(Disclaimer: I don't own Tintin or any characters affiliated with him; Hergé does. I only own the story and the unfamiliar characters.)
The Strange Cat Burglar
Chapter 4: The Lucky 13th Heist
Belmont manor was a typical country mansion of the time, with ivy growing steadily on the outside walls and the trees neatly pruned to perfection.
Tintin, Snowy, Haddock, and the Thom(p)sons met the owner, Phillipe Leveque shortly after arriving.
He was a stout man in his late thirties, with a round face, whose lips were covered by a handlebar moustache and his head had a slicked-back hairstyle.
Mister Leveque approached the detectives and said to them in a heavy French accent, "Ah, Monsieur Inspecteurs, thank heavens you have arrived! And who are these charming gentlemen with you?"
"Why, these are our good friends, Tintin and Captain Haddock." Thomson said, getting an upset growl from Snowy for forgetting him, "Oh, and their trusty canine, Snowy."
"I thought you looked familiar, young man." Mister Leveque said, "The world-renowned reporter who has brought down some of the most sinister criminals single-handedly!"
"Actually, it's not always on my own, sir," Tintin humbly replied, "Captain Haddock and Snowy have certainly helped me on many occasions."
"Even so, it must take extreme courage to stand up to such villains for so long, eh?" the cat burglar's target said, "Perhaps, with your help, we can finally bring down that tricky thief once and for all."
Mister Leveque explained to the group that he had recently installed the finest security system money could buy, and he was confident that with so much protection, the Chatte Noir would indeed be captured.
Soon, eleven o'clock came and as the local clock tower finished striking, one of the police officers cried out, "Look! There he is!" and pointed at the rooftop adjacent to the large windows of the art room.
It was the Chatte Noir, dressed in his usual fashion; a black trench coat tied off by a single black sash to look like a cat's tail, black trousers, black boots, black gloves and a black cat mask on his face.
The cat burglar reached inside his trench coat, pulled out a grappling gun and fired it at the weather vane.
Then he leapt off the roof and crashed through the windows, sending glass shards flying towards the police officers, as well as Tintin and his friends; who covered their heads with their arms.
The Chatte Noir retracted his grappling hook, somersaulted in mid air and landed on the crystal chandelier, returning the grappling gun to his coat.
He swung the lighting fixture three times before jumping off and landing on the display cabinet that held the porcelain sculpture of an angel atop a crescent moon.
To by some time, since they were trying to catch him, he tossed a little black ball that popped open, releasing a thick cloud of smoke and a net that enveloped everyone else.
Acting quickly, he pulled out a glass cutter, carved a circle into the glass, let the cut piece fall, and grabbed the sculpture.
By the time the smoke cleared and the security people made it out of the net, the cat burglar was jumping out of the window, making his daring escape.
The witnesses quickly ran outside with guns in their hands, ready to kill if necessary.
Tintin, Haddock and Snowy saw the Chatte Noir resting, for a moment, on the sill plate and readying his grappling gun.
He fired it at the roof he first appeared on, and reeled himself in.
The officers opened fire, missing the thief each time, but the gun Mister Leveque's bodyguard, Alex, fired hit the Chatte Noir's right shoulder.
They didn't realize it because the cat burglar continued his escape with silent leaps until he was completely out of sight.
The young journalist and his friends just couldn't believe their eyes: the infamous prowler had gotten away again!
Thompson said, "Blast, he's flown the coop yet again!"
Mister Leveque said woefully, "I worked so hard to nab that artwork for myself!"
This statement immediately grabbed the police officers', Tintin's, Haddock's, and Snowy's attention.
"What do you mean 'nab that artwork', Mister Leveque?" Tintin asked suspiciously.
"W-w-well, y-you see, I-I-I simply meant that it took a lot of effort on my part to-to purchase that sculpture, Monsieur." the victim stuttered, only making himself more guilty in the boy's eyes.
Then one of the officers reported that he found a Degas painting that looked exactly like the one that had gone missing from the art museum the previous year.
Thomson and Thompson made their inspection, along with Tintin, and together they found it was the very painting!
In fact, several other missing works of art were found in Belmont manor, and the police quickly arrested Mister Leveque and his workers.
Later that night, there was a knock at a young man's window, which was promptly opened to find a porcelain sculpture sitting there with a small note that said, "Fortune is smiling on you." and had a drawing of a black cat on the bottom.
The man was overjoyed and wept happy tears as he closed the window for the night.
Hiding among the trash cans was the cat burglar, panting heavily from its latest caper.
The mask was removed by the thief's left hand, showing striking green eyes.
Next to come off was the ski mask, releasing long, wavy mouse-brown hair, and allowing the lady to breathe better.
"That was way too close for comfort," she said, "Looks like I'll have to rest longer than usual before I go out again."
Then a dark gray cat came and rubbed its head on the young woman's leg, gaining her attention.
"Hello again, Cinders," she greeted, "I got a little more banged up than normal, didn't I?"
Cinders thought, 'Of course you did, Nicolette. These thefts are bound to be the death of you one day.'
Grabbing on to her injured shoulder, she winced in pain and began to walk towards her place of work.
"Come on, Cinders, let's go get changed before someone sees us." Nicolette stated.
After returning to her simple attire, which was a daunting task with only one arm to use, Nicolette Desauveterre in a nice cotton jacket walked steadily along with her feline friend by her side.
She was hoping to head to her newest home, a cozy little apartment on Charleston lane, but sadly, she had lost so much blood from her shoulder wound, she fainted dead away in the alley.
Cinders panicked, 'Oh no! Nicolette, wake up!' he thought as he nudged her good shoulder with his head, but she didn't respond.
Hearing a dog's barks coming closer, the cat quickly peered out the alleyway's corner and saw a white fox terrier strolling along the sidewalk with two men; an older man with a salty smell, which Cinders guessed was a seaman, and a young man with a face he had often seen his girl looking at when she read the newspaper.
'Why it's that Tintin fellow!' he thought, 'Perhaps he can help my Nicolette! But how can I get his attention?'
It wasn't too long think of having that dog chase him to his mistress, feeling that if the dog ran, the boy would surely follow.
So, Cinders casually strolled out of the alley and walked towards the canine, only acting frightened when the dog growled at him and ran after him like a shot.
Tintin shouted, "No, Snowy! Leave that cat alone!" as he ran after his dog as fast as he could with the captain not too far behind.
Snowy chased the cat into the alley and the feline jumped onto the nearby trashcans, leaving the dog to bark wildly at him.
Tintin caught up to his dog and picked Snowy up, though he still kept barking at the cat, who leapt down and went up to something the journalist wasn't prepared to see: an unconscious young woman.
He quickly put down Snowy, who had stopped barking when he saw the girl, kneeled down to check her pulse, and sighed in relief when he still felt one, but it was very weak.
Captain Haddock panted heavily as he trudged towards Tintin, "Tintin *pant* please remember that I'm not as young as I used to be *pant*."
Once he caught his breath, Haddock noticed the past-out girl and gasped.
"Captain, call a cab! We have to get this girl to a hospital at once!" Tintin cried.
"Aye, laddie!" the seaman replied and he ran off to get a taxi.
While he was gone, the girl's eyes fluttered open, muck to Tintin's relief.
"Don't worry, miss," he said gently, "My friend and I will take you to a hospital and-"
"No-no hospitals, please…must stay…hidden…"she desperately said before she passed out again, only this time in Tintin's arms.
Headlights briefly lit up the alleyway, signaling a car pulling up, and the captain got out saying, "Here's the cab, Tintin! Let's get this lass some medical attention!"
"I agree, Captain," Tintin replied, "But we're changing course and going to Marlinspike Hall instead."
He gently lifted the girl onto her feet and draped her left arm on his shoulder, unaware that it was the correct arm to use, and carried her to the taxi.
"What are we going back home for?" Haddock asked, "We're not doctors!"
"We can always call for a doctor, Captain. The lady doesn't want to go to a hospital, and we should respect her wishes." the boy answered.
Haddock, feeling too tired to argue, got inside the cab, waited for Snowy to jump in, closed the door and told the driver to go to Marlinspike Hall.
The cab driver did so and off they went, with the cat following behind them.
Upon arrival to Marlinspike Hall, the captain paid the driver, helped Tintin take the girl to one of the guest rooms, and had Nestor call the doctor.
The doctor quickly came to the Haddock estate and fixed up the poor young lady.
When he was done, the doctor returned downstairs with all of his equipment in hand.
"How is she, Doctor?" Tintin asked, "Will she be alright?"
"Oh, of course she will, sir," the doctor replied, "Just a little rest and she'll be right as rain. Although I must ask what kind of occupation the young lady has; I found a bullet in her right shoulder."
The journalist was very confused, "I don't know, sir. Captain Haddock and I found her unconscious in an alleyway. We've never seen her before then."
"Well, whatever it is, I suggest she quit it. It seems to be far too dangerous. That bullet narrowly missed an artery." the doctor stated, as he headed for the door.
Nestor promptly opened the door for the physician, who said, "Anyway, call me if anything else turns up, gentlemen." and with that, he was off, leaving a highly perplexed Tintin and Haddock.
"Bashi basouks, who would go around shooting a defenseless lady all willy-nilly?!" Haddock asked.
"I don't know, Captain," the boy replied, "It's another puzzling mystery."
He thought for a moment, when a memory from earlier that night flashed in his mind; mouse-brown hair, green eyes, and simple clothes.
"Great snakes!" he cried in realization, "The girl, she's the Cabaret singer we saw at dinner tonight!"
"Thundering typhoons, what was she doing in an alley that time of night? Shouldn't she be at home with her uncle, what's-his-name?" the captain asked.
Tintin said, "She may have been on her way home when she was attacked. Remember she is related to a duke."
"Aye, aye, I remember that," Haddock stated, "But if that's the case, they'll probably want to finish the job!"
The boy then stood up in determination, "Then, Captain, it's up to us to keep her safe until we can get her back home."
Captain Haddock nodded in agreement and told Nestor to stay on watch that night.
Why is this girl injured? And why did she want to avoid the hospital? Was she really attacked or is there something else at work? Does she have something to do with the fortune? Stay tuned for more of The Strange Cat Burglar!