Little Dog and Fat Cat
The Case of the Missing Collar
Written for children between the ages of 4-7, The Case of the Missing Collar is first in a series of hilarious madcap mysteries involving the All Paws Detective Agency and the pair of unlikely detectives who always get their rat.
They’re funny... they’re clever... and a tad lazy. And they're the best detectives in the neighborhood. They’re Little Dog and Fat Cat of the All Paws Detective Agency!
He’s a one-pound Chihuahua with five hairs on his back and a chipped front tooth that whistles when he barks. She’s a cat and a half, a bit plump and a bit orange and there’s that thing with her tail. Odd to the bone, Little Dog and Fat Cat are every rat’s worse nightmare. No crime is too big or too small for the two best friends, and like the sign over the doggie door says… they’re always “Open Fur Business!”
From the outside the All Paws Detective Agency looked like an ordinary doghouse. Not too big and not too small, with a bright blue door and a pot of geraniums for a garden, but behind that blue door live the Neighborhood’s cleverest detectives.
Sure Little Dog might look like a one-pound Chihuahua with only five hairs on his back and a chipped front tooth that whistles when he barks, and Fat Cat might be a bit round and a bit orange, and there’s that thing with her tail, but together the two friends have solved some of the neighborhood’s toughest crimes.
It was Little Dog and Fat Cat who caught Houdini, the Master Hamster, when he stole all the bird food in town, and it was Fat Cat and Little Dog who solved the mystery of Tommy Tiptoe’s missing turtle shell.
Like the sign over the door says: “Open Fur Business.”
And that’s how it started…
It was like any other Monday. Little Dog was busy ripping up the morning newspaper, while Fat Cat was eating her third bowl of strawberry ice cream when suddenly there was a knock on the doggie door and in walked Miss Scarlet La Mew.
She was all white fluff and curly whiskers. The kind of cat who never gets her paws dirty and wouldn’t dream of drinking from a toilet. An uptown cat with a downtown problem, her diamond collar had been stolen!
“I was taking my second catnap just like I always do,” the fluffy feline wept big alligator tears Fat Cat wiped away with her tail. “And when I woke up my collar was gone!”
And that’s all it took. Instantly, Little Dog snapped into action. “We’re going to need binoculars, and a rubber band,” he told Fat Cat.
“We don’t have binoculars, and you ate the rubber band this morning,” Fat Cat reminded him.
“Oh!” Little Dog replied. “Then I guess we’re going to have to follow our noses.” And away they went.
Now Miss Scarlet lived on the other side of the street in a five-story dog house with an elevator and a garden gnome named Ed for a doorman. A nice joint, even if it didn’t have a pot of geraniums for a garden.
Miss Scarlet led them straight to the scene of the crime.
“I was sleeping in the conservatory on my favorite velvet cushion when the collar was stolen,” she told them.
So that’s where they started. Little Dog looked for clues while Fat Cat searched for signs of fowl play, when suddenly the five hairs on Little Dog's back stood on end.
“There!” he cried, pointing a paw at a hole in the baseboard.
“That’s a mouse hole,” Fat Cat said giving the hole a good sniff. “A house mouse from the smell of it. Nasty lot! Be careful LD.”
“Me?” Little Dog exclaimed. “Why me? You’re the cat. Mice are your specialty.”
“But, you’re man’s best friend,” Fat Cat replied.
“You have nine lives,” Little Dog barked.
“You’re smaller,” Fat Cat insisted.
“Don’t look at me!” Miss Scarlet shuttered. “I’ve just had my nails trimmed.”
“All right!” Little Dog grumbled. He shoved his paw into the hole. It was deep and dark, and full of squirmy things a dog shouldn’t think about.
“Anything?” Fat Cat asked.
Little Dog was just about to say no when he felt something. “Aha!” he shouted holding up a piece of moldy cheese with a long white hanging from it. “Look familiar?”
“The notorious Hole in the Wall Gang,” Fat Cat growled, eying the cheese hungrily.
“They’re as bad as they come,” Little Dog nodded. “We’ll have to set a trap FC. A mousetrap!”
“I’m on it!” Fat Cat said excitedly. “We’re going to need a palm tree, a bowl of smelly cheese, a basket, and a ball of yarn…make that two bowls of cheese, I haven’t had my second breakfast yet.”
“Cheese makes you fart,” Little Dog reminded her.
“Only on Mondays,” Fat Cat replied.
“It is Monday,” Miss Scarlet meowed.
“Oh,” Fat Cat sighed. “I was hoping it wasn’t.”
It was a team effort. Miss Scarlet put the bowl of cheese in front of the hole while Little Dog hung a wicker basket attached to a ball of yarn above it, and Fat Cat used her tail to fan the smell into the hole.
“What about the palm tree?” Miss Scarlet asked.
“That’s for LD,” Fat Cat told her. “It’s a dog thing.”
“Oh,” Miss Scarlet meowed.
And then they waited…and waited, and just when Fat Cat thought her tail would give out, the five hairs on Little Dog’s back stood up and a small brown mouse with crossed eyes and corkscrew whiskers scurried from the hole.
“That’s Screwy Louie,” Fat Cat whispered to Miss Scarlet as they watched the mouse dive head first into the bowl of cheese.
Six more mice appeared, each one bigger than last and with a mean twitch to his whiskers that made Little Dog’s hairs stand on end.
“Now!” Little Dog cried when the last mouse had jumped into the bowl.
The basket came crashing down, and just like that, the notorious Hole in the Wall Gang was trapped.
“Well cut the cheese!” said a big mouse with a ripped ear and a black patch over his eye. “If it ain’t me old pals Little Dog and Fat Cat!”
“One-eyed Jack,” Little Dog growled. “I should have known you were behind this.”
“Where’s the collar?” Fat Cat demanded.
“What collar?” the mouse smirked, picking a piece cheese from his teeth.
“My diamond collar!” Miss Scarlet cried. “You stole it you nasty little rodent.”
“On the contrary, I think he looks rather tasty,” Fat Cat said giving the one-eyed mouse a toothy grin.
“Very!” Little Dog agreed. “The collar or the cat One-Eyed Jack…what’s it gonna be?”
“Can we keep the cheese?” Screwy Louie squeaked. “It’s good cheese. What kind is it?”
“Cheddar,” Miss Scarlet purred.
“It’s lovely,” Screwy Louie sighed stuffing a wedge into his snout.
“It’s yours!” Little Dog said lifting the basket. “But, make it fast, I’ve got a garden that needs watering if you know what I mean.”
“And don’t even think of making a run for it,” Fat Cat added. “Because I’m faster than I look.”
“You are?” Little Dog asked.
“Just go with it,” Fat Cat hissed.
“Alright! Alright! I get the message,” One-Eyed Jack glared at them. “Give me ten minutes.”
“I’ll give you seven,” Fat Cat replied.
“Five!” One-Eyed Jack shouted. “And that’s my final offer.”
“Done!” Little Dog said holding out his paw to the mouse.
“I’ll be counting,” Fat Cat growled, laying a heavy paw on the basket, and another on her stomach.
The mouse flew into the hole, and then they waited…and they waited. Miss Scarlet took a cat bath, while Little Dog paced, until finally, One-Eyed Jack returned pulling a gold collar behind him.
“I could use a little help,” he snarled. “This thing is heavy.”
“That thing is not my collar you stupid mouse!” Miss Scarlet cried thumping the mouse on the head with her tail.
“Heh watch it lady!” Screwy Louie shouted. “He’s got feelings yeah know.”
“He does?” another mouse squeaked.
“It’s the wrong collar One-Eye,” Little Dog growled at the mouse.
“You sure? Because yeah know I don’t see so good,” One-Eyed Jack replied, shifting the patch to his other eye
Miss Scarlet whacked him with her tail again.
“I’m seeing better now,” the mouse groaned. “Give me ten.”
“Two!” said Fat Cat.
“One!” the mouse shouted. “And, that’s my final offer.”
“Go!” Little Dog replied. “And, no more tricks.”
A minute later the mouse returned with Miss Scarlet’s diamond collar, a bit nibbled, and a little cheesy, but none the worse for wear.
“Thank you!” she cried giving Little Dog a kiss as he slipped the collar around her neck.
“Heh what about us?” Screwy Louie shook the basket. “We’re going stir crazy in here.”
“We’ll let you go if you promise to give back everything you’ve stolen,” Fat Cat replied. “And, you stop stealing.”
“That wasn’t part of the deal,” One-Eyed Jack shouted.
“It was implied,” Fat Cat growled.
“Alright, alright, no need to go all furball on me! I give you me word. But, this ain’t over,” the mouse snarled. “And, next time it’ll take more than a bowl of cheese to trap One-Eyed Jack.”
“Well I say good riddance to bad rodents,” Miss Scarlet sniffed as the mice vanished into the hole.
“The Hole in the Wall Gang won’t bother you again Miss Scarlet,” Little Dog promised, pushing the palm tree in front of the hole. “If they do…you know where to find us!”
“You know they’ll be back,” Fat Cat said as the two friends walked out of the room.
“I hope so!” Little Dog laughed. “Or we’ll be out of a job!
THE END