Mr. Benson was presumably the cat of Ms. Hanley. After her death, Mr. Benson inherited the flat and thus became the landlord of the shop below, which greatly annoyed its owner, Bernard Black. Bernard was greatly annoyed that a cat is charging him rent, and the fact that he stole a biscuit which he was planning on giving Jason Hamilton, a charming travel writer. He plots to assassinate Mr. Benson with the help of Roland, an exterminator. However, Roland turns out to love animals, and only kills vermin and would never harm a cat.