The Disappearing Doctor

Basil had made Dawson his partner, and they began to work all cases together. I still didn't care much for Dawson's company, but Basil insisted that we put aside our differences in order to solve the case. The doctor always tipped his hat to me, and at the end of the day, I always fell victim to one of Felicia's harangues.

"Idiot!" she began. "Don't you know that by tipping his hat, he indicates willingness to be your friend?! You're an imbecile, dog! If someone offered me their friendship, I'd…!" The rest of her speech would be lost to sobs.

"Don't you have any friends?!" I demanded one day.

She tried to give me a blank stare, which would have worked better if there hadn't been tears in eyes.

"What is your problem?" I queried. "The Felicia I used to know…"

"She's dead!" She smiled. "The Felicia you used to know is dead! The royal guard dogs killed her! The cat you see before you is the playful kitten you tried to befriend once when you were a puppy!"

"You didn't used to be an emotional wreck!" I pointed out.

"I feel now," she responded. "I'm no longer wicked. Now I feel guilt. I feel remorse. I feel the pain of my former misdeeds. Now that I have a heart, I can feel how heavy it is, how much it aches due to all the lives I wasted, including my own. When I was a kitten, I felt fear. When I was a young adult, I felt anger. When I finally became a villainess, I felt nothing. Now I feel regret. Time heals all wounds. I'm sure someday I'll feel happiness. Your humans are kind to me, Toby. I couldn't dream of a better life."

Stupid cat! I made up my mind to take care of this problem once and for all!

"I've had enough of this!" I exclaimed. "You are telling me what's wrong, or we're fighting it out!"

"So you hate me?" she inquired, almost nonchalantly. "Alright. I suppose I deserve it."

"It's not my fault you wish you still worked for Ratigan!"

That was the wrong thing to say. Before I had time to react, I fell under merciless claws. Naturally, I fought back.

"Toby! Felicia! Stop this madness at once!"

I ceased fighting and lowered my head in shame as Basil approached. Felicia also ended her attack, lowering her eyes to the floor.

"Aren't you ashamed of yourselves?! What would Mr. Holmes say?! Mrs. Hudson certainly wouldn't take kindly to your conflict!"

We both sat silently as Basil continued to scold.

"Felicia, proving yourself a good citizen after years of being a criminal will be much easier if you refrain from violent displays of temper. Toby, I understand that you tend to dislike cats, but you must try to be more understanding with Felicia. If the two of you would ever cooperate for more than fifteen seconds at a time, I believe you could become a close team."

I whimpered to show I was sorry.

"By the way, have either of you seen Dawson? He left to tend a patient last night, and I haven't seen him since. I'm beginning to fear the worst."

When Basil returned a few hours later, he had one of Dawson's jackets.

"Find him, Toby! I'm certain I'm merely being a bit paranoid, but I simply cannot shake the feeling that some appalling event has transpired."

With the cat trailing us, I managed to track Basil's associate to the train station. Catching another scent, I began to growl.

"What is it, Toby?!" Basil checked the ground for clues. "Muricide! I should have known he'd be up to something! Only last week, he helped five of Ratigan's ruffians escape prison!"

He knelt on the ground. "I should have suspected it sooner! Fool that I am to let my own assistant be taken hostage!" The detective covered his face with his hands. "I can only imagine what tortures he'll face!"

I recognized that look in Basil's eyes when he finally looked up. He was about to slip into depression. I tried tugging on my leash to snap him out of it, but it was to no avail.

Suddenly, the investigator stood to his feet. "He wouldn't have me give up. If Dawson were here, he'd insist that I at least attempt a rescue, no matter how hopeless the situation. I must investigate."

While Basil had a word with the station manager, Felicia had a talk with me.

"We're going to catch him, right?"

I shook my head. "Not likely. Muricide's a mastermind."

"He isn't nearly as clever as Ratigan!" she retorted. "I, for one, am tired of this arrogant mouse who never even uses his real name! He even steals my title! Ratigan trained me to be the 'master of muricide,' and I say it's time I showed this churl whose criminal ring is truly the most feared in the empire!"

"Felicia, you used to be the pet of his rival," I reminded her. "If Muricide catches you..."

"He'd hire a dog to end my life, or perhaps a group of tough rats to have me overpowered and shot, or perhaps stabbed, thus freeing himself from any competition from his former rival. Then it would be felicide," she answered calmly.

"But…!"

She looked me in the eye. "Toby, I don't care. I'm grateful to your humans for saving my life, and I have no wish to die, but I know I am nothing to you. I am nothing to the rest of the world. My life is pointless, and everyone wishes I had died in the royal guard dogs' enclosure. No one cares about my reformation. If my existence is of that little value, what good is it?"

I didn't know how to respond.

"It's different with Dr. Dawson," she continued. "He saved Basil's life twice, and he has no doubt helped many others. Furthermore, he is Basil's friend, and he'd be yours too if you'd stop judging him by his weight and the hat he wears. He works for justice. The empire would suffer a great loss if Dawson were to be killed. If I lose my life saving his, it would be like paying a shilling for the finest gem in Ratigan's lair."

I had officially had enough of this nonsense, so I pinned the cat between my paws and snarled menacingly.

"Listen, cat!" I growled. "I'm tired of hearing how worthless you are! You forget how Ratigan died!"

Felicia smiled. "Oh, Toby! You do care!"

"Stop with the sentimentality! You're on the case now!"

"A case you will never solve!" She wriggled free of my grasp. "You're an excellent sleuth, Toby, but you don't understand criminal mentality. You have much to learn."

Before we could continue our discussion, I felt someone seize my leash.

"Toby, I won't even pretend I have the slightest inkling how you got here!"

I turned to face Mr. Holmes.

"We have business of the most urgent nature in Salisbury."

Salisbury?! But I needed to be in London! Basil needed me to help find Dawson!