Harry DeMaio 
Lower Case 

The Case of Scotch – Volume Three of the Casebooks of Octavius Bear, concluded with a triumphant singing debut at the Edinbeargh Opera by Octavius’ and Bearoness Belinda’s proteges Bearnice Blanc, a polaratura soprano and her baritone singing partner, Leperello, a highly talented Himalayan Snow Leopard. In this volume – The Lower Case – they arrive at Winnipeg, Manitoba to begin a North American tour. With them is Maury Meerkat, our narrator, Octavius Bear’s sidekick and talent agent for the singers as well as Bearnice’s twin sister Bearyl, a budding actress. Unfortunately, they are also accompanied by Honoria Heifer, a preposterously bad voice coach, mistakenly hired by Bearoness Belinda to aid the singers on their musical journey.No sooner have they arrived than the cow appears on a TV chat show and essentially says that the singers are light on talent and skill and that she, Honoria, has been totally responsible for their current rise in esteem and popularity.Bearnice and Lepi are enraged and storm out of the hotel lounge where they were watching the show, in pursuit of Honoria.Next morning, Honoria is found dead outside the TV station with her neck broken and several gashes in her hide. The singers are the number one suspects.Enter Octavius, Frau Schuylkill, Colonel Wyatt Where, Otto the Magnificent, Chita and L.Condor to assist the Royal Canadian Unmounted Police in finding the real culprits.Another murder, this time of an Arctic Fox, the personal assistant to the TV station manager, serves to liven things up even further. Are the crimes connected? It seems so but how and why? Populated by an assemblage of potential suspects both at the Opera and the TV station, the plot definitely thickens.Alternate universes play a major role in this volume.