Trev's at it again

As a kitten Trevor loved to play with bits of screwed up paper and the shinier the better. We'd throw paper around the room and curl up laughing when she brought them back to be thrown again. Little did we know that we were fostering a behaviour that would come back to bite us. We turned Trev into a cat burglar.

I think I mentioned in an early post that she's well known now for stealing from our neighbours, one of them even going so far as closing the curtains when she sees Trev looking into the house from her stalking post on the terrace wall. "I'm sure she's casing the house, sussing out what is small enough to get out" our neighbour told us. We've had hair rollers, carrier bags, a watch, various bags of nails, screws and washers and even wall tiles (no, we couldn't work out how she did those either).

As time passed she lost interest in bringing her treasures home. The stash of un-returned plunder was thrown away and things generally calmed down. Curtains and doors were left open, backs were turned, people forgot. That was when the new people moved into a house in the next street, a young couple with a small child.

It started again just before Christmas. I came home from work one day to find two small silver Christmas tree decorations on the kitchen floor. I put them on a high shelf and made a mental note to ask around the neighbours if anybody had noticed them missing. Then came a plug (complete with about 30cm of cable) which had been cut off an electrical appliance. Then a collection of red serviettes, wrapping paper and bows, carrier bags from a well known electrical store and a small football. The ball had the name Paquito written on it so I finally had a clue...which led nowhere.

A few days ago I got up, walked across the kitchen and realised my feet were wet. Half asleep I looked down and saw the floor was covered in little lumps of wet, brown fibrous stuff. They trailed through the kitchen and into the living room. They were stuck to the curtains, hidden under the rugs and generally spread as much as possible. That was when I noticed the filter tips. A quick check of the water bowl confirmed my suspicions, it contained a very wet and empty packet of cigarettes. Close by I found three small paintings done by a child. They were very good actually, showing a basic understanding of 3D, but I digress...

I'm going to have to go round to our new neighbours, who I suspect had a silver themed Christmas tree, who recently bought a new electrical appliance and then cut the cable off the old one. I guess they smoke English cigarettes, that their daughter is a budding artist and possibly has a friend called Paco. I'm going to have to try and explain the unlikely reason why they need to keep their doors and windows closed for a while. I'm going to have to give Trev another ASBO. Lets hope they find it funny.