A new investigation, in Las Vegas

Samuel Redcat wrote in rec.pets.cats.community:

Oooh, I LIKE doze! Mine hoomins sez I must haf some Siamese in my
heritage, cuz I sings so beautifully when I stroll up and down da
hall at night. So da musinc notes is purrfect!

I see dat Ranger has some blue-grey flipflops to match himz furz,
and Francesca has a sparkly silver pair with some swirls of tortie
colors. Looking good, efurrybody!

I fink I saw some kitties I recognize heading towards da elevators.
Shall we head up dat way?

Sammy

[Sammy sees Ranger and Francesca walking toward the elevator, so he
follows. The Purrlagio has human sized elevators converted to
multi-deck feline use, so it holds a lot of kitties! Since it's a
fancy place, they also have an elevator operator - an elderly orange
tabby wearing a nametag reading "Leo". The operator addresses Sammy
as he boards.]

Leo: Where to, sir?

Sammy: Well, we'z lookin fur da big pawty. I unnerstand it's upstairs
somewhere?

Leo: Ah yes, dat would be da pawty in da penthouse. Right away, sir.

Sammy: We hafn't heard a lot about dis. Who is throwing da pawty, an
fur why?

Leo: I believe it's a party thrown by a group of Buropean kitties to
celebrate something local. But they have indeed invited all kitties
to attend. And here we are, the penthouse! Have a wonderful time, all.

[Sammy wanders off the elevator, followed by everykitty else. At the
door to the penthouse he finds a desk where guests are asked to sign
in and make name tags for themselves. At the far end of the
penthouse, in front of a huge window looking out over the Las Vegas
Strip, is a stage with a band off to one side. The band is playing
dance music, and the guests are dancing. Along the sides of the
penthouse are long tables filled with marvelous foods, drinks, and
deserts. Sammy spots Big Mama, the black panther, dancing with Jocko,
the diving cat, near the center of the dance floor. Off to the side,
in a quiet corner, Sammy sees Pepe and Gigi, the skunks from Catalina
Island, enjoying their food and trying to blend into the decor.
Darius and Maria, uncle and aunt to the late Mme. Anais, occupy a
table near the band, chatting with Inspektur Jacques Chat-Clouseau of
the Gendarmerie Feline du France and Gaetano Tartuffo, retired
businesscat and suspected ex-crime boss.

As everybody signs in, a big, burly tuxedo cat takes the stage and
approaches the microphone.]

Good evening, efurrybody! Kitties, goggies, and other species, fangu
for joining us at this celebration. My name is Bruno, and I will be
your Master of Cermonies tonight. Before we do anyfing else, though,
I would like to tell you a story. It is a story about life and it's
hardships and triumphs.

We are here celebrating the success enjoyed by a community of cats
living in an isolate valley in eastern Europe. Our valley has been
home to proud, hardworking, industrious kitties for many generations.
We survived by farming, hunting, fishing, and some trade with
neighboring valleys. Close to a generation ago, things got difficult.
The soil was getting depleted from being farmed for too long, our
tools were falling apart from old age, our kittens were leaving the
area when they got old enough, and our population aged. Then the
weather turned against us - we suffered through a couple years of
drought, then we had 5 straight years of rain, wind, and flooding.
The few remaining fields with good soil got washed away, houses got
destroyed, we had no food stored away - we were in desperate straits.
In desperation, we went to the castle at the head of the valley. The
castle has stood at the head of the valley for as long as anyone can
remember. Our histories don't mention a time when the castle was ever
not there.

The residents of the castle were almost as bad off as we were, but
they welcomed us all anyway. They gave us shelter, they shared their
meager supply of food, and they kept us warm. Then the mistress of
the castle vowed to help us. She left our beloved valley and traveled
the world, looking for solutions to our problems. She contacted rich
kitties and goggies in other countries and secured a few small gifts
of money and food, but nothing that would offer us long term benefit.
But then our benefactor, the Countess, decided to take advantage of
the valley's natural beauty. She approached movie makers in Hollywood
and showed them pictures of the valley. She found some folks looking
for locations in which to shoot movies, and she got a couple of them
to agree to shoot in our valley. These movies were huge successes,
and our valley was soon the site of many more movies. This brought
money into our valley, and led to the construction of hotels and
guest houses and restaurants, and we even opened our own movie
production company last year. And we are now getting so much business
that we are sending business out to the residents of the valleys
adjacent to our own, and helping kitties and others living miles and
miles away.

The success we now enjoy is entirely thanks to the tireless efforts
of our own beloved Countess Persia Katzenplatz. The Katzenplatz
Valley is now more alive, more successful, more happy than ever
before in it's history. And we owe it all to the Countess. Let's hear
it for the Countess!

[The penthouse erupts in meows and barks of applause and thanks. A
young Siamese kitty assists an elderly Persian kitty up the steps and
to center stage. As they approach the microphone the applause slowly
stops.]

Countess: Thank you, all of you. I am embarassed by all this acclaim!
All I have ever done was try to get others to see the beauty of our
lovely valley. But thank you all for this. I am deeply touched. And
since we are all gathered here, I have some announcements to make.
First, all of my personal interest in the Katzenplatz movie
production company I have placed into a trust. This trust is owned by
all residents of the Katzenplatz valley, and it will be managed by
Bruno. Bruno, I trust you are willing to do so? And my young
assistant here, Missy - Missy, I have named you as manager of the
Katzenplatz estates. As of this evening, I am officially retiring. I
am too old to keep as busy as I have been. I am going tyo spend the
rest of my years enjoying the beauty of our valley, and celebrating
life with my friends in the worldwide Community.

I see that we have guests with us - kitties from the Community, many
of whom I have enjoyed adventures with. All of you, please join us!
We have much to celebrate, a lot of excellet food and drink, and
Maestro Hercule Lenoir isw leading the orchestra playing wonderful
dance music. Please, everybody, enjoy yourselves!

Iowna, Daisy-chan and Cash have followed the others and bow to the
Countess (Iowna is a little off an bows to Bruno but no one minds).
Then lovely music seems to come from every corner of the room! They
move out to the floor and start their own version of the 'pouncing
dance'. They arent the best at it, but like the others, they are having
fun!

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