Conversations with Critters

Walk with the animals. Talk with the animals. And the highly anticipated release of Chapter 1 of The Case of the Jumping Gene!

Jun 10, 2025

Today Critters, we are back with the highly anticipated release of Chapter 1 of the latest and greatest detective story, The Case of the Jumping Gene! Hooray! Brought to you by the J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Bright Shiny Objects Detective Agency! Hooray!

Our new adventure is Book 3 in our series! Previously, we shared with you The Case of the Misplaced Priority Envelope! And then, The Case of the Bowled Over Bowler Hat! You will find the links below. Please, catch up on all of the mystery, so you don’t miss out on anything. Nothing. Furever and ever. The end.

And now! Please, join our Core Community Critters Jasper Kitten, Chris and Jojo for an introductory book launch critter commentary and conversation. Take. It. Away!

Jasper: Welcome back, Critters! We’ve got a brand new story for your reading pleasure! Read. All. About. It!

Chris: We’re on the edge of our seats on the Couch, Critters!

Jojo: So, please, my friends, come sit with us for awhile. Cuz. We luvluvluv you!

THE CASE OF THE JUMPING GENE
BOOK 3 FROM THE J KITTEN, SLEUTH & PURVEYOR OF BRIGHT SHINY OBJECTS DETECTIVE AGENCY
BY JASPER KITTEN, CHRIS, JOJO AND STAR IN HEAVEN FUREVER AND EVER
DEDICATED IN LUVLUVLUVING MEMORY OF STAR
CHAPTER 1
START YOUR ENGINE

The Tyvek suit felt a little snug against the Orange stripes of the sleuth, Jasper Kitten. He extended his white gloved paws beyond the cuffs and took a deep deep breath of the fresh Fall air that circulated in the Catio.

Satisfied with the oxygen saturation in the room, he picked up the test tube with the red stopper from the coffee table. Next to the test tube, sat the padded envelope with a biohazard sign emblazoned on it, the most recent delivery to the J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Bright Shiny Objects Detective Agency after their return home to their Condo in the Wooded Valley from England and their detective success in cracking The Case of the Bowled Over Bowler Hat.

Jasper Kitten picked up the small scroll of paper which he had carefully, very carefully extracted with a toebean from the test tube, reading both sides of the stashed message again and again with a furrowed brow.

“Ginormous. Group. SOS!” he mewed and then studied the intricate maze drawn on the other side of the paper.

“Gosh, Jasper Kitten, when the mail first arrived, you said that it was non-toxic and as long as we have proper airflow in the Catio, there is no further risk to our health and safety,” reprised Star with her can do Senior Chihuahua attitude.

“Yes, I see, Star,” mewed Jasper Kitten.

“Why, the elastic on these Tyvek suits is not what I would consider stretchy,” growled Chris, low and slow. “I can barely move a whisker, much less my gray and white feline bod.”

“Correct, Chris,” said Jasper Kitten, the furrow of his brow hidden under the hood of the suit. “I have merely suggested that we try these Tyvek suits on for size out of an abundance of caution as we start our new case. It is a biohazard formality as well as a precaution. Please. Proceed.”

“Gosh and oh my goodness, Jasper Kitten,” barked Star, smoothing a cinnamon brown paw over the fabric, “these Tyvek suits feel somewhat constricting to our coats.”

“My wirehair feels quite compressed, Jasper Kitten,” barked Jojo with his tried and true Terrier temperament.

“Copy that, Canine Unit,” responded Jasper Kitten, his stripes straining against the Tyvek. “For the record, Ret. Sgt. Det. Jojo, your Law Enforcement expertise in Ginormous Group Rescue puts us at a distinct advantage.”

“Roger, Jasper Kitten,” barked Jojo.

“Gosh, Jasper Kitten,” squinted Star, “this mere formality and precaution of trying on our personal protective equipment certainly comes with its own built in sensory risk factors.” She adjusted her new progressive glasses against her ears, mashed under the hood, and squeezed her cinnamon brown paws through the sleeves.

“Your point is well taken, Star” said Jasper Kitten. “We need to wear safety goggles with these Tyvek suits, but your eyeglasses will suffice in terms of optical protection. Even. Off. Kilter.”

“But I’m still getting used to my new progressives, Jasper Kitten, and any shift in how they fit sure does make it hard to focus properly in the near, middle, and far focal ranges,” she replied and patted the hood.

“Thank you for the ocular clarification, Star,” replied Jasper Kitten.

“You’re welcome. It could cause a conundrum in the future and influence the integrity of the investigation,” surmised Star.

“Of course, Star. Of course,” he agreed.

Jasper Kitten turned, slowly slowly and albeit with difficulty, to the sister Serval Furbabies and newly promoted Officers Clementine and Petal.

“Officers Clementine and Petal, have you ever encountered, during your education in Officer Training School both in the classroom and in the field, a Serval in a Tyvek suit?” queried Jasper Kitten.

“Negative, Jasper Kitten,” they replied, attempting to salute but restricted in their movements from the white fabric.

He pulled off his hood with his white gloved paw and nodded in the affirmative.

“Thank you everyone for your feedback. Chris, our Canine Unit, Star and Jojo, and Officers Clementine and Petal,” intoned Jasper Kitten. “Our trial exercise of trying on Tyvek suits is now concluded. Furthermore, it is definitive, imperative and most judicious to consider the comfort and safety of each and every one of you and to balance this against any and all perceived and potential biohazard risks throughout the course of this new investigation.”

The Critter Detectives took a deep inhalation and held it.

“Therefore,” concluded Jasper Kitten, “it is my executive decision that we will and we must proceed with our new case. Au. Naturale.”

They exhaled all the way out.

“Why, we’re practically bursting. At. The. Seams,” growled Chris, loud and proud. “Critters, we’re gonna ditch these Tyvek suits.”

“Thank you, Chris. Critters,” confirmed Jasper Kitten, “we will keep the Tyvek suits with us as a back up if needed for our personal protection. The future, after all, remains a mystery.”

Jasper Kitten swatted the air with a white gloved paw and they all shrugged out of the Tyvek and shook it off.

Clementine and Petal folded each suit and packed them into a duffel bag for safe and secure keeping if and only if needed. They set the duffel bag next to the rest of the luggage of the J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Bright Shiny Objects Detective Agency and stood at attention.

“An intriguing investigative thought has occurred to me,” declared Jasper Kitten. “We are packed and now I fully and completely detect that we are about to find out where oh where we are to go go go.”

“We’re all ears, Jasper Kitten,” cried the Critter Detectives.

“Star, please fetch the paw held mirror from the utility closet,” he requested.

“Got it,” she peered through her progressives and teetered from side to side as she hopped to it and returned with a pocket sized mirror held in her cinnamon brown paws.

“Please, hold the mirror steady, Star,” said Jasper Kitten as he placed the drawing of the intricate maze up to it and looked through the magnifying glass.

In silence, he continued to study the mirror image.

“Yes, I see,” he mewed at last. “It is as I suspected. Fully and completely. A series of mirror image words are embedded in the maze. Do you see it, too, Critters?”

They individually and collectively gave a nod in the affirmative and then Jasper Kitten read the clue out loud.

“BIO LAB PNWXNW.”

Star’s eyes grew wide behind her new glasses and the rest of the group shifted and stirred, concentrating on the paper, mirrored and magnified.

“We have received a call for help from a most notorious research facility, if not the most notorious research facility located here, there or anywhere between the Equator and the North Pole.”

“Gosh, how do we decipher this complex acronym of a clue, Jasper Kitten?” inquired Star.

“Bio. Lab. Pacific. North. West. By. North. West,” he pronounced. “Located directly in the shadow of Mt. Bachelor in the Cascade Mountain Range.”

Jasper Kitten held his magnifying glass fixed in front of him and the Critters all huddled together. They conferred and concurred that time was of the essence as they studied the drawing of the intricate maze and the site specific clue discovered within it.

“Gosh, Jasper Kitten, these new progressive lenses of mine certainly take some getting used to,” said Star, the light flashing in her eyes. “But the optics are good.”

She focused on the middle distance range and then the close reading range, switching back and forth until she bark bark barked out loud.

“Gosh and oh my goodness! Jasper Kitten, please rotate the paper ninety degrees to the right!”

He did so with a subtle maneuver of his white gloved paws, a rotation that revealed a new configuration along the perimeter of the maze.

“Why, there’s another word!” growled Chris, low and slow.

“Bring.” Jasper Kitten read out loud. He furrowed his brow and rotated the paper another ninety degrees clockwise.

“Back.” He performed the next ninety degree rotation of the paper.

“The.” He made the next and final rotation of the paper and the Critter Detectives gave a collective gulp.

“Elixir.”

“Bring. Back. The. Elixir!” they cried.

“Correct, Critters,” stated Jasper Kitten. “Star, your observation through your new progressive glasses has revealed a crucial clue at this earliest of early stages. Of. Our. New. Case.”

“Thank you, Jasper Kitten,” she said, looking up close at his Orange striped and furrowed brow. “Thank you very much.”

“The clue revealed in the drawing of this intricate maze, after a full three hundred and sixty degrees of rotation, means one thing and one thing only. We must gather our necessary equipment and belongings and depart. Immediately,” instructed Jasper Kitten.

He tossed the car keys to Clementine.

“Officers Clementine and Petal, prepare for a roadtrip,” cried Jasper Kitten.

“Roger that, Jasper Kitten,” saluted Clementine, catching the keys in midair.

Petal saluted and carried the luggage fast on Clementine’s heels as the car engine roared to life in the garage.

Jasper Kitten strode to the utility closet and pulled his Attache Case from the shelf. He hastened back to the Catio, entered the security code above each latch and popped the lid open. He double checked the set of magnifying glasses and Star’s back up pair of reading glasses, all contained and at the ready.

With the finesse and dexterity of his white gloved paws, he rolled up the scroll of clues and stashed it back in the test tube, pressing the red stopper into place, firm and sealed. He returned the test tube to the padded biohazard envelope, packed it in the Attache Case, then reset the latches and security code, and rushed to the garage.

They hopped in the car and Jasper Kitten revved the engine. Chris settled into the passenger seat, riding shotgun, and the Canine Unit, Star and Jojo, took their positions in their respective carriers on the back seat while Clementine and Petal buckled up for safety in between them. Jasper Kitten backed out of the driveway and headed onto the main road.

Chris opened the glove compartment and passed a paper map of the Cascade Mountains to Star. She clasped and grasped it with her cinnamon brown paws and reviewed their route.

Reaching into his pocket, Chris pulled his phone out and tap tapped on the GPS coordinates of the Bio Lab in the shadows of Mt. Bachelor. At the same time, a text came in. He tapped the screen with a toebean and held the phone up for all to see.

“Why, it’s a blinking red Biohazard emoji!” he growled, loud and proud.

Jasper Kitten made a rapid sideways glance at the phone screen and returned his gaze to the road ahead. He steered onto the curve of the freeway entrance and merged the car into light traffic on the straightaway, picking up speed. And then, he floored it.