The Case of the Crafty Christmas Crooks Page 12

  I knew what Bogey would say to that. It was all part of the job. Anyway, let me tell you, I put on my cute routine, all right. I tilted my head right. Then I tilted my head left. But for once, it seemed like nobody noticed me.

  And if nobody noticed me, that meant they might notice what Bogey was up to instead.

  Holy Mackerel!

  I knew I had to do a better job of getting people's attention. Our case might depend on it! I thought for a few seconds and figured I might have more luck if I moved to a higher spot. And the best way for me to get to a higher spot was to have Gracie hold me.

  So I slipped out of my harness and slid in next to her. I circled her legs and rubbed up against her. Usually she picked me up when I rubbed around her legs. But this time she didn't pay any attention to me at all. She was too busy talking to Star.

  Then I remembered what Bogey had told me. That desperate times call for desperate measures. That's when I stood up on my hind legs and stretched my front legs up to Gracie's waist. I tipped my claws in ever so slightly, just enough so she couldn't ignore me. Without glancing down, she picked me up and held me in her arms.

  I was all ready to go back into my cute routine, but I decided to take a good look around first. After all, if Bogey was looking for clues below the booth, I knew I should probably look for clues above.

  I had barely focused in on the middle table when I spotted a slim black paw reaching up from behind. Then I saw sharp claws come out and latch onto the receipt book. Seconds later, that receipt book disappeared from the top of the table.

  I knew exactly where it had gone. Bogey had it beneath the table and he was checking out the receipts.

  Now I really had to keep the humans distracted so he had a chance to investigate!

  Holy Catnip!

  I was about to start tilting my head from side to side when I saw someone waving to Gracie.

  "Hello, dear," said Mrs. Mitchell. "I see you've traded for some stars."

  I turned to see that the Mitchells had the booth right next to Star's three booths. And they had tons of beautiful Christmas wreaths for sale.

  Gracie smiled and waved back. "How are you doing, Mrs. Mitchell? Are you selling lots of wreaths?"

  Mrs. Mitchell smiled. "We've been doing very well. I've sold so many wreaths I can't keep track of them all. I think we'll be able to afford new Christmas presents now."

  "I'm glad," Gracie said. "I've almost sold all of my cat Christmas collars. And I did all my Christmas shopping here today."

  "Good for you," Mrs. Mitchell said. Then she stared right at me. "I see you brought your cats with you again."

  Gracie gave me a hug. "I couldn't have done it without them. But wait a minute, where is Bogey?"

  As soon as she said his name, his head popped out from under the tablecloth in front of Star's booth.

  Gracie leaned over to put me back in my harness.

  Above us, I heard Star turn to chat with Mrs. Mitchell. "Mesmeralda, I'd love to get one of your wreaths. Would you be willing to trade me for something in return?"

  But Mrs. Mitchell didn't exactly sound very excited. "Uh, I guess. Okay," she said.

  Star, on the other hand, sounded very excited. "What would you like? Just name it."

  "Well," Mrs. Mitchell said slowly. "I like kitchen things. Things to bake with. Do you have any cookie cutters? And I like Christmas ornaments."

  "I've got them all," Star laughed.

  She handed Mrs. Mitchell three different star cookie cutters and two star ornaments. Then Star selected the biggest, most brightly decorated Christmas wreath on Mrs. Mitchell's table.

  "But, wait . . ." Mrs. Mitchell started to say. Then she just clenched her teeth and set her jaw in a firm line instead.

  Gracie put Bogey back into the wagon. "Come on, boys! We've been gone for too long. Mom is probably wondering where we are by now."

  And that was that. We were off. Gracie waved good-bye to Star and Mrs. Mitchell. Star was smiling and Mrs. Mitchell looked kind of sad. And Big Dipper just kept his head bent and his eyes on his work.

  I didn't have a chance to talk to Bogey until we were halfway back to Gracie's booth.

  "What did you find out?" I meowed.

  "Something pretty interesting, kid," Bogey meowed back. "You'll never guess whose name was in that receipt book."

  Well, he had me there. I could probably never guess the name, no matter how hard I tried.

  "Who?" I called behind me.

  "Nunzio," Bogey told me.

  I stopped dead in my tracks. "Nunzio? Nunzio bought stuff from Star? When he can get stuff at his own store?"

  "Yup, kid," Bogey said. "But like we said, he probably wanted to get some good stuff. Not the junk he sells at his store. But here's the clincher. Turns out Nunzio likes stars."

  I glanced back at my brother. "He does? How could you tell?"

  Bogey leaned closer to me. "Because, kid, he bought a lot of stars."

  I choked for a moment. "He did?"

  "Oh yeah, kid," Bogey said. "He bought star ornaments and a Christmas tree topper. He bought lighted stars for the windows. And he bought star-shaped candles. He bought a star tie and cufflinks. And a lighted star that rotates in circles. He even bought a toothbrush with a star on the end."

  "Wow," I breathed. "He really does like stars. A lot."

  "You got it, kid," Bogey agreed.

  I started to pull the wagon again. Then I came to the end of the row and turned left.

  "What else did you find out?" I asked. "Did you recognize any other names in the receipt book?"

  Bogey leaned into the turn. "Nope, kid. No other names stood out. But Star didn't write down the names of the people who traded stuff with her. She only wrote down the names of people who paid for things."

  "That's true," I said. "She didn't. And she sure wanted to make lots of trades."

  I could hear Bogey munching on a cat treat. "But she probably only traded with people here at the Craft Fair. And so far, we haven't spotted anyone else here who looks suspicious."

  I looked ahead and spotted the row where Gracie's booth was located. "And we've been down most of the rows. We saw most of the booths."

  "I hear you, kid," Bogey said. "We did. But there is one other thing."

  I paused for a moment to let Gracie sell some more collars.

  "What's that?" I asked Bogey.

  He handed me a cat treat. "Did you notice anything about that Big Dipper guy? Did he look familiar to you?"

  I thought about it for a minute. To tell you the truth, I didn't really get a good look the guy, since he never looked me in the eye. But from what I saw, I realized he did look kind of familiar. Like I'd seen him somewhere before. But where?

  I nodded to my brother. "He does remind me of someone. I'm just not sure who."

  Bogey grinned. "How about Brutus, kid? Does he remind you of Brutus?"

  And that's when I realized he did. In fact, if Big Dipper had looked me in the eye, he could have been Brutus' twin.

  My mouth fell open and I looked at Bogey. "Do you think they're . . ."

  "Brothers?" Bogey finished my sentence for me. "That's my guess, kid."

  "And do you think they might be . . ." I started.

  "Working together?" Bogey finished again. "It wouldn't surprise me a bit, kid. Then again, nothing in this business surprises me anymore."

  I remembered what we'd seen in Nunzio's store. "Brutus was already stealing from Nunzio. He took money from the cash register."

  Bogey looked from side to side. "Don't I know it, kid. Don't I know it."

  Gracie finished up her sale, and I went back to pulling the wagon. By now I could see Gracie's booth again. Our Mom smiled and waved at us.

  Gracie smiled back. When we got to the booth, Gracie shook her finger and told our Mom not to look in the bottom of the wagon. Because that's where Gracie had stashed all the Christmas presents she'd bought. With her back to our Mom, she put Bogey and me on our stands. Then she hid the wag
on under her table.

  Our Mom laughed and gave us all a kiss on the head.

  I responded by giving my Mom a kiss on the nose.

  Yet all the while, I couldn't stop thinking about what Bogey had said. Was it possible that Brutus and Big Dipper were brothers? Could they be the criminal masterminds who were breaking into people's houses?

  Maybe Brutus found out the names of people who had finished their Christmas shopping while he worked at Nunzio's store. Then he and Big Dipper could have broken into those people's houses later.

  But somehow I had a hard time picturing either Brutus or Big Dipper as being criminal masterminds. Okay, sure, I could see them as criminals, all right. But masterminds? That was the part I was having trouble with. They just didn't seem like the type of guys who could break in, steal stuff and not leave a trace behind.

  I shook my head and sighed. Were Bogey and I getting any closer to solving this case?

  Sometimes the cat detective business could really make a guy's head spin!

  Even so, I had to admit, we had uncovered a lot of pieces to the puzzle. But now the question was, how would we make all those pieces fit into one big picture?

  Holy Catnip!

  CHAPTER_17

  __________________________

  Holy Mackerel! The rest of the Craft Fair went by in a big whirlwind of happy people and Christmas things. Bogey and I stayed on top of our stands and helped Gracie sell the last of her cat Christmas collars. But we also kept our eyes peeled for anyone who might look suspicious. Yet as hard as we tried to spot anyone out of place, nobody stood out to us at all.

  Even so, I was happy to see Gracie looking so pleased. She'd made enough money to buy Christmas presents, plus the coat she'd seen in the store window downtown. So I guess you could say it was a pretty successful day.

  When it was all over, our Dad joined us and helped Gracie and our Mom pack up.

  "Did you sell lots of lawn ornaments?" Gracie asked our Dad.

  "I sold a bunch," he told her. "But I didn't sell as much as you did."

  Gracie smiled at us. "That's because I had Buckley and Bogey here to help me."

  Our Mom smiled, too. "They were a big help. That's for sure."

  An hour later, we were resting in our pet carriers while our humans finished packing up their booths. Then we headed home, but our Dad took a detour through a fast food drive-up window. He ordered hamburgers and fries for the humans and chicken patties for us cats.

  Once we got home, we were all so tired we could barely keep our eyes open. I was almost too tired to eat dinner. But I got through it and somehow managed to enjoy every bite of my chicken.

  Right after dinner, Bogey dragged himself to a cat bed and flopped down. Let me tell you, his eyes were shut and he was fast asleep in a matter of minutes. Maybe even seconds!

  Holy Catnip!

  Then Gracie went to the sunroom to practice her lines for the Christmas play. I guess she wanted to rehearse her part in front of the Wise One. Somehow I figured Miss Mokie would really enjoy the chance to see Gracie's performance.

  In the meantime, our Mom went to her office to count the money they'd made at the Craft Fair. And our Dad started to unpack all the things from our booths that he'd loaded in his truck. He'd parked his truck in the driveway, and I watched him from the dining room window.

  Funny, I was so tired and yet I just couldn't stop thinking about all the things I'd seen today. My head practically swam with images of Christmas stuff. I remembered seeing a million different ornaments and Christmas trees. Not to mention, all the stars and lights and bows and garland. The odd thing was, all that Christmas stuff made me feel really warm and happy inside.

  But why? I still wasn't sure if I understood the real meaning of Christmas. And why so many people wanted to celebrate it.

  Just then I saw our Dad take my little red wagon out of the back of his truck. He set it on the lawn while he unloaded more boxes and display things from the show.

  The sight of my wagon made me smile. And I was dying to run around with it one more time. That way I could remember all the wonderful times we'd had today.

  Would it really hurt if I sneaked out for a few minutes to see my wagon?

  After all, Bogey and I had gone outside once before. We came right back in and everything had been just fine.

  So I figured it would be okay if I went out while our Dad was still working. As long as I got back inside before he finished unpacking his truck.

  I trotted to the door in the kitchen that led to the garage. And when my Dad walked in, carrying an armful of boxes, I zoomed out beneath his feet. I was sure he hadn't even seen me.

  Now all I had to do was sneak in the same way I'd sneaked out. It would be so easy.

  I ran through the garage and out onto the driveway. My Dad had the garage door open while he was unloading his truck. So there was nothing in the way to stop me.

  Outside it was dark and chilly. Except for the streetlights and our porch light. But being a Maine Coon Cat, the chill and the darkness didn't bother me.

  At least not at first.

  I trotted down the driveway until I saw my wagon on the grass. The sight of it made me smile all over again. Especially when I remembered pulling it around the Craft Fair while Gracie sold her cat collars.

  I ducked under the harness and began to tow my wagon, just like I did before. It was a little rough going down the driveway, but as soon as I hit the sidewalk it rolled along nice and smooth.

  Then I pulled my wagon over to look at the Nativity scene in our front yard. It was the first time I'd seen our yard completely decorated. Or, rather, it was the first time I'd seen it from the front, anyway.

  I got out of my harness and crouched on the grass. Then I watched the twinkling lights as they ran up and down the strands — all the way from the grass to the star attached to our roof. And I looked at baby Jesus in the manger. Along with his Mom and Dad. Mary and Joseph. The whole scene was lit up with a spotlight. And I had to say, baby Jesus looked pretty peaceful just lying there on his little bed of straw.

  The whole yard was so bright and pretty and magical. I just stared for a long time. It seemed like I couldn't look away. But I knew it was time for me to go back inside the house. So I got in my harness and started to take the wagon back to the garage.

  I was almost to the garage door when I noticed something was different. The garage door was down! And my Dad's truck was locked up. To top it off, my Dad was nowhere to be seen!

  I could hardly believe it! I had waited too long to go back inside my house.

  Holy Mackerel!

  I was locked outside!

  All of a sudden, I started to shake a little bit. I had never been locked out before. And more than anything, I wanted to be inside my house with my family. I wanted to be sharing cat treats with Bogey and getting hugs from Gracie.

  Instead, I was a cat out in the cold.

  Tears pooled in my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. I missed my family and I missed my home. I missed my Christmas tree and I missed my food dish. And yet I was only a few feet away from it all.

  To make things worse, I knew there were probably burglars out running around, too. What if they found me outside? I remembered how Brutus and Nunzio had gone after Bogey and me with boards. If those guys were the burglars and they tried to get me, well, I would be in trouble. Big trouble. My family would never even know what happened to me.

  More tears ran down my cheeks and I tried to wipe my eyes with my big paw. But I missed and hit myself in the nose instead.

  For some strange reason, this made me laugh. I don't know why, but it did.

  The minute I laughed, I quit crying. And I realized I had to pull myself together. I had to be brave and figure out what to do about my situation. After all, I was a cat detective. Cat detectives didn't go around crying just because they'd been locked out.

  No, good cat detectives were like Bogey and Lil. They didn't get scared. They used their heads and thought of
ways to solve the problem!

  It was exactly what I had to do, too. So I scrunched down for a moment and tried to think. Then I glanced up at our front porch, and I remembered when Hector had gotten locked out. He'd gotten our attention so we could help him get back inside his house. Surely I could do the same. Plus, I would probably be missed before too long. After all, Bogey would be starting the surveillance rounds pretty soon. He'd know right then and there that I was gone.

  Still, I didn't exactly want to wait until it was time for us to run surveillance. Instead, I wanted to let Bogey know right away that I was outside. So I pulled the wagon to the side of the house, just below the kitchen window. Then I stood in the wagon and reached up to the window. And let me tell you, I'm a big guy and very tall when I'm stretched out. But I still wasn't tall enough to look over that window ledge. I could touch it with my paw, but that was about as far as I got.

  That's when I realized that all the windows in our house were that high up. All the windows except for the dining room windows, that is. And they came almost down to the floor. If I had hopes of getting anyone's attention, it would have to be from there.

  So I hid my wagon behind a shrub to make sure it would be safe from any burglars. Then I ran around to the front porch and to the dining room windows. I tried to look in, but the curtains were already drawn. Worse yet, it looked like my family had gone to bed early! Probably because they were so worn out.

  Still, I knew if I could get a cat's attention, they might peek their head out. And see me.

  But to get their attention, I knew I had to make some noise. A lot of noise. So I started meowing. Really loud. And I scratched on the window. Then I tried what Hector had done and even I bumped against the window. I kept on meowing and scratching and bumping, and let me tell you, I was one cat who made quite a racket!

  Holy Catnip!

  I kept on making a racket until, finally, I saw a small, white head lift up the bottom of the curtain. Big, green eyes stared out at me. As always, my heart started to thump really loud. It was the Princess. I was always happy to see the Princess, but tonight, I was especially happy. I guess you could say she was a sight for sore eyes. Or rather, "cold" eyes.