Bulgakov House, a museum in Moscow, launched a search for a kidnapped employee on Wednesday – a black cat with ‘stern character’, who was named Behemoth after the eponymous demonic character in the writer’s best-known novel.

While Mikhail Bulgakov was an accomplished author with many great books, his masterpiece “The Master and Margarita” enjoys cult status in Russia. Focused on the shenanigans of the Devil and his entourage in Moscow of the 1930s (with a side plot of Jesus Christ’s trial and crucifixion), the text is believed by many to have mystical properties, just like its devilish protagonists.

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So, it is befitting that the custodian cat in Bulgakov House, a museum/theater opened in Moscow in the very place where many events shown in the book take place, is named after one of the characters. In the book the demonic talking cat, Behemoth, is a fiendish trickster, a jester in his master’s court and a consumer of kerosene – “the only thing that can save a dying cat”.

But the real-life Behemoth was a victim of kidnaping on Wednesday, employees of the museum told the public and the police. They said a witness saw a woman grab the cat before quickly walking away.

“Everybody in the museum is concerned. Our cat walks by himself. He may have stern character, but he is not a biter. Most of his time he spent here, of course, patrolling the yard and checking on our neighbors,” Nikolay Golubev, the director of the museum told RIA Novosti.

Luckily, the search was not long. Hours after the news started spreading on Russian media, the feline showed up near a popular Russian theater. His collar however remains missing, so “the investigation continues”. The museum thanked everyone, who got involved in the story of their colleague.

Behemoth has been working for the museum since 2005, according to the Bulgakov House social media page. He is black and fluffy and weighs about six kilos. For the work he does the museum provides him with an individual diet, healthcare coverage and grooming services.

The Bulgakov house is located in the apartment, which served as inspiration for the Moscow base of operation for Satan’s small group in the book. Scenes from “The Master and Margarita” are played by actors there occasionally, while the rest of the time it’s just a museum dedicated to the writer and his work – unless you take its reputation as “the bad place” too serious.

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