The Mysterious Incident at Wimpole

Sunday morning dawn was not particularly inspiring, a rather grey and gloomy sky which was only a little lighter after having rained as much as it could from it's clouds before the sun fought it's way back from our friends down under.

We entered the marquee at Wimpole Hall through the decorated trees to begin setting up the stand for another days trading. The foliage and decorations on the stall still looked good and the wind which had been blustering all night had been kept from doing any damage by the sturdy door of the marquee.

But what was this muddy mess on the table top? All the stock had been put away in it's rightful boxes, all with their own lids and the tables duly covered in large sheets of plastic to keep away any of the condensation drips in the morning. This mud, however was not expected.

But there was more, a box, no longer tidied away under the table but out on it's own at the edge of the stand.

Inspector Marple Poiroit I give you exhibit A.

Plastic box with a lid that clicks shut. Inside of which were the remaining catnip cushions from Saturdays trading. It cannot be seen from this photo that the box is rather muddy both inside and out.

On closer inspection it is clear to see that some of the catnip cushions are also a little muddy.

In fact this one looks decidedly furry too.

It didn't require too much close attention to see that the perpetrator of the crime had carelessly left evidence of their identity amongst the muddy catnip cushions.

It was clear to see that this was not the tabby but the fluffy ginger cat from Wimpole Hall who had sneaked into the marquee on the stormy night to have a little shelter and a good nose around. Imagine how delighted he must have been when he found not one but ten catnip cushions at the first stall inside the door. He must have had a lovely night of luxury but had made his escape by the time we arrived!

Fortunately I had a box of catnip cushions from Peterborough with me so at least we had some un-muddied stock to sell! And this is the bottle of Bubbly we won for the best dressed stand at the fair which we were assured was because the stand looked good, not because of the cat!

Take care all

Sarah x