“You’re not trying to solve a murder, figure out a burglary, or infiltrate a musical street gang?” Larry asked, as he sat down with his friend Detective Recluse. “You don’t have a case?”
“No case,” Detective Recluse said, “I just want to hear what’s going on with my friend Larry.”
Larry smiled and relaxed into his chair. “I wanted to talk to you about my problem with my neighbor’s bird.”
The famous Detective Recluse always solved cases during lunches with Larry. Larry now refused to eat with the detective until Recluse told him he was not working on a case. Recluse felt good about giving Larry his attention.
“The bird then ended up in my house,” Larry said, and Recluse realized he had missed some of the story. He couldn’t tell Larry to clarify since he was finally supposed to be listening. He needed to pay attention. However, something in the back of his mind bugged him. A woman, Jane, had phoned him a few times about mysterious notes.
“So when the bird disappeared, my neighbor came over and accused…” Larry said.
Jane could not think of anyone with a motive, Recluse thought, but the notes kept turning up at her door, and the last one read, be careful when the letters fall.
“I’m trying to figure out where the bird went,” Larry said. “Of course, I didn’t want the bird in my house in the first place.”
Recluse’s mind worked fast now. He realized that Jane would likely visit the post office today because her sister’s birthday was in three days, and Jane had likely knitted something for her sister. He also suspected that the person writing the notes worked at the post office.
“So what should I do?” Larry asked, just as Detective Recluse jumped out of his seat.
“There’s about to be a murder!” Recluse yelled. He ran off, leaving Larry with his bird issues.