Prologue

Boo hadn’t realized his balls were missing until after his 5 AM snack.

He had always been a cat of routine, unlike Dusty, his brother, who was generally satisfied with his sleeping and playing arrangements as long as it was where Boo wasn’t. That’s not to say they didn’t get along, they were just naturally different and complementary purrsonalities, much like me and my sister.

But I digress. This isn’t a story about me. Well, not entirely. You will find out how I got into the detective business, but it’s all because of the night Boo awoke at one of his usual times, thinking he was going to have a bit of kibble and a short workout, only to find a horrendous mess by the cat flap and several of his toys not where he left them.

Now, we all have our favorites, don’t we? Dusty likes the laser mouse. Luna, my sister, likes catnip bags. I like the little furry critters with the rattles in them. Heck, I’ll even play with my food! But Boo, he likes sparkle balls. The fuzzy ones. And at 5:08 AM, August 4^th, they were nowhere to be found.

If you knew Boo as good as me, you’d understand why this crisis turned his world upside-down. As I said, Boo is a cat of routine. Since he was a kitten he had his sleeping, eating and playing routines on a strict schedule. For awhile he’d even announced to his primates when he had used the litter box until Dusty put an end to it.

Not long ago, Boo had been forced to change his routine drastically. Suddenly there was Bailey to deal with. Neither Boo or Dusty knew what to think of Bailey at first. The puppy simply came in and took over. Boo immediately began complaining to Dusty, who spent the next few weeks almost exclusively at the top of the cat tower.

“Every time I try to play that dog comes in here and takes over!” Boo moaned.

“Hmph!” Dusty replied noncommittally, turning the page in the Joe Grey book, “Now you know what it’s like. Maybe you should think of that next time you frighten away my laser mouse.”

“How am I going to get in my mousecatball practice with Bailey in the house?”

“Why don’t you just look at her like a new toy?”

Well, that changed everything. Boo started incorporating Bailey into his workout. It wasn’t long before the puppy was trying to box with its tiny Corgi legs and playing mousecatball with Boo and his sparkle balls. Finally Dusty had some peace and quiet.

Not the morning of August 4^th.

Boo turned from the snack dish, washed his face briefly, and entered the living room to find—nothing. Both of his sparkle balls were missing.

He was startled only momentarily. Then he sighed. It was not uncommon to lose toys under the refrigerator and forget about them when the primates filled the bowl up or shook the treat can.

But not that day.

Boo flattened himself out and peered under the fridge. There was a washer under there and a marble. And two dead crickets in some dust bunnies. And a bouncy rubber ball he had never really cared for that he and Dusty had hidden under there on purpose so they’d never be spooked by it again.

But no sparkle balls.

Boo’s heart sank. He turned upside down and shoved his head under the fridge just to make sure.

Then he made the most awful racket trying to open all the cupboards, from what I understand. Bailey didn’t even leave her basket. She just blinked, barely able to open her eyes and barked, “Wassamatta, Boo?”

It wasn’t long before the noise awoke one of the primates. She switched on the light. There were muddy footprints all over the house and mud all over Bailey. She clutched her robe around her and squinted into the kitchen as if it would make the mess go away.

Dusty stretched in the doorway to the bedroom and yawned.

“Oh Bailey!” the primate sighed, disappointed, “Bad dog!”

“Wad I doo?” Bailey asked. She was too young to know most humans can’t understand us unless they are under six years old. Something happens to them when they start school and other humans tell them we can’t talk. It’s sad, really. Humans are weird. The only reason I got away with it when I was in show business is by telling people it was computer graphics. Somehow it makes them feel like they’re ruling the planet, I think.

This primate, as it happens, needed to go to work soon, so she left a note apologizing for the mess for her sister still out on the night shift and stepped into the shower.

It was about that time Dusty phoned Luna and told he what happened. And it was only a few seconds after Luna hung up and explained the situation that I decided Boo was being overly sensitive and I wasn’t going to waste my time visiting and consoling him for losing a few toys.

That was before Luna told me Dusty found the squirrel footprints in the kitchen. Can you imagine? Squirrel footprints! And there would only be a half hour between Miss Linda leaving for work and Miss Judy coming home when we would be able to take a look.