Wong Gai · Private Investigator

The men took me into the woods for a snipe hunt. They left. I accept that they meant it as a joke. They did not stay to see what happened next.

I saw a large, hairy figure move between the trees. “The hunt was a prank” describes why I went into the woods. It does not describe the thing that crossed them.

The Tribune correctly reports that the sighting was mine. I am not claiming the men saw it. Their absence is part of the account.

Hootie wanted an identification. I wanted to know whose responsibility it would be if the figure remained inside town limits. Wildlife? Trespass? An unlicensed mammal? A question can be practical before it is popular.

The department says its search is not a finding. I agree. A search is how one obtains a finding. That is why I wanted one.

Now Peter is separating the prank from the sighting. Good. I have been separating them since I got back. There is still something between those trees to account for.

Peter’s report records the public account. Hootie’s statement records what the department will put in writing. Compare those with what I noticed above.