The Case of the Missing Meat

From the files of C. Seeley, Private Eye. (We all know mom's have eyes in the back of their head)

*The picture at the left is not the actual criminal, but only a reasonable facsimile. The actual thief is much larger, meaner looking, and bears the scars from a hard life on the streets of India. Not a cat you'd like to meet in a dark alley, or in your kitchen for that matter.
It was a breezy day in India, and my daughter had a hankering for Hamburger Helper. I'm not partial to it myself, but I try to please my clients. It just so happened I had a supply of ground meat in stock so I slipped a bag out of the freezer and left it on a plate in the kitchen to thaw. Later when I returned to prepare the above culinary delight. I found the meat was gone. Stolen. Purloined. Absconded with. A case of burglary right on my own turf. I identified two primary suspects right away based on their previous record. A three-year old yellow lab, and an obnoxious grey striped tabby. The lab had just finished serving a sentence for a similar offence in which a pot of stew and a plate of biscuits disappeared from the dining room table. However, the case puzzled me for two reasons. First usually when the lab steals things off the counter he knocks down the plate that contained them, and the plate had not been moved. Second, when the tabby strikes he usually chews a hole in *Above is the mug shot of the Lab. the bag and eats it right at the scene of the crime. Some legwork was called for so I searched the crime scene and the surrounding area for evidence. I found nothing. No pawprints, no tell-tale remains, and no empty ziploc bag. I had nothing to go on, and no evidence to make an arrest. I decided to table the case and wait for further developments.

The next day I got a break. Again the juvenile female requested Hamburger Helper. Again I placed a bag of frozen meat on the counter pushing it far to the back where I was sure the lab couldn't reach, and banishing the tabby to the out of doors. However as luck would have it our premises were visited that day by a famiy with two small boys. Small boys who tend to go through doors and leave them open, as most juvenile males do. This day was no exeption. The back door leading to the kitchen was left ajar. Hearing a noise we sent the female juvenile in to investigate. We were surpised when the air was rent by an ear-piercing scream. The girl ran out of the kitchen to report that a large, black and white Tom cat had made it's way in the above door, and ran off with the meat, bag and all. He was last seen making his get away along the top of the wall behin our house with the bag hanging from his mouth. The case was solved. The Lab and the tabby were cleared. It's true what they say: criminals do return to the scene of the crime, especially if they think they might get their second meal in as many days.