Mystery at the Pet Food Corp. Read online

  Mystery at the Pet Food Corp.

  A Mandy and Roger Cozy Mystery - Book 2

  Eleanor Kittering

  Copyright © 2017 by Eleanor Kittering

  No part of this book may be copied, reproduced, downloaded, transmitted or shared without the express permission of the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. All situations, characters and dialogues are part of the author's imagination. Although real locations may be referred to, they have no relation to any persons, living or dead and any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

  Thank you for buying this book

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  If today was the tomorrow we worried about yesterday, Mandy's worry had manifested itself again today. She worried that this TV commercial possibility with Roger was not going to come through. She hadn't found any steady work yet, and although she was beefing up her tarot readings and looking to work on more astrological charts, she still worried about her financial tomorrow.

  For those who missed the last book, after certain acts of heroism, Mandy's cat Roger became an internet celebrity and Mandy received offers from a local cat food company for Roger to appear in a cat food commercial.

  But after a couple of days, Mandy heard nothing more about it and nobody contacted her, so she thought it was just a fluke. Someone's notion of a good idea at the time, but probably abandoned at the last minute. So Mandy looked around for other ways to improve her money situation.

  She considered calling Jill, her best friend, to see if she had any ideas on how to cash in on Roger's newfound fame, as other animal people were doing on the internet. There were plenty of pets out there famous just for being cute. There had to be a way to spread Roger's fame for actually saving people from danger, in addition to his good looks, so the cute angle could be worked as well. Jill reigned as the local internet queen, and if there was a way to get Roger more promotion on the web, Jill would know it.

  “Hi Jill, I just wanted to run a couple of things by you.”

  “Okay, shoot.”

  “Well, not having received any calls about this cat commercial, I wondered what else I could do to cash in on Roger's present fame. I heard of some people have blogs about their pets and somehow those become successful. Could I do the same with Roger?”

  “Sure, you can. The first thing to do would be to set up a blog where it would be easy to add daily pictures of Roger. This would allow you to describe certain situations Roger is going through in his daily life. Once you've developed that, you need to start thinking about marketing – creating some T-shirts, perhaps some mugs. Those are pretty easy. Stuff like a Roger doll would be a little harder. But the most important thing is Roger has to have a web presence so the public can easily find him,” Jill said in explanation.

  “The next thing is to set up a Facebook page, not unlike what we did with David.” Jill continued.

  Memories of what that situation turned into sent shivers down Mandy's spine.

  “Although the David page became something else entirely, most Facebook pages are actually fun. The David page had way too much drama attached to it, considering the circumstances.

  “So, we'll definitely get a Facebook page going, afterwards you can send traffic to the blog. It's actually not hard to do.” Jill concluded.

  Hearing Jill speak made Mandy realize she had other options, that life didn't have to depend upon whether somebody crawled out of the woodwork and made an offer to her. She could create her own opportunities.

  “So, how long would this take?” Mandy asked.

  “Not very long. I could get something started today and we could add a couple of pictures later, showing Roger is actually a normal, sweet cat, explaining that he became an attack cat only because of what happened last time.”

  For those of you joining us for the first time, the short version of “what happened last time” was Mandy's boss was threatening to kill her in front of an audience and Roger, her cat, intervened and took him down. The video of this act of heroism made him a YouTube star and spurred the cat commercial offers, which unfortunately hadn't materialized yet.

  Mandy was heartened by Jill's suggestions and said “Sounds great! We definitely have to show the mellow side of Roger, so people can relate to him as a regular cat.”

  “Ok, I'll get a couple of things together and we can take it from there,” Jill said, offering her services.

  “Thanks, I'm looking forward to it.” Mandy said feeling much better

  Mandy hung up the phone and proceeded to look for as many cute pictures as she had of Roger. It gave her something to do and made her feel as though this could lead somewhere, that the future didn't have to be grim. Roger ambled over, sat down next to her and started to purr, always a sign he felt mellow. Mandy showed him the pictures on her phone.

  “See, Roger, there you are at Joanie's coffee shop, sprawled out on the floor. And here you are at the park with the leash.”

  She could get someone to take a picture of her walking Roger, and use it as the main page picture. In the middle of her musings, the phone rang.

  “Hello,” she answered.

  “Hello, is this Mandy Cummings?” an unfamiliar voice asked.

  “Yes, it is,” she responded, somewhat hesitantly.

  “Hi there, my name is Stacy Parks and my company's name is Hedon Pet Nutrition. I called you because I'm interested in shooting a commercial with your cat Roger as the lead.”

  Mandy's heart leapt inside her - the commercial was coming through! “Oh yes, my friend Jill told me about you. Thank you so much for calling, Ms. Parks.”

  “Call me Stacy. And no, the pleasure is all mine. It's not every day we get a hero cat to represent Hedon, and I feel Roger would be perfect. I've seen that video a couple of times, and it was truly an act of selflessness how he attacked the man who threatened to kill you. He protected you at the risk of his own life. Truly a hero cat,” Stacy Parks said, her voice filled with admiration.

  “Well, yes, I feel very lucky to have found Roger, and he's been very protective of me from the very start. And the amazing thing is the rest of the time, he's very mellow; he lets people pet him and play with him all the time. It's only when he senses a situation where I could be harmed that he gets defensive,” Mandy explained.

  “Yes, I think he'll be perfect to represent us. You see, we're a niche cat food brand. We make chicken cat food which is organic but at the same time, we care for our chickens so we can provide the highest quality cat food possible. We are unique in the market, as such we require unique mascot, and when I saw Roger, I knew we found our representative.”

  “I'm so glad. In person he actually is a very sweet animal, it's very likely he'll work well with your product.” Mandy said.

  “Interesting; I would love to meet him in person.” Said Stacy. “Would you be available to bring him by tomorrow morning, say about 10:00 a.m.?”

  “Oh sure, that would be great,” Mandy said.

  “Yes, and we can speak later about the advertising possibilities. I gather Roger is not representing anyone else right now?”

  “No, he's not.”

  “Good, so we'll start with a clean slate. Also, I would like you to view our company
video, which is a kind of curriculum vitae explaining the ethos of our company.”

  “Oh, I would love to see it, please send me the link; here's my email.”

  Mandy proceeded to give Stacy her email address.

  “Great. I'll have my assistant send you the link and we'll meet tomorrow. It's been such a pleasure speaking with you.”

  “Same here Stacy, I'm looking forward to meeting you.”

  As they hung up, Mandy was super excited. She figured with this commercial making opportunity and the cat blogging project, she might actually be able to make enough money to live on, and this would become her full-time job. She called Jill.

  “Guess what? I got a call from Stacy Parks with Hedon Pet Nutrition, and she definitely wants to make a commercial with Roger! She was very nice and positive, and she's going to send me a link to their main company video, which defines their whole company philosophy.”

  “Cool beans. Between getting the commercial and getting the blog going for Roger, this could become a nice income source for you.” Jill said.

  “That's what I'm hoping. I almost gave up on the possibility of a commercial, and all of a sudden, out of the blue, Stacy Parks calls. We haven't talked any money yet, but apparently she's thinking of more than one commercial. What do you think I'll get for this?”

  “Chances are, for the first one, you'll get some money up front but no residuals. However, if the commercial becomes successful, you should negotiate for more money. But take it one step at a time; even if you just get one commercial, you can always go to another company and try to get more work. There are people out there making money with their pets, and there's no reason why you can't try to do the same.” Jill said.

  “Yeah, I really hope this can turn into a regular thing,” said Mandy, allowing herself to plan for the future.

  “Well, let me try some ideas for the blog, you get some pictures and text for me to use on it, and we'll get together later this week and start putting everything together.”

  “Sounds great, I'm getting very excited about all this!” Mandy couldn't contain her excitement.

  “Me too!” Jill agreed.

  And so, they hung up. In the middle of the call, Mandy received an email which she figured would be the email with the link to Hedon's company video. She opened it up and sure enough, there it was.

  The link took her to a very well-produced video. It started with an early morning sunrise and chickens walking about on a well-manicured lawn. In this country setting, a beautiful young woman picked up one of the chickens and hugged it close; the slow motion shot implied she loved this chicken very much. After holding the chicken for a little while, she picked up another chicken.

  An announcer, in very soft, modulated tones, began saying “At Hedon, we really love our chickens. We do everything we can to make them feel special.” Soft piano music could be heard in the background.

  The announcer continued “Every day is another opportunity to do our chickens proud and make them feel good. A happy chicken is a thing of joy.” More piano music. “We also make sure our chickens get their rest. Well-rested chickens are healthier chickens.”

  The camera panned to a chicken coop paneled in Koa wood, and each sitting area for the chickens covered with a purple satin cushions. “Scientific studies have shown the right kind of music can have a positive effect on the growth of animals,” the announcer intoned. In the background one could hear Mozart's 'A Little Night Music', followed by Boccherini's 'Minuet'. The chickens in the coop seemed to be swaying to the music as though they were meditating in a semi-trance.

  The camera switched scenes again, to the chickens eating, each with an individual crystal bowl and the corn piled high in these dishes. They pecked elegantly at the food as though they had been thoroughly trained in etiquette matters.

  The music continued, and the camera changed back to the young woman at the beginning. This time she held a chicken and smiled angelically at the camera. “At Hedon, we make sure our chickens are treated to the highest standards. Hedon. It's not just a dream. It's a way of life.” As the camera moved back, the young woman waved goodbye and the farm looked like a fantasy, with rich saturated colors. Then the video faded out.

  Mandy was quite amazed. They really treat their chickens exceedingly well, she said to herself. And they're a pet food company. This all must be very organic. Mandy sent Jill the link to the video so she could check it out. She called her.

  “Jill, you have to watch the video I got from Hedon Pet Nutrition.”

  Jill started watching and said “Wow, these guys must be a big operation or at least a fancy one. Definitely a unique way of making pet food, I'm sure they're going to do right by Roger,”

  “I feel the same way, I mean, they're very in tune with the needs of animals.”

  “Well, you can't go wrong with that, and they seem to have money, so you'll probably make some decent up-front money.” Jill said.

  “I'm hoping for that. If people go to these lengths to take care of their farm animals, you figure they also take care of the people who work with them.”

  “Yeah, it's this whole holistic approach to the work force companies have nowadays. It's no longer about employees, but everybody is part of the family and everybody makes a contribution for the future that will benefit everybody. Bringing Roger in will help their brand to flourish, so Roger and you, of course, contribute to the overall business. When are you going to see her?” Jill asked.

  “Tomorrow morning. She didn't seem to be in a rush, so possibly they're feeling out Roger see how he is in real life and go from there. I told her he's very mellow in his regular life, it's only when I'm threatened that he gets upset.” Mandy reminded her friend.

  “Yeah, once they see how he is in real life, they'll see how he can become a credit to their brand. And once you have the Facebook page and the blog, you can direct traffic to your Facebook page, with the commercial on the page, and from there, with any luck, sell some merchandise.”

  “That would be great. I would so love to be doing something I like rather than another job I may not be into 100 percent. This would be something I could do for years and years.” Mandy said.

  “Well, let's hope this all works out,” Jill said cheerfully.

  Mandy hung up with Jill, beyond super-excited at the prospects lying ahead.

  “Roger you're going to be all over the web. You're going to become a regular online superstar!” She gave Roger an affectionate pat as he contentedly purred.

  Sometime later, her phone rang again. At first she thought it could be Jill, but she didn't recognize the number on her caller ID.

  “Hello,” she answered.

  “Hi, is this Mandy Cummings?” said an unfamiliar voice.

  “Yes, this is she.”

  “Hi, my name is Loretta Gumble and I'm the owner of Fantastic Pets, a pet food and pet toys company.”

  “Oh, hi there, I think today must be my day to get calls from pet food companies.”

  “Have you spoken to others?” Loretta said, a little hesitantly.

  “Yes, earlier I spoke with Hedon foods about the possibility of a commercial.”

  “I see. Well, I was reaching out to you so you might also consider doing some work with us, but if you're already committed to Hedon, maybe we can talk later.”

  “Well, nothing is set in stone, so I would be happy to hear what you might have to offer,” Mandy said encouragingly.

  “Okay. We're a small pet company and we make commercials now and then for streaming TV and on the web. We're not as esoteric as Hedon; we just sell pet treats and toys, and we were considering Roger to model and photograph with some of our toys.”

  “Do you know Stacy Parks?” Mandy asked.

  “Oh yes, we've crossed paths in the past. Let's just say Stacy has a vision about her products, which is very elegant. Me, I'm happy to fill certain needs of customers with our toys and treats.”

  “Have you been doing this long?” Mandy didn't want
to get involved with somebody's hobby business; on the other hand, perhaps she would be getting involved with an up-and-coming startup.

  “We've been around for a couple of years. I've always been a pet lover and I always wondered how I could make a living working with animals. When the internet came along, I started exploring what people wanted for their pets and started to figure out how to fill those needs. And that's how our company, Fantastic Pets, came to be.” Loretta said.

  “Well, that sounds encouraging. I didn't know you could actually make a living with animals, and now Roger may provide a way to do that for me. We'll see if his fame online can generate enough interest.”

  “Yes, Roger is quite a cat from what I've seen. I'd love the opportunity to work with him in the future,” Loretta said.

  “Well, why don't we do this? Let me speak with Hedon and hear them out and see how far it goes since they called me first. Depending on how it all goes, it's possible somewhere down the line, we could do business as well. It really all depends on how it goes with Hedon.” Mandy considered all the possibilities.

  “Ok, sounds like a plan. I was really calling to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about our business. Call me if the deal with Hedon is not what you thought or ends sooner rather than later.”

  “That's reasonable. Listen Loretta, thanks for calling, I truly appreciate all the attention Roger is getting.”

  “You're welcomed Mandy. Here's to working together in the future.”

  They ended the call. Very interesting, Mandy thought. This morning she didn't know if there would be any commercial work and now she had two offers. Loretta was very nice, not pushy, she asked and left it as a 'we'll see'. Mandy could tell she loved animals as well. Well, she had to keep her options open. Who knows how things would work out with Hedon. Or perhaps they just want to do one commercial. Whatever happens, she knew she'd have one more commercial later on in the future. And it sounded like she'd be working with nice people.

  By now, all this thinking about the future made her crazy. She thought maybe she'd get something to eat over at Joanie's and just relax. She'd done enough thinking about the future for now.