Brownie and the Dame by C. L. Bevill Read Free Book Online Page B

they bring with them? My wife said they pour cheap wine and Cheetos on top of ice cream.” He grimaced in a way that suggested the thought of such a thing would make him vomit. “Twaddle.”
    I need a feather on my fedora , Brownie thought. Cheetos on top of ice cream don’t sound half bad.
      “And— ” Bryan trailed off as he realized what he was saying and to whom he was saying it “— what do you kids want?”
    “You called the emergency line yesterday,” Janie said, and Brownie swore the girl sounded just like a real cop. She could have fooled someone with a bright light and magnifying glass.
    “Yeah,” Bryan agreed in an uncomfortable tone of voice. “I called Mary Lou.”
    “You reported something was missing,” Janie went on.
    “Yes, but I dint say what,” Bryan said quickly. “I was a mite embarrassed once I put my mind to it.”
    “There has been another report of something missing,” Janie said. “We’re investigating the disappearance and need to know if yours is connected.”
    Dang, the girl is good . Brownie nodded in admiration. He thought he had it down, but Janie was guh-oooooddd.
    Bryan thought about it. “I’m still a bit red in the face,” he said. He paused to scratch the side of his neck.
    “Did the item go missing yesterday?” Janie questioned adroitly.
    “Sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning,” Bryan said.
    “Did you see anyone suspicious lurking about your residence or property?”
    “There was a squirrel who tried to eat my favorite birdhouse,” Bryan said, “but a dog chased him off before he could chew off the roof. I believe that squirrel was a socialist.”
    Janie took a moment to cogitate. “What is the missing item?”
    “Two of them actually,” Bryan said. “I ain’t gotta clue why someone would do something like that.”
    “We’ll need to see the scene of the crime,” Janie stated. Bryan blinked again.
    Finally the older man said, “It’s out back. Come on through.”
    Brownie and Janie followed Bryan through the house. They heard Mrs. McGee with her sister in the kitchen discussing what hats they were going to wear. “I favor the purple spotted one with McGuffin feathers,” one woman said.
    “There’s no such thing as a McGuffin,” the other one said.
    “It’s a big bird with purplish-blue feathers on his hiney. It’s related to a snipe. It’s in Webster’s.”
    “I believe you’re making that up.”
    “Well, these feathers have to come from something.”
    Brownie wondered what animal the feathers did come from.
    Much to his disappointment, Bryan McGee led them out the back door before the discussion between the two unseen women was finished.
    Janie said, “The second most important aspect to criminal investigation is to get to the crime scene early.”
    Brownie didn’t want to seem dense because Sam Spade hadn’t covered getting to the crime scene early. Sure, he’d hitched a ride with the cops to the scene of his partner’s murder, but it wasn’t because he wanted to get there early. Or at least, that hadn’t seemed particularly important to Spade. So he said, “Well, we don’t wanna get behind the eight ball and get sent down the river to the big house.”
    Janie shot Brownie a look of disgust.
    Bryan paused just outside of the back door and pointed.
    Brownie and Janie looked. They were looking at an old fashioned laundry line. The two t-shaped poles sat about twenty feet apart and were set into the grass with concrete. Four taut wires stretched between the two poles and several sheets fluttered in a Spring breeze.
    “Someone stole sheets?” Janie asked.
    Bryan’s lips went tight. “Not sheets.”
    Janie began to look around. She pointed out a birdhouse hanging on a low-lying bridge. The roof had been severely chewed. Brownie extracted his notepad and began to take notes with a beaten up Ninjago pencil. He didn’t see footprints on the grass, but it was two days after the crime had been committed. Also he