Chapter 9 corruption department starling

Friends of the Birds can always think of the case of old Mrs. Andlers, who left a million-dollar estate for thirty-eight starlings.But even bird lovers have no way of knowing Ellery's close relationship with the case, and his case records prove that he spread the wings of reasoning and made a graceful flight. Allow me to point out that he was assisted by the only bird detective ever. Mrs. Anders is a lonely old lady who has outlived all her relatives and friends. Her aging body makes her rely on a wheelchair to survive.The only people connected to her are her doctor, her lawyer, and her escort.Dr. Cook was a bloated man with the decadent charm of an overripe banana.Because Mrs. Andres was getting weaker and unable to do it herself, the doctor recommended De Rose lawyer to handle Mrs. Andres's affairs.The lawyer was an athletic man with a perpetual tan and a voice that sounded harsh to the old lady.The escort, also introduced by Dr. Cook, was the unsmiling Miss Bagot, who was suspiciously considerate.Mrs. Andlers tolerated her only because of the meticulous care she took of the birds.In this way, those starlings were just hobbies at first, but gradually became the meaning of the old lady's life.

These starlings come from South India and do speak human languages.They're a bunch of lively little creatures with funny yellow wattles and glossy black wings that reflect different colors, and they have deep voices.Some of them have a vocabulary of almost a hundred words.Andres considered them a great consolation, far more satisfying companions than Miss Bagot. She called them her home; like real family, she worried about their fate after her death. From there, the logical next step is to secure their future.Mrs. Andres directed Attorney De Rose to immediately transfer all of her vast estate into a fund for the purpose of feeding, caring for and caring for her birds.Mr. De Rose and Dr. Cook agreed to administer the fund, and Miss Baggott was appointed director for life.After the death of the last starling, the fund will be donated to the designated charity.

During this period, Mrs. Anders asked for very little.The bills were paid by the lawyer, and she was content with living with the starlings. Mrs. Anders sometimes felt that her pets had a flaw in that they couldn't play bridge. This was her only pleasure in old age besides raising birds.For this diversion she had to rely on Dr. Cook and Mr. de Rose, with Miss Baggott just filling the table.On the nights when these gentlemen and ladies took time to entertain her, the old lady nestled in a wheelchair at the bridge table, playing very steadily, ten to a penny.These evenings of bridge made her days even happier.

But on her last night, Mrs. Anders was not happy.When she entered her living room in a wheelchair, her usual cheerful face carried a menacing expression.Miss Baggott, who had set the bridge table and chairs, cast a quick glance at the doctor and lawyer. "No problem, Mrs. Anders?" Dr. Cook said kindly, waving his cigar. "You won't feel any pain tonight?" "A grand slam will cure everything, won't it, Mrs. Andlers?" roared De Rose. "Okay, old friends." "The game," said Mrs. Anders, motionless at the door, "it's over." In the bedroom next to her, thirty-eight eyes were watching all this without blinking.

"It's over?" Miss Baggot half stood up. "Hello, Grimace!" said a deep voice suddenly from somewhere behind Mrs. Andlers. "Quiet, Minnie," said the old lady without turning away, "you thought I fell asleep during my lunch break today, Miss Baggott, you're wrong. I heard you talking to Mr. de Rose on the phone. Talked to Dr. Cook. Do you really trust your accomplices? They're still busy dog-eat-dog!" "Accomplice? Dog eats dog?" Lawyer De Rose asked suspiciously. "I really don't understand what you think you heard, Mrs. Anders—" Dr. Cook began, smiling.

"Doctor, I've heard enough to understand why you brought Mr. de Rose and Miss Baggot into my life. You three are planning to steal my money. I was an old fool, but It is different now! First," said the old lady in a sharp voice, "you have to give back what you have taken. You have ten minutes to prepare to report to me the amount of funds you have stolen." "Ten minutes?" said the doctor in disbelief. "Ten minutes, Dr. Cook. Then we'll settle the score." "Say it!" said another deep voice. Mrs. Anders' wheelchair quickly backed into the bedroom and slammed the door.

The three at the bridge table were silent for a while.Then Dr. Cook said cheerfully, "Well, Betsy, you screwed up, or you should make it up." "Yes, it's all my fault," said Miss Baggot sharply. "I warned you both not to be so greedy—wait until she dies! Give the money back, and she may not sue us—" "As smart as you are," the doctor murmured, "I've spent my share at the horses. I've seen you drink and drink every day, De Rose, and it's the same. What advice do you have about our legal situation?" The lawyer put his cigarette rudely in the ashtray with his thumb.If it weren't for the tan, his face would have turned iron blue. "According to my original plan, we can continue to mine this gold mine for many years. Who can tell-the birds?"

"There's an old bird out there trying to tell. She's turning us over to the District Attorney!" said Miss Baggot viciously. "What if she can't tell?" "what?" "If she can't talk," said the lawyer, pinching the deck of bridge cards in his hand, "if the bridge game is ended early tonight, say, because Miss Bagot is unwell; if Dr. Cook gives her some sleeping pills, and Bagot Miss Gott went back to her room, and slept soundly, while the doctor and Mr. de Rose left; and if they were gone, the cunning burglars who had lately been rampant on the West Coast came in; if,' said the lawyer, looking at them, The lady startled him, frightened him into panic. It is known that he carried a knife—”

"No," whispered Miss Baggot, "no." "That's the only way," said the lawyer sarcastically, "unless you want ten years in prison. I don't. What about you, doctor?" "Your diagnosis," Dr. Cook said slowly, "convinced me." Then he said immediately, "Let's discuss the modus operandi before she returns..." Thirty-five seconds late when Ellery and Inspector Quinn burst into the Andres mansion.Ellery paused in the living room, bending over the still bleeding body in the wheelchair.His father kicked open the bedroom door with a pistol, and he was greeted by a whirlwind of black wings and muffled birdsong.But the detective cut through the chaos just in time to catch Dr Cook, Attorney De Ross and Miss Bagot, all attempting to climb through the same window to get to the emergency exit.

The interruption to the murder came so suddenly that the murderer had no time to replace the clean knife from the kitchen drawer. Later, as forensic assistants wheeled the fragile body into the room for examination, the mynahs danced around the closed door, jumping and talking, as if they knew what was going on. "Cut!" growled a very large bird. "Cut! Cut!" "Yeah, little black bird, that's right." Ellery grabbed the bird, stroked the feathers at its throat, and said to the three chained men with grim rage, "Whether you three What the heck did that beast do and it was doomed to fail. Mrs. Anders called me earlier this evening to tell me what she found out about the three of you and that she was going to take you three Call it all together and expose it all. I warned her not to show all the cards until we arrived, but apparently she was too angry to wait for us to arrive. And you just killed her."

"Cut!" the starling yelled again. "Good job, little bird." Inspector Quinn said hoarsely. "Then which one of you cut her up?" "You've misunderstood us, sir," said De Rose, with stiff lips. "The doctor and I are late, and Miss Baggott just came back from a walk. We all saw a masked man crawl out of the window. Then you knock on the door." , we were terrified—” "Stop it, lawyer!" "There must be a way to tell," muttered Ellery, walking to the bridge table. "Their visit tonight was ostensibly to play bridge—" "Hold on, son," Inspector Quinn said.The forensic assistant emerged from the bedroom. "How about it, Proudy?" "There are four stab wounds on the left chest," Dr. Proudy said as he spoke to the three silent people with great interest like a funeral director. "None of them can cause immediate death, but considering her age and physical condition, the cumulative effect is Deadly enough... what does it say?" "Cut, cut, cut!" cried Big Mynah.It struggled, and Ellery let it go. The bird jumped onto the bridge table and began to peck viciously at a card.After a while, it lost interest and flew away. "It said 'cut'." Dr. Proutie thought thoughtfully, "how can I say it, it must be a witness to the murder!" He shook his head and walked out. "Thirty-eight witnesses," Ellery said, biting his nails. "Maybe we should interrogate them, Dad." "I almost did that," said the Inspector, "but the truth seems to be that they weren't even there." "They're not there?" Ellery frowned. "Not in the living room where she was killed. I don't think you noticed, they flew in from the bedroom, after I kicked in the door and caught these lunatics... what happened to you?" "But if the big black bird wasn't at the scene of the crime, why did it keep saying 'cut'?" "How do I know?" the Inspector exasperated. "It's just a word it learned. Listen, son—" "No, Daddy, wait a minute." Then Ellery said softly, "You're right. It's a word he learned because Mrs. Anders loved bridge so much—she herself told me she used to play with these People play cards—it's cards!" A few minutes later, Ellery stood up from a chair by the card table, his voice making Dr. Cook, Lawyer de Ross, and Ms. Baggott even paler. "At some point tonight, you're sitting in these three chairs, because if it's Mrs. Anders, she has to use a wheelchair. What are you doing? The cards tell the whole story. The cards in the center of the table face up There are forty-nine cards in the pile. Three other cards are divided among the three of you, face up. Three of Hearts, King of Spades, Nine of Hearts." "They're cutting the cards!" said the Inspector. "Cut the cards and see who kills the old lady!" "The cards you haven't had time to remove," growled Ellery, "the way they're laid out even says who got which. Cool from the cigarettes in your breast pocket and the ashtray next to the King of Spades." Judging by the cigarette butts, Dr. Cook, it was you who drew the King of Spades. The cigarette butts in the ashtray next to the 9 of Hearts indicate your seat, De Rose, because if it was smoked by a woman, it would stain lipstick. So you, Miss Bagot, you have drawn a three of hearts." "3, 9, K," said the Inspector hoarsely, "that's right!" Ellery nodded. "exactly." "Of course the king of spades was the murderer," said the inspector. "It was you, Cook." "Not me!" said the doctor hastily. "Not you," Ellery agreed.His father turned to him. "Dad, it's impossible for a medically trained person to miss the fatal spot four times. Dr. Cook could have killed her with one blow." "But Cook has the best card," protested the Inspector. "So they're calling the losers, not the winners," Ellery said. "It's not the one who draws the highest card that kills, but the one who draws the lowest card. We all know De Rose drew the nine of hearts, and you're Three of Hearts." He said to the stiff woman, "This massacre was committed by you, Miss Bagot." Miss Baggott screamed in terror as the big mynah bird fell suddenly on top of her head. "Deduct one!" the bird cried. "I say Birdie, that's the first mistake you've made," Ellery said. "According to the law of this state, it's... three cards!"