Togo (Goes) on Assignment (The Debrief)

Chapter 3: Regrouping, Scene 7

Togo Goes on Assignment is published weekly as a series. If you came in late, you might want to go back to the beginning. Or, if you’re cut from the same adventuresome cloth as Togo, feel free to read on and figure things out as you go. If you’ve been reading along and just forgot what happened in the last episode, you can click here.

Allison and Dan picked up Togo at his Athens hotel a little early so they would have time to eat before they dropped him off for his plane. Dan pulled into the parking lot of the local Bougatsa House and the trio hurried in to beat the breakfast crowd.

“Tell me again what bougatsa is?” Togo asked.

“Well,” answered Allison, “it’s a Greek pastry made from the same phyllo dough that is used in making baklava. It can have a variety of fillings. Just take a look at the menu.”

“Yeah, that’s the reason I’m asking,” Togo sniffed. “I looked at the menu and, frankly, it’s Greek to me.”

“No worries,” said Dan. “I’ll order for you and I guarantee it will be healthy and nutritious.”

Togo winced. “Healthy and nutritious” never really delivered a square meal in his experience. 

“Make mine with chicken,” he prompted. Dan just waved his hand dismissively and began to talk to the server. In just minutes, a huge tray of assorted pastries arrived at their table — including some baklava.

Togo was starving and dove right in. Nothing tasted like chicken despite Dan’s assurances that chickens were involved in the recipe. But, much of it was sweet and good and Togo pushed back from the table feeling satisfied. 

“I was hoping that I might get your perspective on what happened back in the garden while I was on stakeout watching that owl statue,” Togo began. “Margot seemed pretty upset and I really don’t know why.”

Allison cleared her throat. “Do you remember falling asleep while you were supposed to be watching for our person of interest?”

“I may have dozed off a little, but I was on top of my surveillance game,” Togo said defensively.

“Actually,” Dan injected, “you fell fast asleep and were dreaming when Allison and I got back to the park after my muscle cramp emergency.”

“Preposterous!” Togo said. “What masterful clues told you I was asleep and dreaming?”

Allison pulled out her notes. “You were lying on your side, your eyes were closed, you were moving your legs like you were running, and you were barking.”

“And it sounded like you were barking, ‘Margot, Margot, Margot,’ over and over again,” Dan added.

Togo leaned to one side and put his paw on the table. 

“Hmmm. I don’t remember that at all.”

Dan repeated, “It’s because you were fast asleep and dreaming!”

“If that’s true, why didn’t you wake me up?” Togo demanded.

“We tried,” Allison sighed. “Dan began throwing pebbles at you from our hiding place behind a bush. That’s when the Greek policeman came along, we took off, and they apprehended you lying in a small pile of rocks.”

“So, why is Margot so mad?” Togo asked. “All of that is easily explainable.”

“Even the part about you calling out ‘Margot’ repeatedly?” Allison queried.

“I definitely wasn’t saying ‘Margot’ — maybe ‘escargot.’ I was hungry when I started the stakeout,” Togo offered.

“Escargot?” Allison said, wide-eyed. “Do you even like snails?”

“What do snails have to do with it?” Togo demanded. “One, escargot is fancy French food — French fries, I think — but fancy. And two, I happen to know several snails and while ‘like’ might be a little strong, I feel I established some solid relationships.”

“No, forget escargot,” Dan stated. “It was definitely ‘Margot.’ And one of the reasons Margot might be a little upset is because a kid made a video of you barking ‘Margot, Margot, Margot!’ I think it’s been downloaded from YouTube about 50,000 times since last night.”

“Regardless,” Allison continued, “our presence in the park, your speech on Mars Hill, the parade you led on the way back to the hotel, and your sudden celebrity status on social media scared off our target. And, Dan and I went back to the park and found an ‘Acme Statue Repair Kit’ dropped at the foot of the owl.”

“I knew we almost had him!” Togo barked.

“Or her,” Allison reminded him.

In the car on the way to the airport, Togo was uncharacteristically quiet as he thought about a trans-Atlantic flight with Margot. 

Photo Credit: Allison & Dan. Used by permission.

Saying his goodbyes to Dan and Allison, Togo trotted past a crowd chanting “Margot, Margot, Margot” and up the steps of the Gulfstream and directly into the icy presence of Margot Lance.