The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat
The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat (1944) is the second in the Five Find-Outers series of children's mystery novels by Enid Blyton. It was published by Methuen and Co Ltd and follows the first book in the series, The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage. It tells of a stolen cat the group of children work to uncover.
 First edition | |
| Author | Enid Blyton |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Joseph Abbey |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Five Find-Outers |
| Genre | Children's mystery |
| Publisher | Methuen and Co Ltd |
Publication date | 1944 |
| Preceded by | The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage |
| Followed by | The Mystery of the Secret Room |
Plot
Luke, a friend of the Five Find-Outers, is working in Lady Candling's garden when her valuable Siamese cat is stolen. The Five Find-Outers and Dog work to solve the case.
Characters
- Elizabeth — The youngest of the Five Find-Outers and Dog
- Philip — A member of the Five Find-Outers and Dog and Bets's brother
- Lawrence — The chief of the Five Find-Outers and Dog
- Margaret — A member of the Five Find-Outers and Dog and Larry's sister. She is also the founder of The Five Find-Outers and Dog.
- Frederick (Fatty) —The smartest of the five Find-Outers and Dog
- Buster — Frederick's Scottish Terrier dog
- Luke — Mr Tupping's assistant gardener of fifteen. Friend of the Five Find-Outers and Dog. Top suspect of stealing Lady Candling's best siamese cat, Dark Queen.
- Lady Candling — The owner of the stolen valuable cat
- Miss Harmer — The person who takes care of Lady Candling's cats
- Miss Trimble — Lady Candling's companion, scared of the fierce Mr Tupping.
- Mr. Tupping — The gardener of Lady Candling. Rude, bad tempered, fierce and cruel to Luke. Thinks he owns the garden.
- Mr Goon — the bumbling village Policeman who again fails to solve the case. Friend of Mr Tupping.
Summary
It all takes place next door to Pip and Bets Hilton, when Lady Candling's prize cat, Dark Queen (a valuable siamese), disappears right under the nose of Luke, the gardener's help. Mr Tupping, the gardener, is a nasty piece of work and the children immediately decide it would be great if he were the thief! But how could he be, if he wasn't even there when Dark Queen was stolen? All the evidence points to poor young Luke, Mr Tupping's helper, but the Find-Outers simply can't believe Luke is the thief.
There are a couple of other possible suspects in Lady Candling's staff, such as Miss Harmer the cat handler, and Miss Trimble, who takes care of the roses. They're all pretty sure it was Mr Tupping...but how on earth did he do it? The answer to the mystery is very simple and pretty clever. Mr Tupping stole Dark Queen in the morning, then painted a small patch of cream-colored paint to another cat's tail to disguise it as Dark Queen, whose tail was bitten by another cat, resulting the creamy patch on its tail. Then he made Luke work beside the cage all day, so that he could be the top suspect of the case. In the afternoon, Mr Tupping hopped into the cage, rubbed the paint off the cat's tail with a rag soaked in turps, and then announced Dark Queen was gone! At last, Mr Tupping was caught and shown that he had been mixed up with dog thieving cases before.