Skegness Magazine

1938
BLACK CATS NOT ALWAYS LUCKY !
MRS. W. E. BUTLIN’S MISFORTUNE ON KING’S CROSS STATION.
WIFE OF HOLIDAY CAMP FOUNDER ROBBED.
POLITE STRANGER WHO DISAPPEARED WITH A SUITCASE.
Black cats are not always lucky. That, at least  the opinion of Mrs. W. E. Butlin, of St. Andrew’s Drive, Skegness, wife of the founder of British Luxury Holiday Camps, as the following story will testify.
Twelve-year-old Peter Butlin took a fancy to a little black kitten whilst on holiday in Cornwall last week, and he had it with him as a travelling companion when met at Paddington last Thursday by Mrs. Butlin and his sister Pamela.
Mrs. Butlin had still a little more shopping to do in the West End, and decided to deposit the “lucky” black kitten in King’s Cross cloak room. But the cloak room official had other ideas. He looked up Regulation 35A and pointed out that live stock, not even lucky kittens, could not be deposited in a cloak room.
This debarred Mrs. Butlin from completing her West End shopping, and the family explored the delights of King’s Cross station for a time.

Utimately as train departure time approached Mrs. Butlin left Pam in charge of the cat and a suitcase, containing the day’s purchases, on a seat, while she went to book Peter’s ticket to complete his journey home to Skegness.
Immediately afterwards a polite and well-dressed stranger came hurriedly to Pam, told her that her mother had been suddenly taken ill in the booking hall, and offered to look after the suitcase and cat while she went to her mother.
Pam rushed to the booking hall to find her mother as well as ever she was. But when they returned hurriedly to the seat the polite stranger had vanished, also the suitcase, the only occupant of the seat being the “lucky” black cat!
Mrs. Butlin immediately reported the mean trick to the police, but up to the time of going oin to press nothing more has been heard of the suitcase and its contents, or of the stranger.