Paws 1997

Alex, Norman Kaye is a computer programmer living in a far-off, chill place. One night, an intruder named Anja Sandy Gore bursts in with her vicious dog Sibelius and demands money. Before the confrontation escalates, Alex scribbles an important message to a colleague at a greyhound racetrack and transfers it to a floppy disk, then entrusts the disk to his loyal computer companion, PC Billy Connolly. He warns PC to deliver the file only to Susie and to trust no one.

The moment Anja learns the plan, she kills Alex, claiming the money is in his retirement fund. Yet when she later discovers the money is missing, she spots the initials “SA” on the file name and realises they point to Susie Caroline Gillmer. From that point, Anja begins to spy on Susie, setting the stage for a tense chase.

PC ends up at Susie’s neighbourhood after a brush with danger, only to be hit by a car and taken in by the family of Zac Nathan Cavaleri, a 14-year-old boy who has just moved to Sydney from Melbourne with his mother Amy Rachael Blake, his stepfather Stephen Joe Petruzzi, and his younger sister Binky Freyja Meere. Zac, who narrates much of the story alongside PC, initially believes the disk might belong to him and keeps it. He soon meets his new neighbour, Susie, and her daughter Samantha Emilie François, who relocated from London and are now living next door. Susie and Samantha recognize PC, and they learn of Alex’s death while PC remains a guest in Zac’s home.

With time, PC shares his talent: a translation program able to turn any language or sound into plain English—even PC’s own barking. He demonstrates this to Zac, who responds by giving PC a new Scottish-tinged voice and installing the software onto a palm-sized device worn as a bow-tie microphone, so PC can speak away from the desktop.

Amid mounting incidents involving Anja and Sibelius, the bond between Zac and PC deepens, and PC begins to reveal a long-hidden history. He was once from Iceland, married to Anja, who betrayed him by stealing Alex’s programs and earning millions. Heartbroken, Alex fled to Australia with PC, but Anja eventually tracked them down.

A key clue surfaces when Zac finds the floppy disk and follows a trail that leads them to Alex’s flat. There, a crossword puzzle unlocks a pair of videos from Alex. In one, he says, “A note to follow so,” while a pea-shaped image appears. After they sing “Do-Re-Mi,” they deduce the password is LAP, and a second video shows Alex saying, “Well done. The rest is in and under your nose. Bonne Chance.”

Anja bursts onto the scene again, dagger in hand, and Zac deletes the file to shield PC, but Anja still grabs PC and drags him away. Back home, Stephen—a person who had previously loaned money to Anja—teams up with Zac’s family to help. They head to the greyhound track where Alex and Susie once worked.

PC cleverly engineers a breakout from Sibelius, and in the ensuing pursuit, Anja’s dog is set loose and chases them around the track. Sammy, Samantha’s nickname in the story, deciphers the clue but misreads “LAP in” as the French word for “rabbit.” PC is catapulted into the commentator’s box, where his new voice announces that the money is in the rabbit. Anja, convinced it refers to the mechanical rabbit on the track, tears into it but gets stuck and is dragged around the ring.

A new discovery comes when Binky finds Sammy’s Hollywood pin badge, a keepsake Alex gave her. As Sammy explains, “Hollywood” refers to a place in L.A., which reframes the clue as an LA pin, concealing jewelry inside it. With the mystery closing in, the characters piece together the riddle and locate the hidden wealth.

In the end, the unlikely pairings and the clever use of language bring the story to a close as PC shares a final moment with Sammy’s dog, Cordelia, sealing a quirky, heartfelt connection that blends friendship, loyalty, and a dash of technology-driven wit. > A note to follow so > Well done. The rest is in and under your nose. Bonne Chance