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“I’m not sure cats are allowed to climb that thing,” said Chase. “We’ll have to check.”

“Or you could carry us up in our carriers,” Dooley suggested.

When Odelia relayed this suggestion, Chase coughed a laugh. Obviously he wasn’t keen on carrying us however many stairs to the top of that famous construction.

“I don’t mind if I don’t go to the top,” I said, and I meant it. I’m not all that interested in climbing to the top of any tall construction, to be honest. I guess I’m one of those old-fashioned cats that prefer to stay with their paws firmly on terra firma at all times.

“I’m going to leave this window open tonight,” Odelia now explained, “so you and Dooley can go out whenever you want. And I specifically asked for a room as close to the roof as possible, so you can jump from this balcony to the next, and make your way up to the roof at night. I’ve heard it’s very nice up there,” she told us with a wink.

I gave her a weak smile in return. I know as a cat I should have been rejoicing, since everyone knows how much cats love to sit on roofs and such, but to be honest I’d never been on a roof as high as this one. Even the roof of our own home seems pretty high to me. “That’s great,” I said, putting on my bravest face. “We’ll definitely jump from balcony to balcony and up to that roof to our heart’s content.”

“Are you sure, Max?” Dooley whispered as we retreated into the room to check it out properly. “What if we meet that cat burglar and he burgles us?”

“Cat burglars aren’t interested in stealing cats, Dooley,” I reiterated a point Odelia had already made but felt like it needed to be said again. “They are only interested in stealing things of value.”

“But… We’re things of value, aren’t we? Odelia values us, and so does Chase.”

“Yes, but you can’t sell us for a lot of money, now can you? Not like gold or diamonds.”

“I guess not,” said Dooley dubiously. “Still, why call it a cat burglar if he doesn’t steal cats?”

But since I was too busy checking under the bed, and sniffing my way around the room, making sure the cleaners had done a stellar job and no other pets were on the premises, I didn’t bother to respond. Besides, if I was going to have to answer every one of my friend’s questions twice, it was going to be a long day.

Dooley usually isn’t like this, but I guess he was feeling the strain from traveling all the way out here to this place called Paris.

“I’m sure that if this burglar tries to burgle us, Max and Dooley will protect us,” I could hear Odelia tell Chase. But Chase didn’t look entirely convinced for some reason. “And besides, maybe we want this burglar to pay us a visit,” Odelia continued, “that way we can catch him and collect that reward money.”

“Maybe you’re right,” said Chase. “Still, I would have felt much more at ease if they’d allowed me to bring my weapon.”

“You don’t need a weapon to deal with this burglar,” said Odelia. “Clearly this is a very young person. Who else would be able to scale walls and roofs like that?”

“Maybe he’s a circus acrobat!” said Dooley, piping up once more. “And since he’s not making enough money in the circus he decided to get a second job.”

“It must be someone very athletic, that’s for sure,” Odelia agreed. “Or else he wouldn’t be able to do the things he does.”

“It could also be a woman,” I said. “Why assume that all burglars are men?”

“Because statistically most of them are,” said Odelia. “But you’re absolutely right, Max. It could be a woman, so we shouldn’t discard that possibility.”

“Man or woman, I hope they catch this person,” said Chase, “and frankly I don’t care about the money. In fact I hope they catch him without any input from us.” When Odelia started to protest, he placed his hands on her arms. “Honey, we’re here to enjoy a nice vacation away from all the stress back home. Especially you. So remember: you’re here to relax, to do some shopping, see the sights, enjoy a nice massage, sauna, hot tub—and generally as little excitement as possible.”

“Oh, all right,” said Odelia, relenting. “I guess you’re right. We did come out here to have some time away from things.”

“Now you’re talking. So I’m going to my conference tomorrow, but before that, we’re heading into town. I’ve got an entire list of things to see, and we’re going to forget all about that burglar, and hopefully we won’t hear about him until he’s caught.”

“You made a list?” said Odelia. “Only I made a list, too.”

“Then let’s compare lists,” said Chase happily, and took a tattered piece of paper from his back pocket. Clearly it had been there for a while.

Odelia dove into her hand luggage and returned with a gorgeous-looking notebook, where she’d made a long list, complete with clippings, pictures she’d printed out in full color, and a perfectly-organized fully-detailed itinerary.

Chase took one look at his wife’s ‘list’ and admitted defeat. “Let’s go with your list,” he grunted, and balled up his piece of paper and aimed it into the trash.

“Great!” said Odelia, beaming. “Let’s go!”

“What, now?”