That afternoon, Clara discovered muddy paw prints across her back patio. Her heart leaped as she followed them around the garden. They ended beneath the fence where several white hairs clung to wood. Clara called Bubbles repeatedly, convinced he had returned and wandered away again before she noticed him.
A neighbor soon arrived carrying her large orange-colored cat. The animal’s wet paws matched every mark across Clara’s patio. Clara concealed her disappointment and reassured the apologetic neighbor. Once alone, she collected the white hairs anyway. She could not bring herself to discard even evidence she knew was probably meaningless.