Here’s a favorite character from my mystery, Cats’Eyes. Rumor has it that the hunky special investigator will be a reoccurring character throughout all the Crazy Cat Lady Mysteries, rescuing cats and saving Lynley from fates unimagined.

Denny Paris, Humane Investigator for the Northwest Humane Society:

         “Animals everywhere are lucky to have you, Special Agent Paris,” I told him.

Denny’s cat-green gaze slipped self-consciously to the floor and a blush crept over his smile. I could almost hear him say, Aw, shucks, ma’am, in his smooth Washingtonian drawl, but modesty is only one notable thing about Denny Paris, Humane Investigator.

Denny was tall and broad, young and strong: everything an officer of the law should be. He had passed his police exams but had aspired to do more than give parking tickets and bust druggies. And Denny had known right from the start exactly what that was: he wanted to help animals. Denny Paris wanted to be one of the three special agents commissioned by the Governor of Oregon through the Northwest Humane Society to investigate and enforce Oregon’s animal cruelty laws.

It was a tough job. Where volunteers like Frannie and myself saw the happy side of shelter business – adoptions, love, healthy sleek cats, people with smiling faces – Special Agents Denny Paris, Connie Lee, and Frank Dawson were on the other side of the kennel. They saw humanity at its worst, those cruel enough to harm the defenseless and neglect the needy. It was their task to bust puppy mills, free chained dogs, seize starving horses, uncover animal fights, rescue maltreated cats and a plethora of other things that I know go on in the world but really don’t want to put down on paper lest I give such horrendous acts credence.

All three of the agents were amazing, but Denny was a real gem. In spite of the things he encountered in his investigations, he was always smiling, always optimistic. I once asked him how he stayed sane in the face of such depravity, and he told me it was because he knew he was making a difference. As long as those animals were still alive, as long as someone cared enough to step in and report neglect and abuse, he could help. Not all the stories had a happy ending, but he believed that with each personal perseverance against cruelty, the world became a better place, day by day, one creature at a time.

Taken from Cats’ Eyes, by Mollie Hunt. Of course, Denny Paris is a fictional character. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.