Private Eye Cats Book Two: The Case of the Kidnapped Dog

By S. N. Bronstein

Just a few months after solving their first case as Private Eye Cats, Scooter and Nugget realize it’s time to get back to work as crime fighting detectives after another mysterious crime occurs in their usually quiet Miami Beach neighborhood. Their second case, however, proves to be more puzzling and dangerous than their first.

When these two feline sisters discover that a dog named Jewel has been kidnapped from her home and the police are offering little help in solving the case, they move quickly to find the thief and return Jewel to her owner. Using their ability to speak English as well as cat talk, and with the help of their human friend Tyrone Williams who worked with them on their first case, they plan a course of action.

Solving this crime will be far from easy. The crime fighting cats have no idea who the kidnapper is. They not only have to discover the identity of the lawbreaker, they also have to figure out a way to contact him. Scooter, Nugget, and Mr. Williams face an additional challenge. How can they trick the thief into meeting with them so they are able to recover Jewel and have their suspect arrested?

Step by step, as in their first case, our detectives work out every detail of how they will investigate this misdeed and see it to a successful conclusion. However, it seems that every stride they make in the right direction leads to a dead end, and the kidnapper turns out to be a dangerous character.

Your heart will race as you follow the action. You’ll wonder all along if Jewel will ever be returned. You will also be surprised at who becomes the hero of this adventure. The Case Of The Kidnapped Dog is an entertaining story for you to read and a real test of the crime detection abilities of our private eye sisters.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481724203

S. N. Bronstein

S. N. Bronstein is the author of the Fairlington Lavender Detective Series, a collection of crime stories based on the adventures of a Miami Beach private investigator. In addition to The Case of the Yellow Flower Tattoo, his published works in the series include The Case of the Miami Philanthropist, The Case of the Miami Blackmailer, and The Case of the Miami Vigilante. He is also the author of two children’s books, Private Eye Cats: Book One: The Case of the Neighborhood Burglars and Private Eye Cats: Book Two: The Case of the Kidnapped Dog. The author presently resides in Florida with his wife, Dawn, and cat, Nugget, and devotes his time to fiction writing.

Book preview

Chapter One

I think I talked about it in our first book, but in case you don’t remember, with cats it’s all about the action. Cats have a need to find out everything about every thing. It’s called curiosity and as my older cat sister Scooter taught me, it’s part of our instincts. We have no choice in the matter. Dogs can be content sitting around the house, going for a walk twice a day, and chasing after a ball and bringing it back to their humans until they pass out from the heat. Not us. We can play the ‘make the humans happy’ game like any other house pets, but our real goals are to explore, find out what’s up, and stick our noses exactly where they don’t belong.

It was this instinct to get into the action that got me, Nugget, and my sister Scooter into so much trouble last April. During that month I wanted to find a way to sneak out of the house once our humans, Tony and Misty, went to work. Well, I did find a way out.

I convinced Scooter to join me on a trip to the outside world. Against her better judgment, she finally agreed.

Scooter’s decision to join me on a tour of the real world beyond our four walls led to all kinds of mischief. Once she heard about some burglars breaking into houses on our block, she dreamed up the idea that we should help the police catch the crooks.

Well, we did help the police solve the case. We caught the criminals who were responsible, and we became Private Eye Cats.

It’s now August and to tell the truth, we’re both bored with doing nothing but sitting around the house all day. Scooter says she’s ready for another private detective case and I, who at first didn’t want any part of the first one, am feeling vibes about getting back into the action.

Look for trouble and it’ll find you. August, as you will soon discover, will turn out to be another month filled with danger, adventure, and more action than any cat could ask for.

Chapter Two

I t was Wednesday, August 4 th and in Miami Beach, Florida that meant it would be hot all day and rainy all afternoon. Cats hate to go out in the summer. We have all of this fur that was supposed to keep us warm when we walked the earth a thousand years ago and that was fine then. I guess they didn’t figure that some of us would live on Miami Beach some day and stay in the air conditioning just to avoid the heat.

Ya’ know, Scooter said to me after breakfast. If it wasn’t so hot and if Misty wasn’t around all day, I would say let’s go out and see what’s happening in the neighborhood.

Agreed, I quickly said. We haven’t been outside since she finished teaching school in June. This summer vacation for teachers is a drag big time. I like hangin’ with Misty and all that, but there’s no way we can get out with her around.

Tony, Misty’s husband, is a human private detective. He has an office somewhere a few miles from the house, and he works all year, except when he and Misty plan a vacation. Misty is a teacher, and like the kids who go to her school, she stays home from June until September. She works in the garden, watches TV, and reads a lot of books. Great for her but very boring for us cats.

That Wednesday was just like every other summer day for us. We got up at 6:00 in the morning, made a nuisance of ourselves by running around wild, meowed like the house was on fire, and woke up the humans by putting our noses in their ears so they jumped up all weird like and startled.

We have them trained. Each day Tony gets up, feeds us, and goes back to bed until it’s time to get ready for work. Misty just sleeps through it all. After that, we eat, walk around the house, look out the windows, and nap. A real productive experience.

Nothing happened at all that particular day until Tony got home about 7:00 that night.

Strange story, Tony said to Misty as they ate dinner. Before I came in the house, Mrs. Hershey, that old gossip next door, told me the police were down the block at that apartment house this afternoon. Seems someone went into an apartment while the owner was away and stole her dog.

That’s terrible, Misty said. Who would want to steal another person’s dog?

That’s not the worst of it, Tony added. Hershey told me that since I was a private detective I should get involved and solve the case. I told her I chase people, not dogs.

Misty said, Well, it’s a sad story. You know the cops won’t spend ten minutes on the case. They’re busy going after criminals and probably think this isn’t all that important.

It’s not, Tony told her. There’s too much other stuff going on in this town to worry about a dog that got boosted.

I’ll bet the person who owns the dog doesn’t feel that way, Misty replied. By the way, did Mrs. Hershey say what kind of dog it was? When I’m outside I see a few different people from that building walking dogs, she asked.

It was that little one, the breed they call a Papillion. Knowing the people who live in that place it’s probably the only one worth stealing. That’s what they do ya’ know. They steal expensive dogs and sell them, Tony explained. Hershey said the dog is black and white and belongs to that girl on the second floor.

Scooter and I looked at each other. We knew that dog. That one was always with the girl. When she wasn’t walking the dog, she was carrying it around like a sack of flour. We saw them together many times from our front window facing Michigan Avenue, mostly on the weekends.

Who cares about that dog? I asked Scooter in English when Misty and Tony were out of earshot. One less dog in our neighborhood is fine with me. Anyway, I could take that canine in a fight any day of the week with one paw taped behind my back.

Real sensitive of you, Scooter sneered. Suppose some creep kidnapped you? Would you want everyone to think, ‘Who cares about that cat? One less cat in our neighborhood is fine with me.’ That dog never bothered us or anyone else.

Don’t like dogs and don’t like people who own dogs, I said.

What you need is a class in prejudice. You need to learn to get along with others who just happen to not be the same as you, Scooter told me, sounding like an older sister whose whole goal in life was to teach me something. Anyway, I had no clue what she meant by prejudice.

Misty and Tony talked for a while about the dog thing and then forgot about it. About 10:00 that night they went to sleep. We went to bed about the same time. Scooter positioned herself at Misty’s feet. I always sleep next to Tony. As I fell asleep, I