The Case of the Crafty Christmas Crooks Page 5

  "Gee, Buckley, you feel kind of cold," she said as she sniffled into my fur.

  I snuggled in tight and started to purr. Just to make her feel better.

  It always made me sad when Gracie was sad.

  Our Mom shook her head. "It's the same as the last burglary."

  Our Dad locked the front door. "What an awful thing to go through at Christmastime."

  Our Mom pulled the front curtains closed. "Who would do such a thing?"

  Our Dad knelt down to pet Bogey. "I don't know, Abby. But until this crook is caught, we need to be extra careful. Let's make sure all the doors and windows are locked at all times."

  "Sounds like a plan," our Mom nodded.

  Then she turned to Gracie. "Time for bed. You've got school in the morning."

  Gracie put me down and headed upstairs. Her face was streaked with tears and she kept her head down. Our Mom put her arm around her and walked her to her room.

  I watched her go and suddenly my chest felt very, very heavy. Even kind of painful. If Gracie felt this bad when a neighbor's house was broken into, how would she feel if our house was broken into?

  That's when I knew I had to work extra hard to protect my family. After all, they'd adopted me and given me this wonderful home and lots of love, too. Because they did that for me, I always like to do what I can to repay the favor.

  Our Dad left us and headed into the kitchen. First he packed up Gracie's sewing stuff and took it up to her room. Then he came back downstairs and locked all the doors. Finally, he turned off the lights and headed for bed.

  Once our whole family was upstairs, Bogey pulled his secret stash of cat treats out from behind the potted palm.

  Pretty soon it would be time for us cats to run surveillance on the house to keep our family safe. Yet even though I'd run surveillance on our house a million times, tonight the idea of it made me nervous. Very nervous. And a little scared, even.

  Especially since we knew there was a burglar out there on the loose.

  I looked at my brother. "How will we ever catch this criminal mastermind?"

  He handed me a treat. "The scene of the crime will tell us more, kid."

  I munched on the treat. "The scene of the crime? How would we get to the scene of the crime?"

  Bogey grinned at me. "Don't worry, kid. I've got a plan."

  I blinked a couple of times. "You do?"

  He nodded. "Yup, kid. Our Mom and Gracie will take us tomorrow evening. Right before dinner. Just like tonight."

  I looked at him cross-eyed. "They will? But we don't even know if our Mom will be making casseroles again tomorrow. Especially since she's got to work at her store all day."

  Bogey grabbed the cat treats and pranced into the home office. "Doesn't matter, kid. She won't need a casserole."

  Sometimes I wondered if Bogey needed to lay off the cat treats. Because he sure wasn't making a whole lot of sense at the moment.

  I followed him into the office. "She won't?"

  Bogey jumped up on the desk and booted up the computer. He helped himself to another cat treat and passed one to me, too.

  Then he turned to me and grinned. "I've got it all figured out, kid. By tomorrow night, we'll be taking a good look at that crime scene."

  I jumped on the desk beside him. "We will?"

  He handed me another treat. "Yup, kid. But first I've got to get it all set up."

  I chewed on my cat treat and watched my brother. What in the world was Bogey planning? I was just about to ask him for the details, when my eyelids suddenly felt like they weighed about a million pounds. They dropped shut, and I flopped over on my side.

  To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure if I could take a lot more excitement. Because, in one short day, I had learned tons about Christmas, investigated a crime scene, and sneaked out onto the front yard. That was an awful lot of stuff for one young cat in one day. Even if I was an oversized guy.

  More than anything, right at that moment, I wanted to take a nice, long nap.

  But I knew I couldn't. Because for me, the night was just beginning. Now I had to run surveillance and keep watch for burglars.

  Holy Mackerel!

  CHAPTER 7

  __________________________

  "Wake up, kid. Wake up." I heard Bogey's voice and I felt someone shaking me. "Time to get to work."

  I bolted upright.

  Holy Mackerel! Had I fallen asleep? A good cat detective never falls asleep on the job!

  "Detective Buckley Bergdorf reporting for duty," I announced to the room. I tried to salute but I only ended up poking myself in the eye.

  "Take it easy, kid," Bogey said.

  I looked around and glanced into the hallway. "Did I sleep for very long?"

  Bogey stretched out his front legs. "Nope, kid. Maybe a half hour or so. Just enough time for me to put my plan into place."

  I rounded out my back and stood on all fours. "Oh, good. I wanted to ask you about your plan."

  Bogey trotted across the desk. "Sorry, kid. It'll have to wait. Right now we've gotta get a move on."

  I blinked a few times and tried to wake up a little more. "We do?"

  He jumped off the desk. "That's right, kid. We've gotta sneak those jingle bells out of Gracie's room. Then we've gotta run our first surveillance of the night. With burglars out there, we'll be running twice as much surveillance."

  I jumped off the desk and followed him out of the office. "Oh, okay."

  We ran through the hallway, raced up the stairs, and then headed straight for Gracie's room.

  We were just a few inches from her door when Bogey stopped and held up his paw. "Okay, kid, time to be extra quiet. So we don't wake her up."

  I nodded without saying a word.

  Then I followed Bogey as we tiptoed into Gracie's room, single file. Luckily, Gracie was sound asleep and snoring softly.

  Bogey glanced around the room. "Hmmm . . . I figured Lil Bits would be in here, kid," he whispered. "She usually spends her nights watching over Gracie."

  Lil was another cat detective who was part of our family. She'd been adopted from the cat shelter years and years ago, and she'd been a cat detective even longer than Bogey! Lil had retired for a while, and she only recently started back on the job again. It was said she had once been one of the best cat detectives in the business. And even though she didn't work full-time, she helped us out when we needed her.

  Bogey pointed to a pile of things on the window seat on the other side of the room. "Over there, kid. Looks like that's where our Dad put Gracie's sewing stuff."

  So Bogey and I padded over and jumped up onto the window seat. Gracie had left her curtains open, and I took a quick peek outside. A few snowflakes filled the air. And though I wasn't sure, I thought I saw something move in the shadows of the streetlamp. It was at the neighbors' house, three doors down.

  Right next to the Nelsons' house.

  I gulped. "Bogey, did you see that?" I meowed as low as possible.

  Bogey sprang to attention. "What is it, kid?"

  I pointed out the window. "Outside. The house next to the Nelsons'."

  Bogey pressed his nose against the glass. "What did you see, kid?"

  I moved closer to the pane. "I don't know for sure. I thought I saw something move."

  Together we sat there, just looking for a few minutes. But nothing else happened outside. I began to wonder if I'd seen anything at all. Maybe I was so nervous about burglars that I was starting to imagine things.

  "I don't see it anymore," I told Bogey. "Maybe it was some leaves blowing around."

  Bogey squinted and scanned the street once more. "Never doubt what you see, kid. Now let's get these jingle bells out of here. So we can get to our surveillance. I have a feeling it's going to be an interesting night."

  Holy Mackerel! If I was nervous before, it was nothing compared to how I felt right now!

  I watched while Bogey dug through Gracie's sewing stuff. Seconds later, he carefully pulled out a small plastic
bag full of jingle bells.

  I had to wonder, how were we going to get those bells out of there without making a huge racket?

  But obviously Bogey already had that figured out. He pulled a square of fabric from the pile. Then he slid the bag of bells into the center of the fabric square.

  "Bring all the corners up, kid," he instructed me.

  I did just as he said.

  "Now take all those corners into your mouth," he told me. "And stand up very, very slowly. Don't let those bells move much or they'll jingle."

  It wasn't easy, but I managed to pick up all four corners. And before long, I realized I had formed kind of a little fabric bag for those jingle bells.

  Then I inched up, very slowly and very carefully. Until I stood at my full height. All the while, I kept on holding that bag in my mouth.

  Bogey jumped down from the window seat. "Good job, kid. Now comes the tricky part."

  The tricky part? I thought this was the tricky part. Holy Catnip!

  Bogey stood on his hind legs and put his front paws onto the edge of the window seat. "Okay, kid. Here's what I want you to do. Lean over but keep your weight on your back legs. Let your front paws come down to the floor. Then inch forward and balance on your front legs. After that, move your front legs forward until you can bring your back feet down. And try not to let those jingle bells bounce. Got it?"

  I would have looked at my brother cross-eyed, but I knew I had to keep my head straight. I couldn't risk having those bells make a single sound.

  So I did exactly what he told me. I moved to the edge of the window seat. Then I sat on my haunches, and little by little, I brought my front feet forward. Toward the floor.

  And let me tell you, this was one time when it sure did pay to be an oversized cat. Because, before long, I had my front legs stretched out and my paws touched the ground. Then I walked forward with my front legs. I stopped when I had enough room to bring my back legs down.

  I brought one leg down and was all ready to bring the other leg down. And that's when Gracie rolled over and yawned.

  Oh, no! Had we woken her up?

  Bogey signaled for me to hold still. So I froze in place. Like a big fuzzy cat statue with one leg hanging on the window seat and a cloth bag of jingle bells hanging from my mouth. I barely even breathed right about then. But my heart was pounding so loud I was afraid Gracie might hear it. I was also pretty scared that I wouldn't be able to hold that position much longer.

  But luckily, a few seconds later, Gracie started to snore quietly again. I wanted to breathe a huge sigh of relief but I would have dropped the bag if I did. Instead I held my breath.

  Now Bogey signaled for me to move completely off the window seat. So I brought my last leg slowly down to the floor.

  "Okay, kid," Bogey said. "You've gotta move very smoothly across the room. Don't turn your head. Be careful not to rattle those jingle bells. Or they'll make enough noise to wake everyone from here to Timbuktu."

  And oh, how I knew exactly what kind of noise those jingle bells could make!

  I followed Bogey across the floor and through the door of the room. I moved in slow motion and walked very evenly so those bells didn't make a sound.

  Once we were outside the room, Bogey said, "Okay, kid, I'll take it from here. You head downstairs and start your surveillance."

  I put the bag of jingle bells down on the floor. And that's when it hit me. I remembered the receipt I'd put in Gracie's coat when we were at the Mitchells' house earlier in the day. Until now, I'd forgotten all about it!

  "Just a minute," I told Bogey.

  Then I quietly padded back into Gracie's room. I found her coat lying across a chair. I stuck my big paw into the pocket and pulled the receipt out. For once my big paw had gone in exactly the direction I wanted it to go!

  I grabbed the receipt in my mouth and trotted out to Bogey.

  "Here," I told him. "I found this at the Mitchells' house. I don't know if it means anything. But maybe it's a . . ."

  "Clue," Bogey finished the sentence. "Nunzio's store," he muttered. "A receipt for Christmas cookie cutters. Hmmm . . ."

  I pointed to the bottom of the receipt. "Read this."

  Suddenly Bogey's eyes went wide. "If you don't bring me some cookies," he read, "I'll just have to steal some."

  I nodded. "Do you think he meant it?"

  Bogey put the receipt with the jingle bells. "Could be, kid. Could be. In any case, I think we'd better investigate. We'll get our Mom to take us to work with her one day. Then we'll pay Nunzio a little visit."

  I'm sure my eyes went as wide as the round ornaments on our Christmas tree. "Really?"

  Bogey grinned. "Oh yeah. Who knows? You might have cracked the case. You did good, kid."

  "Wow," I breathed.

  Bogey glanced down the hall. "You'd better get downstairs and start your surveillance. I'll take the upstairs. We'll meet in the office when we're done."

  He grinned at me and saluted. Perfectly. His paw just touched the top of his brow for a second, and then he pulled his arm away.

  "Aye, aye," I said in return.

  I tried to salute him back, but I hit myself in the mouth instead. I guess I was back to having trouble getting my paws to go where I wanted them to go again.

  "See you in the office, kid," Bogey said before he turned to go.

  I ran straight for the stairs. Seconds later, I was standing all alone in the hallway near the front door. Funny, but the downstairs of the house seemed really, really quiet now. And it felt kind of big and lonely and dark, too.

  Holy Catnip!

  Suddenly my heart pounded even louder than before, and I felt nervous all over again. I started to shake just a little bit.

  It wasn't the darkness that bothered me so much. After all, cats can pretty much see in the dark. No, what worried me most was something that Bogey had told me once. He said that burglars and bad people came out at night. That's because it was easier for them to hide from other humans in the dark.

  Now as I walked past the front door, every hair on my back and tail stood on end. I looked around, listened for any noises, and then took a good sniff. But everything was just as it should have been.

  Then I moved on to the windows and checked them out. Everything appeared to be fine there, too. I tiptoed into the dining room and sniffed around those windows as well. I pulled back one of the curtains and took a good look outside. Big, fluffy snowflakes fell to the ground and shimmered in the streetlights. For a minute I sort of got hypnotized just watching all those flakes floating in the air.

  But then something caught my eye. A shadow in the distance. Moving slowly over the lawn of the house across the street.

  Was it a burglar? Whatever it was, this was one of those things I needed to tell Bogey about. And right away.

  I dropped the curtain back in place. I had started to turn around when I heard it. A creaking noise. From right behind me!

  Let me tell you, I jumped so high I thought I was going to hit the ceiling! When I landed, I saw it was only Lil Bits standing there behind me.

  Part of me felt a gigantic wave of relief. But another part of me was still shaking.

  Lil saluted me with a white paw. "Good evening, Detective Buckley. I apologize if I may have startled you."

  I tried to thunk my paw to my chest, hoping to stop my heart from pounding so loud. Instead I only poked myself in the chin.

  Lil is a white cat with black spots, and to be honest, she looks more like a linebacker than a cat. Bogey once explained to me that Lil is a British Shorthair. Apparently they’re cats with wide bodies and short legs. Watch out if they ever tackle you!

  I flopped on the floor and breathed a really big sigh.

  Lil started to laugh at me but then she stopped herself. Lil was like that. She always called me "Detective Buckley," and she always showed me a lot of respect. She seemed to understand that I was still pretty new to the job and that I was only doing my best. Even if I wasn't as good as Boge
y or Lil at being a cat detective yet.

  I'd have to remember to act just like she did someday when I was the older detective and I was teaching a rookie the ropes.

  "Thanks, Lil," I said. "I guess I'm just on edge with all the break-ins."

  Lil nodded her round head. "As well you should be, Detective Buckley. It's times like this when it pays to be on guard. How about if I hang out with you for a while? We can make a few surveillance runs together."

  I smiled at Lil. "Wow, that would be great, Lil."

  I especially liked the idea of not running surveillance by myself tonight. It was a lot easier for a guy to be brave when he had someone with him for the scary stuff.

  I bounced up on my feet and together we checked out every door and window on the first floor.

  I was finally starting to relax a little bit when we heard it. At first I thought I was just imagining things. But when I noticed Lil's ears had perked up, I knew she'd heard it, too.

  It was kind of a bumping sound. Then a scratching noise.

  Coming from the front door.

  Something or someone was out there. And it sounded like they were trying to break in.

  Had the burglars shown up at our house?

  Holy Catnip!

  CHAPTER 8

  __________________________

  Holy Mackerel! Someone or something kept bumping up against the front door. And then they started scratching, too. Were the burglars out there and trying to break in? Lil made a beeline for the front door and I followed. I sure was glad she was there with me, since I wasn't completely sure what to do in a situation like this one. After all, I was barely more than a rookie when it came to being a cat detective.

  The bumping and scratching noise kept going.

  "Stand ready," Lil told me. "We'll attack them the minute they break in."

  She hunched down, ready to spring up and jump on any intruders.

  I did the same thing. Though it was kind of hard to stay in that position. Especially since I couldn't stop shaking.

  Seconds later, I heard Bogey padding his way downstairs in a hurry. He didn't even ask us why we were crouched like that. He somehow seemed to know already.