serial in the usual sense of the ord" %idespread panic

as a thing to be avoided in /012, and the details of the #urders ere

indeed grueso#e enough to cause panic if generally knon" +gents of

the state.s ani#al control authority had been notified because in the

absence of hu#an clues, like DN+, the deaths could have ell beenthe ork of so#e sort of renegade ani#al, like a diseased bear or

rabid coyote, the sort of hich #ight have ell co#e don fro# the

foothills of the +lleghenies" (uch things had happened before" Both

Bliss and (cott kne it" There as alays talk of #onsters of so#e

sort, and that as bad for +ristock.s do#estic tran!uility and,

especially, business"

(e6ton Bliss as a taciturn #an ho see#ed to survive only onpistachio nuts and soda" 4e had knon (cott oda#ar for over a

decade fro# a ti#e hen oda#ar had been instru#ental in helping

hi# solve the eerie Borden kidnapping case, so#ething else hich had

been long ago buried in the archives of +ristock.s police force due to

its inherent creepiness"

The first victi# of the recent killings as a very ordinary houseife

ho had been #auled by so#eone or so#ething that left deep gashes

all over her body before tearing open her throat in her backyard on


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*lay#ore (treet in broad daylight as she hung so#e sheets out on her

line to dry" (he as found by so#e passing schoolchildren al#ost

i##ediately after the attack, and one of the#, a boy of about fourteen

and a class#ate of Jared Nescott.s had testified that before she finally

bled out and died her last ord had been $illo"$ %illo #eant

nothing to the police and (e6ton said so" (he #ay have been talking

about a tree" No one na#ed illo lived in the county or the city" The

o#an hose na#e as Martine ;oodright had e6pired ith a

terrified rictus fro)en on her face" Bliss had theori)ed that so#ehoshe had knon her assailant but the evidence as eak" The #edical

e6a#iner found no evidence on her body of hu#an or ani#al DN+ or

other traces of anything living" 't as as if she had been assaulted by

a robot ith sharp pincers and a #outhful of 7agged steel blades"

+ni#al control could find no evidence of any sort of beast either" No

hairs or saliva" Nothing pointing toard a #ad dog or cra)ed olf" 't

as knon hoever that hatever had attacked Martine ;oodrightas not as tall as the o#an as and had brought and held her to the

ground before delivering the ter#inal thrust to her neck"

The second victi# of the so-called serial killer #et his end a #ere four

days after Martine" 4e as a retired television sound technician

na#ed Trandle *roi6, ho had ostensibly been assailed hile sitting

on his front porch around to PM in broad May daylight" Neither

*roi6 nor ;oodright bore any relation to one another, yet both hadbeen killed in the sa#e atrocious #anner" *roi6.s body as punctured

ith sharp ounds and his carotid artery severed in a #arkedly non-


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a killer, either hu#an or ani#al" More than one investigator had used

the ord robot" The only solid clue hich see#ed to contradict both

the robot and ani#al theory lay in the torso ounds that all three

victi#s displayed" They had been forced and pinned to the ground

before the throat gashing had begun, and hatever had pulled the#

don as definitely shorter than ere the victi#s" +nd the lesions

associated ith the torso attacks all displayed another si#ilarity: The

assailant as prehensile and had opposable digits, so#ething hich a

coyote or bear ould not" +nd in an age of fears over killer dogs suchas pitbulls running about, it as noted that even the #ost vicious of

dogs did not have anything rese#bling an opposable thu#b" +nd so

the rather puerile robot con7ecture see#ed to endure"

(e6ton Bliss had taken a s#all chance by going to (cott oda#ar and

he had done so, as (cott ell kne, because (cott, not being a trained

or certified detective usually orked in unconventional #eans hich

ere deductive rather than inductive" %hich is to say that (cott, !uitethe contrary of +uguste Dupin, *harlie *han, (herlock 4ol#es and

all the legendary detectives of fiction, preferred to ork donard

fro# a theory rather than upard fro# clues" 't as a techni!ue

(cott had developed in college and long before he had ever #et his

lovely ife (u##er or fathered Tyshan" 4e liked the idea that a

theory should co#e first and then be supported by clues, or in other

ords, deductive reasoning based first on a preconceivedgenerali)ation" Naturally, this brand of in!uiry ran contrary to the

police science of the ti#es, as even the tiniest of clues ere being


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unearthed these days, and it as supposedly fro# these that larger

hypotheses could be dran" 'n #any ays, (cott harkened back to a

ti#e hen thought preceded investigation and investigation as only

a #eans to confir# thought" 't #ay have been this distinctive

aversion to #odern induction that that steered (cott aay fro# police

ork and into ca#pus bar onership in his late tenties" (till, he had

solved so#e see#ing unfeasible cases and had earned hi#self #ore

than one footnote in the annals of the +ristock police records" 4e,

#oreover, hated the ord rando#, as in rando# killings----as the5a#usi, *roi6 and ;oodright cases had been labeled"

The fact that none of the three victi#s ere si#ilar in age, status or

location did not fa)e (cott oda#ar" $There is no such thing as

rando#,$ he often said" $+fter all they all lived in +ristock, in

Pennsylvania, in the


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ord" That is not rando#" +ll three ere taken by surprise, by fright

and ould ear the countenance of shock to their graves ith the#"

That.s not rando#" (o hy should these victi#s be& The fact that the

police could not find any social or business links beteen the# #akes

very little difference" ;ive #e one--7ust one person--that they all

kne in co##on, even if her na#e as Brooke Nescott, and ' ill

for# a general hypothesis" Nothing is rando#"$

$They didn.t kno #e,$ said Brooke over #orning coffee on (cott.s

second visit to the Nescott house" $Nor ric, nor any of the boys, nor

any of the so-called pro#inent politicians in the county" None ere

involved in any past #isdeeds or scandals, and 5ord knos, this ton

is filled ith that" They ere all !uiet and unassu#ing" 8ou can.t

base a theory on that" There are lots of unseen, unheard people living

all around us" This is +ristock for *hrist.s sake"$

$5et.s see,$ said (cott, rolling toard the front picture indo ofBrooke.s living roo#" They all had ani#als" Martine had border

terriers" *roi6 had to golden retrievers, and 5a#usi had taken the

pain of bringing to +frican olfhounds here fro# (ardinia" Bet that

#ust have given hi# so#e trouble given the !uarantine re!uired"$

$Miniature +frican olfhounds" Not capable of hurting anyone" +nd

golden retrievers are a#ong the gentlest and #ost loving of the

breeds" +nd ' don.t see this attack carried out by Martine.s littleterriers, do you&$


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$%hatever killed the# all had thu#bs and forefingers and as able

to hold the# don and then not leave any et traces on the throat

lacerations" No" ' don.t think their ani#als did it" But hat ' a#

seeing is that e have three confir#ed ani#al lovers" Bliss gave #e

so#e details about Martine.s dogs" 'n short, they ere pa#pered"

(he fed the# food that even you or ' could not afford to eat" +nd

*roi6 doted over his golden retrievers and took the# all the ay to

Philadelphia for cos#etic care before entering the# in dog shos, as if

e don.t have enough dog clippers here in +ristock" +nd 5a#usi#ust have paid out his last cent to keep those #iniature olfhounds in

!uarantine for si6 #onths" 4e had to go all the ay to Balti#ore each

eek to check on the#" +ni#al lovers"$

$=illed by so#ething that as not an ani#al&$

$9r at least not the kind of ani#al e kno"$ These ere ne6t to

(cott.s final ords that #orning as he took leave of his old childhoodfriend Brooke Nescott and pushed his ay out into the bright June

sunshine" Brooke located ith so#e anguish a cigarette she had been

hiding fro# ric and ith a certain shudder of guilt and trepidation

lit it and sat in the alcove ondering about ho the boys ere doing at

ca#p" (o#ething strange alays happens to the# each su##er"

%onder hat this su##er ill bring& she thought"

'''" (e6ton Bliss again

Bliss.s first ords upon greeting oda#ar at police head!uarters


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ere that another identical killing had taken place overnight across

the river in +ristock.s sister ton Marshcove, ho#e to (cott, his

fa#ily and his enor#ously popular ca#pus bar" The Marshcove

police ere not sharing any details either" our #atching #urders

ithin a tenty #ile radius and ithin eeks of one another as

finally the validity sta#p that the ord $serial$ needed, and it as

certain that the B' ould soon get involved and all interested parties,

including (cott, ould be debriefed and su##arily se!uestered fro#

the case" $Better get hat clues you can no,$ said Bliss, $before theB' curtain falls" 'f they crack this case, they.ll ant all the credit,

and you on.t even see the ord police in the final reports"$

$5et alone your na#e or #ine,$ said (cott" $%ell, '.# distracting

#yself" That.s all" Not seeking fa#e" +reshnit is tending the tavern" '

7ust needed a little ti#e to stretch out" 't ould be nice to beat the

B', hoever"$

$%hat ne do you have& 8our Marshcove #edical e6a#iner found

everything the sa#e as here in +ristock" No DN+, no prints, no body

fluids, the distinct #arks of so#e kind of cla#p or cla ith

opposable digits to pin the body don" This as a guy na#ed Pag

so#ebody ho repaired trucks and as reputed to have been a kind

of ife beater, though that has not been established"$

(traight to the point, (cott asked if Pag had dogs" 'n fact he did, heraised pedigree bo6ers and kept the# !uite ell in a special kennel

near his house" 4e had been cited in honor ith to aards fro# the


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Pennsylvania 4u#ane (ociety for his e6e#plary treat#ent of ani#als

and the care he used in breeding the#" 't see#ed like Pag gave

#ore diligent care to his ani#als than to his ife or kids"

$;eneral theory,$ blurted (cott, searching through an iron cabinet

for a bottle of Maker.s Mark that he kne Bliss kept hidden"

$;eneral theory" 'f one of the victi#s bred ani#als"""dogs in this

case"""then they all did" ight don to Martine and her terriers" 8ou

said they ere $border$ terriers, an e6otic and e6pensive breed"

*roi6 had his pri)e retrievers and e all kno about 5a#usi and his

obsession ith #iniature olfhounds that al#ost cost hi# his chance

at citi)enship" These ere all top flight pets if one can use that ter#"

%ell taken care of" Pri)ed" But hen you #ention breeding, (e6ton,

that thros a slightly different light on the issue"$

$5ike hat& +ll these fanciers like to breed their ani#als and go to

shos" (o hat&$(cott oda#ar found the half e#pty hiskey bottle and poured a

double shot in both #en.s e#pty coffee cups" 4e e6plained casually to

(e6ton Bliss that #any pet lovers had no interest in breeding or

shoing or pedigrees or certification papers---other than those they

had purchased for their on pets" 'n short, the end users of pedigree

ani#als usually had their pets neutered" Breeders did not" Breeders

took e6tre#e care not to allo their charges around other ani#als butso#eti#es accidents happened"


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$8ou #ean like dogs fuck&$ said Bliss, doning his bourbon in one

sallo"

$8ep" %henever they can" Pure-bred #iniature olfhounds and

golden retrievers and even these slobbering ugly bo6ers of high

pedigree have no idea they are aristocratic thoroughbreds" + noble

bred dog ould 7ust as soon be 7u#ped by an ordinary street #ongrel

as one of his on social class" The breeders kno this and guard the#

carefully" But, as ' said, accidents happen"$

$' don.t see here any of this is going, but '.ll check all four cases"

Marshgrove ill cooperate ith #e on the details of this Pag guy"

'.ll check to see hether any of these pa#pered pedigrees ere

neutered" My gut feeling is that you are right, but ' don.t see here it

is leading"$

$'t.s leading #e back to ric Palobay and then to a call to either

Tyshan or Jared in %est @irginia at that nature ca#p" The boysrefuse to take along cellphones----forbidden by the al#ighty Plus

(i)ed *lub---but '.# sure their #entors have the#" ' need to ask both

boys a !uestion"$

'@" Three phone calls

Through the not so astonishing #ediu# of #odern cellular

telephonics, both (cott oda#ar and ric Palobay ere able to reachtheir rather annoyed sons Tyshan and Jared on the night of June

1Ath at a bucolic nature ca#p hidden in the dense hillside forests and


23/59

da#p hollos of Brighton *ounty, %est @irginia" Both fathers

apologi)ed for disturbing their boys. routine ith proscribed

telephones and both asked appro6i#ately the sa#e series of !uestions"

These a#ounted to learning the e6act reasons hy their for#er eighth

grade teacher, 9rion *ook, had decided to sho Tod Broning.s

Freaks as a treat to his class on the penulti#ate day of school" 4o

had the kids learned about the #ovie anyay& 't as released in 132/

and in very li#ited edition due to its controversial nature"

(o#ehat infuriated, Jared had been first to reply" $Jesus, ric,$ he

said, $are you getting to be like 'an.s #other& Did you think e could

not handle the #ovie& 't as pretty la#e, anyay" (ure it had real

freaks in it, but so hat& %e have things thousands of ti#es orse in

our electronic ga#es today" ' sense you and #o# and Tyshan.s dad

have decided to treat us like children"$

ric e6plained cal#ly that he only anted to kno hy *ook hadchosen this particular #ovie" 4e #ade no conde#nation of the

content hich ent a long ay in cal#ing Jared don"

'n a separate call, the appro6i#ate sa#e conversation transpired

beteen (cott oda#ar and his son Tyshan, ith Tyshan.s tone

betraying the sa#e aggravation fro# his father.s telephonic

interruption" The boys of the Plus (i)ed *lub ere very serious, as

alays, about the overuse of telephones as ell as all co#puteri)eddevices"


24/59

%hat both fathers learned as not only that all #e#bers of the Plus

(i)ed *lub ere in the sa#e class and thereby held so#e visible say,

but that even non-#e#bers and girls agreed that a spooky classic

#ovie, especially a rare and controversial one, ould be nice for the

school leaving cere#onies of the last eek" 't as, hoever, Mr" *ook,

their ho#eroo# teacher, ho had suggested Freaks. *ook as a

progressive sort ho reali)ed that he as not dealing ith children

but rather ith young adults on their ay to changing the future in

their on uni!ue ay and so forth"""the litany of the Plus (i)ed *lubas seen so often in other episodes"

$(o,$ said ric to (cott hen the calls ere co#pleted" $'t as this

guy *ook ho suggested that #ovie above all others" %onder hy&$

$That is hat ' a# trying to find out,$ said (cott !uietly looking at

Brooke" $Brooke, ' think you need to do the thing you #ost dread"

Neither boy had any idea of here *ook spends his su##ers or hathe does"""$

$But that bitch #ust" 8ou ant #e to play a role ' hate for so#e

hunch you have, (cott" +nd you haven.t even said hat it is" That

nosy 5orelei #ust kno all about hi# like she does everyone else"

+fter all, she is in the process of trying to get hi# fired" ' hate this"$

$Do it anyay,$ said ric" $(cott has been right about stuff in the

past"$

$5et #e get this right,$ said Brooke" $These four #urders ere


25/59

freaky, and so a teacher that shos a #ovie about freaks #ust have

so#ething to do ith it" No onder you.re a barkeep, (cott"$

+fter a little #ore convincing, Brooke finally bit her botto# lip and

called 'an Par#eter.s #other, ho never failed to anser her calls

and illingly ca#e forth ith all the infor#ation she kne about

9rion *ook" $'.# glad you.ve finally co#e over to #y side,$ she said"

$%e can.t have a pervert like that in charge of our children"$ Pervert

as, Brooke had noted over the years, one of 5orelei.s favorite

epithets, applicable to nearly everyone ho ca#e into contact ith her

son" There as a surfeit to her infor#ation as ell" 't ca#e ith

great pride over the things she had learned" To it: *ook as a

disbarred hu#an rights attorney ho had been involved in cases

involving illegal i##igration" *ook as also an ani#al rights activist

$+n activist! *an you believe&$C 4e as a #e#ber of the +(P*+, a

fra#er of the +ni#al %elfare +ct, a charter #e#ber of both the +nti-

*ruelty (ociety and the shadoy +nti-@ivisection 5eague $'.lle6plain that one later,$ said ric Palobay" $They give us lots of

trouble in ento#ology even"$C, a #e#ber of the state.s 4u#ane

(ociety, an ani#al rescuer and #oreover and perhaps #ore

significant a pro-bono contributor to so#ething called the +5D, the

+ni#al 5egal Defense und, hich as co#prised of both la

professionals and students to ensure enforce#ent of anti-abuse las in

the courts" +nd here as he& 'n Dogville, of course"

Brooke hung up, flushed and angry ith herself for siding ith the


26/59

ene#y to get a little see#ingly useless infor#ation for (cott"

$Dogville,$ she said" $5orelei clai#s everyone knos that"$

@" Dogville

+lthough ani#al rights activists ere fa#iliar ith Dogville, it as

apparent that not everyone else as" 't as a seventy-plus acre

co#pound or $resort$ for ho#eless dogs of all breeds spraling in the

grassy countryside around the village of Doranton about ten #iles upinto the foothills outside of +ristock" +t Dogville $dogs ere fa#ily$

and free to roa# at ill" 4ere they could either 7oin a pack or find a

nook either indoors or outdoors aay fro# the hustle and bustle of

their canine peers" Dogville as supported and #aintained by

volunteers, and for years 9rion *ook had been one" ach su##er he

gave his unpaid assistance to the helpless beasts that had been rescued

fro# either the streets or fro# abusive fa#ilies" or dogs and for dog

lovers, Dogville as a rural paradise, co#plete ith hiking trails,#edical care, co#fortable beds and toys" 'ts publicity clai#ed it had

everything a dog #ight need"

$ven se6,$ said (cott oda#ar to ric Palobay the folloing day as

the latter en7oyed a fe free drinks at oda#ar.s oost in Marshcove"

$There ' think is the link"$

$Bunch of dogs running free,$ #used Palobay" $(ounds onderful"Bet the barking is even #usical" ' don.t see the connection" escued

dogs, all fenced up but running free on so#e aste acreage" 8ou think


27/59

so#e of the# sneak out at night and co#e don here and kill people

at rando#&$

$Nothing happens at rando#,$ said (cott, rapidly assisting his 'ndian

bar#an +reshnit in serving so#e early #orning ca#pus drinkers"

$Not even *ook and his #ovie" That is hat the police never

understand" irst, you for#ulate the hypothesis, then you see if it

orks" That is not ho cops operate"$

$8ou have a hypothesis&$

$Not really" Just a cloud turning around in #y head" (o#ething

totally inchoate, but it is taking for# like all inchoate and ana#orphic

things do"$

$(o e up and visit Dogville&$

$Not !uite yet" irst e have to find ho really runs it" 't is

supported by so#e Best riends of +ni#als society, but behind every

society there is an minence grise, a *ardinal ichelieu, if you ill" '

think that a little internetting has led #e to this person" 't is often

#ore i#portant to start at the top, especially if the top person is

hu#an"$

(cott e6plained that in effect he had had little trouble in locating the

e6ecutive director of Dogville" 4er na#e as +gripina Mullice, andnot unsurprisingly, she lived right here in +ristock" (he as a #inor

heiress of so#e sorts, naturally an ani#al activist or posing as one,


28/59

and involved, this ti#e surprisingly, ith none other than the tiny

depart#ent of Philosophy at *entral (tate" +gripina Mullice as not

a public person and refused visits or intervies" (he left the gushing

praises for Dogville to her #anaging subordinates, one of ho# as

9rion *ook, eighth grade teacher at 5ykes Middle (chool" ro# a

distance---a cyber distance---it appeared that +gripina as aloof to

the point of being al#ost invisible in the day by day activities at

Dogville" 9ne of the fe state#ents she had ever #ade to the press

as that $Dogville speaks for itself"$ But there as another se#i-surprising fact unveiled: 9rion *ook, disbarred layer, had been

studying as a free-lance student in the Depart#ent of Philosophy as

ell" 4ere again as another link" Philosophy" 't see#ed to (cott

very eak at first, but the e#bryonic cloud in his #ind as taking

shape"

$(o, e go visit +gripina,$ said ric Palobay" $'.# up for that" '

have all the university connections"$

$9f course you do" %e can find out about hat kind of $stuff$ both

she and *ook are doing in Philosophy" That should be a trip" Those

people don.t even speak our brand of nglish" %e #ay need a

translator"$

$Multiple #urders, no DN+, no clues, Dogville, Tod Broning.s

Freaks, our kids at ca#p, Brooke talking to 5orelei ho sheloathes"""sounds like a basket of unashed socks to #e"$


29/59


30/59

point (cott asked enton if he as aare that both 9rion *ook and

+gripina Mullice ere #e#bers of various ani#al advocacy groups

and connected ith a nearby facility called Dogville, here abused or

ho#eless dogs lived in hat ere described as $co##unes$ and often

left to associate freely ith one another" enton see#ed disinterested

and said that he did not"

Then (cott abruptly asked hi# if he had ever heard of a sho#aster

and i#presario na#ed *olorado *hris" The #ention of the latter

see#ed to suddenly spark a lot of interest in enton" $'.# fro#

+ristock,$ he said so#ehat severely" $9f course, ' have heard of

hi#" 4e as arrested and arranted to keep his obscene sideshos

out of this county on penalty of incarceration"$

$%hat e6actly did *olorado *hris do&$ asked ric Palobay faking a

kind of ignorance on the sub7ect"

'n his nor#al blunt #anner,


31/59

as clear that to rather large insects ere engaged physically ith

one another" $+ blofly and an earig,$ he said thoughtfully" Not

!uite the sa#e species either" Most people don.t notice that"$ Then

sitting back don, ric looked at (cott and said: $%hat kind of

ani#al ould be aroused by a hu#an o#an&$

$9ne #anipulated,$ said (cott"

$Maybe not,$ replied ric" $No one told these bugs to have se6" They

7ust started doing it"$

$'f you gentle#en ant to start a dialogue about ani#al se6---or even

insect se6 for that #atter, ric---'.# afraid you are going to have to

e6cuse #e,$ said


32/59

$But you did, as usual"$

$Not as usual" '.ve not done this sort of ork for a long ti#e"$

(cott ent on to e6plain that each of the three +ristock victi#s---

Martine ;oodright, Trandle *roi6 and 5a#ido (erusi---ere not only

breeders of thoroughbred pets but also rote a#ateurs as ell" The

na#e of the fourth victi#, Pag, as connected to the others by a

dotted line" $%e don.t kno enough about hi#,$ said (cott" $But '.ll

bet that"""$

$8eah, hi# too ith his bulldogs" But (cott, ' a# still aiting for the

astounding part"$

$4ere it is,$ said (cott" $ight in front of our eyes" The police found

evidence, that Detective Bliss shared ith #e, shoing that each one

of the three had given a substantial donation at one point to Dogville"$

$Dogville is not for thoroughbreds but rather for abandoned ani#als"

'n keeping ith #ost ani#al society practices, it is probably certain

that they sterili)e all of their .guests."$

$Maybe not"$

$9nly +gripina Mullice could tell us" ' bet it is about ti#e for us to

talk to her"$

$8our deductive #ethod is kicking in,$ said ric" $8ou have a theory

to prove or disprove"$


33/59

$*ould be,$ said (cott" $5et #e tell you hat it is"$

+t this very #o#ent the phone on (cott.s cluttered desk issued a

#uffled ring fro# under a stack of invoices here (cott had left it"

The voice on the other end as that of +ristock Police Detective

(e6ton Bliss" Bliss.s first ords had been $Better get over here right

aay before so#ething leaks and the press arrives"$

Bliss clearly had so#ething to sho (cott, and upon so#e urging, heconsented to ad#it ric Palobay into a series of closed kennel pens

behind a fence at an au6iliary police post near the edge of ton" %hat

he had to sho the to as so#ething he called a $dog$ but ith an

ironic pitch on the ord as if to indicate that it as not really a dog----

and indeed it asn.t" %ithin the confines of the police kennel, a

facility rarely used by the actual police, Bliss and a unifor#ed

subordinate ere keeping a large furry ani#al that hile vaguely

doglike as not e6actly a dog of any breed knon to #an"

The beast had large, atery and intelligent eyes, a strangely shaped

head and a flatter than usual #u))le" +lthough it had large pointed

teeth, it see#ed to be able to hide the# behind pursed lips, #ore

hu#anlike than canine" 't #ade very fe sounds, but ranged fro#

one side of the kennel cage to another, occasionally stopping to look

over its shoulder at the four observers" +nd hen it did so, it gave

knowing looks" 't changed e6pressions fro# patent anger to fear to

resignation as ould a hu#an prisoner, but then suddenly it rushed at


34/59

the bars of the cage and thrust itself a full four feet up into the air" 'n

doing so, the creature cla#ped hat looked like long, e6tended de

clas around the iron bars and curved its other toes inard, grasping

the bars as ould a hu#an being"

$or *hrist.s sake,$ hispered (cott" $The da#n thing is prehensile"

+nd that broad brain pan" Too huge for a dog"$

$+nd those lips,$ said ric" $5ike it ants to talk"$

$'t probably can,$ said Bliss" $%hen e caught it, it as circling the

house of a local bookkeeper na#ed 9ralla (inburne, terrori)ing her"

;roling and hining things that sounded like ords" Threats" 'f e

had been a fe #inutes late"""$

+ll three #en agreed that hatever they had in the kennel cage as

definitely a kind of #utant hybrid, a canine #onstrosity or sorts" The

kind of creature that Tod Broning #ight have liked in his #ovies"

$9r *olorado *hris,$ said (cott pensively"

(e6ton Bliss patted the top of his service revolver" $9nly achter here

and ' kno about it so far"""and of course, Mrs" (inburne" (he.s the

one ho ill leak this if it gets leaked" (he as being targeted by this

thing for days" 't indicated to her so#eho that it as going to kill

her" Pin her don ith those"""those"""pas"""fingers and thu#bsE andgash open her throat" ' have no doubt it could do it too" ' also have

no doubt that it as this freak that killed the others"$


35/59

(e6ton Bliss ent on to e6plain that if he turned the ani#al over to theproper authorities, #eaning state ani#al control, they ould keep it

alive forever and study it" (cience #eant nothing to Bliss" 4u#an

safety did" %ide-eyed and groping for ords, he told ric and (cott

that his plan as to keep the e6istence of the #onstrosity silent, gather

up 9ralla (inburne as a itness and shoot the da#n thing right here

at the seldo# used kennel" $' don.t give a da#n hat it is or here it

ca#e fro#,$ he sneered" $' 7ust ant it gone"$

$8ou #ight ant to find out 7ust hy it anted to kill a #iddle-aged

spinster bookkeeper,$ said (cott" $%hy don.t you give us ti#e to talk

to her& 8ou and achter can probably keep it a secret for a fe

hours"$

eluctantly, Bliss agreed to ait until nightfall" +nd this gave (cott

ti#e enough to load ric into his lift van and proceed ithout

invitation to the #odest ho#e of 9ralla (inburne"

@''" The pu))ling testi#ony of 9ralla (inburne"

9ne of the first things that 9ralla (inburne divulged to Bliss, ric

and (cott as that the doglike thing as going to kill her" (he kne

because it had $said$ so#ething" (o#e sort of groled, garbled

ords had co#e fro# its tisting lips, and these ere about death,

her death" (he as sure of that"

+nother fact as that 9ralla (inburne had never seen the creature


36/59

before it began stalking her and that she could not identify it as any

ani#al she had ever seen" $'t looked like a #an turned into a dog,$

she baled frantically" 't anted to #urder #e"$

+nd finally the dody, ruffled o#an---still trau#ati)ed---re#arked

that she loved ani#als and had in the past kept a pair of 'rish setters,

hich, she avoed #uch to (cott.s surprise ere neither pedigree nor

sho dogs" 'n fact, they ere not even full 'rish setters"

Mrs" (inburne, in kindness, had agreed to board the dogste#porarily for a friend ho as forced to leave the state on business"

This friend had, hoever, never returned, and so 9ralla had been left

ith the big dogs"


37/59

out of #ythology" +nd yes, +gripina did sound about right"

$But hat did #y to dogs have to do ith this fiend&$ she gasped"

$(o#ething e need to find out,$ said (cott" $%e need to talk to your

+gripina"$

+t this #o#ent (e6ton Bliss stood up and again patted his side ar#"

4e stared sincerely at 9ralla (inburne and gave her a sole#n

pro#ise that if his to co#panions ere able to find nothing ne byseven o.clock that evening, he and his patrol#an ere going to shoot

the beast and bury its body in the rear of the kennel" $'.# not going

to relent on that,$ he said, staring purposely at (cott oda#ar" Do

hat you have to do this afternoon, but the freak dies by seven" Don.t

try to convince #e otherise" '.ll do it #yself at the abandoned

kennel, and Mrs" (inburne, assu#ing you.ll keep !uiet about all

this, you can co#e to itness"$

@'''" Dogville fro# ithin

There as very little ti#e to save the life of hat as a true ano#aly,

a creature that see#ed to be a ha)ardous blend of #an and dog, its

#urderous parts horridly inter#ingled ith one another co#plete

ith opposing clas that could co#press a victi# and hold the# in

place" 9f course, this as all in the real# of speculation, but it as

the pre#ise that (cott oda#ar had i##ediately proposed as BrookeNescott, ric Palobay and (cott rushed north on oute 1F toard the

co#pound knon as Dogville"


38/59

(cott had already for#ed a nearly co#plete hypothesis" The fourvicti#s of hatever abnor#ality as represented in this penned up

#onstrosity #ust have all given an unanted pet to Dogville" +fter

all, that as hat Dogville as for---discarded, unelco#e and thus

$rescued$ ani#als" That as here its donations ca#e fro#" Those

ho preferred to see stray ani#als in a resort rather than euthani)ed"

$They ere all a#ateur breeders e6cept 9ralla,$ said (cott peering at

the tisting highay before hi#" $They probably attracted the rongsort of visitors" That ' hy '.# betting that each ani#al donated to

this canine village as a #ale" These people probably didn.t have

very good fences, and their purebreds #ay have sent olfactory signals

throughout the territory"$

$%hat about their last ords&$ said Brooke, abstractly studying the

softly rolling foothills of the +lleghenies hich ere beco#ing steeper

as they ent" $4o does that fit into your hypothesis&$

ric Palobay leaned forard fro# the back seat of (cott.s van and

said so#ething about thinking that he kne" But before he could

e6press it, (cott said that the single ords uttered by the first three

victi#s could have been the na#es of the unanted ani#als they took

to the care of +gripina Mullice and her ani#al village" $%illo,

sounds like a long-haired terrier" Trouble and 9utla could be dogs

too" These people alays na#e ani#als, even hen they are strays"$

$(o that bitch 5orelei #ay have been right for once,$ said (cott


39/59


40/59

lifegiving parasite that as accreted to his back and controlled the

once-destroyed functions of his self-depleted organs"

$8ou kno,$ he began" $8ou have both used your co#puters to read

about Broning.s #ovie, and you have both recoiled in horror"""hich

is natural upon vie actual hu#an freaks cast in such roles" %e all

recoiled in horror hen e sa that thing (e6ton has" +nd ' at first

recoiled in horror hen, as a young #an, ' as shon the living #ud

slug that ould save and e6tend #y life" @aps are pretty ugly in their

natural state, you kno"$

$%hat are you driving at&$ said (cott, al#ost angrily" $Tell #e if you

think there is so#e fla in the hypothesis ' have so far" Do it before

Brooke confronts *ook, hich is sure to be a striking scene" +nother

outraged #other and all"$

$Neither of you actually sa Broning.s #ovie,$ said Palobay !uietly"

' did, and ' re#e#ber it" Not 7ust the freaks but so#ething else"$

$%hat as that&$ snapped Brooke" $Did they have a half-#an half-

dog in that too&$

$' guess so" (o#e of the characters looked like they ere bred fro#

rats and #onkeys" ' don.t re#e#ber any dogs" But Broning.s

atte#pt, despite the heavy censorship, as to #ake the freaks the real

heroes in the plot" ather than splash the# up si#ply as ob7ects ofhorror, he shoed true co#passion and hu#ani)ed the# far #ore

than their carnival e6ploiters" 4e as, ' re#e#ber, trying to elicit


41/59

so#e e#pathy for these true disfigure#ents of nature"$

This observation ent ithout co##ent as (cott turned on a gravel

road #arked only by a rather e6ultant sign ith an arro hich

pointed to Dogville" Don this road ahead of (cott ere driving to

rather dirty hite cargo vans" (o#ething in the appearance of these

vehicles, hich see#ed to be in tande#, see#ed to indicate that both

vans had often traveled this road" Brooke #uttered so#ething about

#ore people taking ani#als up to the co#pound, but as (cott

i#patiently pulled alongside and overtook the vehicles, all three of his

passengers noted that the vans ere full of #ostly #en, #en that

looked like far#ers or hunters or oods#en due to the caps, coveralls

and teeshirts hich they ore" There ere no ani#als visible in these

vans" Moreover, the passengers in these vehicles see#ed unconcerned

by (cott.s rather rude and abrupt passing"

$%onder here all those stupid-looking yokels are going&$ saidBrooke, eyeing the# as (cott passed"

$Not Dogville,$ said (cott, staring into his retrovisor" $They 7ust

turned off on that to rut trail" Maybe it.s a hunting party"$

$Maybe not,$ said Brooke"

The iron gates to Dogville ere ide open and staffed only by one

#ale attendant ho politely asked hy they ere visiting" $%e.veco#e to check the place out,$ said (cott" $%e #ay have so#e vagrant

dogs that need a nice ho#e"$ The attendant, pleasant as ever,


42/59

#otioned the# in" $'t.s nice here,$ he said" $+ni#als get to be

the#selves"$

Passing via another attendant into a totally fenced in dog park, the

trio drove sloly toard a elco#e lodge, noting packs of dogs of all

breeds and #i6tures doing e6actly hat the online publicity for

Dogville had said: running freely" $Bet not a one of the# is a

purebred,$ said (cott"

+s the dogs ran everyhere, it beca#e necessary for (cott to drive assloly as possible" (igns indicated that the speed li#it through the

octagonal co#pound as not to e6ceed A #ph $or the safety of our

pets$ 9ne particularly cheery sign proclai#ed in letters ostensibly

for#ed by fake pa prints"

9nce beside the elco#e lodge, (cott easily found a parking spot and

poered his heelchair don fro# his van" Brooke and Palobay also

alighted, but both ith an air of suspicion" (everal s#iling orkers ofboth se6es greeted the#, hile petting and fondling so#e dogs hich

ere lingering around the front door" +gain, (cott, forcing a neutral

countenance, gave the sa#e false e6planation for his presence"

$(o#eone on duty at the desk ill sho you around,$ said one of the

fe#ale aides earing a huge badge in the shape of a dog.s head hich

naturally as #arked $Dogville"$

9nce inside, they ere greeted by a rather rotund #an in his late

forties ho as balding fro# both the front and back at the sa#e


43/59

ti#e" 4is s#ile as broad and hospitable---until he sa Brooke"

Then he began to sta##er" $Mrs" Nescott""""this isn.t about Jared"""is

it& ' #ean the co#plaints" ' thought you ere""""$

Brooke stared at her interlocutor for a long #inute" $%e anted to

check out Dogville,$ she said dryly" $ +nd no, ' don.t care about that

fil# you shoed on the last day, but so#e parents do" '.# 7ust curious

hy you shoed it" But ' a# not against that sort of thing, and Jared

never co#plained" Don.t get #e #i6ed up ith 5orelei Par#eter and

her crod" This is Tyshan oda#ar.s father (cott"$

(cott oda#ar approached 9rion *ook, shook his hand and

apologi)ed that he usually left class and school visits to his ife,

(u##er"

+fter Brooke had introduced her do#estic partner ric Palobay,

*ook sat don and began producing glossy photographs of the entire

co#pound" $%e have the best of intentions here,$ he said, $but eare understaffed and underfunded" %e accept contributions of

course"""$

(cott oda#ar asked abruptly if Dogville had any veterinarians on

staff, and *ook as !uick to e6plain to hi# that several ere

volunteers 7ust as he as" Then 7ust as rapidly, (cott asked if any of

the dogs ever escaped" *ook put his pal# to his forehead, bent over

his untidy desk and said $8es, unfortunately, they do at ti#es" (o#e

of the fences"""$


44/59

$Need repair,$ said (cott" $+nd you lack funds"$

Then (cott had one final !uestion: $People do adopt these ani#als,

don.t they& ' #ean like they do fro# the 4u#ane (ociety&$

$8es, of course"""$ said 9rion *ook, his voice slightly avering"

$People co#e and adopt the# every day" @ery fe escape"$

$Then they all get their shots and so forth,$ persisted (cott"

$%here is he driving&$ hispered ric to Brooke, as the to of the#chanced to atch #ore young teenage volunteers earing badges

place large troughs of food don on the #ain lodge floor for so#e of

the prancing dogs present in the foyer"

9rion *ook then alked out into the co#pound" 4e e6plained ith a

certain pride that no vicious or diseased dogs ere kept at Dogville,

and told his visitors that, Dogville, having nothing to hide, they ere

free to stroll around and look at as #any of the acco##odations as

they anted" $%e have no secrets here,$ he said" $8our

contributions ill go to a great causeG$

$%e haven.t decided to contribute yet,$ said Brooke, brushing past

*ook and entering one of the octagonal co#pounds here dogs ran

freely in the park" $unny that they never fight,$ she said al#ost

under her breath"'>" (cott oda#ar co#pletes his hypothesis


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Brooke.s final re#ark had not been lost on (cott" +nd once the trio

ere at a safe distance fro# the lodge and (cott, he looked at ric and

said" $%ell&$

$%ell, hat& That they don.t fight& Tran!uili)ers in the cho,

#aybe"$

$Not 7ust that,$ said (cott" $They don.t fuck either" 9r at least not

#uch" + fe of the# probably try to #ount one another fro# ti#e to

ti#e" But there is so#ething that obviously neither of you hasnoticed: very one of the dogs e.ve seen so far has testicles" That

#eans, naturally, that they are all #ales" Maybe they keep the

fe#ales so#ehere else---or #aybe, 7ust #aybe, they don.t have any"$

Brooke stopped dead in her tracks, and 7ust in ti#e because she as

about to step into an unscooped pile of still stea#ing dogshit" But it

as not the feces that stopped her" $That #eans,$ she said ith so#e

alar#, $that"""$

$None of the# are neutered,$ said Palobay" $These places usually

re!uire that right aay for keeping an ani#al in residence"$

+s the trio casually continued don one of the ell-trodden dog paths

in the park, they eventually ca#e to a #uch higher fence topped ith

coils of sharp concertina ire like that of a prison" + stark sign

announced that no visitors ere per#itted beyond this point"

$The fe#ales, if there are any&$ said Brooke" $%onder hat they


46/59

have behind that fence& That prison ire isn.t cheap, and it really

isn.t needed up that high to keep dogs either in or out" + fence that

high is for hu#ans"$

$9r freaks,$ said (cott"

$4u#ans in vans,$ said ric suddenly pointing beteen so#e

overgron hedges at the to vans hich (cott had heeled by on the

road" Nothing, hoever, but the vans as visible" %ith a little #ore

peering through the fences, a large tent-like structure beca#enoticeable, though this as ell ithin the enclosure and largely out

of sight, shaded by the overgron foliage" +ll three re#arked at

length at a kind of ild, circus-like #usic as e#anating fro#

hatever this structure as" The distance of the huge tent #ade the

festival #usic #uffled and indistinct, but it as brassy carnival #usic

nonetheless"

$'f e are going to learn anything, that is here e have to go, $ said(cott, pushing hi#self through so#e chunky #ud in his sports

heelchair" $There #ust be an entrance" a)or ire like that ould

cut us to ribbons if e tried to cli#b over"$

+s the three visitors folloed the neglected and densely unke#pt path

around the protective barrier, they sa less and less" 't as certain

that the huge tent as buried deeply enough to shield it fro# prying

eyes" But persisting, they ca#e at last to a heavily chained gate" $No

ay of getting through that,$ said Palobay"


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They stood there for a #o#ent, only barely detecting the sounds of

hat they thought as hu#an laughter a#idst the grinding notes of a

7agged and uneven carnival tune" $+ circus&$ !ueried Brooke"

Then ithout arning to beefy #en, dressed in strapped blue7ean

coveralls and carrying shotguns ca#e out of nohere and approached

the# fro# the other side of the fence" Neither had the convivial s#iles

of the attendants at the #ain lodge" $Dogville is that ay,$ grunted

one, pointing in the direction fro# hich (cott and his co#panions

had co#e" $Please stay aay fro# this fence" This part of the

co#ple6 is off li#its"$ The other #an as #outhing so#ething into

his hand-held radio"

(cott looked up at the# fro# his heelchair, and as about to ask

so#e !uestions, hen to al#ost identically dressed and ar#ed

orkers arrived ostensibly as back up" Behind the#, an older and

fatter #an earing a dented, out of date fedora ca#e puffing up" 4ehad the un#istakable air of being in charge, as he nudged aside the

rustic gun toters and approached the fence" 4e gri#aced and curled

his lips in a kind of ironically ini!uitous ay as he considered (cott in

his heelchair along ith his to perfectly a#bulant escorts"

The nely arrived #an e6uded a definite sense of intentional

#alevolence, so#ething hich as not lost on either (cott or Palobay

fro# the start" $8ou ca#e farther than the sign said to,$ he said"$Maybe you have already seen too #uch"$ 4is voice caused an

e6plicit sense of deliberate dread"


48/59

Brooke Nescott stood back a step fro# the fence and e6a#ined the#an gri#ly"


49/59

ar#ed ruffians" *olorado *hris, huffing and puffing, behind his on

band of hired guns, pointed the visitors toard a curtained railing

overlooking a pit filled ith sand and directly in front of a seated

asse#bly of #en, o#en and so#e children, ho for all the orld

looked like those ho# the visitors had passed in the to hite vans"

This audience as #ore silent than #ost, but gasps, chuckles and

stifled cheers see#ed to issue fro# the seated crod" 'n all, a sense of

#uted e#barrass#ent hung over those sitting before the e#pty arena"

$%e.re going to see a dogfight,$ hispered Brooke to ric Palobay"

$That is probably hat this hole thing is about" They are raising

co#bating canines here" That.s rural +ristock for you"$

$' don.t think so,$ sighed (cott, looking upard fro# his heelchair"

$' think e are going to see a confir#ation of a #a7or part of #y

hypothesis" 't on.t be pretty either"$

%ith guns still pointed at the#, the unlucky trio ere told to keep!uiet and observe" +t one point, *olorado *hris, said that $There is a

paying audience for anything, and this is no e6ception"$ +t the

opposite side of the arena, Brooke thought to distinguish the faces of

several ell-knon citi)ens and #erchants of +ristock" +fter all, she

had lived in the city all her life, and after that a#ount of ti#e, faces

beco#e fa#iliar and often for no particular reason" $Tonspeople,$

#ur#ured Brook, $though ' don.t kno their na#es right off"$

The #usic beca#e !uieter as the spectacle--- hatever it as---as


50/59

about to begin, and later hen Jared Nescott and Tyshan oda#ar

ould ask their respective parents, Brooke and (cott, e6actly hat

happened under that big top on a bright su##er day ithin the

inner#ost confines of an absurd place called Dogville, Brooke ould

anser uncharacteristically that it as $beyond disgust"$ +nd (cott,

e!ually out of character, ould say nothing" @ery fe secrets had ever

been held fro# the precocious boys before, but this one ould be"

'n brief, it as a scene of staged and scripted bestiality, right out of a

forbidden sidesho of the 1320s as Palobay ould later confir#C"

To dark, hirsute, o#any-looking o#en, both totally unclothed,

ca#e forth, and through various #anipulations and contortions of

their bodies totally offered the#selves to and received coital

penetration fro# a series of large dogs bearing no easily distinguished

pedigree" The dogs #ounted each of the o#en, inserted their #ale

parts so#eti#es ith the help of #anual #anipulation for a nearby

assistant and had se6---ani#al se6, bodily invasion as it ere" Theo#en groaned, rithed and the large dogs gave little indication of

hether they en7oyed their e6ploits or not" The observing crod

see#ed appreciative" +t ti#es eak applause broke out al#ost

spontaneously"

The thing si#ply happened"" +nd again and again" The crod rustled

ith so#e perceptible uneasiness in their seats, often gasping and

so#eti#es even clapping for a se6ual perfor#ance ell done" The

dogs thrusted and plunged" 'n all, it as, as Brooke said $beyond


51/59

disgust"$

But as ric Palobay, alays unflappable, ould later say $'t

happened" They paid for it and sa it" They ill co#e again"$

+nd in the proceedings hich folloed, it as learned that #uch of

the funding of Dogville itself ca#e fro# the clandestine ad#ission to

such presentations" Moreover, *olorado *hris gave no apologies and

see#ed to be si#ply duplicating a spectacle that he had confected for

decades" 4e as a #an at ork" 4is ork"

%hen it as over, ric #ade the offhand co##ent that $There is

nothing ne about this" 't has been going on for centuries" But they

ill never let us go after this" %e either 7oin the# or probably die"$

+nd $die$ beca#e an interesting leit#otif because after each

perfor#ance ith one of the to naked ladies, the dog in !uestion as

taken to the side and su##arily shot through the head and carried

aay as a spent carcass" Presu#ably the ne6t perfor#ance ould usea different dog" No e6planation as re!uested or offered for the

ensuing slaughter"

>" The trial of the dog-#an

't as another staged event" (o#ething uncanny and totally

unbelievable" 8et, as ric Palobay ould later say in his usual stoic

#anner: $'t happened"$ +fter being handcuffed and fed, BrookeNescott, (cott oda#ar and ric Palobay ere led to a sparse roo# in

a shed ad7acent to the big-top tent" The crod had long dispersed,


52/59

their vans driving off in the direction of +ristock and leaving only

clouds of dust in their ake, their e6act na#es unknon" (atisfied

and anony#ous spectators---ho ould #ost certainly co#e again"

%hen (cott and others ere finally led back to the tent under an even

#ore heavily ar#ed guard, they ere at once confronted ith a large

folding card table placed in front of several ros of ooden benches

in the sa#e place here hours before the dogs had perfor#ed"

Behind the card table as placed a single plush chair" 'n front of the

table ere other folding chairs"

$5ike a courtroo#,$ re#arked (cott, heeled rather roughly in front

of the benches here Brooke and ric and several others ho see#ed

to be associated ith Dogville ere already being seated"

9nce again under the threat of pointed shotguns, a hunched and

graying #an earing a fra))led suit ith an e6hausted e6pression

creasing his aging face as led" 't as Dr"


53/59

articulations hich alloed the aberration to hunch upard and

stand hen needed, but only for a short ti#e before it fell back into a

four-legged canine stance" Moreover, it as #ur#uring so#ething

out of the strange contortions of its #anlike neck and tisting lips,

so#ething hich sounded half like barking and half like the ails of a

suffering child, but hu#an ords ere there, punctuated by throaty,

guttural grols and resonances that ere #ore bestial than hu#an" 't

had a na#e hich as neither %illo, nor Trouble, nor 9utla---for

these ere indeed the na#es of dogs, once perfor#ing dogs, shot dead,as one learned, after coital penetration of a illing hu#an fe#ale"

+nd as the testi#ony developed, it as learned in an nglish #ore

barked than enunciated that the creatureEs parent as 9utla, a stray

dog in life that had accidentally andered into the yard of 5a#ido

(erusi, a#ateur breeder of purebred #iniature olf hounds" (erusi,

knoing full ell hat he as doing, had like the others, consigned

9utla to the care of Dogville and had no re#orse for hat the#anagers of the co#pound had slated for the #ongrel beast" +nd it

as learned later that neither did the added victi#s: Martine

;oodright, Trandle *roi6, so#eone na#ed Pag, and even 9ralla

(inburne" These people, according to the testi#ony of *ranvale, the

dog-#an, for that as his given na#e, ere neither dog lovers nor

sy#pathetic to any ani#als save their on" They had, hoever,

thought to give the# na#es, these unanted strays"

$They si#ply didn.t care,$ said a rather tense 9rion *ook, ho had


54/59

taken the role of $defense layer$ in hat as no announced as the

$official trial of *ranvale and his freakish peers"$ *ook as, in

effect, defending the life a #urderous defor#ity of nature, a life that

Detective (e6ton Bliss had hitherto sorn to end"

$The trial is illegal,$ said (cott, ho had been goaded into the role of

a $prosecutor"$ There is no authority in this country that ould

recogni)e this court"$

$Be that as it #ay,$ countered a thin and rather o#inous o#andressed in a creased serge business suit, $it is a court" +nd those

present, those of Dogville, those of us ho feel that *ranvale and all

the other perhaps unfortunate offspring of Mr" *olorado *hris.s

spectacles possess enough hu#an !ualities to have their lives spared"$


55/59

turned out, ent into a long diatribe about the #eaning of co#passion

for the ronged" (he di#ly conde#ned *olorado *hris and his

shos, clai#ing the# to be hoever both natural and necessary" But

she as far #ore focused on saving the lives of the resulting freaks

hich, as she fir#ly #aintained, these atrocious pairings had

produced" $' delivered the# all,$ she said at one point ith a certain

pride" $'f so#e escaped, as did our *ranvale, it as because they are

all endoed ith hu#an intelligence, and Dogville is not as secure as

e all had planned it" This is not a prison, after all"$

(cott oda#ar rolled forard and glared into the #alevolent eyes of

+gripina Mullice, playing as it ere the role of prosecutor ith

nefound fervor" $+nd you approve of breeding stray dogs ith

hu#an o#en as a diversion for a crod of i#pish yokels ho co#e

here in trucks and chuckle over a display that should bring disgust to

any nor#al person&$

't as *olorado *hris.s turn to inter7ect so#ething" $'f ' #ay, your

honor"$


56/59

$(o said MoliHre,$ retorted (cott" $8our defense, ' presu#e, for

sponsoring such a lurid spectacle ith such appalling results&$

$' #ake no apologies for #y actions" %here there is an audience, '

cater to it"$

$+nd killing the perfor#ers afterards&$

$*ollateral da#age" + hu#ane society, unable to place these strays in

ho#es, ould have done the sa#e thing"$$The atrocity, the eyesore that you have placed before us, this

*ranvale, has killed and ill kill again"$

$Not so,$ ob7ected +gripina Mullice" $They have killed only those

ho abandoned their progenitors, those ho so illingly turned the#

over to Mr" *hris" They ill not kill again" They are #ore than A0

hu#an, and e have de#onstrated that" That percentage should

allo the# to live"$

There ca#e suddenly, hoever, a certain bla)e of either shock or

anger in the unbalanced eyes of the dog creature, *ranvale" (cott

i##ediately noticed this and beca#e pensive" 4e turned toard

9rion *ook and said: $8ou so loved these freaks that you shoed a

#ovie about creatures like the# to our children" May ' ask hy&$

9rion, see#ingly pleased to be again in the spotlight, e6plained atgreat length that Broning.s fil# as one of co#passion for


57/59

ano#alies of nature and that this as e6actly hat he as defending

today"

$+nd ho,$ resu#ed (cott, $#ay ' ask did these creatures learn of

the fa#ilies, the na#es, the fate of their parents& That part has never

been understood"$

$' told the#,$ said 9rion ith so#e visible satisfaction" $Being

partly hu#an, they had, in all co#passion, the right to kno"$

$+nd the right to go kill those ho had ronged their parents& +nd

no you ant to conde#n the# to ander the arth as hopeless

#iscreations, genetic #utants unfit for the society of either ani#al or

#an&$

$*o#passion,$ said *ook, reassu#ing his seat"

But *ranvale as stirring"


58/59

ro# afar a single gunshot as heard"

$' believe ' kno hat that is,$ said (cott oda#ar" $+nd ' believe it

ends this trial and ' hope this circus---forever" 8our *ranvale, despite

our sy#pathy, is dead" +nd even though e are convinced of his

hu#an !ualities, death ca#e to hi#"""it""""as a #essenger of #ercy"$

The events hich folloed ere predictable" The prisoners,

constrained to atch the sha# trial of a fearful ano#aly, erereleased" The hooligan gun#en see#ed to evaporate into nohere"


59/59

day and practically nothing about Dogville"

$(o#e things are orth being kept secret,$ said Brooke, abandoning

the open deport#ent she had alays taken ith her son"

$(o#e day e.ll tell the#,$ said ric Palobay" $But not today" +fter

all, they are starting high school ne6t eek" They ill probably

encounter enough de#ons and freaks there ithout our adding to

their dra#a"$

KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

Devon Pitlor -- Dece#ber, /012

LLLL

the trial of the dog man

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