Frederick M. Hueston, PhD  
Stone Care Consultant 

I was waiting outside the hotel for the valet to bring my ole Woody around to head over to Mrs. Pink Stain’s condo.      

I couldn’t help but notice all the drunks, gamblers, and tourists who were stumbling around. It reminded me of a pack of ants running franticly around on the ground. You gotta love Las Vegas. It’s better than a lot of those reality shows now on the tube.   

The valet pulled up with my ride, threw me the keys, and sneered at me as if to say, here ya go, grandpa. The kid probably had no idea how much these classic Woodys cost.I left the strip and headed up the highway to Henderson. I arrived at a tall gate that reminded me of Graceland. I wondered if this was Elvis’s old pad.

Just as I was ready to press the intercom button, the gates opened. I guess Mrs. Pink Stain saw me pull up.  I pulled up to a very large estate. Everything looked oversized. The columns, the windows, and especially the front door, looked like it could have been built for a giant. I parked the Woody and headed for the door.

Before I could ring the doorbell, the door opened and there she stood. She was wearing a long, black dress as if she was going to some kind of formal event. She invited me in and led me directly to the dining room, pointing at the floor as she said, “There they are.”  

At first I didn’t see anything wrong, and then upon closer inspection, I noticed a light pink stain. The stain was about 12 inches across. I asked her all the standard questions: What type of cleaner she was using? Had anybody spilled anything on it? I still couldn’t find anything unusual that would have caused the stain.  

I took another look and noticed that the stain was not only in the stone but also in the grout joints. This led me to believe that it wasn’t something in the stone but that somehow something was spilled on it. I took out my test kit and started performing some tests while Mrs. Pink Stain stood there looking.

She started pacing back and forth as if she was in a rush and had to get somewhere, so I asked her if was keeping her from anything. She looked at me and said, “No, I always dress up like this for company.”

She than started laughing. She said to take my time since she had to find out what was causing this pink stain.  

I asked, “Are there any other areas where this stain’s occurred?” She said just a few places in the bathroom, but that she had replaced that stone a few weeks ago. “Can I look around the rest of the house?” She said, “Look wherever you like.”I walked down the hall and noticed that the house was pretty cluttered. There were kids’ toys scattered all over the place.

As I was tripping over all the toys, I spotted two cats staring at me from one of those tall cat posts. They were two of those hairless type that looked like someone took a razor to them. Boy, were they ugly. I continued my inspection in all the rooms in the house and was about to open one of the bedroom doors when Mrs. Pink Stain stopped me and said, “That room is very messy.”

I told her that wouldn’t bother me and opened the door. She was right; this room looked like my garage. Clutter all over the place. There was so much clutter that I could hardly see the floor. I moved a carpet that was rolled up on the floor and noticed the floor was covered with this red-colored paper.  

I took out my knife and took a piece of the paper. Now I had a good idea of where that stain came from.I asked if the floor throughout the house was covered with this paper and she said, “Yes.”  Bingo, I thought, but the mystery continues. I took some water and wet the paper and placed it on the floor.

I expected the dye from the paper to transfer to the stone, but it didn’t.  Now I was puzzled. Just when I thought I had this case solved, too.  I told Mrs. Pink Stain that I would like to have a piece of the stone removed for testing but I would have to come back another day to remove it. She agreed.

Just as I was about to leave, I saw one of the cats using the litter box, and all of a sudden, a light went on over my head.   

I asked if I could perform one more test before I left and again, she agreed. I took a piece of the red paper and placed it on the floor, then reached in my test kit and pulled out some vinegar. I placed several drops of vinegar on the paper and waited a minute or two. This time the dye in the paper transferred to the stone. Now I knew exactly what happened.

The  cat’s urine is acidic, and my guess was that the cats had done their business on the paper, causing the stain. Finally, I could return to my hotel, get a drink and lose some of my hard-earned money in a game or two of poker.

The Stone Detective is a fictional character created by Fred Hueston, written to be entertaining and educational. He has written over 33 books on stone and tile installations, fabrication and restoration and also serves as an expert for many legal cases across the world. You can send any email comments to him at fhueston@stoneforensics.com.