Murder on Show

Douglas Perkins of Perkins and Tate (Public Relations) had an uncomplicated attitude to cats: take them or leave them. But when he found himself PRO to a glorified feline extravaganza known as the Cats Through the Ages Exhibition, that attitude became impossible to maintain. To begin with, there was Pandora, the Siamese who insisted on making a cats'-cradle of his heartstrings; then there was an immensely valuable gold sculpture of Dick Whittington's cat; two Sumatran tigers in a cage; and Precious Jade, the black Manx who hated his owner and openly flaunted the fact. There were also many others cats—all with their owners, whose feline qualities too often rivalled those of their pets. Then, on opening morning, the golden cat vanished; soon afterwards one of the exhibitors was found murdered, and the publicity threatened to get out of hand. Deafened by the clash of personalities, human and feline, Perkins staggered gamely from crisis to crisis—and in doing so uncovered a murderer.