Never Steal a Cockatiel (Leigh Koslow Mystery Series Book 9) (22 page)

“That’s my boy!” Olan cried. “You’re okay. Come to Daddy!”

He reached into his pocket, pulled out a plastic bag, and dropped some small orange chunks at his feet. “I brought your favorite! Come and get it. It’s okay, baby…”

Olan continued crooning to the bird, and within a few moments the cockatoo walked out from under the bush and began pecking at the fruit on the ground.

The assembled crowd let out a collective sigh, but their relief turned quickly back to concern. The bird’s white breast and forewing were splattered with blood.

“Oh, precious,” Olan moaned, bending down slowly toward the parrot. “What happened to you?”

Morgan took a step closer. “If you can hold him, I’ll take a look,” she suggested.

When the cockatoo had consumed all the available fruit, it willingly hopped onto Olan’s arm. He carefully circled its neck with his fingers, cooing all the while, until he had the bird under his control. Morgan slipped up and gently examined the bloodied breast and wing. “He doesn’t act hurt,” she said curiously.

“No,” Olan agreed hopefully. “He doesn’t, does he?”

After as thorough a look as Morgan could take without upsetting the bird, she stepped back with a frown.

“You know,” she said, planting a hand on one cocked hip. “I don’t think that’s
his
blood.”

The policemen looked at each other. “No?” the chief asked.

Morgan shook her head. “I think he nailed somebody.”

“You
would
do that, wouldn’t you, my precious?” Olan said proudly, moving the bird slowly towards the carrier Morgan had brought. Morgan pulled the plastic bag back out of Olan’s pocket, then tossed the remaining fruit in the back of the carrier. “Thank you, dear,” Olan replied, lowering the bird towards the opening.

The bird struggled in the direction of the fruit, and Olan gently released him as he moved inside. Olan then closed the door behind the bird and wiped weepy eyes with his sleeve. “He’s okay,” he murmured, looking weak with relief. “He’s okay.”

“This bird was stolen from you?” the chief asked.

Olan nodded. “Last night. There was a ransom note. I—” He hiccupped. “I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe anyone
could
take him. He won’t let just anybody touch him. But then I saw the fruit on the ground. By his cage on the patio.” Another hiccup. “Zeussie just can’t resist mango!”

“Chief?” one of the policemen interrupted, pocketing his radio as he walked up.

The older officer turned. “Yeah?”

“Polanski requested some non-urgent assistance over at her house. You want me to check it out?”

The chief nodded. “I’ll be by in a few.” He turned back to Olan. “Would you mind coming down to the station? We’d like to get some more information from you.”

Olan did not look thrilled at the prospect, but he nodded in acquiescence.

Leigh watched the younger officer stride toward his squad car. Assistance at the Polanski house?

Maura’s duplex was only a few blocks away.

Leigh started walking.

Chapter 20

Leigh could hear the commotion as soon as she turned the corner. Some kind of crowd had gathered — and was still gathering — in front of Maura’s house, along the sidewalks, and out into the street. It wasn’t an unruly crowd, but the people she fell into step with as she neared were clearly on a mission. People of all ages and an assortment of pets appeared to be assembling for some sort of event.

As Leigh walked closer she could see Maura standing on her front porch while little Eddie gazed out over the crowd from his belly pack. The much shorter figure standing by Maura’s side had been gesturing for the crowd to come closer, and as Leigh complied along with the rest, a husky voice began to speak.

“Come on up, everybody,” Skippy called with authority. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. We all know what’s been going on around here lately, and we all know it’s got to be stopped. I don’t know about you people, but Skippy Titus don’t let
anybody
mess with her birds! And you’re not going to let some cowardly scumbag mess with your pets anymore either, are you? Well, I say,
are you?”

“No!” a woman shouted from near to Leigh. “I’ve had enough!”

“Nobody’s messing with my animals, I can tell you that!”

“Mine either!”

“No way!”

A chorus of determined voices ensued, mixed with a smattering of enthusiastic applause, and Leigh’s heart warmed.

“We let this happen!” Skippy continued when the noise died down. “Because we were all too damn scared to say anything. And what’s that got us? Nothin’!”

Again the crowd applauded, and many voices cried out in agreement.

The officer Maura had summoned made his way slowly up onto the porch, and to Leigh’s surprise, the crowd cheered him, too.

“Police can’t do dip squat to protect our pets if we won’t talk to ’em!” Skippy railed. “You’uns know me and I ain’t no cop lover, but we got to do what we got to do, you know what I’m sayin’?”

There were more hoots and applause.

“This scumbag’s been terrorizing us — all of us — for weeks now, and we’ve not only put up with it, we’ve helped the bastard! We’ve helped him by doing exactly what he says, by being quiet. Well, I say that’s over! No more divide and conquer! Scumbag’s got to deal with
all
of us now!”

Cheers resounded.

“He can’t take everybody’s pets!”

“We got to all stand together!”

“He don’t stand a chance then!”

The commotion only grew louder as the officer, Maura, and Skippy conferred among themselves. Finally Skippy turned to the crowd again and raised her hands in the air. “So here’s what we’re going to do!” she yelled. “Instead of nobody talking, we’re
all
going to talk. Every person here’s going to come up and get a sheet of paper, put down your name and number, and write down what you know. Whatever you’ve seen, whatever you’ve heard. If you don’t know nothing, then write that. Don’t matter! Copper here’s going to pick them all up and call the people who need called. Then they’re going catch this bastard and put his scrawny behind in jail where he belongs!”

The crowd erupted with enthusiasm, and as Maura and the officer began distributing sheets of paper and pencils from the porch, people pressed forward to participate.

“Isn’t it wonderful!” piped up a voice at Leigh’s elbow. She looked down to see Mrs. Gregg, the waiting room’s nearly permanent occupant, smiling from ear to ear. “People have been talking about doing something like this, but who would have thought Skippy would be the one to get it done?”

Leigh confessed that she had not, and wondered to herself if the kidnapping of Olan’s bird last night might have spurred Skippy into action. She could easily picture Olan calling up his supposed rival and bawling out his grief over the phone. They were both bird people, after all. They might disagree on method, but they understood each other.

“It’s so lovely to see one’s community come together in times of crisis,” Mrs. Gregg beamed.

“Yes,” Leigh agreed, smiling herself as she watched everyone move up to the porch in an orderly manner, collect their papers and pencils, then move out of the way to find someplace to write. Car hoods were popular, as were nearby concrete porch railings, the sidewalk, and other people’s backs.

“Everybody take a sign, too!” a cheerful voice called out from near the porch. When Leigh moved close enough, she could see that Ginny Ledbetter had set up a card table in Maura’s front yard. In front of her were photocopied sheets of bright yellow paper adorned with thick black marker. On the top of each was a copy of the skull and knife drawing that formed the signature on Ginny’s ransom note. “Hey, Bonehead!” the signs proclaimed. “We’re watching YOU!!!”

“It’s a little crude,” Ginny said apologetically as Leigh approached the table. “My grandson did it. But it gets the point across, don’t you think?”

“Perfectly,” Leigh agreed, reaching down to pat Lucky. He sat on the grass by Ginny’s side, attached to her wrist by a leash.

“I brought him home,” Ginny said proudly. “We’re not going to let that weaselly fiend scare us anymore!” She leaned in toward Leigh and lowered her voice. “Besides which, the Jack Russell was a terror and my sister thinks she can cook.” She rolled her eyes toward heaven. “Mercy, I’ve never had such indigestion!” Her voice got louder again. “Everybody take a sign!”

Leigh took a sign, figuring she would put it up at the clinic as a show of solidarity. Then she gradually made her way up onto the porch towards Maura. Baby Eddie was kicking up a storm, energized by the buzz of activity around him. He stared out at everyone with a look of fascination until Leigh approached and smiled at him, at which point his expression turned dour.

“Hey, Koslow,” Maura greeted. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s great,” Leigh agreed. “You think it will work?”

“Can’t hurt. It’ll certainly make the perp think twice about picking another victim from this area. And between these tips and what’s been coming into the clinic, we could get lucky.”

Leigh staked out a spot on the porch and waited until the crowd had dispersed and the Avalon policeman had taken his stack of tip sheets back to the station. Although several clusters of citizens remained nearby, talking and making plans for sign postings, Leigh did finally manage to steer Maura far enough out of anyone else’s earshot to speak privately.

“I was there when Olan came for his bird,” Leigh said, figuring the other officer had already filled Maura in on the basics. “Morgan found it, actually. But unless she’s a better actress than I think she is, she didn’t know
what
bird we were looking for until I told her.”

“What makes you so sure?” Maura asked.

Leigh explained how Morgan had helped to clip Zeus’s wings.

“Interesting,” Maura replied, playing absently with Eddie’s feet while she mulled the thought over. “What’s more interesting is how a flightless bird ended up there in the first place. Olan lives in McKees Rocks. However the bird got loose, it didn’t fly over the river. Somebody snatched it there and drove it over here, then lost it. And it was found wandering not two blocks from where you found Lucky — which was right outside the clinic.”

Leigh groaned. “I do not like the way that sounds.”

“Neither do I. But it’s bound to cause talk.” Maura’s forehead furrowed with thought. “Do you think anyone at the clinic is aware that they’re being considered as a potential suspect?”

Leigh considered. “I don’t think so. I haven’t noticed anyone acting paranoid. But we did get that one accusatory note in the mail, and after it gets around where Zeus was found, more people could start to wonder. Then the staff are bound to get sensitive and start looking over their shoulders.”

Maura nodded in agreement. “McCleary said there was blood on the bird?”

Leigh’s stomach soured. She didn’t like thinking about bloody feathers. No matter whose blood it was. “Yes, but the bird didn’t appear to be injured. Zeus is a pretty aggressive cockatoo. I’ve seen him take stabs at people before. My guess is that whoever kidnapped him got a little more trouble than they bargained for.”

Maura considered. “Olan believed the bird was tempted from its cage and into a carrier with a food lure. He didn’t think anyone else would be able to handle it otherwise.”

“I’d say he’s right,” Leigh agreed. “Maybe after they stole the bird, they tried to move it to another cage, and it attacked. That could explain how it got away.”

“And Lucky,” Maura added. “The kidnapper most likely tried to lure him off the same way, then made the mistake of trying to pick him up.”

He’ll take your face off.
Leigh remembered the colorful warning associated with both animals. “So the petnapper had both animals in his control, at least for a while, then was startled by a surprise attack and lost hold of them. Lucky ran off and headed towards home. But the bird couldn’t go far even if it did know which way to go. It was just wandering around, scared and looking for food.”

“Which means both animals were being held at some point near the clinic.”

Leigh shook her head. “Not necessarily. I saw Lucky’s paws. He had run a long way.”

Maura’s lips pursed. “It will look bad for the clinic, just the same.”

“Fabulous,” Leigh said with a sigh.

Maura’s phone buzzed, and she looked down at the number. “Hang on, Koslow,” she ordered, answering it. “Hey there, deputy! What’s up?” She listened a moment. “Well, as a matter of fact, we have had a few developments. Olan’s bird wandered into somebody’s backyard here in Avalon this morning. The bird’s back with his owner now, safe and sound. Can’t say as much for our petnapper. The bird evidently had some secondhand blood on its feathers.”

As Maura described the scene Leigh had just described to her, followed by an accounting of the community gathering, Leigh wondered to whom Maura could be talking. Was the county sheriff’s office involved now, too? The many and overlapping divisions of law enforcement in Pittsburgh were beyond mind-boggling.

“No, haven’t had a chance to look into that yet,” Maura continued. “But I’m definitely not ruling it out.” Leigh puzzled over Maura’s tone, which was warmer than her usual detective voice. “Oh, really? Not sure about that. You want to ask your mom? She was there.”

Leigh stiffened.
Allison?
Maura had been talking all this time to
Allison?!
She fixed the detective with a glare even as she reached for the phone.

Maura handed it over with a smirk.

Leigh took it. “Allison?”

“Hi, Mom. Don’t freak out. I just wanted to know if any other pets had been stolen… or anything. You could have told me Zeus was okay,” Allison added with a touch of hurt. “I was worried about him too, you know.”

“I know,” Leigh defended. “I’m sorry. But I came straight over here afterwards and wound up in the middle of a citizens’ rally. You would be proud of Skippy. She was brilliant.”

“Can you get me a sign?” Allison asked. “And also, I was wondering, did Olan say what kind of food the petnapper used to lure Zeus out of his cage last night?”