Murder on Sugar Hill

by Claire Sweeney

  The trooper shook his head and turned to walk back to his car.

  "This way, Miss Matilda," a nurse in a white lab coat shouted. "Smiley called and alerted us to your emergency. Doctor Creel is waiting in the operating room." The nurse reached to take the cage. "Sorry, but you’ll have to wait outside," she said before she hurried through double swing doors.

  "Come and sit," Trixie said and pointed to a small waiting room.

  "I keep remembering all the times I’ve scolded Tara and ordered her to get in her cage. God, I’ve been awful to her," Matilda said.

  "No, you haven't. You've given her as much love as a mother would give her child," Trixie said. The sound of her cell phone ringing caused her to pull it out of her pocket. "We’re at the vet, Smiley. And thanks for calling ahead and alerting the office. Neither Miss Matilda nor I had the presence of mind to do that. Yeah, I’ll let you know as soon as we hear.”

  "You would never tell by looking at Smiley, but he thinks best when he’s under pressure," Matilda said. "And that always surprises me."

  "So, I guess you’ll have a good opportunity now to have a chat with Sheriff Dudley," Trixie said.

  "Yes, he’ll want to bawl me out in person, I'm sure," Matilda said. "And it isn't going to end well when I tell him he's a suspect in Buggy's murder."

  "He's most likely to laugh you right out of the office, Miss Matilda."

  "We shall see. We know things about him that he doesn't suspect we know. And when I tell him all I know, he's not going to be laughing."

  Suddenly, the double doors to the operating room swung open. A young blond-haired doctor walked out instead of the nurse. When he saw Matilda, he smiled.

  "Tara is fine. I put her to sleep and removed the object stuck in her throat. She's breathing normally. I'm going to keep her overnight."

  "Can I see her?" Matilda asked.

  "She’s asleep. And I would prefer to keep her cage covered after she wakes. It will keep her calm. If she sees you, Miss Matilda, she'll try to talk. Her throat’s irritated, so I’d rather she not try to talk until tomorrow. Go home and come back in the morning."

  "Doctor Creel, I don't know how to begin to thank you?" Matilda said.

  The vet held up his hands. "Seeing how much you love Tara is all the thanks I need. You wouldn't believe how some macaws are treated."

  "Yes, I would," Matilda said. "I've seen how parents treat their children and can only imagine how they would treat a parrot."

  "Do we pay the bill now?" Trixie asked.

  "No, settle up with the front office tomorrow when you pick up Tara," Doctor Creel said. "Now I have a snake that swallowed a toilet brush to deal with," he said as he turned and walked back through the swinging doors.

  "A snake! What was he doing in the bathroom? Oh my, that's a horrible thought!" Matilda said as she stared at the double doors.

  Chapter Nine

  "Where are you going, Tara?" Matilda asked as she stepped out of the solarium and spotted the macaw waddling toward her.

  "Bozo! Bozo!"

  "No Bozo. You follow me back to the lobby," Matilda ordered.

  "Play! Play!" Tara squawked.

  "I'll tickle your side," Matilda said.

  "Tickle, tickle?"

  "But only if you get back on your perch," Matilda said as they walked slowly so the macaw could keep pace.

  "Smiley?" Matilda called as they entered the lobby.

  "Yes, Miss Matilda," the hippy said as he came through the door from the dining room.

  "Your helper was hurrying down the hall to the laundry room trying to find Bozo!" Matilda said as she gave the blond man with shoulder-length hair a hard look.

  "I just popped into the kitchen for a minute to grab a cup of coffee," Smiley said.

  "Would that be a Mexican minute?" Matilda asked.

  Smiley chuckled. "I guess it was somewhere between a minute and a Mexican minute since I didn't take a siesta.

  "Next time ring Trudy and have her send a waitress to bring your coffee. I've had one scare with Tara and I don't want another one. If she goes to the laundry room unsupervised, she can get into all sorts of trouble."

  "Sorry, but she’s been very restless lately. I think she’s lonely," Smiley said.

  "How can she be lonely? She’s around people all day long."

  "No, I mean lonely for a companion...another parrot," Smiley said as Matilda watched Tara climb up the side of her cage and then onto the perch beside it.

  "Tickle, Tickle," Tara said holding up her wing.

  "I promised her a tickle," Matilda said as she walked up to reach under the parrot's raised wing.

  "Ha! Ha!" Tara laughed as Matilda rubbed her finger back and forth under her wing.

  "She sounds like a person laughing," Trixie said as she came down the stairs.

  "She's mimicking Smiley's voice," Matilda said.

  "That's not surprising since I doubt she’s ever heard you laugh, Miss Matilda. Ah, come to think about it, neither have I," Trixie said.

  "Smiley said that he thinks Tara is lonely for another parrot. What do you think?" Matilda asked ignoring Trixie's remark. "Should I get another bird?"

  "Two parrots. Won't that be like having two-year-old twins?" Trixie asked.

  Matilda shrugged.

  "They might keep each other entertained," Smiley suggested.

  "Or cause twice as much trouble!" Matilda said as she stopped tickling Tara.

  "Tickle, tickle," Tara squawked.

  "No, that's enough. I have better things to do than to stand here and tickle you all day, Tara," Matilda said.

  "Oh," Trixie said, "You have a busy day, do you?"

  "Yes, grab your purse. We are going shopping in North Conway."

  "Only if you promise to stop by Hot Dog Heaven! Their chili sauce is to die for."

  "You mean I'm going to smell cumin and garlic all the way home?" Matilda complained.

  "Don't give me that. You ate three chili dogs the last time we stopped there for lunch!" Trixie said.

  "A mistake I will not make again. I burped cumin all night," Matilda complained. "And the onions gave me heart burn."

  "Hmm, that's a small price to pay for the best chili dog this side of Fort Dodge, Iowa."

  "Your joking, right, Trixie?" Matilda said. "Who in their right mind would go to Iowa? It's flat, with corn cobs and farmers that don't know how to pronounce the simple word roof!"

  "You are correct, Miss Matilda, but Pete's Place in Fort Dodge has the best and I do mean best chili sauce that it's possible to make!"

  "And what color hair did you have when you were doing your year-long walkabout?"

  "Corn silk yellow! And all the farm boys loved it," Trixie said before she turned and dashed upstairs.

  Matilda glanced at Smiley.

  The hippy shrugged.

  "And I bet they shucked her as fast as they shucked corn," Matilda said as she turned and walked to her office. "Corn silk yellow," she repeated under her breath as she shook her head.

  ***

  "I just love the view driving through Crawford Notch," Trixie said.

  "Hmm and I thought you liked flat corn cob land," Matilda said.

  "I like variety."

  "As much fun as I’m having discussing corn-fed farm boys and Iowa hot dogs with you, my mind keeps wondering back to Buggy's murder. We seem to be in a deep rut with our investigation, Trixie."

  "Yep, we haven’t gotten past square one," Trixie acknowledged. "We have two suspects and haven't even had a chance to question them."

  "I'm a little depressed that we’re making so little headway," Matilda admitted.

  "Yeah, they make it looks so easy to solve a murder mystery in a TV series, but in real life, its hard work," Trixie said. "I've worked my fingers to the bone already on this case," she added looking at her fingernails."

  "You are impossible, Trixie!" Matilda said.

  "Now tell the truth, just how much time have we spent trying to find who killed Buggy? An hour?
Two hours. God forbid, a whole day maybe!"

  "Okay, okay, I get your point. From now on we must put more time and effort into the case. Now hush and enjoy the scenery."

  "What kind of parrot are you going to get? Another macaw?" Trixie asked a few minutes later as they descended from Crawford Notch and sped down Route 302 that meandered through the dark and sometimes foreboding woods of the White Mountain National Forest. "Gee, I would hate to get lost in the White Mountains," Trixie added as she glanced out the window.

  "I'm not sure what kind of parrot to get. I’ll know the one I want when I see it," Matilda finally answered.

  "Wow, that is so profound!" Trixie said.

  "Yes, it is. I don't want to go to the shelter with my mind set on a macaw, if I do I might overlook another kind of parrot that might be a better fit for Tara's personality. Now please keep your eyes on the road. I do believe you have seen trees before."

  "There's aren’t many trees in Iowa," Trixie said.

  "Please, we’ve spoken about corn fields enough for one day. Oh, be sure to stop at the liquor store on the way back," Matilda said as she spotted the state liquor store as they entered North Conway."

  "Yeah, I need some Jägermeister. Shots of Jägermeister and beer between ski runs keeps me toasty on the snowy slopes."

  "You do know that Jägermeister is considered medicine for an upset stomach in Germany and wasn't meant to be drunk as shots with beer?" Matilda said.

  "No, but it does taste like medicine," Trixie said.

  "Ah, if it tasted like medicine, why do you drink it as shots? Oh, never mind I already know the answer. You do it because everyone else at the bar at the Village House does it."

  Instead of answering, Trixie pulled into the parking lot of the animal shelter and bird sanctuary

  "Time to adopt your second child, Miss Matilda."

  "That would be the fourth as I feel like I am still raising you and Smiley," Matilda said as she opened the door of the SUV. "Oh, make that the fifth child, Bozo plum slipped my mind. Gee, they could make a sitcom about the staff of the Franklin Inn and call it A Fun House.

  "No. It would have to be called Mommy Dearest!”

  "Lies. All that about Joan Crawford was pure lies," Matilda said as she tapped her walking stick against the ground. "Hmm, makes me wonder what you are telling people about me behind my back."

  "I usually start with words like grumpy, dumpy, goofy, and snarly. After that it goes downhill,"

  "Ha! You don't even know the name of the seven dwarves," Matilda said as she marched toward the entrance.

  "I do, but happy and bashful don't describe you, Miss Matilda."

  "Hmm!" Matilda said in a huff as she opened the door.

  "Hello," a strong voice called out.

  Matilda and Trixie glanced to the right expecting to see a man. Instead, they saw an Indian Ring Neck Parrot sitting on a perch.

  "I see you have met our ambassador, Rudy," a man with a beard and hair longer than Smiley’s said as he approached. "He greets everyone."

  "Hmm, and here I thought I was special," Matilda said.

  The man opened his mouth to speak but closed it.

  "I never get used to her humor," Trixie said as she smiled at the confused man.

  "I'm here to adopt a companion bird for my Scarlet Macaw. And she already say's hello to the guest. Anyway, Rudy is too small. Tara would bully him for sure."

  "Yes, you need a larger parrot if you are looking for a companion bird for a macaw. Unfortunately, we don't have any macaws at this time. We do have a couple of cockatoos."

  "Okay," Matilda said. "Introduce me to them."

  "Sure, please follow me," the man said stiffly.

  "I think you got off on the wrong foot with him," Trixie whispered to Matilda as they followed the clerk to the back of the shop.

  "Here is a nice friendly Umbrella Cockatoo. We’ve had her for a couple of months. The owner was in the army and had to do a tour in Afghanistan. I think she would make a good companion for your macaw."

  "What else? Matilda said shaking her head. "She’s too gentle looking. I don't have time to cuddle all day."

  "Well, that might be a problem. Most cockatoos love to be cuddled. Okay, over here is Roger, a Goffin Cockatoo. His owner, an old woman... I mean a senior…died. She treated him like he was her grandchild. He's very loving."

  Matilda shook her head. “No, I don't think so. He's been too coddled for life at the inn."

  "Hey! What's your problem? What's your problem?"

  Matilda thought the clerk had spoken but then realized that the voice was coming from the corner of the room.

  The clerk sighed. "That's John Paul, a Rose-Breasted Cockatoo. He started using my voice a few days ago. He’s untrained and a biter." He held up a bandaged finger. "The couple that owned him had a baby, and they were afraid Roger might climb into the crib and bite the child. They surrendered him so we could find a good home for him. In other words, they treated him like their child until a real one came along. And then they turned their attention to the baby and couldn't be bothered with him," the clerk said, “I don't think he is adoptable."

  "Let me be the judge of that," Matilda said as she walked toward the cockatoo who was sitting on his perch holding a partially eaten peanut in his left foot.

  The cockatoo glanced at the clerk. "What's your problem, creep!" the bird screamed so loudly that Matilda put her hands over her ears.

  "Hello, what’s your name?" Matilda asked as she removed her hands from her ears. "Is your name John Paul?"

  "What's your problem?" the bird screamed.

  "Miss Matilda, don't you think he might be a little loud for the inn?" Trixie asked.

  "And Bozo isn't loud when he runs up and down the halls shouting, "I'm a caped crusader?" Matilda asked.

  "Point taken," Trixie said. She glanced at the beautiful pink and white cockatoo. "John Paul is a pretty bird."

  "John Paul is a bad bird. Bad bird," the cockatoo screamed. "Bitey bird. No Good Bird!"

  "Ah...I believe the couple became abusive to John Paul after the baby arrived. John Paul didn't like the baby, and they were afraid he would attack him. They kept John Paul locked in his cage."

  Matilda reached her hand toward the cockatoo. "Tickle, tickle?" she asked.

  John Paul lifted his right wing.

  "Be careful," the clerk said.

  "Ha! Ha!" John Paul laughed in a deep man's voice.

  "You aren't a bad bird. You're a funny bird, John Paul," Matilda said.

  John Paul dropped his peanut and walked the length of his perch. He turned around and screamed, "Bad bird! Bad Bird!" as he walked back toward Matilda.

  "I want to adopt John Paul," Matilda said.

  "Miss Matilda, are you sure?" Trixie asked.

  "Yes, he’s Franklin Inn material for sure."

  "Ah...you have to take his cage if you take him and it’s expensive," the clerk told her.

  "Whatever," Matilda said as she reached into the pocket of her blouse and pulled out an American Express card. "Don't leave home without it," she said as she handed it to the clerk. "You will have to deliver the cage so take out for that too."

  "Ah, it's best we transport John Paul in his cage. He would destroy a travel cage before you could get out of North Conway," the man cautioned.

  ***

  "Miss Matilda, I sure hope you know what you’re doing in adopting John Paul. He's going to be a handful."

  "So were you, but I took you in after you got over the death of your parents. And I took in Bozo from a freak show and Smiley straight from a rehab clinic. I’m used to loud annoying people around me all day. Oh, there's the liquor store. Don't forget to stop."

  Chapter Ten

  "Miss Matilda, isn't that Jack McGurin's car?" Trixie asked as she pulled into the liquor store parking lot.

  "Yep, it seems it's our lucky day," Matilda said as Trixie stopped the car. "Here's a list of what I want," she said handing Trixie a handwritten note on
a paper napkin.

  "Really, you used one of the napkins from the restaurant? And gee it's got chili stains."

  "Save not, want a lot," Matilda said.

  "Miser," Trixie said under her breath as Matilda walked in front of her like a blind woman, tapping her walking stick against the ground. "Hmm, if she wore dark glasses everyone would swear she was blind," Trixie mumbled.

  Matilda heard Trixie's comments but ignored them. She knew that she tapped the walking stick excessively when agitated. It had become a habit which she planned on correcting.

  For some reason Matilda always found the sight of bottle after bottle in a liquor store delightful. It made her feel like a kid in a candy store. She had to force her eyes from the colorful bottles to scan the customers meandering through the aisles. Where is he? Matilda thought as she wandered the aisles.

  "Carol," Matilda called out when she spotted Jack's wife with a huge bottle of cheap vodka in her arms.

  "Hi, Miss Matilda," the woman answered. Matilda could easily see why Jack had married her. She was an older version of Nicole, with the same beautiful dark eyes and high cheekbones.

  "Is jack here too?"

  "No, he's conducting a ski seminar for ski instructors. So, it was up to me to make the liquor run. As you can see, I buy the cheap stuff. We have a cocktail party for ski instructors every Friday. Can't afford to pour them the expensive stuff."

  "A cocktail party, Hmm, I think I'll start having one for my guests every night at five," Matilda said and chuckled. "I'll just increase the price per person to cover the expense."

  "I’m glad I ran into you, Miss Matilda. Jack has been wanting to talk to you about giving discounts for breakfast to Cannon's ski instructors. You know, they don't make much money. They usually want to become ski instructors for the prestige, not the pay."

  "Yep, being an instructor on Cannon Mountain is a badge of excellence," Matilda agreed. "Tell Jack to stop by the inn anytime." Matilda let her voice carry a hint of sadness as she continued. "It's awful what happened to Buggy."

  "Dreadful. It broke Nicole's heart."

  "Yeah, she stopped by to bring flowers to the spot where Trixie found Buggy's body. She told me that Buggy stopped by your house to ask for your blessing to marry Nicole."