Jake was a mongrel who howled at the moon. Ma Olson bought him as protection against local thugs, and unfamiliar faces were greeted with menacing growls.

“Too loud,” complained neighbours, sentencing Jake to a premature demise.

One month later, when his owner was brutally murdered, no one heard a sound.

John B Sinclair is a much-travelled Scot who has now returned to Scotland, where he enjoys freelance writing on a variety of subjects.