Chapter One -

Isabelle Reed sat at her kitchen table with a cup of coffee in front of her. She stared out her kitchen window and sighed softly. She was bored stiff. It was a good three months since her last experience with danger, and her life seemed to be growing stale. Even George her chubby orange cat seemed to be dispirited. He had only picked at his breakfast of tuna mixed with cat crunchies. This worried Isabelle because George had a very healthy appetite. Gluttonous the vet called it, but Isabelle preferred to think of it as self-preservation.

There was a nock at the front door suddenly and Isabelle stood up from her stupor and hurried to answer it. Her niece Tara stood at the door holding Isabelle’s mail.

“I grabbed your mail for you. The mailman just dropped it off.” Tara gave her aunt a hug and then stepped into the living room.

“What are you doing here? I though your boyfriend Andrew was planning a trip with you this week?” Isabelle ushered Tara into her kitchen and set a cup of coffee in front of her.

“Andrew is on an unexpected business trip. A detective friend of his has a kidnapping case he is trying to solve and asked for Andrew’s help. So he flew to Chicago yesterday.”

“Kidnapping?” Isabelle shook her head. “How awful, I remember when George was kidnapped. It was the worst week of my life.”

Isabelle began to flip through her mail until she came across a blue flyer. It read Cat Costume Contest. Make your pampered pet a home-made costume and enter to win a prize. First Prize, free cleaning service for a year; Second Prize, supply of premium cat food for a year; Third Prize, Fifty dollar. Call this number to enter and do it now!

“Tara, look at this flyer.” She handed it across the table and she rubbed her hands together excitedly.

“What perfect timing! Just when I have nothing going on too!”

Tara looked skeptically at George. He glared back from the kitchen floor where his mammoth size was slumped over. His eyes were two little slits as if he knew what his mistress was planning. Something very inconvenient to his lunch time he was sure.

“What kind of costume should I make?” Isabelle asked standing up and pacing around the kitchen.

“Something loose, I would suggest.” Tara replied with a grin. “Aunt Isabelle, the costume contest sounds like fun, but do you think George will cooperate. I mean he isn’t the most even tempered animal.”

“George is an angel with fur.” Isabelle said in a shocked tone. She stopped pacing and sat down again at the table. “Just because he is a little more temperamental than other house cats doesn’t mean he couldn’t win the contest. No, I am going to enter him and I’m going to call right now.”

Isabelle grabbed a pad of paper and called the number on the flyer. A woman answered and started to give out the instructions for the contest. Isabelle wrote down every word and then gave her name and address. She thanked the lady and then hung up.

“The contest is set for next weekend at two o’clock. There is a twenty dollar entrance fee, but it will be worth it just to show off George.” Isabelle smiled lovingly at George and Tara thought she heard him give a small huff of exasperation.

Isabelle worked all week long on several different costume ideas. She just couldn’t make up her mind. George was stuffed, squeezed, pinched, and compacted until he was nearly bursting at the seams in nearly every costume Isabelle made. She just couldn’t understand why they didn’t fit. Isabelle followed the pattern she found for cat costumes and even with adding some extra fabric; the costumes were still too snug. There was only one thing to be done. George would have to be put on a strict diet for the rest of the week. George was of course already very unhappy from the week’s events and a diet was only making it worse.