Another Cat Died in the Vila

The Vila, that is what the place was called by its dwellers, was situated in a calm part of town. There was a very narrow street that led you in. It was the only way in and out; one car at a time. There were trees and flowers planted along the entrance; quite a beautiful sight during the spring and the summer. As you passed the entrance, it opened up to thirteen houses lined up in a near circle all painted in different bright colors. To the right the houses were burgundy, orange, green and purple; to the left they were blue, yellow, beige, and green and somewhat in front of you they were white, pink, red, brown, and one covered in tiles. The dwellers of the Vila parked in front of their houses leaving enough space for the drivers to maneuver the cars.

The people that lived in that Vila came from different social backgrounds and classes; some had more money than others and also more culture. Nonetheless, they all lived there in harmony. Right up until the present moment.

One thing that was noticeable when you walked into the Vila was the cats. There were many of them and they were lovely; black, orange, gray, mixed wonderful tabby cats. Some of them were very friendly and came up to you for affection while others ran off as soon as you approached them. All the people that lived in the Vila took care of the cats although a few of them belonged to the people who lived in the brown house smack in the middle of the Vila.

All was well, however, during this summer the cats started dying. Each day one of the cats would be found dead in the middle of the Vila. It was a mystery. How could this be happening? What was causing their deaths? There were no signs of cuts, blood or wounds. The cats would just be lying there motionless. Unfortunately, it was always the owner who would find them. It seemed like they were on their way home to die.

The owner of the cats was intrigued and when he found the third dead cat, he decided to take it to the vet and have it examined. He had already buried the previous two in the backyard. He wanted to find out what had killed the cat. At first he didn´t give it much thought, for the first cat to be found dead was his oldest and he thought it had died because of old age. But when he saw the third one, he wrapped the corpse in a blanket and took it to the vet and left it there to be analyzed.

Three days had gone by when he got a phone call from the vet informing him that the cat had been poisoned. Someone had fed it poison not that he had eaten something that made him sick and killed him, but actual chemical poison. It had been murdered. Intrigued the owner dug up the other two cats and took their decomposing bodies to the vet also. Three more days went by and it was confirmed that those two had also been poisoned by the same substance.

The people in the Vila were shocked at the findings and they decided to have a meeting that night to talk about the issue. Everyone showed up except for an old couple, who didn´t care much for the cats and went to bed early due to their old age. They lived in the white house.

At the meeting, the people in the Vila came up with a way of watching for signs of who could be poisoning the cats. However, first they decided that it would be important to save the remaining cats. Those who could take the cats in and keep them safe indoors did while the other cats were taken to shelters and other people´s homes. It would be just a temporary measure for the cats did belong to that family in the Vila and they were sure to be missed.

The second thing they did was decide to keep an eye out for anything or anyone that could be suspicious. They knew it would not be easy to solve the mystery for the cats liked to roam around and about and they could have been fed the poison in any other part of town. However, the owner had a gut feeling that it was someone in the Vila.

Two weeks had gone by and the cats that were being kept indoors were driving the people crazy. They were used to going out at night and they meowed and scratched the doors to try to free themselves. So the people in the Vila decided to let them out. It was painful to see those little animals cooped up indoors. Besides, the cats brought life into the Vila. It was heartwarming to see them just lying around in the sun.

One evening the man who lived in the brown house was arriving from work and noticed that his favorite cat – the black one – was walking strangely. He managed to pick it up and immediately he took it to the vet. The vet examined the cat and due to the suspicion of the previous poisonings, he gave the cat some medication and left him in the clinic for observation.

The man who lived in the brown house went home and started asking the neighbors whether they had noticed anything strange. A boy who lived in the green house said he had seen the black cat eat from a bowl that was placed near the white house where the old couple lived. As fast as he could, the man who lived in the brown house ran out and managed to get a hold of the bowl. He took it to the vet and they had it checked.

Three days later the vet called the man who lived in the brown house and told him that the same substance that had been found in the dead cats had been found in the bowl. The man who lived in the brown house knew who the bowl belonged to.

Enraged he walked over to the old couple´s house, knocked on the door. He waited for a long time before the old man came to the door.

-       Is this your bowl?

-       Young man, I was in bed already and you have come over to disturb my sleep and ask me whether that belongs to me. Couldn´t you have done that in the morning?

-       Answer me old man! Is this your bowl?

-       Yes, I think it is. I´ll have to check with my wife but I am almost sure that it is. Where did you find it?

-       You have been killing my cats.

-       Hold on there! There is a law against falsely accusing someone, isn´t there?

-       I really don´t give a shit if there is or not!

By then most of the neighbors had gone outside to see why the man who lived in the brown house was yelling at the old man.

-       Young man, I do not know what you are talking about. I will have to ask my wife about this, but I am not going to do that right now. She is asleep.

-       I just want to know why. That´s all. Why did your wife kill my cats?

-       Young man, I have already told you that false accusation is a crime.

One of the neighbors decided that he should butt in and calm the man who lived in the brown house down.

-       He is right. It is late. Tomorrow we can all meet and hear what they have to say and work this out in a civilized manner.

-       Civilized? My cats were killed by these old monsters and you want me to be civilized?

Having said this, the police arrived and tried to settle the situation.

Apparently the old woman had been tired of cleaning the cat poop in front of her house and decided that getting rid of the cats would be the best solution.

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( Written February 5, 2013- based on real facts)  
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