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Where We Left Off:
During an expedition, Gus and the human discovered a piece of physical evidence tying back to the deer herd.
A Mouse Named Strauss:
As the Winchester-Nabu detectives have previously reported, there have plenty of audio experiences when mice are scurrying inside walls and between the floors. Though one was captured in the workshop, it escaped due to human error. On March 28, 2025, we had a successful capture and relocation thanks to the hard work and unusual cooperation by Gus.
The days are staying brighter longer which screws up my sense of time. It was before I felt ready to sleep. Gus jumped off the bed, went underneath it, and out the other side. I never heard any signs of turmoil. After a few seconds, I finally heard a tiny squeak.
I got down and looked under the bed. Indeed, Gus had captured a mouse. He didn’t sit for long. He walked around the room and was clearly trying to evade me. He didn’t want to hand over his new play thing so quickly.
“Let me keep him,” Gus mumbled through his full mouth of mouse body.
“Can you give it to me? Please?” I walked around looking for thick socks and a jar. I found a pair of my outdoor wool socks. They would work fine as gloves. I found a jar and grabbed a lid off a different candle jar. It only had to fit for a few minutes.
Gus went around the office, under a chair, and then stood between pieces of furniture. I was incredibly shocked that he allowed my sock-covered hand to take the tiny mouse from his jaws.
Maybe it’s dead, I thought. I affixed the cover and looked into the Witness Transportation Unit to assess the intruder. It was some kind of North American Deer Mouse (Peromyscus)—white-footed, I suspected but couldn’t be certain.
“He might be in shock and can’t be questioned. Let’s take him to Oliver and see if he can work some magic to get an ID off this fella.” I noticed the tiny critter shaking—a sign of life, but for how long was anyone’s guess.
The Perp
Gus and I found Ollie at the highest tier of his cat tower in the salon. He examined the mouse through the glass. The little fella was still shaking but responsive.
“I know this guy,” Ollie said. “It’s Pittsburgh Phil!“
Gus jumped to the back of the couch to be close to them. “Tell him he was wrong about an early Spring.”
“Not that guy. This guy,” Ollie lightly put his paw on the jar, “he’s part of the biggest Cosa Nostra that ever existed.”
“Whoa.” Gus and I sounded nothing like Keanu Reeves when we said that, but in my head we’re just as cool.
I urged Ollie to continue talking to the captive mouse to get us the best information. His real name is Harry Strauss and he’s connected beyond Cheeks Moretti and Chipcent D’onofrio. There might have been a bounty on this mouse who showed up in the wrong city at the wrong time.
Ollie told us a wondrous story. Legend has it that Pittsburgh Phil/Harry Strauss was convicted, sent to the infamous Sing Sing prison, and electrocuted for capital murder. If that story isn’t true and the mouse was discovered down here in New Jersey, what really happened? Did Harry ever go to Sing Sing? If he did, how did he end up at the Winchester-Nabu estate?
Case Findings:
Gus had no idea that he had captured one of America’s most notorious hitmen when he snatched the mouse in his sabretooth jaws. Oliver questioned the mouse and learned that Harry Strauss was not actually executed in Sing Sing at all—he managed to get to New Jersey. In case he was part of the federal relocation program, we didn’t want them coming around. We can’t trust the feds anymore. Not since Jerri Williams retired. We put Harry into our own Witness Relocation Program and cannot reveal his new identity.
Case Status: Closed