Detective Chubby to the fore

Chubby the cat turns detective, solves crimes, and becomes a hero in the neighborhood, all in a day's work.

“Time to read some newspaper articles aloud, Jashan,” said his father. “Your speed and pronunciation have improved a lot.”

“Kitten gets quack arrested,” Jashan read a headline from that day’s newspaper. Lara, who had just started learning to read, looked at him enviously as Jashan continued reading the article about an undercover cat that helped cops trap and arrest a fake vet. Chubby, their pet cat, was perched on her lap. Jashan’s reading snapped the pampered feline out of his cat nap. He perked his ears and began thinking.

He could become a detective too, help the cops and make news. He knew there was plenty going on around him that the cops should know about. He had lots of time to do all the snooping, while the kids were away in school. Deciding not to waste any more time, Chubby set out on his self-appointed job immediately.

That morning, he followed Sunderlal, the owner of the government sanctioned provisions shop, to his warehouse. Once inside he mewed and cried loudly. The people around, who were superstitious about a wailing cat, trooped in to silence him and discovered vast amounts of illegally hoarded stock. As the policemen led Sunderlal away, he wondered why the sight of some mice in his storehouse would frighten the stupid cat enough to make him cry out so loudly. He cursed Chubby and his own fate.

At noon, Chubby zeroed in on Lakki. He had often seen her steal vegetables in the market. That day, to his fortune, she had stolen a big fat fish as well. The smell drove him crazy and he pounced on the cloth bag hidden in the folds of her sari. Out tumbled the fish, two potatoes, four onions, several other vegetables and a variety of fruits. The people in the market pounced on her and handed her over to the cops who were lurking around, waiting to act upon the complaints of the shopkeepers. The cops finally sighed in relief.

Later, in the afternoon, Chubby bit and scratched Raju and set him screaming. Colonel Bakshi, outside whose house this happened, came out to see what the commotion was all about. He saw Raju yelling in pain; a pipe dangling from one hand and a big can in the other. The colonel was shocked to discover that the person who had been stealing petrol from his car all these days was none other than Raju, who had been employed to wash the car. No wonder he had insisted on cleaning the car only in the afternoons when it was the Colonel’s nap time. He quickly called the police to inform them that the case that had been puzzling them for so long had been solved by his neighbour’s cat!

In one day, Chubby had helped crack three cases that had been puzzling the police department. But he was disappointed that the news of his bravery had evaded the media completely. However he felt good to be of some use to and become a hero in the neighbourhood. The only rewards he got were in the form of a lavish menu that day: mice from Sunderlal’s warehouse, the fish from Lakki’s bag, and a bowl of rich, creamy milk from the grateful Colonel. Smugly, he went to curl himself up on the sofa to finish his catnap while waiting for Jashan and Lara to return from school.