The Case of Too Many Clues

by Cindy Vincent

  Bogey grinned and pulled out a bag of cat treats that he kept stashed behind a little table. “We all have to start somewhere, kid.”

  I glanced at the floor. “Well, I’m sorry if I ever caused any problems.”

  Bogey chuckled and handed me some treats. “Don’t sweat it, kid. You did the best you could for being a brand-new cat detective. You’ve come a long way in a short time. And you’ve even saved my neck a time or two. Having you as my partner in crime-solving has been worth any bumps in the road.” He took a couple of treats for himself.

  I looked back up at him. “Really?”

  He grinned. “Sure thing, kid. It wouldn’t be the same without you.”

  Well, I had to say, that made me feel a whole lot better. I munched on my treats and I realized he was right — I had saved him once or twice. Plus, I had learned a lot since I’d first become a cat detective. Even so, I still had a long way to go before I was anywhere near as good as Bogey was.

  I smiled at my brother. “Thanks for saying that, Bogey.”

  He passed out a few more treats. “Don’t give it a second thought, kid. Instead, tell me about the clue on the kitchen table.”

  So I got right down to business, since I was more determined than ever to become a better cat detective. “The jar was just like all the others,” I told him. “It had the same shiny black lid. It looked like it had been full of honey, and there were even a couple of bee stickers on it. They were just like the bees we saw on Mrs. Bumble’s glasses the day she brought Mitzi over.”

  Bogey frowned. “So this new clue is leading us straight to Mrs. Bumble’s place.”

  I finished off another treat. “That’s what I think, too.”

  “Hmmm . . .” he murmured as he passed out another round of treats. “It’s probably worth checking out. Since her place is so close. Hope it takes us to a real clue this time. Instead of another dead end. With nothing but an empty jar.”

  I nodded and munched on a treat. “Me, too.”

  Bogey arched an eyebrow toward the sunroom. “I gotta say, kid, I overheard you talking to the Wise One in there. And I think training Short-stuff is a good plan. She’s got all the makings of a great cat detective. She could be a big help to us.”

  “Uh-huh,” I told him.

  Bogey grinned at me. “She looks up to you, kid. So I think you should be in charge and oversee her training. Asking Lil and Trixie to give her cat karate lessons is a great start.”

  To be honest, I did think it was a good idea for Mitzi to have cat detective lessons. But I still wasn’t crazy about the idea of being the one to teach her. Or even being the one in charge of making sure she got the right lessons. I was about to say so when Lil, Trixie, and the Princess came around the corner.

  Bogey grinned and held the open treat bag in their direction. “Good timing, ladies. My associate here has something he wants to ask you.” Then he turned to me. “Go ahead, kid. Do your stuff.”

  Like it or not, it looked like I was stuck with the job of making sure Mitzi got trained.

  So I paused for a moment, while everyone took a “paw-full” of treats.

  Then I just jumped right in. “Lil and Trixie, I was wondering if you could teach Mitzi how to do cat karate. She seems to think she knows how to do it already. But I don’t think what she does now is real cat karate.”

  Lil was already shaking her head. “I’m afraid it’s not.”

  Trixie nodded and swallowed her treat. “I agree. It’s not even close to real cat karate.”

  Bogey passed us all another round of treats. “So what do you say, Lil? Trix? Can we count on you two to give the little one some lessons?” Then he tilted his head in my direction. “Buckley is going to teach her the fine art of being a cat detective. I’ll lend a paw, too, of course.”

  Trixie smiled and I couldn’t help but notice how much better she looked already. Even after only a day of having food and water.

  “I’m always happy to help out a new Cat Detective in Training,” she told us. “I was a CDIT myself once. A long time ago.”

  Lil chuckled. “It was a long, long time ago for me. And even though I’m retired, I think I could help out a new recruit. That young one truly has the heart for the job.”

  “And I can teach her about diamonds and gems and jewelry,” the Princess added. “Things that bad people like to steal.”

  Lil and Trixie both nodded. “That would be very valuable for her to learn.”

  Bogey grinned. “Perfect. Then it’s all settled,” he said just before he turned back to me. “Guess you should be the bearer of good news, right, kid?”

  “Me . . .? Why do I have to . . .” I started to ask.

  But then I quickly caught myself. Okay, maybe I wasn’t crazy about dealing with Mitzi. Not after what she’d done this afternoon. And well, I was still probably a little mad at her, and I didn’t exactly want to talk to her right now. But I’d just gotten advice from the Wise One and an assignment from Bogey. They’d both spent plenty of time teaching and training me, so now it was my turn to step into that role. For Mitzi.

  So I took a really deep breath and put a smile on my face. “Sure, I’d be happy to,” I somehow managed to say. Though it wasn’t exactly easy to get the words out.

  And the next thing I knew, I was on my way to find Mitzi. I ran downstairs and checked our cat beds, thinking she might have gone for a nap. When she wasn’t there, I looked all over the family room and then in the living room. After that, I searched the home office. She wasn’t there, either, so I kept on searching for her throughout the house.

  But she was nowhere to be found.

  For some reason, I was starting to get a little annoyed as I went along. The funny thing was, she’d practically been glued to me since the second she’d come to stay at our house. In fact, it had been kind of hard to shake her. And sometimes she was there when I didn’t even know she was there.

  But now when I actually wanted her around, I couldn’t find her anywhere!

  And to think, I was a cat detective! Finding clues and missing things was something I was trained to do. Yet it seemed like this little kitten had practically disappeared from the face of the earth. Or, at least, from inside our house.

  That’s when I suddenly had a thought that sent my heart racing. Had Mitzi gotten out somehow? Was she running around outside where there were plenty of dangers for a tiny cat? I remembered my own days of being out on the mean streets. Before I’d come to live at our forever home. And believe me, there was a reason why they called those streets “mean.” The idea of little Mitzi being out there all alone without anyone to care for her made my stomach twist into knots. So I just kept on running and looking and searching. I checked the kitchen pantry and the closets and I finally ran back upstairs. I looked under our Mom and Dad’s bed. And I searched every nook and cranny that I could think of.

  I finally ran into Gracie’s room for a second time. Then I just stopped and tried to think where Mitzi might be. By now I was really starting to panic. More than anything, I wanted to see that tiny little orange and black face. With the little black mustache under her pink nose. I could hardly believe I’d been so upset with her earlier. She was just a little kitten. Sure, she should have listened to us. And yes, she should have stopped when we told her to stop. But she didn’t know better. And unless Bogey and I and the other cats taught her a few things, she never would know any better.

  But we’d never get the chance unless I found her. Then again, maybe I needed to change the “I” to a “we.” Meaning, maybe I needed to form a search party.

  Even if it meant sneaking outside to keep on looking for her.

  I was just about to race from the room and find the other cats when I heard it. A faint mewing sound. The very same mewing sound that I’d heard the night before.

  The mewing sound that Mitzi made.

  That meant I’d found her at last!

  Well, sort of. Since I could hear her, I knew she must be close by. Now I just n
eeded to figure out where she was exactly.

  But how?

  Especially since my heart seemed to be pounding even louder than the quiet, little mewing noise that I could barely even hear.

  Was Mitzi in trouble? Was she stuck somewhere?

  Holy Catnip!

  CHAPTER 11

  Holy Mackerel!

  There I was, standing in Gracie’s room and listening for all I was worth, with my ears pointed in the direction of Mitzi’s mewing. I could hear her just faintly, but I sure couldn’t see her. And no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find her anywhere.

  So I just stayed focused on that mewing sound.

  “Mitzi,” I called out. “Where are you?”

  “Buckley, is that you?” came her muffled voice.

  “Yes, it’s me. Would you please come out and talk to me?” I checked under the bed and in the closet again, and I still couldn’t find her.

  “But I don’t know where I am!” she cried. “Help, Buckley! I’m lost!”

  I crinkled my brow. “How did you get lost?”

  “I don’t know. But now I can’t find my way out!”

  “Um . . . okay,” I told her. “Just keep talking. I’m going to follow the sound of your voice.”

  “Buckley, I’m scared,” she whimpered.

  Well, I had to say, this was the first time I’d ever heard her admit to anything like that. Usually she just acted really tough.

  “It’s okay,” I told her. “We all get scared sometimes. But don’t worry, I’ll get you out. Then I’ve got something to tell you. Something I know will make you extra happy.”

  “You do?”

  By now, I could tell her voice was coming from somewhere around Gracie’s bed, and I knew she couldn’t be far away.

  “Uh-huh,” I said. “And I’m going to tell you just as soon as I see you. Can you give me some hints about where you are? And how you got in there?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t remember for sure. I came up here to hide. But then I guess I just hid too well.”

  I glanced under the bed once more. “Why were you trying to hide?”

  She started to make her mewing sound again. “Because I made a bad mistake. I messed up your case. When you were investigating at the jewelry store.”

  Funny, but I was pretty sure this was exactly what Miss Mokie had been talking about. And while I wanted to tell Mitzi that “everything was okay,” I remembered the words of the Wise One. And how I was supposed to be firm and let this little kitten know when she had acted “incorrectly.”

  So I took a deep breath and did my best to do what Miss Mokie had told me to do.

  “Um . . . yes, young one,” I said as firmly as I could. “You should have listened to Bogey and me. And you should have stayed put instead of running up Mr. Pennypacker’s back.”

  “I know,” she said. “Are you mad at me, Buckley?”

  I scrunched up my face, reminding myself not to be wishy-washy. “Well . . . um . . . yes. I was.”

  Then she started to mew even louder. “I’m sorry, Buckley. I was just trying to be a cat detective. Like you.”

  “And that’s why I was looking for you,” I told her. “I wanted to tell you the good news.”

  “Good news?”

  I nodded, even though I was pretty sure she couldn’t see me. “Uh-huh. I wanted to tell you that we decided to train you to be a cat detective.”

  “For real?” she chirped.

  “Yup,” I told her. “For real. Lil and Trixie even agreed to teach you cat karate.”

  I heard her gasp. “They did?”

  “Uh-huh, they sure did.”

  “Oh, Buckley! I am so excited! I can hardly stand it.”

  And that’s when the pillows leaning against the headboard of Gracie’s bed suddenly fell over. And a lump beneath her comforter started to bounce around.

  I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. Because it turned out that Mitzi wasn’t really all that lost. She’d only been under the covers and the pillows at the top of the bed.

  I moved closer to the bed. “Scoot toward the sound of my voice. Okay? I’ll keep talking and you keep moving.”

  “Okay, Buckley. Whatever you say.”

  And so she did. As I kept on talking and talking, I could see the bump under the covers slowly heading toward me. That was, until it stopped completely.

  “Buckley, it’s dark in here,” Mitzi whimpered. “I’m scared.”

  For a second or two, I really felt like rolling my eyes again. After all, us cats can see in the dark.

  But then I had an idea. “Maybe you should close your eyes. And keep on scooting toward my voice. I’ll let you know when you’re almost out.”

  “All right, Buckley,” she told me as she started to move again.

  Then, little by little, I could see that bump in the bed heading my way once more. When she got close to the edge, I used one of my big paws to hold the covers up.

  “You can open your eyes now,” I told her. “And come on out.”

  So she did just that. She slid out head first with her arms stretched out before her. When her front feet touched the ground, she rolled and did a somersault. Then she bounced onto all fours and just kept on bouncing around.

  “Oh, Buckley,” she cried. “You saved me! From that dark bed.” Then she did one of her karate moves and bounced off the side of the bed. With a very loud “Hi-yah!”

  I started to say something to her, but she interrupted me before I could even get a single word out. “Did you see how brave I was, Buckley? I went right through those dark covers and I wasn’t even scared.”

  That’s funny, because I sure didn’t remember it like that.

  “I’m going to be one of the best cat detectives ever,” she babbled on, still not letting me speak. “You’ll see!”

  To tell you the truth, right at that very moment, I wasn’t half as sure as she was. But one thing I was pretty sure about — there didn’t seem to be anything I could say that would get her to settle down and listen to me. So I did something I’d seen the Wise One do many times. I raised my paw for silence. And I just kept on holding it up there in the air.

  I could hardly believe what happened next. Little Mitzi suddenly stopped talking and sat down at attention. Almost like I’d turned off a switch somewhere.

  I was so shocked I almost gasped. But thankfully, I caught myself in time and I did my best to look firm and serious. After all, what kind of a teacher would I be if I acted all surprised when my methods worked? Miss Mokie never looked shocked when we bowed to her. No, she commanded respect, and believe me, she got it! So I figured I should probably do the same.

  I cleared my throat and put my paw down. “Umm . . . that’s better,” I told Mitzi. “Now here’s the deal. If you want Bogey and me to teach you how to be a cat detective, then you have to settle down. And you have to listen and follow orders. If you don’t, then we’re not going to train you anymore. Got it?”

  And she nodded her little head. “Yes, Buckley. And Bogey.”

  I turned my head to see my brother standing in the doorway. “Good job, kid,” he told me with a grin. “Looks like you’re a natural when it comes to teaching a CDIT.”

  “Thanks,” I said, though I sure didn’t feel like a natural.

  Unnatural was more like it.

  Bogey nodded toward Mitzi. “Glad to see you’ve already started working with Short-stuff here. Because we could use her tomorrow.”

  I crinkled my brow and looked at my brother. For a moment or two, I wasn’t sure if I’d heard him correctly. After all, Mitzi had caused all kinds of trouble for us today at the jewelry store.

  “Are you sure . . .?” I asked Bogey.

  “I’ll go, I’ll go, I’ll go!” Mitzi chimed in. Her eyes were wild and I could tell she was fighting the urge to start dancing around again. But I had to give her credit — for once she was doing a pretty good job of keeping herself under control.

  Bogey strolled on into the room. “Let’s fa
ce it, kid. Short-stuff here knows her way around the Bumble place. She could give us a leg up, so we’re not walking into the place blind. But only if you can give her some more training tonight.” Bogey extended a claw and pulled out a bag of cat treats that he kept hidden behind Gracie’s desk.

  “Umm . . . sure,” I said as he handed Mitzi and me a treat.

  Mitzi attacked her treat like she was jumping on a bug. She scarfed it down and looked to Bogey for another one. Without a word, he passed out another round of treats.

  Bogey raised an eyebrow in Mitzi’s direction. “You might start by teaching her how to hold her horses.”

  My chin nearly dropped to the floor. “Horses? You want me to teach her how to ride a horse?”

  Bogey grinned. “Nope, kid. Just an expression. I want you to teach her to be patient. And to wait when she’s supposed to. So she doesn’t do what she did today.”

  “Oh, okay,” I nodded, though I wasn’t exactly sure how I was supposed to teach her that.

  But before I could ask Bogey for any ideas, he stashed the treat bag behind Gracie’s desk. “It’s a plan then, kid,” he said as he headed for the door. “I’ll meet you later when it’s time to run our rounds.”

  I looked at my brother and saluted. “Aye, aye,” I told him. But I missed my forehead and poked myself in the ear.

  Thankfully, Bogey had already trotted into the hallway and he didn’t see me.

  And thankfully, neither did the Princess when she waltzed into the room a few seconds later. “Hello, Buckley. I’m here to help. If you need me.” She gave me a smile and looked up at me with her big, green eyes. All of a sudden, my heart started to pound and the room started to spin.

  As if I didn’t have enough to worry about with training little Mitzi.

  And speaking of Mitzi, the next thing I knew, I heard a loud “Hi-yah!” Then I felt her feet hit my side and suddenly the room really was spinning. Because Mitzi and I were rolling and rolling and rolling across the hardwood floor.

  When we stopped, I bounced to my feet and so did she.

  Only she kept on bouncing around. At least, I think she did. It was kind of hard to tell for sure since my eyes were still moving in circles.