In the quiet
Massachusetts town of Edgefield, a pair of bumbling kidnappers break into the house of wealthy Mr. Flint, intending to kidnap his wife and hold her for ransom. However, they mistakenly kidnap his housemaid Lizzie instead. Patti Randall is a troubled teenage girl struggling with the mundanity of her everyday life, and the fact her parents dislike the way she behaves and dresses. Every night, Patti's cat D.C. ("Darn Cat") leaves the house at 8 and causes mischief around the neighborhood, such as teasing dogs, stealing food, and playing with a distracted old lady's birdcage. One night, D.C. walks into the kidnappers' hideout. Seizing her chance, Lizzie attempts to scratch "HELP" on her watch, but stops with the last letter incomplete (resembling a second "L") when the kidnappers' phone rings. She attaches the watch to D.C., who returns home with it. Patti sees the watch the next morning. Knowing of the kidnapping, she deduces it was from Lizzie and was meant to say HELP; however, no one believes her, so she doctors the evidence by turning the last incomplete letter into a "P". Determined to take advantage of the exciting situation and save Lizzie, Patti goes to Boston and pleads her case to Agent Zeke Kelso of the
FBI, who believes her. The Captain allows Zeke and his agents to tail D.C. during his nightly prowl in hopes he will show them the way to the kidnappers, but the operation goes nowhere, causing Zeke to be taken off the case. But, when Zeke and Patti unsuccessfully attempt to investigate on their own, and, eventually, wind up arrested together. Shortly thereafter, Zeke learns that Patti tampered with the watch, and leaves in anger. As punishment for her actions, Patti is grounded until further notice by her mother; distraught, she flees the house and prepares to take a train out of town. However, after a conversation with another runaway, Lu, Patti decides to stay in the town of Edgefield. As she walks home to see her parents, Patti notices D.C. digging in a garden; he runs off, and she follows him to the kidnapper's hideout, finally discovering Lizzie's whereabouts. Patti calls Zeke for help insisting her cat finally found the kidnapper’s location, still upset with him and refuses to listen and believe her. So Patti decides to enter the hideout to intervene and save Lizzie herself, but the kidnappers return and capture her and D.C. Then after Patti’s parents listen to a voicemail Patti left for them, they report her missing to the police as a runaway. Patti's parents call Zeke to ask if he knows where their daughter has run off to. Zeke also now fears that Patti has met the same fate as Lizzie. So to keep his job, Zeke changes his mind and reopens the case. His investigation leads him to the hideout, where he finds Patti and Lizzie bound and gagged, and D.C. trapped in a litter box. Zeke exposes the identities of the kidnappers as the seemingly harmless "Ma and Pa", the owners of the local candy shop. Ma and Pa kidnapped Lizzie because they had partied away all their cash in
Monte Carlo and the
Riviera, and were craving both more money and more excitement. Zeke manages to free Patti and D.C. while Ma and Pa escape with Lizzie in their car. D.C., Patti, and Zeke pursue them through the town, but due to an earlier sabotage caused by competing mechanics, the kidnapper's car can only turn left, hindering their escape. During the car chase, a fence gets knocked down, releasing the crazy local dog Smokey, who runs into the nearby
cat show, scaring away all the competing cats. D.C. rallies the show cats to run with him along the roofs of the neighborhood and jump down onto Ma and Pa's car, causing it to crash, foiling their crimes. Ma and Pa are arrested and charged with kidnapping, Lizzie is reunited with the Flints, and Patti, Zeke and D.C. return home with her parents and are hailed as heroes. The town returns to normal; Patti and Zeke become partners, and D.C. mates with the neighborhood cat and fathers a litter of kittens. ==Cast==