The Case of the Jewel Covered Cat Statues

by Cindy Vincent

  “You’re probably right,” our Mom agreed. “Would you care for a cup of coffee?”

  Abe smiled. “That sounds divine, dear lady. I do like a good cup of coffee. And, if you don’t mind, I’ll take a look around to see all your wonderful items. Sometimes I have a customer who is looking for something that I don’t happen to have in my store. But perhaps you might. Then I could simply send them in your direction.”

  “Thank you, I’d appreciate it,” our Mom said with a smile. “I’ll do the same for you.”

  “Splendid,” Abe said. “I like good store owners who cooperate with each other.”

  With those words, our Mom left to get some coffee for him. It was the second time today that she’d gone off to get coffee for someone. I wondered if anyone would actually drink the coffee this time.

  Abe smiled at Bogey and me before he started to slowly walk around the store.

  He paused in front of a beautiful black glass bowl and held it up. “Stunning! Simply stunning. I do like a nice glass bowl.”

  Then he walked on and looked at a big candleholder with crystals hanging from it. “Beautiful! I like a sparkly candlestick holder.”

  “Wow, that guy sure likes a lot of things,” I whispered to my brother.

  “You got that right, kid,” Bogey meowed back quietly. “But we’d better get a move on. Let’s check out that paper I pulled from Delilah’s purse.”

  “Aye, aye,” I told him. I tried to salute him with my huge paw, but I sort of lost my balance.

  Thankfully, I caught myself before I fell off the buffet. Bogey grinned and leaped down to the hardwood floor. I followed him and then we ran back to the middle of the store. We jumped up on the green velvet couch where he’d hidden the paper.

  Seconds later, Bogey had pulled that paper out and had it unfolded. Sure enough, it looked like an airline schedule.

  I pointed to the name at the top. “But this is for someone named Deborah Willowby. Not Delilah Wunderfully.”

  Bogey nodded. “Good eye, kid. What do you want to bet that Delilah has an alias?”

  I crinkled my forehead. “An alias? What does that mean?”

  Bogey pointed to the name. “It means Delilah may not always use her real name, kid. It means she might use another name — or names — at different times.”

  I stared at the sheet. “But why would she want to do that?”

  I couldn’t imagine using any name but my own. I liked the name Buckley. It was my name. It was who I was. And for that matter, I couldn’t imagine Bogey using any other name besides his name either.

  “To hide her real name, kid,” Bogey told me. “It’s something criminals do a lot. If they don’t want to get caught, they don’t let people know their real name.”

  “Oh, okay,” I said. “So which name do you think is her real name? Delilah or Deborah?”

  Bogey shook his head. “Good question, kid. It’s hard to tell. All we do know is that she flew out of Istanbul five days ago. On flight 1494. And she arrived in St. Gertrude on Friday night.”

  I felt my eyes go wide. “Wow, that sounds like a long trip.”

  Bogey turned his ears toward the back of the store. “You got that right, kid. Now we have to wonder why she made such a long trip. And why she came to St. Gertrude.”

  In the background, I could hear Abe and our Mom talking.

  “Why don’t you come back and meet the rest of my staff?” our Mom said to Abe.

  “I would be most honored,” he told her as they walked together. “As I understand it, we both attended the same high school. I like a good high school. However, I would suspect you attended many years later than I did. Probably about twenty or so.”

  Our Mom laughed. “Yes, I think that’s about right.”

  “My, but we have so much in common,” Abe went on. “I am so pleased I stopped by today, dear lady.”

  Seconds later, we heard our Mom introduce Abe to Millicent and Merryweather. Then they all started talking and laughing.

  Bogey nodded in the direction of the back room. “Okay, kid, here’s our chance. Let’s stash this paper in my pet carrier this time. Yours is probably getting a little heavy.”

  By now, I knew the drill. Since I was so much bigger, it would be my job to carry the paper. Though I had to say, I sure liked the times when my size came in handy. And since this paper didn’t have ink on it that could run, I could carry it in my mouth. That made it a whole lot easier.

  Still, it kind of bounced and flapped in front of my eyes when I ran along behind Bogey. He led the way, finding a path for us to get to the back room. Without being spotted.

  Minutes later, I had Delilah’s airline schedule stashed in Bogey’s pet carrier. And just for good measure, I grabbed the other paper clue we’d found earlier. The one that Bogey had gotten from the sea captain’s pocket. Then I hid it in Bogey’s pet carrier, too.

  I came back out and saw Bogey flex his front paw. “Wait a minute, kid. Didn’t Abe say the sea captain was in his store, too?”

  I nodded my head. “Uh-huh. He did.”

  Bogey glanced at the entrance to the front room again. “I wonder if there’s a connection, kid. Between our Mom’s store and Abe’s store. They were both broken into on the same night. Maybe we need to investigate Abe’s store, too.”

  That’s when I felt the room start to spin a little bit. We’d been finding clues and running across suspicious characters since the second we got here this morning. What I really wanted was a nap! And maybe a little lunch.

  And now we were going to sneak outside our store and go to another store?

  Holy Catnip!

  I flopped over on my cat bed. For a second or two, I thought about closing my eyes and going to sleep.

  But I knew a good cat detective wouldn’t do that. A good cat detective would be like Bogey. Ready to go.

  Even when he was tired.

  And since I wanted to be a good cat detective, well, I jumped up and followed Bogey out into the main part of the store.

  We found our Mom and Abe talking near the front.

  “Yes, yes,” Abe was saying. “There was a woman at my store this morning. Nasty bit of work, that one. Rather a bit dramatic. Went by the name of Delilah, I believe. Though I do like a mysterious woman.”

  “He’s leaving, kid,” Bogey whispered to me. “We’ll run out when he opens the door. Just hug the wall until you get to the door. Then zoom out and stay close to the side of the building.

  “Bogey . . .” I started to say. “Do you really think this is a . . .?”

  But I didn’t even get a chance to finish my question. Or ask any other questions, for that matter. Questions like, how were we going to get back? Or would our Mom be mad because we took off?

  No, I didn’t get a chance to say another word. That’s because everything happened so fast. Abe opened the door and held it open for almost a whole minute. Our Mom was busy talking to him and shook his hand. Neither one of them noticed us when we slipped out. And they sure didn’t notice us when we flattened ourselves right up against the brick wall outside.

  Then Abe walked out and we followed closely behind him till we got to his store. Just a few stores away. We were only a few feet from his front door when I glanced back. That’s when I saw some people going into our Mom’s store down the street.

  Evaline Esterbrook. The manager at the St. Gertrude Museum. And Murwood was with her.

  I wanted to say something to my brother. But I knew I couldn’t. If I made so much as a peep, Abe would look down and spot us.

  So I kept my mouth shut.

  And when Abe opened the door to his store, Bogey and I zoomed inside. We were so fast he didn’t even see us.

  But someone else did. We had barely gotten inside when a voice started screeching at us.

  “Traitors! Traitors! Traitors! Arrest them! Arrest them!”

  Holy Catnip!

  CHAPTER 15

  _____________________________

  Holy Mackerel! I he
ard it again. That screechy voice kept on yelling, “Traitors! Traitors! Traitors! Arrest them! Arrest them!”

  Bogey and I dove behind a display case, but the screeching didn’t stop. My heart started to pound so loud I thought it would drown out the sound of that voice.

  Unfortunately, it didn’t. I could still hear it just as plain as day.

  All the while I wondered, had Bogey and I been spotted? We’d barely slipped into the store and someone was already yelling about having us arrested.

  But what exactly did they plan to arrest us for? As far as I knew, we hadn’t committed any crimes. Sure, we’d snuck out of our Mom’s store and then into Abe’s store. But that hardly seemed like a crime to me. I didn’t think it was something a cat could be arrested for. And for that matter, did cats actually get arrested? Would we be taken to the “big house” as Bogey called it and have our mug shots taken?

  I glanced at my brother and he shrugged his shoulders.

  Then I heard Abe laugh. “Now, now, Pete, my fowl friend. What’s got your feathers in a bunch?”

  Pete? Did he say Pete? Suddenly Bogey grinned.

  That’s when it dawned on me. Didn’t Abe say he had a parrot named Pete? And didn’t parrots talk sometimes? But surely this parrot couldn’t have us arrested.

  Beside me, Bogey made a flapping motion with his front arms. And I knew exactly what he was trying to tell me. He was letting me know that Pete really was a parrot.

  Right about then, I sure hoped my family never adopted a parrot. Because that was one bird who would not be quiet. Holy Catnip! If I thought Hector was a blabbermouth, well, he was nothing compared to Pete! I tried to imagine the two of them together in the same room. Nobody else would get a word in edgewise!

  Now Bogey and I peeked out from our hiding place. On the other side of the room, we saw a huge cage on a stand. Inside was a big bird perched on a little wooden swing. He had a bright yellow head and green feathers on the rest of his body. Except for a few red feathers at the top of his wings.

  I figured that must be Pete. And sure, he was a big bird, all right. But it seemed like his voice was about four times bigger than he was.

  Abe had the cage door open and was feeding Pete some food by hand. That bird just kept on talking between bites. But at least he wasn’t yelling out “Traitors” any more. Instead he was screeching things like, “Pretty diamonds! Pretty jewels! So shiny!”

  Bogey motioned for me to follow him. Then together we turned and headed to the back of Abe’s store. The place was kind of dark and musty smelling. It wasn’t nearly as big as our Mom’s store, and it didn’t have as much stuff in it. And most of the things looked like they’d been carved in stone or made with wood. There were stone statues that stood as tall as a chair and wooden faces that kind of looked like masks. We saw some faded pottery with a sign in front of it that read, “Ming Dynasty.” To tell you the truth, I thought the stuff that Gracie made at school was a whole lot prettier. Though we did see a few nice statues decorated with blue stones and shiny gold. These had a sign in front of them that read, “Straight from Ancient Egypt.”

  I had to say, I didn’t know why anyone would want to buy something from ancient Egypt.

  I turned away from those statues and followed my brother as we wove around all the things on the floor. We were very careful to stay out of sight while we looked for anything unusual. But as near as I could tell, there wasn’t a clue in sight. Nothing stood out to us at all.

  Now we could hear Abe singing in the front of the store. Pete sang along with him sometimes, too. At least Pete’s singing sounded a whole lot better than his talking!

  “I think we’re done here, kid,” Bogey whispered to me. “Now we’ll just wait for someone to come in so we can run out. Let’s make our way to the front door.”

  I nodded, and together we ran between all the stuff that Abe had on the floor. So far, no customers had come in the store while we’d been there. But I sure hoped someone would open the front door and walk in soon. Because I really wanted to get back to our Mom’s store.

  We were almost to the front door when we heard it open up. Someone was coming in. I glanced at Bogey and he looked at me. Did we have time to make it to the door before it closed?

  He motioned for me to run. He took one bounding leap and I was about to race after him. Then something stopped us dead in our tracks.

  Actually, that “something” was more like a smell.

  Perfume.

  Delilah’s perfume. It came floating through the door before she even walked in.

  Holy Catnip!

  A cold chill ran up and down my spine and my fur stood on end. No matter what, we couldn’t let Delilah know we were there. If she found out, she might try to hurt Bogey again. Plus she might try to take us for our fur!

  Bogey and I both shrank back and flattened ourselves against a stone statue. Then Bogey nodded toward the same display case that we’d hidden behind when we first sneaked into Abe’s store. So we carefully padded over to the case and then zoomed in behind it.

  Now more than ever, I wished we were back at our Mom’s store. We knew our Mom would protect us from Delilah. And Delilah was a woman us cats needed to be protected from!

  But we were a long way from our Mom. To make things worse, she didn’t even know where we were!

  I shivered and scooted closer to the back of the display case. I really wished I was home and cuddled up in my Mom’s arms. I wanted to close my eyes and drift off to sleep.

  Bogey tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the edge of the display case. I knew he wanted me to peek around the side with him. So we could keep an eye on Delilah. Funny, but Bogey didn’t seem like he was scared at all.

  I guess that was the difference between a good cat detective and a guy like me. If only I could be as brave as he was one day!

  Pete the parrot started shrieking at the top of his lungs again. “Danger! Danger! Run for cover!”

  For once, I had to agree with that bird.

  “Lousy dame!” he screeched. “Lousy dame. Run for cover!”

  “My, my,” Delilah drawled. “But I do believe your bird would make a lovely feather hat.”

  I felt my eyes go wide. Now Delilah wanted to make a hat out of Pete? How many birds and animals had she threatened around St. Gertrude in one day? I wished we’d found an airline schedule that showed she was leaving town. Instead of just getting here.

  “Come, come, Delilah,” Abe said. “You, no doubt, have plenty of feather hats already. What is it I can help you with today?”

  “I’m sure you know,” Delilah said sweetly. “I’m looking for a couple of cats.”

  I gulped and almost started choking. Luckily, Bogey thunked me on the back. Had Delilah followed us to the store? Did she know we were there?

  “I’m afraid I can’t help you,” Abe told her. “I haven’t seen any cats. Is there anything else you might be in the market for? A nice tribal mask? Or perhaps a statue from Egypt?”

  “No,” she answered smoothly. “But I do have a foghorn I’d like to sell. It doesn’t seem to be working.”

  I swung my head around and looked right at my brother. He stared back at me. Had we heard her right? Did she say a “foghorn?”

  Abe laughed. “I’m afraid I can’t help you there either, Delilah. I’m not in the market for a foghorn. Especially one that isn’t even working. But that’s a moot point, anyway, wouldn’t you say? Since I suspect the condition of your foghorn isn’t your true problem. I would imagine you don’t actually have a foghorn, but rather a very good recording of one. Though I must say, I do like the sound of a good foghorn.”

  Before they could say anything else, the front door flew wide open. I nearly jumped to the top of the ceiling. My heart was still pounding by the time I remembered we were supposed to run out that door.

  I was all set to zoom when Bogey grabbed my shoulder and held me back. I looked up to see two people walk by.

  Evaline and Murwood.

&nb
sp; What were they doing here? And what in the world was going on?

  Now I couldn’t help but peek out from behind that display case. I was dying to know why Evaline and Murwood were here. I’d seen them go into our Mom’s store right before we ran into Abe’s store. What were they shopping for?

  Beside me, Bogey peeked his head out, too. Just in time to see the sparks fly.

  Okay, maybe we didn’t actually see any sparks go flying. But well, if eyes could make sparks, let me tell you, we would have seen a bunch. Because Delilah looked right at Evaline and Evaline looked right back. Evaline clenched her teeth and her green dinosaur eyes looked so angry, I thought she was going to attack Delilah. And Delilah squinted her eyes and focused them right on Evaline. Kind of like a couple of laser beams. I wondered if Evaline might go up in smoke at any minute.

  Holy Mackerel! That was the most scared I’d been all day. I sure hoped those two didn’t spot Bogey and me!

  “Big trouble! Lousy Dame!” Pete suddenly shrieked. “Run and hide! Run and hide!”

  But Evaline and Delilah didn’t seem to notice the parrot at all.

  “It’s you,” Evaline seethed at Delilah.

  Delilah continued to stare while a slow smile slid across her face. “You will have to excuse me, Abraham, but I’ve suddenly taken ill. Perhaps it’s the horrible odor that just entered the room. I’m afraid I must leave, to save my genteel nature.”

  With those words, Delilah strutted past Evaline. She smacked her on the shoulder with her own shoulder when she strode past.

  I’m sure my eyes went pretty wide right about then.

  “Hello, Abe,” Evaline said in an icy voice. “Long time no see.”

  Abe gave Evaline a slight smile. “How may I assist you?”

  “I was wondering if you’ve had any recent shipments,” Evaline said.

  Abe shook his head. “I’m afraid not. Nothing new in quite some time.”

  Now Evaline kind of sneered at Abe. “Then I guess you’ll probably tell me you haven’t seen a couple of cats either.”

  Bogey and I turned and stared at each other. Was Evaline looking for us, too? But why?