There is an old saying in the journalism business that goes, "if it bleeds, it leads," which means that once violence occurs a story gets much hotter. We can now add "if it mews, it is news," to the list of Fourth Estate expressions.
I should tell you right at the top here that I am not going to solve the Mystery Of The Missing Pets. Frankly, at this point Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot could team up and the details would still be dicey. And anyway, it is not really the point.
SPRINGFIELD'S...