The Catnap Caper by Sarah Todd Taylor

Author:Sarah Todd Taylor [Sarah Todd Taylor]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788000659
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Published: 2019-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

Oscar was correct. The other catnappings had been small affairs, covered in the middle pages of the newspapers, but the events at the concert hall made all the front pages. The attempted theft of a cat belonging to one of society’s most influential patrons of music in the middle of Paris’s most glamorous music hall and in front of thousands of people was tremendously exciting news. Soirées at the city’s most fashionable houses were pushed to page two. A wedding between a count and the daughter of a sugar magnate slipped to page four. Instead, the papers were full of pictures of Peppi and the great revelation of the day – Madame Belfourte would no longer be the chief judge of “The Voice of Paris”.

“And all because of that cat of hers!” Madame Emerald exclaimed, throwing down her copy of the newspaper in exasperation. They were sat at a table in Minette’s café, but nobody seemed in the mood for breakfast. Sylvia had turned over the same pain au chocolat several times without taking a bite and even Agnes was showing no interest in the pile of croissants that had been placed in front of her. Madame Emerald sighed. “She is refusing to leave her house until the catnapper of Paris is caught.” She glanced at Maximilian and her face softened. “We can’t blame her really, I suppose. We would all be distraught if anything happened to Max. But really, it is infuriating! We have two days to go and we are now down to just two judges! Pierre says that he is looking for a replacement for Madame Belfourte but I hate to think who he will come up with. And if he can’t find anyone, the competition will have to be cancelled.”

There was a faint clatter of teacups as she said this, and Maximilian saw that Minette, who was serving a customer at a nearby table, had overheard them. If the competition was cancelled then she would lose her chance to shine and perhaps become a professional singer. Excusing himself, Monsieur Lavroche stood up from the table and went over to talk with her.

“I tried everything to persuade Madame Belfourte to stay,” Madame Emerald sighed. “I wish someone could catch this wretched catnapper.” She smiled sadly at Maximilian. “If only the gendarmes had Max on the case. He would solve it in two shakes of a cat’s tail, I’m sure of it.”

Maximilian gave his front paws a groom and tried to look modest, but it was lovely when Madame Emerald spoke admiringly of him with her beautiful, melodious voice. He wished he could assure her that the two cleverest cats in Europe were already following up several clues.

“Will the competition really have to be cancelled?” asked Mrs Garland. “It would be a shame after all the organisation, and half of the city seems to be after tickets.”

Madame sighed.

“I suppose we could limp along with only two judges. But what if we disagree?”

“You could judge by the volume of the applause,” suggested Sylvia.

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