Bob

If you were a super smart and clever dog, and you witnessed a murder, how could you let anyone know what you know? That was the premise of Poirot’s Dumb Witness, season 6, episode 4. And I loved it. More than knowing who did what, Bob was falsely accused of the accident. The suspect placed Bob’s ball at the top of the stairs to make it look as though his owner stepped on the ball and fell down the stairs. Luckily, she didn’t die. But Bob knows someone tried to kill her. AND that person tried to make it look like it was Bob’s fault.

When Poirot and Hastings come to visit the house, Bob immediately recognizes someone who could solve the crime. He shows Poirot his trick, over and over again. He runs to the top of the steps, drops the ball, then races to the bottom of the steps to catch it and put it in his doggy bed. He never leaves it on the stairs. Poirot’s impressed but doesn’t get the point.Later, when the killer adds phosphorous to the victim’s medicine, and she dies, Bob tries again. And again, no one understands what he’s trying to share.

I have to say, this made me think of our chihuahua, Chewy. When he was alive, he’d come sit in front of me and start making all kinds of different noises, staring at me as though I’d understand what he was trying to tell me. I’d shake my head, and he’d try again. Eventually, he’d shake his head and jump up next to me to snuggle, but I knew he was trying to tell me something and I didn’t have an idea what it might be. Bob must have been as frustrated as Chewy was. Humans aren’t as intelligent as we wish we were.

Somewhere along the plot, though, Poirot realizes that Bob knows things he can’t communicate, and the two start working together to solve the crime. I so enjoyed this whimsical, little twist to a Christie mystery. And at the end, after Poirot exposes the killer, no one wants Bob. It was fun to watch Poirot tell a little white lie to convince two elderly ladies, convinced one of them has the ‘sight,’ that Bob would be the perfect companion for then. It was a fun, light-hearted mystery that I truly enjoyed.