The Case of Too Many Clues

by Cindy Vincent

  But now I wondered how we would get those papers back in place. So she would never know that we’d been in there.

  As always, Bogey practically read my mind. “Don’t sweat it, kid. She’ll just think the wind knocked them over. Now, I want you to use your big paws to pull those drawers open and look inside. See if there’s anything fishy in there.”

  I crinkled my brow. “You think she keeps fish inside her desk? Like canned tuna?”

  Mitzi’s eyes went wide and Bogey shook his head. “Just an expression, kid. For anything that seems out of place.”

  “Um . . . okay,” I told him as I glanced at the lowest drawer.

  Bogey jumped to the top of the desk. “While you’ve got your paws full, I’ll snoop around up here. And Short-stuff, I want you on the floor. Look behind the furniture and all around. Put your nose into it.”

  “Okay, Bogey,” she said as she went to work on her own little part of the investigation.

  In the meantime, I grabbed the handle on the bottom drawer and pulled it open. There was nothing inside but a bunch of store catalogues. So I kept on going.

  Thankfully, it wasn’t long before we were all finished. Bogey was back on the floor and I’d shut all the drawers. But none of us had found anything that looked the least bit suspicious. And we sure hadn’t found a little jar with a black lid.

  Bogey shook his head. “Maybe the clue we’re supposed to find is out in the main room. Let’s go take a look.” But before we took off, he nodded to little Mitzi. “Remember, Short-stuff, you’ve gotta be quiet as a mouse. Can you do that?”

  She nodded and clamped her mouth shut. Even so, her eyes went wide. Really wide. For a moment, I thought she was going to explode. Because she looked like she wanted to bounce off the walls. Still, I had to hand it to her, for once she was doing a pretty good job of keeping herself under control.

  And she kept on keeping herself under control as we all tiptoed to the outer room. This time, we ran behind the far display case, just as Garnet was ringing up Mr. Pennypacker’s purchase.

  And that’s when we spotted it. Sitting in a corner.

  Another clear jar with a shiny black lid. One that looked exactly like the others we’d found on our porch. Needless to say, we made a beeline for it.

  Above us, we could see Mr. Pennypacker’s reflection in a mirror. Thankfully, he couldn’t see us as he put his bowler hat back on his head.

  “He’s getting away!” Mitzi meowed in a whisper.

  “Who?” I asked, keeping my voice really low.

  Mitzi started to bounce around. “Him! The bad guy!”

  “What bad guy?” I asked as Bogey took a good look at the jar.

  “That one!” She pointed a paw at Mr. Pennypacker’s reflection.

  I crinkled my brow. “What makes you so sure he’s a bad guy?”

  Fire burned in her eyes. “I just know he is. Because I’m a cat detective.”

  “You’re not a cat detective yet, Short-stuff,” Bogey murmured. “So sit tight while Buckley opens this jar.”

  Let me tell you, I didn’t waste any time doing just that. I had that lid off and quietly on the floor in a split second. In the meantime, Mitzi kept on bouncing around, faster and faster. She was positively bursting with energy. As near as I could tell, any attempts to keep herself under control had gone right out the door. And if she didn’t calm down in a hurry, I was afraid she would give us away.

  “I have to catch him, Buckley and Bogey! I have to go now!” she insisted.

  “Hang on, Short-stuff. I don’t want you going anywhere,” Bogey cautioned her.

  Then Bogey and I turned our attention to the jar. We looked inside, and I could hardly believe it — the whole thing was completely empty! But instead of moving away, we just kept on looking at it. Almost like we were hoping some clue might magically appear if we stared at that jar long enough.

  “I have to go. Now!” I heard Mitzi say. “I’ve got to catch that bad guy.”

  “Put a lid on it,” Bogey said.

  I wasn’t sure if he was talking to Mitzi or me, so I put the lid back on the jar anyway.

  Bogey frowned at Mitzi. “That goes double for you, Short-stuff.”

  “But I can’t wait anymore,” she whined.

  “A good cat detective keeps their cool,” Bogey told her.

  But she just kept on bouncing around. “Can I go now?”

  I shook my head. “Nope. We don’t even know if he’s a bad guy.”

  “But I know he is. And he’s getting away! Look!” she gasped. “How about now?”

  “No,” I whispered.

  “Okay, what about now? Can I go now? I’ll use my cat karate!” She jumped against the wall and just missed the door of a display case.

  Then before either Bogey or I could say another word, she hollered, “I’m going in!”

  And with those words, she raced right into the middle of the room and made a beeline for Mr. Pennypacker. She shot straight up his back and landed right on top of his bowler hat. Then she dug in her claws and hung on with every ounce of strength she had.

  “I’ve got him! I’ve got him! Buckley and Bogey, I caught the bad guy!” she yowled at the top of her lungs. “He can’t get away!”

  If nothing else, at least she remembered to stick to cat language.

  Garnet shrieked and stared at Mitzi for a moment. Then she stomped over and glanced behind the counter to where Bogey and I were hiding.

  “What on earth . . .? There are cats in here!” she shouted. “And I recognize those cats! They’re Buckley and Bogey! They belong to Abigail down the street. What are they doing in here?”

  Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen another human being so angry in my whole life!

  And since there was no use trying to hide anymore, Bogey and I crept out from behind the counter. Right away, I started to shake in my paws. Because I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen next.

  But one thing I did know for sure — we were in trouble.

  Very big trouble.

  Holy Catnip!

  CHAPTER 9

  Holy Mackerel!

  Seconds after we’d been discovered, Garnet was on the phone to our Mom. “Get over here immediately and remove Buckley and Bogey from my store! And take that other little pip-squeak of a cat,” she yelled into the phone. “I will not have such rodents running around here!” Then she hung up.

  I’m pretty sure she didn’t even give our Mom a chance to speak.

  I glanced at my brother. “Rodents?” I meowed. “We’re not rodents. We’re cats. Felines.”

  Bogey gave me a slight grin. “Don’t I know it, kid.”

  In the meantime, Mr. Pennypacker removed his hat from his head. Mitzi was still attached, since her claws seemed to be stuck in his hat. She had a ferocious look on her tiny face and I was pretty sure she wanted to take a swipe at him. Only she couldn’t get her paws loose.

  Mr. Pennypacker smiled at her. “My, what a fun little game you’re playing, little one. Are you a cohort of Buckley and Bogey over there? You seem rather petite to be running around with the likes of them. Shall I unlatch you from my hat?”

  Mitzi only responded with a hiss. It was pretty clear to me that she wanted to get her hooks into him — instead of just his hat. Even though he was being pretty nice to her.

  He set his hat on the counter, with her still attached. “Perhaps I’ll simply let you wait here, young calico.”

  Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait long. Because our Mom and Gracie came through the door seconds later. Our Mom looked from us to Mitzi and then to Garnet. Gracie had walked in with her cell phone in front of her, and even now she barely glanced up from it.

  Our Mom sighed. “How did you two boys get out? And what are you doing in Garnet’s store?”

  Mr. Pennypacker smiled at our Mom. “What about this little one?” he said with a flourish of his hand. “She seems to be clamped onto my hat. Is she with your bunch as well?”

  “Yes
, she is for the moment,” our Mom said with a feeble smile. “She’s a little foster kitten who is staying with us.”

  “My, but she is a feisty little thing,” Mr. Pennypacker said with a chuckle. “Perhaps you might disengage her from my hat?”

  Our Mom turned to Gracie. “Could you please get the kitten, honey? While I round up the boys?”

  “Just a minute, Mom,” Gracie muttered. “I have to finish my message to Sophie. She’s mad at me, and I’ve been trying over and over again to explain what happened. I don’t think she’ll ever forgive me.”

  That’s when I felt a twinge of guilt. After all, it was partly my fault that Sophie was mad at Gracie.

  And speaking of mad, Garnet crossed her arms and started to tap her foot. “Apparently you can’t control your child or your animals, Abigail. So you certainly have no business bringing them to work with you.”

  “I realize you’re upset, Garnet,” our Mom said firmly. “But my daughter is a very bright and usually thoughtful young woman. And Buckley and Bogey are wonderful cats. They’re just more curious than most. As near as I can tell, they have done no harm to you or your store. So I’ll be taking my family — both human and feline — and we’ll get out of your hair.”

  To which Garnet let out a loud, “Harrumph!”

  Our Mom turned to Gracie. “Honey, I’m not going to ask you a second time. You can contact Sophie when we get back to our store. Now please put the phone away and get the kitten.”

  “Oh, all right, Mom!” Gracie moaned. But instead of getting off her phone, she kept on tapping on the screen as she walked forward. And instead of heading for Mitzi, Gracie walked right into a display case.

  Jewelry and boxes clattered straight to the floor.

  And that’s when Gracie finally did put her phone down, and her eyes went wide in horror. She gasped, and our Mom gasped, and Mr. Pennypacker wheezed, and Garnet . . . well . . . Garnet’s face turned so red that it practically matched her hair. And I was pretty sure she was about to explode.

  “You clumsy girl!” she shouted. “Look what you’ve done!”

  Tears formed in Gracie’s eyes. “I’m so sorry, Garnet. It was an accident. I didn’t mean to knock that over. I’ll pick it all up.”

  “You’d better believe you will!” Garnet shouted some more.

  Gracie kneeled down on the floor, and tears slipped down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Garnet,” she said over and over.

  “You should be!” Garnet told her. “If you had stayed off your phone, none of this would have happened. You’ll pay for any damages.”

  And that was all my brother and I needed to hear before we raced right over to take a good look at the jewelry that had fallen to the floor. Because we wanted to see what damage — if any — had really been done. We got there only seconds before our Mom did. And we got up really close so we could investigate it thoroughly. Sure, some of the jewelry might have landed a little funny, but we could see that nothing was broken. Or dented or scratched or bent. Or hurt at all.

  “Of course we will pay for any damage,” our Mom said as she helped Gracie. “But it doesn’t look like anything was harmed.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that,” Garnet said while she examined all the jewelry that Gracie put on a counter. “It appears that everything is all right. But I assure you, I will take a closer look. And if I should find anything broken later on, I will bring you a bill for the damages!”

  “That’s fine,” our Mom said. “And I’m sure you won’t mind if I take a quick photo or two. Of anything that landed on the floor. Just so we have proof from our end of things.”

  She nodded to Gracie. “Could I please borrow your phone, honey?”

  “Sure, Mom,” Gracie said meekly.

  Then while she passed her phone to our Mom, Mr. Pennypacker handed his hat to Gracie. With Mitzi still attached. Gracie carefully unlatched Mitzi’s claws while our Mom took several pictures of the jewelry.

  “Would you like me to help you set up the display again?” our Mom asked Garnet politely.

  She shook her head. “No, Abigail. I’d really just like you and your bunch to leave my store.”

  Our Mom nodded. “Then we will. Again, I apologize for the bother.”

  Mr. Pennypacker returned his hat to his head and reached down to pick up Bogey. “Allow me to assist you and your gaggle back to your own store, Mrs. Abernathy.”

  Our Mom smiled at him. “Well, thank you, Mr. . . .”

  “Pennypacker,” he supplied. “You may not remember me, but my wife and I bought a dining room set from your store. A year ago. And I’ve bought an old train set from you as well.”

  “Yes, of course,” our Mom nodded. “I do remember you. So nice to see you again.” She picked up little Mitzi, and Gracie reached down for me.

  Right away I could feel that Gracie was shaking. And I could tell that she was pretty upset about what had happened. So I wrapped my paws around her neck and gave her a nice hug. Then I held on tight as she followed our Mom and Mr. Pennypacker outside.

  When we got back to our Mom’s store, she carried me to the back room. Then she sat down, with me still in her arms. And that’s when big, warm tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

  “You know, Buckley,” she whispered into my fur. “Ever since I got that cell phone, it’s caused me nothing but trouble. I wish I’d never gotten it.”

  I purred into her ear to make her feel better, and before I knew it, she was sound asleep. Probably because she’d been up so late the night before.

  That’s when I slipped out of her arms and ran to the front room to join Bogey. I found him sitting on an old dresser by the front window. His eyes were squinted and he was watching something outside.

  “How’s she doing, kid?” He gave a nod toward the back room, and I knew he was talking about Gracie.

  “She’s really upset,” I told him. “And it makes me upset to see her so unhappy.”

  Bogey nodded and pulled a bag of cat treats from a vase. “I hear ya, kid. Here, have a treat or two. This’ll take the edge off.” He passed me a couple of treats and took some for himself.

  “Things sure went wrong at Garnet’s store,” I said before I munched on my treats. “I feel sort of responsible for Gracie getting into trouble.”

  Bogey finished his treats. “I hear ya, kid. One thing led to another. There’s no denying it.”

  I nodded. “Uh-huh. And if we didn’t go over there to investigate, then Gracie wouldn’t have bumped into that display.”

  Bogey shook his head. “But we had to do our job, kid. Because we don’t know who left those jars on our porch. And this whole setup is starting to feel a little sinister to me. So we’ve got to get to the bottom of this. That new kitten was the wild card. We didn’t plan on her showing up.”

  “You can say that again,” I mumbled. “Speaking of Mitzi, where is she now?”

  Bogey glanced in the direction of the cash register. “She’s riding around in the pocket of Merryweather’s apron. It’s keeping her out of trouble.”

  As far as I was concerned, that seemed like a very good place for Mitzi to be — out of trouble.

  Bogey passed us one more round of treats and then hid the bag in the vase again.

  I sighed and ate a treat. “I’m not even sure what we found on our investigation. And I don’t understand that clue at all. Why was there an empty jar? Just sitting there?”

  Bogey shook his head and downed a treat himself. “Your guess is as good as mine, kid. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “Do you think it was the wrong jar?” I suggested.

  “I doubt it, kid,” Bogey said as he stared outside again. “I can’t imagine too many of those little jars just lying around town. And this one was on the floor, where we’d spot it. Plus, we covered most of the store and didn’t see another jar. So I’m betting that jar was meant for us.”

  “That’s so odd,” I told my brother. “If somebody wanted us to find that jar, it seems like they
would have put something inside it.”

  Bogey raised his brows. “That would make more sense, kid. But any way you look at it, there’s not much we can do now. We’ll have to wait for whoever is leaving these clues to make the next move.”

  For some reason, the thought of it gave me the shivers.

  After that, Bogey and I ran surveillance in our Mom’s store. Then we had a bite of lunch and took a good long nap. And before we knew it, it was time to go home. Mitzi joined me once again in my pet carrier. But instead of bouncing around and chattering away, she fell sound asleep. In fact, she didn’t even mention our trip to the jewelry store at all.

  Which let me listen in on the conversation between our Mom and Gracie.

  “Mom, I will save my allowance and pay for any damage that I did to Garnet’s jewelry,” Gracie said quietly. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know how I walked into that display case.”

  Our Mom pulled the car over and turned to Gracie. “Honey, I wonder if you’re really ready for that cell phone. They can be very, very distracting. Let’s face it — when a person is paying attention to their phone, they’re not paying attention to anything else around them.”

  Tears rolled down Gracie’s cheeks. “I really thought I could do both things at once. I thought I could help with the kitties and send messages to Sophie at the same time. The strange thing was, I didn’t even realize that I was sort of . . . sort of . . .”

  “Impaired?” our Mom suggested gently.

  “Impaired?” Gracie repeated. “What does that mean?”

  “That something has made it so you can’t function safely, like you normally would,” our Mom explained.

  Gracie nodded. “Well, then I guess that would be the right word. And it was scary. Because I really thought I was just fine. I didn’t realize I wasn’t until I hit that jewelry display. Then I felt like I’d been sleepwalking or something. And when I hit that display, it was like I woke up and didn’t even know where I was for a few seconds.”

  Our Mom put her hand on Gracie’s shoulder. “Well, you’re not alone. Lots of people have problems with cell phones. Sometimes a phone can put a person in kind of a trance. And plenty of people get hurt because of it. Some people even fall down stairs or walk right in front of a car while they’re on their phones. And believe me, I don’t ever want something bad like that to happen to you.”