Most Americans know two street addresses in London--221b Baker Street, home of the legendary but entirely fictitious Sherlock Holmes, and 10 Downing Street, residence of the very real Prime Minister, whomever he or she happens to be at the moment. One of the preceding is also home to Larry the Cat, and while it may be nice to think that Holmes had a feline friend (he's definitely more a cat than dog person), Larry is a proper civil servant. According to today's New York Times, the brown and white tabby is the official mouser at 10 Downing and remains in place even as power changes hands. Now that Larry's been outed in the press can a book be far behind? Personally, I don't believe the bit about mousing for a moment. The Times even says that many people doubt his mousing abilities. So what does he do? He's obviously undercover for M16. His purported laziness is just camouflage to throw the enemy off their game. Just Holmes had a network of homeless people working on his behalf throughout London, Larry no doubt as a cadre of street cats in the city feeding him information on all the comings and going of its human population. How many times have this fearless feline and his minions averted international disaster? We'll never know until some author puts the story in print. (Strictly off the record, of course.) Just think. A combination of Sherlock Holmes and 007 with cats. How could it miss the best seller list? And for the record, Larry was opposed to Brexit. He's particularly fond of Spanish sardines tinned in olive oil, which he got duty free by the crate. He likes them whole, not sliced.
Official Photo of Larry, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, courtesy of Her Majesty's Government.
Notice the thousand-mile stare. Does he look like he's thinking about mice to you?
Notice the thousand-mile stare. Does he look like he's thinking about mice to you?
You can find out more about Larry and his predecessors at his own wikipedia page. And of course you can follow him on twitter: Larry the Cat @Number10cat.