Bickering Birds

by Mildred Abbott

  “Why?” Leo sounded truly shocked.

  She shivered again. “Because of how he spoke to me. The way Henry screamed at me that night in the woods. I was the reason. Silas told me like he thought I would thank him.” She gestured around the rainforest. “He made this for me. So he said. A place for me to visit when I lived with him one day.” She took a shaky breath, and I thought she was near tears, but none came. “All of these birds are poached, at least most of them, taken from their homes and brought here—no matter how beautiful it is, it’s still a cage. For me. He committed this atrocity for me.” She shrugged again. “I guess Owen did it, technically. He’s the one who got the birds for Silas, but it was Silas’s money that made it happen. For me. How could he ever think that I would want this?”

  I squeezed her hand. “This isn’t your fault.”

  She spared me a glance. “I don’t know about that. Maybe if I’d paid more attention to the people around me. The ones I trusted the most are responsible for the very thing I hate. I had no idea Silas felt for me the way he did. Maybe if I’d realized, I could’ve ended it before his obsession grew.”

  “It’s still not your fault, Myrtle.” In a strange way, I could see, partly, why Silas would think Myrtle would like this place. If I didn’t know the ugly part about the poaching, even I would’ve loved it, and I didn’t have any great affinity for birds. They were fine, beautiful, but I was much more of a dog person. This was like stumbling upon a bit of magic. But for Myrtle, it was nothing more than a cage.

  “I still don’t understand why your pin was near where Henry was killed.” Branson’s voice wasn’t necessarily hard, but it didn’t seem like he fully trusted her yet.

  “I’ve told you. It wasn’t mine. It was Silas’s.”

  He looked like he was about to argue, so I jumped in. “I think that’s true. The knife we found, which we didn’t touch, has a kakapo on it, just like the pin. I think because it was Myrtle’s favorite bird, it became Silas’s way of having her close.”

  “Silas told me that was his one mistake.” She motioned toward the treetops. “If you look on the kitchen counter, you’ll find two plane tickets. For ten months from now. Silas said he hoped I would fall in love with him within the year. He bought us plane tickets to New Zealand so I could finally see a kakapo. He said that since I knew early, he’d try to move up our reservations. And he had the pin made for me. He was going to give it to me there. He claimed he carried it with him everywhere.”

  Branson continued asking question after question. Still distrustful. But every answer she gave was solid.

  Finally it was time to go. Myrtle stood with us and looked around. At last tears fell. “May I have a little time down here, by myself? I know they shouldn’t be here, and I’m going to do everything I can to make sure every single one of them returns to where they came from, but I have never seen so many birds, so many different kinds of birds, in one place.”

  Branson started to shake his head, but I caught his eye. After a few seconds, he gave a nod. “Of course, Myrtle. We’ll be upstairs. Join us whenever you’re ready.”

  Snow fell through the night and continued into the next morning. I watched from the bakery window as large crystalline flakes floated over downtown. Estes truly was the most charming little town, if you overlooked the recent murders. Carl shuffled through the front door of Cabin and Hearth with a broom and dusted off the sidewalk in front of the store. I’d have to pop in at some point during the day and fill him and Anna in on all the details. Goodness knows they’d earned it. Maybe I’d invite my uncles down to do it all at once. In the distance, the sun shone brightly on the mountains, promising that the snow was short-lived.

  “What I don’t understand is how the two of you were in Silas’s house and couldn’t hear all those birds. My grandmother had a cockatoo when I went to live with her. That thing drove me absolutely crazy, all that screeching and squawking and hollering.” Katie bugged her eyes. “And that was just one bird.”

  I came back to the moment, focusing on my friend and business partner. “You went to live with your grandma? How old were you?”

  She stiffened slightly. “I don’t know, twelve or something.” She waved me off. “That’s most definitely not interesting. Not near as interesting as a killer with a jungle in their basement.”

  I never pushed too far into Katie’s past. She’d tell me one day when she was ready. I was certain there was something there. But if she was never ready, that was fine too.

  Leo finished chewing a bite of his ham-and-cheese croissant before answering. “That room was basically a fortress of its own. Soundproofed, completely insulated. If nobody realized what was going on, Silas could’ve had Myrtle down there for the rest of her life, and no one would’ve ever known. There was no way she could’ve escaped. What we thought was a closet door was as thick as a vault. I can’t imagine how much that place cost to build. Or to simply keep going. I’m surprised the energy company didn’t raise a stink over the heating bill alone.”

  I bent down, reaching under the table to scratch Watson’s head. “But you knew, didn’t you? You smelled something. You knew there was something good in that room.”

  “I was thinking about that last night as I fell asleep.” Leo glanced under the table as well, smiling at Watson before looking back at Katie and me. “As good as a dog’s nose is, I can’t imagine he would’ve been able to smell through that door. That seal was impermeable. My guess is he was smelling where Silas’s shoes had been, or something—when he would walk up from the basement.”

  “Any of you want refills?” Sammy gestured at me as she walked up to our table. “I know you want another dirty chai. I think you have a drinking problem.”

  Katie swatted at her, shooing her away. “You were not hired to be a waitress. You’re not getting paid enough to be a waitress. You’re a baker.”

  Sammy chuckled but lifted her eyebrows in a questioning manner at me as she walked away so Katie couldn’t see her.

  I smiled and nodded. I could do with another dirty chai. Sammy seemed nearly as comfortable in her role of baker as Katie, almost like she felt a sense of ownership. I hoped that was a good thing.

  Katie reached over and took a piece of my bear claw but spoke before she popped it in her mouth. “I feel horrible for Myrtle. To have members of her club be involved in that. I’m sure she’s devastated. What’s going to happen to Petra?”

  “I’m not sure.” Leo shrugged. “She’s not in jail or anything, but purchasing a poached animal could come with jail time. My guess is she’ll get a hefty fine.”

  I hadn’t even thought of her that morning. I turned to him. “What about the owl… sorry, owlet?”

  He grinned. “Dr. Sallee is keeping her for the time being. I’m betting he’ll get her back into shape. The bigger issue is figuring out where all the other birds came from. And how long they’ve been gone. If it’s safe to send them back, or if they’ve been too domesticated. Unfortunately, I figure most of them will end up in zoos. Which isn’t necessarily a bad life, by any means. But—”

  “Still a cage, as Myrtle would say.” I hadn’t meant to interrupt him, but the words that sprung from my lips brought a bit of melancholy. “That’s going to be hard for Myrtle.”

  “It will be. But don’t feel too bad for her. Myrtle’s getting something out of this.” Leo’s eyes brightened. “She has that round-trip ticket to New Zealand. She’ll finally get to see a kakapo in real life.”

  Katie gaped at him. “She gets to keep the plane ticket?”

  “Yeah, it wasn’t purchased illegally. In fact—” He grinned at me. “—I can’t say I’m much more of a fan of Branson than I was before. He’s still dismissing that there is a poaching ring. Claims that he bets Owen was the one responsible for what we’d been noticing in the park. Which is ridiculous—he was part of it, but for sure not all. However, I think I’m starting to convince Officer Green, so maybe she can influence him.”

  “Susan?” I cou
ldn’t believe my ears. “She actually gives you the time of day?”

  He winced. “I know she’s horrible to you and your family. But she’s one of the few in the department who will listen to my concerns.”

  How strange. I wouldn’t have predicted that.

  “It sounded like you were getting ready to say something good about Branson, though. What’d he do?”

  Leo looked at Katie in confusion, and then his expression cleared. “Oh, right. I forgot. We were talking about Myrtle. I brought up Silas’s plane ticket to Branson. We’re betting the way Silas feels about Myrtle, he’d be willing to make the calls and get Silas’s plane ticket switched to her name. If it works, she’ll have two trips to New Zealand.”

  What a strange turn of events. “Silas would do that for Myrtle. Maybe it was love.”

  Katie had taken a bite of her almond croissant, and crumbs flew as she nearly choked. “Sure, if you call complete obsession, killing people who insult you, and building a rainforests to lock you in love.”

  “Okay, you have a point. A very good point.” I laughed at her expression but shook my head. “It’s a sweet thought, but I’m willing to bet Myrtle will trade in those plane tickets and use the money for the birds here. She won’t use this experience to go see her kakapo. It would ruin it for her.”

  “Yeah. I bet you’re right.” Leo’s smile faltered. “Didn’t think of that.”

  I patted his arm, but switched the topic. “You weren’t the only one thinking about things last night. Myrtle told me that Owen was paying double the annual fee. Do you think he was doing that to avoid suspicion?”

  “Partly, yeah, I do.” Clearly Leo had thought about this as well. “But honestly, that’s one more reason I think it’s clear we’ve got a ring happening. One poacher isn’t going to be making that amount of money, at least not enough to throw twenty thousand at a bird club annually. But, yes. It kept suspicion off him, mostly, and gave him bigger access to Myrtle’s resources, which aren’t small. The police have the books now, so I can’t get my hands on them, but someday. I bet those files will show how much Owen was using the bird club for the very thing it stood against.”

  Another motion outside the window caught my eye. Paulie and his two corgis had joined Carl in the fight against the snow-covered sidewalk. Flotsam and Jetsam looked to be ecstatic at the snowfall, though they were ecstatic—insane rather—about everything, and had Paulie slipping and tripping between the slick concrete and their rapidly weaving leashes.

  Leo popped the last bite of his ham-and-cheese croissant into his mouth just as Sammy brought my dirty chai. Katie scowled but didn’t say anything. After he finished chewing, Leo stood. “Well, I need to get to the park. Thanks for breakfast. See you ladies later.”

  I smiled and gave him a little wave as Katie lifted what was left of her almond croissant in a salute. “See you later, Smokey Bear.”

  As Leo walked away, Watson let out a yelp and rushed toward him.

  Leo turned around, laughing, and knelt to one knee as he lavished affection on Watson. “I’m sorry, buddy. I’m so sorry. Bad park ranger, bad. How could I forget my favorite little man?”

  Sammy had gone home over an hour before, and Katie and I were closing the shop. She’d just turned off all the lights upstairs and paused by the counter as I was putting the finishing touches to the books. “Pretty good day, huh?”

  “Yeah. Funny what happens when I’m here to do my actual job. Sold over twenty-five books today.”

  “Wow! Almost like a real bookstore.” She winked.

  “Kinda.” I laughed. “Of course, every single one of them was either a mystery or a book about birds.”

  “Estes loves its gossip. Now, if the next murder corresponds to a book genre, we’re set.”

  “Don’t say such horrible things. We’re not hoping for murder.”

  She cocked an eyebrow but didn’t give any further commentary. “Want me to hang out till you’re done?”

  “No, thank you. You gotta be exhausted. I won’t be much longer.” I walked around the counter and gave her a hug. “See you tomorrow?”

  “Better believe it.” Katie broke the embrace and walked toward the front door, giving the sleeping Watson a little wave before she left.

  Another ten minutes, and I’d finished with the books and straightened the shelves of the few books we’d sold. Twenty-five wasn’t that bad, at least by comparison. With the upstairs lights off, the bookshop truly was exactly how I’d envisioned it. It was perfect. The homey smells of the bakery above had already permeated the lower floor, making it even better than I’d dreamed. With a yawn, Watson stretched, stood, then padded over to me.

  I gave him a quick scratch behind the ears. “No need to get up. I think we should hang out for a little bit. We spent all this time making this place exactly how we wanted, let’s enjoy it. This time, without feeling guilty about being annoyed when a customer comes in.”

  Watson followed me to the mystery room and curled up under the sofa as I lit the fireplace and turned off all the other lights except the Victorian lamp. I slid a mystery off of one of the shelves, one I’d been meaning to read for ages, and curled up on the sofa. I opened to the first page but paused before I dove in, taking a second to enjoy the crackling fire, the soft glow created by the pale purple fabric, the comforting presence of my furry best friend nearby, and sighed.

  Silas had attempted to make a haven for Myrtle. One that was everything she detested. I’d made my haven myself. Watson and me.

  The fire popped again, and Watson let out a very undignified snort in his sleep.

  My haven was perfect.

  Katie’s Ham & Gruyere Croissant recipe provided by:

  2716 Welton St Denver, CO 80205

  (720) 708-3026

  Click the links for more Rolling Pin deliciousness:

  RollingPinBakeshop.com

  Rolling Pin Facebook Page

  Katie’s Ham & Gruyere Croissant Recipe

  Ingredients:

  2 pounds and 8 ounces bread flour

  1 ounce salt

  4 ounces sugar

  1 pound and 12 ounces water

  1 ounce of yeast

  2.5 ounces butter

  Butter to roll in – 1 pound and 10 ounces - softened and formed into 9" X 9" square. Place in refrigerator but don't let it get too firm. (This is separate from the 2.5 ounces of butter for the croissant mixture.)

  Directions:

  1. Put yeast and water in bowl to activate yeast.

  2. After yeast is activated, place all other ingredients in bowl and with dough hook attachment, stir until combined. Continue kneading with dough hook for 10 minutes.

  3. Place dough in bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in warm spot and let rise for about 30 minutes until doubled in size.

  4. Punch down dough to deflate gases. Store in cold place until ready to use. Pull butter block from fridge and let get close to room temperature.

  5. Roll the dough into a 14" square with the middle being thicker than the edges.

  6. Place square of soft butter on the dough and fold edges of dough over butter until completely covered. Put in refrigerator until both butter and dough are the same temperature.

  7. Take dough from refrigerator and roll out to a rectangle shape. It should be three times as long as it is wide.

  8. Fold the dough into three sections. Fold right side in first to cover the center third and then fold the left side to cover the folded right side.

  9. Place dough in refrigerator for 2 hours. Remove and roll out to a rectangle size and fold over once in half.

  10. Repeat steps 7-9.

  11. Roll dough out to a large rectangle about 1/8th of an inch thick. Cut into two strips lengthwise.

  12. Cut into even triangles with a pizza cutter or sharp knife.

  13. Place piece of sliced ham and small amount of shredded Gruyere on each triangle. Starting with the wide end, begin rolling towards the point.

  14. Place on
parchment-lined baking sheet and place in a warm humid spot to let rise.

  15. Brush with egg wash (2 eggs whisked with 1Tbs water). Bake at 350 degrees until dark golden brown.

  About the Author

  Reading the Cozy Corgi series is pretty much all you need to know about Mildred. In real life, she’s obsessed with everything she writes about: Corgis, Books, Cozy Mountain Towns, and Baked Goods. She’s not obsessed with murder, however. At least not at her own hands (nor paid for… no contract killing here). But since childhood, starting with Nancy Drew, trying to figure out who-dun-it has played a formative role in her personality. Having Fred and Watson stroll into her mind was a touch of kismet.

  Website: Mildredabbott.com

  Author Note

  Dear Reader:

  Thank you so much for reading Bickering Birds. If you enjoyed Fred and Watson’s adventure, I would greatly appreciate a review on Amazon and Goodreads. Please drop me a note on Facebook or on my website (MildredAbbott.com) whenever you like. I’d love to hear from you.

  I also wanted to mention the elephant in the room… or the over-sugared corgi, as it were. Watson’s personality is based off of one of my own corgis, Alastair. He’s the sweetest little guy in the world, and, like Watson, is a bit of a grump. Also, like Watson (and every other corgi to grace the world with their presence), he lives for food. In the Cozy Corgi series, I’m giving Alastair the life of his dreams through Watson. Just like I don’t spend my weekends solving murders, neither does he spend his days snacking on scones and unending dog treats. But in the books? Well, we both get to live out our fantasies. If you are a corgi parent, you already know your little angel shouldn’t truly have free reign of the pastry case, but you can read them spinets of Watson’s life for a pleasant bedtime fantasy.