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Where We Left Off:
Oliver and Gus investigated a buried item causing a lot of concerns.
Bleach:
On the morning of April 15, 2026, I went to the living to say good morning to The Cook and get a report card on her sleeping and if the cats had been well-behaved.
“Did you hear a bell just now? Like a cat’s bell?” she asked.
“I hear the birds,” I said.
I went to the kitchen and found the recycling bin was stuffed. I couldn’t fit another thing in it. I lifted the bin and took it the side door. I stepped outside and was immediately distracted by a black cat trotting from around the back porch onto the curb next to the private road. I put the recycling bin down because I could not believe my eyes.
For less than a second, I thought, If that’s the Doppelgus, he really is identical right down to the fangs. Less than that full second could lapse, I said aloud, “Gus?” He came prancing over and let me pick him up. I felt his wet feet. He was clearly happy to see me or anyone at an unlocked door.
I took him inside and showed The Cook our little escape artist. As soon as I put him down, he devoured what was left on Oliver’s plate. We talked about all the possibilities and the timeline of events. After Gus finished Ollie’s food, he followed me to the kitchen and ate his own food.
The Cook had fed both of them breakfast around 05:30 AM. I went to the living room around 06:50 AM and it wasn’t long after that when I reached the side door with the recycling, went outside, found Gus and brought him in by 07:00 AM. He had been outside at most 80 minutes.
“He must have jumped off the balcony,” I said.
“Was that the bell I heard?” The Cook asked.
“He’s not wearing one. He doesn’t have his collar or harness on,” I said.
After discussing the situation that would require corrective action regarding the pet door to the balcony and escape routes that used to be covered by deer netting (I removed that for 2 reasons: netting is terrible for flying animals who get caught and injured by it; and Gus had been climbing from the balcony to the rooftop with only one escape in ten years. Allowing him on the roof made him happy for his Batman Time). I would have to keep the pet door closed when no one is home and even that doesn’t mean Gus would behave. The netting might have to go back up until he understands that he is not allowed to jump down. Unfortunately, we have a pair of house finches nesting on the balcony who would be at risk!
Theory 1:
Before I jump the gun on accusing Gus of successfully executing a planned escape, I had to brainstorm with Oliver if there was another possibility.
“Gus is not graceful by any means,” Ollie said. “He trips over his own leash. He can barely jump. When he does, he makes a loud THUD sound.”
That was true. Gus is kind of a klutz. He has many skills, but he’d never be a ninja or ballet dancer. Oliver can jump higher once he studies his situation like The Equalizer and plots out precisely where he’ll land each paw.
“Do you think Gus fell off the balcony?” I asked his partner.
“It’s worth considering,” Ollie said. “Those finches look like they’d be fun to catch. If Gus tried to jump onto the slick, smooth top of the railing, especially in the morning dew, he might slip right over it.”
Oh no! To think of my best friend falling unexpectedly, claws grasping for air, wiggling until his feet were properly under him… he must have been frightened if that’s what really happened.
Theory 2:
A new strange free-roaming cat has been caught on our cameras recently. I talked to a lot of neighbors about cats while selling Winchester-Nabu Detective Agency comic books at a fundraiser. One couple described their cats: two gingers, one tuxedo, and one that look like a tortoiseshell had been bleached (they described her as not pretty) and they call her Bleachy. That sounds like a perfect description of the cat on our cameras and that The Grumpy Old Man saw in the patio the night before this incident of Gus being outside.
Taking into account that Gus has only jumped off the balcony once before in his 10 years, it seems most likely that he would have been motivated beyond measure to do it again. Only a couple of weeks ago, I was out working on Fort Winchester while The Butler was wheeling Ollie around. Gus went to the balcony and climbed to the roof where he paced and cried like a panther in a zoo. He never tried to jump down when he obviously wanted to be outside with everyone else.
“Check the cameras immediately!” Ollie said.
That’s usually the first thing I do when I wake up. Before I even get out of bed, I check my phone to see what the cameras have picked up.
At 01:43 AM this exact morning, Bleachy was spotted walking around the whole house. The Grumpy Old Man saw her in the patio. One of the cameras picked her up as she walked around a corner.
Gus chases other cats from the yard if he happens to be down in the yard too. He knows when they’re around long before I see them. They could be hidden and he’ll know where they are. There have only been a few particular cats that he leaves alone. One is his doppelganger. I have photos of Gus on the balcony with Bud right below him, and all Gus did was poke his head through the railing to keep an eye on the trespasser.
Now that we had more information and two confirmed sightings of Bleachy, I think we can solve this case. Bleachy came around again after her earlier visit at 01:43 AM. She’s not looking for food. She has a home somewhere in town and her humans obviously love cats and care for them. She was looking for trouble. If she wanted to hunt, she could do it by the rocks where many of the critters spend their time because of our snack distribution. The only thing to draw her here, this close to the house, was to make her presence known to Gus and Oliver.
“What about that bell The Cook heard?” I asked Oliver.
“Sure, you remember that we cats have ESP and telepathy?”
“Of course.”
“Gus wanted to come inside. He tried to reach you, but he knew that The Cook was awake since she had just fed us. The bell was his signal to her.” Ollie moved from his spot next to me at the desk and took a seat near his office. It’s also where his paper tubes are which get filled with treats. I didn’t need telepathy to know what he wanted.
Case Findings:
This internal Winchester-Nabu investigation shocked all of us. One morning, Gus and Ollie were at breakfast. No problems reported. Then, I went to take the recycling out to the bin and found Gus outside! Nekkid! No collar. No harness. No supervision! We had two plausible theories both involved him being on the balcony where the cats have access to the outside. One, he could have been jumping at the birds, tried to land on the railing, and fell over the side. Two, he saw a strange cat prowling around the house and yard and took off after her. We know that a local free-roaming, but owned, cat named Bleachy was casing our house at 01:43 in the middle of the night. She likely came back and Gus performed a feat he has only done once before (and when he was much younger). He jumped off the balcony to chase the intruder off his property!
The cat door to the balcony is being altered so that it will not be open at all times. They never figured out how to push the solid, clear plastic door held only by a magnet. We’ll try closing that and only letting them out when they ask. This means a big inconvenience for everyone (the cats and the humans).
Case Status: Closed
