Atticus Claw Breaks the Law by Jennifer Gray Page A

woken up in the middle of the night by Atticus poking his paw in his eye, Mrs Cheddar had ordered it to be put in straight away so that her husband could concentrate on his detective work. Meanwhile Mrs Tucker had asked at the local cats’ home if anyone was missing a cat answering to the description of Atticus and had driven round the area on her motorbike looking for ‘lost cat’ notices. But no one seemed to know anything about a brown-and-black tabby called Atticus Grammaticus Cattypuss Claw. So ‘one night’ had led to two and two to four and four to … well: it looked as though Atticus could be staying a while.
    Mrs Tucker was still gazing at Atticus’s tummy. ‘I wonder if he’s being fed by someone else,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘That’s the thing with cats; you never know what they get up to when they’re out.’ She gave Atticus an accusing stare. ‘Especially at night.’
    Atticus blushed beneath his fur.
She didn’t suspect something, did she
?
    ‘Atticus doesn’t do
anything
,’ Michael said. ‘He’s too lazy.’
    Atticus raised a whiskery eyebrow.
If only he knew
.
    They heard the key turn in the lock.
    Mrs Tucker frowned. ‘Who’s that?’ She looked at her watch. ‘It’s only quarter to four.’
    Callie ran to the door. ‘It’s Dad!’ she cried.
    Inspector Cheddar came into the room. He threw a newspaper on to the coffee table and sat down heavily beside Atticus.
    Mind out!
Atticus thought, flicking his tail out of the way just in time.
    ‘Dad!’ Michael said. ‘You’re early.’
    ‘Yes,’ said Inspector Cheddar, stroking Atticus absently .
    Atticus was startled. Inspector Cheddar had never stroked him before. Normally he ignored him or said things like ‘you still here?’ or ‘get off the bed, you lazy lump’. Atticus began to purr quietly.
    ‘Did you catch the burglar?’ Callie asked excitedly.
    ‘No,’ Inspector Cheddar shook his head. ‘I just came home for a break. It’s hopeless. This criminal’s a pro. He comes and goes without a trace. He can walk through walls. He can slip through closed windows . He can slide under locked doors. I just don’tsee how he does it. It’s like magic.’ He scratched Atticus’s ears.
    Atticus glowed. It was nice to hear Inspector Cheddar talk about him like that. Maybe he did appreciate him, after all. He purred more loudly.
    ‘I’ll never catch him,’ Inspector Cheddar commented .
    Atticus nodded in agreement.
It was true. He never would
.
    Suddenly Inspector Cheddar made a choking sound.
    Atticus looked up, astonished. What was the matter now?
    ‘I’m the worst detective in the world!’ Inspector Cheddar sobbed. ‘I’m awful. Rubbish. A waste of space. I’m rotten, like a mouldy bit of mousetrap.’
    Atticus was amazed. Wasn’t Inspector Cheddar
happy
he had crimes to investigate?
    ‘No, you’re not, Dad!’ Michael cried. ‘You’re the best detective in the world!’
    Inspector Cheddar shook his head. ‘The Tofflys think I stink. So does the Chief Inspector of Bigsworth,’ he howled. ‘He’s threatened to put me back on traffic duty if I don’t catch whoever it is soon!’
    Atticus was flabbergasted. This was the first time it had occurred to him that Inspector Cheddar actually expected to
catch
someone for the burglaries, or that he might be upset if he didn’t.
    ‘Don’t listen to those people,’ Callie cried, throwing her arms round Inspector Cheddar’s neck. ‘They don’t know anything.’
    ‘Really?’ Inspector Cheddar sniffed.
    ‘Definitely,’ Michael agreed. ‘You’ll catch the villain , Dad. Don’t worry. We know you will.’
    Atticus was listening closely. He’d got it all mixed up! Now he understood. Michael only wanted there to be burglaries so that his dad would look good when he solved them!
    ‘How?’ Inspector Cheddar tried to smile. ‘He doesn’t leave any clues.’
    ‘He’ll make a mistake,’ Michael said. ‘Criminals always do, don’t they, Atticus?’
    Atticus