It only took a few seconds for Goose to realize what had happened. There were clues everywhere.
Stick Cat followed Goose around as he discovered each piece of information. Edith waited in the bathroom. She was fluffing her tail with her tongue. She wanted to look her best.
The air-conditioning vent cover was on the living-room floor.
The dresser drawers were all open in the bedroom and sock balls were scattered all over the place.
The lid was off the cookie jar in the kitchen—and all his Paris, France, money was gone.
Goose picked up Stick Cat and held him close.
“We got robbed, I guess, hunh? Were you scared?” Goose asked. “None of this matters. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
Stick Cat purred to let Goose know that he was fine. And then Stick Cat nodded his head toward the bathroom.
“There’s more? Is that what you’re trying to tell me? They took stuff from my bathroom too?” Goose asked, and smiled a bit. He set Stick Cat down on the floor. “What did they take? My shampoo?”
Of course, what Goose found in the bathroom was not a missing shampoo bottle.
No.
What he found were three very different things.
The first thing he found was Edith. She was still primping in front of the mirror when Stick Cat and Goose walked in.
“Who do we have here?” Goose asked when he saw her. He looked back and forth a couple of times between Edith and Stick Cat. “Hmm. This is getting stranger and stranger with each passing minute.”
Edith turned toward Goose, batted her eyes, and returned to examining herself in the mirror.
“This is a friend of yours, I assume?” Goose asked Stick Cat.
Stick Cat purred.
“Okay, then,” Goose said, and glanced toward Edith. “She sure is pretty.”
Edith turned instantly and caught Stick Cat’s attention. “I like your roommate,” she said. “He has excellent taste. That is obvious.”
“Yes, he does,” replied Stick Cat as he nudged the satchel full of stuff toward Goose. The bag bumped up against his right foot.
This was the next thing Goose discovered.
“What’s this?” Goose asked as he picked up the bag and opened it. He peered inside and saw his grandfather’s pocket watch, lots of loose money, Tiffany’s jewelry, and Edith’s collars.
Goose shook his head.
“I don’t underst—” he began to say, but then stopped himself. He looked at Edith and saw her fancy collar. And then he looked into the bag and saw Edith’s six other fancy collars. He looked at her and asked, “Are these yours? How—”
But Goose didn’t get to ask another question.
Do you know why?
It’s because right then he discovered the third thing.
A tired, weak, and raspy voice called out from inside the bathroom cabinet.
“Help!” Tuna Todd called in a low whisper. “I’m stuck.”
Goose stooped down to look into the bathroom cabinet and make his third discovery. He saw Tuna Todd.
Goose didn’t say a word.
But Tuna Todd did.
“Call the police,” the robber begged. “Call a plumber. Call anybody! I don’t care. I just want to get out of this wall!”
Goose nodded and reached into his pocket to retrieve his phone. He called the police.