Henry the Cat Detective is a short story for English learners. Here you can learn English through stories and practice listening to English at the same time.

Are you ready? Let’s start! 

Video

Story

Henry the Cat Detective

Henry the cat is a detective. He is the best detective in town, and he knows it. One day, a woman comes to his house with a mystery for him to solve.

Her cat went missing, and she needs Henry’s help to find him! Henry is always happy to help. But he is not happy to show it…

He yawns and stretches as the woman starts talking, looking disinterested. But as she describes her missing cat, Henry’s ears perk up and he leans in, suddenly interested.

The woman mentions that her cat, Mr. Parker, went missing exactly after she saw a gray cat in her backyard. Henry knows only one gray cat in the neighborhood, and that’s his worst enemy, Simon the cat. Could Simon have something to do with this mystery?

Henry tells the woman he’ll take on the case. The woman wipes a tear from her eye, relieved, and gives Henry a warm smile. Henry may not show it, but he’s actually quite excited to solve this mystery.

He immediately sets off to Simon’s house. He knows that Simon is up to something – he can just feel it. And sure enough, when he gets there, he finds Simon hiding in the bushes, with an incriminating piece of evidence – an orange cat fur, just like Mr. Parker’s!

“Gotcha!” Henry says, triumphantly. Simon looks at Henry, and barely moves a muscle, but there is no guilt in his eyes. “That’s odd!” Henry thinks to himself. He can tell that Simon is hiding something. But what?

“Where is Mr. Parker?” he asks Simon.

“Safe and sound,” Simon says casually. “He’s in my garden by the pool!”

“What exactly are you hiding? I can see it in your eyes.”

“I’m not hiding anything,” Simon says, trying to sound convincing.

“Oh really?” Henry says, stepping closer to Simon. “Because I think you are. Now tell me what’s going on, or I’ll tell everyone about your little secret.”

Although Henry is unaware of any secrets Simon may have, he takes a chance and it ends up working!

“Ok, ok! I’ll tell you,” Simon says, defeated. “I saw Mr. Parker trying to catch a fish and I knew he would never be able to do it. So I helped him.”

“Helped him how?” Henry asks, looking confused for the first time.

“I showed him how to fish,” Simon says, with a small smile. Then he explains further: “I’ve been teaching all the cats in the neighborhood how to fish. It’s a lot of fun, and it’s a great way to get food! The other cats completed their training and went home. Mr. Parker, on the other hand, was extremely diligent. He refused to go home until he caught his first fish by himself. So I let him stay in my garden. It has a pool full of fish for him to practice.”

Henry is surprised. He had no idea that Simon was such a cool cat! He thanks Simon for his help, and the two of them part ways as friends.

Henry informs the woman that her cat is safe and sound, and even learning how to fish. She is overjoyed, and Henry feels happy to have solved another mystery. He is pleased to continue his role as the town’s cat detective.

He knows that he can always count on himself to be the best detective around. “Everyone is so lucky to have me…” Henry thinks to himself as he sighs and falls asleep.

THE END

Practice

You finished the lesson! Good job! ☺️

Click here to get full access to all our lessons and courses.


See Also


See Also