Stories of the Highway Patrol

THE RUNAWAY CAT

by Edward F. Smith

One day in the fall of the year while on routine patrol out of Seckenheim, I noticed that a blanket of fog had moved into the area.  This was always a sign of trouble and a sure bet for traffic accidents.  I did not have long to wait, for I soon received a call of an accident in the North bound lane between Heidelberg and Seckenheim.  Proceeding with caution I soon arrived on the scene along with the German Police.  Sure enough, there was an accident, and only five cars involved.  One of which was an American Colonel with his wife who was on leave from their station in France.  The Colonel was driving one of those French cars, a Citroen.  The car is designed to fall apart when involved in an accident, and the Colonel's Citroen had done just that.  He had gotten caught in between two other vehicles in a chain reaction type of accident, and the whole car just fell apart.  The Colonel and his wife were not injured in the accident. 

When the Colonel was questioned about what had taken place, how the accident had happened, he seemed very upset.  He was concerned about his wife and wanted us to help find her.  We soon learned that his wife had gone off chasing their cat who became frightened because of the accident, and had ran off when the car fell apart.  I quickly informed the German Police and the search was on.  In the meantime the accident had to be investigated and the scene cleared before it became much worse.  The scene was finally cleared and the Colonel was taken to the Highway Patrol station to await information on the whereabouts and condition of his wife and cat.

Approximately two hours later, the German Police arrived at the station with both, the Colonel's wife and the run away cat for a happy reunion.