Went down to the vegetable store this evening (30-second walk) and
there was an elderly lady cuddling a kitten that looked exactly like
Paulette would look if her background tabby had been bleached to light
grey.  Same face, same dark-grey paw pads (Eeeek! thud) and same long
tail with a little quink at the end (most Japanese moggies have some
evidence of descent from the bobtails, in the form of the end bones in
the tail being bent or curled up), and same mannerisms-- obviously
same age and size as well.  There were several aproned housewives
standing around giving that little kitty all the affection he could
soak up (and boy was he ever! He was king of the shop.)  I put my hand
up to him and he did the Paulette-trick of "lipping" my hand.  I said,
"I think I have this cat's sister."

I ran back to the house and got the pictures-- everyone agreed they
had to be brother and sister (his name is Hiroshi).  Apparently a
family about three blocks away had a stray catmom give birth to three
kittens, and they wanted the kittens to have a better life than a
stray, so asked the vegetable shop people to find "takers" for them.
Before they did that, one had disappeared and they assumed it had
died-- well, that was Paulette! (Very much alive, as you may have
gathered.)  The vegetable shop owners were pleased to hear that the
third kitten has a good home as well, and I was glad to know that she
had not been abandoned.

So, a happy ending for the story.

Cantate