Scenario: A fat cat, Wearing a suit., Holding a bouquet of flowers, Squeeze in the bus
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A fat cat, Wearing a suit., Holding a bouquet of flowers, Squeeze in the bus
Chapter One
In the city, strange things were a regular occurrence.
It was just part of the territory. There were a lot of people in the city, millions and billions of them. It made sense that some of them would have strange things happen to them every now and then.
Most of the time, the strange things were just strange. They were weird, and they were unusual, but they weren’t dangerous. The things that were dangerous, those usually happened to bad people.
Detective Sarah Black knew all about the strange things that happened in the city. She had been on the force for a long time now. She had been a detective for even longer than that.
She had seen all kinds of weird, and she had seen all kinds of dangerous. She had seen all kinds of terrible. She had seen the worst that humans could do to each other.
But she hadn’t seen everything.
Not yet.
Detective Black was getting closer.
She could feel it.
The bus pulled up to the curb, and Detective Black stepped inside. She flashed her badge at the driver and made her way to an empty seat near the back of the bus.
It was almost time.
The bus picked up speed, and Detective Black looked out the window. The streets were busy, as always. The city was always moving, always in motion.
Hurry up.
Detective Black cast her gaze around the bus. Most of the passengers were on their phones, scrolling through social media or texting with friends. They were oblivious to the world around them.
But not Detective Black.
She saw everything.
She noticed the woman with the bright red hair and the impossibly high heels. She noticed the man with the bald head and the leather coat. She noticed the group of teenagers huddled together in the back, whispering and laughing.
But she didn’t see what she was looking for.
Not yet.
The bus picked up speed, and Detective Black’s grip on her bag tightened. She glanced at her watch. It was almost time. The bus was almost at his stop.
And then, just like that, it was there.
The fat cat in the suit stepped onto the bus and took a seat near the front. He was wearing a dark suit and a blue tie, and he held a small bouquet of flowers in his paw.
Detective Black’s eyes narrowed.
There it was.
The fat cat in the suit.
Mr. Whiskers.
He was one of the strangest things that Detective Black had ever seen. He was a cat, but he was also a man. He had a cat’s body and a cat’s face, but he stood on two legs and walked like a human.
And he wore clothes. He always wore a suit and tie. Today, it was a dark suit and a blue tie. It was a good look for him.
Mr. Whiskers sat in his seat and licked his paw. He groomed his fur for a moment, then glanced out the window. His eyes met Detective Black’s, and he paused for a moment.
Then he looked away and continued grooming his fur.
The bus pulled to a stop, and Mr. Whiskers stood up. He made his way to the front of the bus and stepped off onto the sidewalk. The doors closed behind him, and the bus pulled away from the curb.
Detective Black stood up and made her way to the front of the bus. She pushed open the doors and stepped off onto the sidewalk.
Mr. Whiskers was already walking away.
Detective Black followed him. The fat cat in the suit moved through the crowd with surprising ease, his furry head bobbing above the sea of humans. Detective Black stayed close behind, her eyes fixed on the back of his head.
It was the same every time she saw him. The fat cat in the suit always seemed to be in a hurry. He walked with purpose, his eyes fixed on some distant point. He never stopped to chat or look in shop windows or do any of the other things that most people did when they went for a walk.
And he never looked back.
Detective Black followed him through the busy streets of downtown. She hurried to keep up, but it wasn’t easy. The fat cat in the suit moved fast, and he seemed to know exactly where he was going.
His destination, or at least the closest bus stop, was an abandoned warehouse next to a closed grocery store.
Mr. Whiskers paused in front of the warehouse, his nose twitching. He turned and looked at her, his yellow eyes cool and unreadable. Then he slipped inside.
Detective Black pushed open the rusted door and stepped into the gloom. The door creaked behind her as it closed, and the sound echoed through the empty room. There was no sign of Mr. Whiskers.
She took a step forward, her hand hovering over the gun at her hip.
“Mr. Whiskers?”
Nothing.
The room was silent except for the sound of her own breathing.
She took another step forward.
A loud bang echoed off the walls, and Detective Black spun around just in time to see Mr. Whiskers disappear down a set of stairs at the far end of the room.
The warehouse was huge, but it was mostly empty. It had probably been used for storage once upon a time, but there was nothing left now except a few rusted shelves and piles of debris. A few dim lights hung from the ceiling, casting long shadows across the floor. Detective Black picked her way carefully across the room, keeping her eyes on the stairs.
The steps were steep and narrow, and they descended into darkness. She could see a faint light glowing at the bottom of the stairs, but it didn’t penetrate very far into the gloom.
She took a deep breath and started down the stairs.
They creaked beneath her weight, and she winced with every step. Detective Black moved slowly and quietly, hoping to catch Mr. Whiskers by surprise.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she paused for a moment to let her eyes adjust to the dim light.
The stairs led down into a narrow hallway, about thirty feet long, with doors on either side
At the end of the hallway, the light spilled out from an open doorway.
A low, rumbling sound came from the room beyond.
It sounded like
Purring?
No, not purring.
Laughter.
Detective Black crept along the hallway, her hand resting on her gun.
She reached the doorway and peered inside.
It was a large room, brightly lit.
The walls were lined with TVs, all showing different horse races.
There were a dozen or so people in the room, dressed in dark suits and smoking cigars.
They were crowded around a long table in the center of the room, covered in stacks of money.
And there, at the head of the table, sat Mr.
Whiskers.
He was wearing a dark suit and a blue tie, just like before.
And he looked very pleased with himself, his yellow eyes glittering in the harsh fluorescent light.
“Welcome, friends,” he said, grinning.
The men around the table murmured their greetings and took their seats.
Detective Black couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
This had to be some kind of mistake.
But no, there was no denying it: Mr.
Whiskers—the fat cat in the suit—was the mastermind behind the whole operation.
He wasn’t just some harmless stray who liked to play dress-up—he was a real-life criminal!
She’d never seen anything like this before—a talking cat in a business suit running an underground gambling ring.
She had to be dreaming.
But the cramped, dimly lit room and the overpowering smell of cigar smoke told her otherwise.
This was all too real.
All around her, the men were shaking hands and exchanging money, and Mr.
Whiskers was busy counting and stacking the cash on the table.
She had to act fast before it was too late.
If she didn’t stop Mr.
Whiskers now, he’d be living the high life on some tropical island before she could say “meow.”
She had to think carefully about her next move.
She reached for her handcuffs and
“May I help you?”
Detective Black froze.
She’d been so focused on Mr.
Whiskers and his goons that she hadn’t noticed the man standing behind her in the shadows.
But now that she saw him up close, she knew exactly who he was: Vincent Capello, the most notorious mobster in the city—and wanted for more than a dozen crimes she knew of!