The Mystery of the Talented Cat

Written by Moe Zilla

"I can so!"

"You can not! No one can train a cat to fetch."

Muggles the cat was smart — and talented. But no one knew it, and his owner, fifteen-year-old Andy, couldn't make anyone believe it. This led to a strange crime, which involved a cat, a teenager, and an unsolved mystery.

That month, four cats in his neighborhood had already disappeared. The owners had searched, but their cats were never found. Meanwhile, in a big old house across town, a strange woman lived with over forty cats.

The town was also surprisingly famous for its cats. All across the country, TV shows included a pet food commercial, showcasing cats doing amazing tricks. Joshua Sellers was a film producer who had discovered cats that could magically leap through hoops, or do dances on their hind legs. Every commercial featured a new and talented cat, and Sellers always boasted that he'd found every cat himself.

But because of the neighborhood's cat-stealing, Andy's parents had wanted to buy him a dog for a pet instead. Andy told them that cats were cooler; though Andy's friend, Rick, insisted his dog was better — only because it could fetch a rubber ball.

One afternoon, a crowd of five students had gathered around the two. They all stood behind Rick. “Your cat can't even climb the fence around your back yard,” Rick taunted.

Angry and offended, Andy invited them all to his house after school — to settle the pet debate once and for all.

Throughout the school, students gossiped about Andy’s cat; and by the end of the day, a crowd of thirty students was en route to his house.

Andy's mother was surprised, and a bit alarmed when she saw the troops arriving. "Can I get you anything, Andy? she asked.

"Yeah. A piece of foil."

Andy went into the backyard alone, and closed the sliding glass door behind him. "I don't care what my friends think," he told the cat honestly. "But can we give it a try?" And then he reached into his pocket and pulled out the crumpled foil.

Muggles stared as Andy twiddled it between his fingers. What was that shiny thing? "There it goes!" Andy shouted, tossing the foil to the ground. Muggles leapt after the ball of foil — and the thirty students inside his house cheered.

When Muggles had the ball in his mouth, Andy called out to him with a poignant emotion in his voice than trumped his youthful conscience. Muggles had his ears perked up, but he didn't want to let go of the foil. He ran to where Andy stood firm, still holding the foil in his mouth.

And the students in his house cheered again.

Rick was peeved, but everybody ignored him, chanting: "Andy was right. Right was Andy!”

Victory eluded Andy that night when his winning partner, Muggles, disappeared.

"Do you think he wandered off into the night?" Andy's mother asked.

Muggles had never done that before, Andy insisted. But who would steal someone's cat? The only person who'd come by last night was the newspaper delivery boy, and that was around 6 p.m. Everyone in the neighborhood received a free copy of the evening newspaper.

"I'm sorry about your cat," said Rick, after Andy told him the news the next day at school. Rick had some bad news of his own. His mother had called the teacher, telling her that Rick's grandmother had been sick. She warned the teacher that Rick might be sleepy, because the whole family had spent the night in the hospital's waiting room. It was like everyone in town was having an unlucky night.

Andy worried all day, and then decided there was only one thing to do.

After school, Andy didn't go home. Instead he rode his bicycle to the untraveled edge of the neighborhood. Empty fields surrounded him, and the silenced consumed him. There were no kids playing ball, or parents calling out to their kids. There was just one thing: the massive house of the woman who was said to have forty cats. Could it really be true?

And then he heard rustling at his feet.

A cat was rubbing his leg. And behind it were five more cats. More cats peered from under the house, and more peeked around its corner.

Suddenly, there were dozens and dozens of cats, all scampering towards Andy: white cats, grey cats, tabbies, and more! The yard filled with cats, all approaching and meowing. And the meowing cats could surely be heard inside the house.

Suddenly, the door swung open like an oven. "What are you doing to my cats?" a voice shouted.

Andy looked up to see a big woman with short black hair, and a very disturbed face. First he was scared, and then startled, as he whispered his response: “My name's Andy.”

The woman looked, confused, as Andy continued, “I lost my cat.”

“And you thought I stole him?” the woman said, defensively.

“I came to check,” Andy said, honestly.

"Come inside," she said. Andy wasn't sure that he should. “My name's Edith,” her voice softened, “and I don’t scratch.”

Andy smiled uncomfortably.

“I love cats,” she said, melodically. “People always think I have stolen theirs. But, I just have a lot of cats.”

Just then, he heard a car pulling up in the street behind him. Andy turned to see a man getting out, wearing an expensive suit. He had neatly-trimmed hair, dark sunglasses that didn’t rest quite right on his nose, and he was listening to the voicemail on his cellphone.

Edith smiled, and introduced Andy: “Now here's a man who really likes cats.”

The man stared at the ocean of cats surrounding Andy, scanning each one as though appraising them for an auction. Edith said proudly, “Meet a local celebrity, the man behind all those cat food commercials. Meet Joshua Sellers.”

Joshua nodded with pride, still eying the cats in her yard. “I found some of my most-talented cats in this very yard. And now they're national TV stars!”

Andy looked around. Beneath the cats, he could see the “lawn,” which Andy mentally redefined as “clumps of grass,” surrounded by wide patches of dirt. It seemed strange that nationally-acclaimed-cats could come from such a poorly-painted house.

Andy saw a cage at the side of the yard. No cat would be happy in a cage for very long, but he knew that a cage was sometimes necessary; he used a kennel to transport Muggles to his doctor appointments. The cage was on top of yesterday’s free copy of the newspaper.

Edith must have been reading Andy’s mind, he though. “I don't read the newspaper,” she sighed. “And I haven't used that cage for months, either. My precious cats hate being cooped up!”

Mr. Sellers seemed a little disappointed that they weren't paying more attention to his career. “I just discovered an amazing cat,” he said excitedly. “I just flew to New York to appear on the David Letterman show, and I took the cat with me to impress him!” Andy couldn't help but wonder if the cat's trick was chasing foil.

Mr. Sellers returned to his cellphone. “I've got 13 unheard voicemail messages,” he exclaimed. “Lucky 13!” He'd been so busy flying to New York yesterday morning, he'd forgotten to check his voicemail — until an hour ago, when he got back to the city.

“I've got a story you can tell David Letterman,” said Andy. “Tell him I've figured out who's stealing the neighborhood's cats!”