Murder?

 🐾    There was a murder committed in my house last night. When we got up this morning we found the victim robber/thief) laying dead in the living room floor. We never heard anything when the victim entered the house, (or maybe he/she was already here when we went to bed) or when the murder occurred. How could the murderer be so quiet we wondered. Or murderers.⚠
      We had four suspects to the dastardly deed. When we questioned them none of the four suspects would admit to anything. They just sat by the victim and stared at him and then at us. It was as if they were saying "See what I did." They seemed so proud of what they had done. But not one of them would admit to anything. In fact it was as if all four were claiming that they were the one to do the dirty undertaking, ,so that none of them would get in trouble for doing it. On discussing it we were sure they all four had a hand (paw/tooth) in the feat. But as to which one gave the final coup de grace? Well, no one was talking. (or meowing)
    It wasn't as if it was a really sad event. No one was crying or grieving over the victim. He hadn't been that well liked. In fact he hadn't been liked at all. Not him or any of his relatives. We were un-decided as to how he got into the house. Did he sneak in the door when it was opened? It might have been easy for him then especially if it was dark outside. Or was he under the house and able to climb up one of the plumbing pipes and squeeze through the flooring under one of the sinks. That is the only way we can find that he could have got into the house.
     Any way the victim was dead and a funeral was in order. A plastic bag would do for a coffin, followed by a trip to the trash can. While that was going on the four suspects watched with interest. They seemed to be trying to understand why we were not more enthused over their kill. One even reached up and pulled on the sack as it was being taken out to the trash.
    I have to admit I was kind of proud of them. Especially when I remembered that they had probably tried to tell me the robber was in the house. It had been about midnight when I needed to make a trip to the bathroom and I heard a little noise in the laundry room. I turned on the light. The four suspects were sitting around the door to the closet where the hotwater heater is. Every few seconds one would move up a few steps and look under the door which has about a one inch gap under it. I opened the door but couldn't seen anything and was to tired to find a flashlight for a better look. Instead I closed the door, told the suspects to behave their selves and went back to bed.
    I guess they continued to keep watch and when the little thief decided to chance coming out of the closet they all attached him. Or did just one attach him? Or did they take turns attaching him? And how long did they play with him both before they killed him and afterward?
    As I am sure you have guessed by now the victim was a mouse and the suspects were my four cats. I am puzzled by the fact that they were able to chase a mouse around the house and finally kill it and not wake myself or my husband. They did it with very little noise and without causing any damage to any thing that happened to be sitting on tables, cabinets, or bookcases.
   I am just glad they did get rid of the little monster and that they didn't put him in one of our shoes. Putting toys in our shoes is a favorite pass time. I remember finding a large (about 8 inches long and a good inch wide) centipede in one of my shoes when we lived in New Mexico. Thank goodness it was dead when I felt it under my foot when I slipped the shoe on.
    This is the second mouse we have had in the house here. Lee was able to catch the other one under a bucket and took it outside to meet a timely death. (Does that make him a murderer, too.)
   I had wondered why Ziva, our dog, hadn't waken us up when the cats were chasing the mouse. Or did she help them? I remember her killing a few injured mice, rats, and rabbits after our outdoor cat had brought them into the yard and dropped them right in front of her. Sure makes you wonder what our pets are thinking of when they do some thing like that.
    Later that morning I took Ziva for a walk. Suddenly she stopped and backed up a step. There in front of us was a black rat snake about three feet long. As with most people my first thought was what could I use to kill it with. Then I remembered what snakes mostly eat is mice and rats. As the snake worked its way into the brush at the edge of our yard I wished it well and told it to find lots of mice to munch on.🐁🐍🐈