“You’re going with me,” Mason told him, “and we’re making a rush trip to San Molinas.”
“What for?” Drake wanted to know.
“We’re going to steal a parrot,” Mason said.
“Steal a parrot?”
“That’s what I said.”
“You mean Casanova?”
“Yes.”
“What the devil do you want with him? ”
Mason said, “Get right down to brass tacks, Paul, and what do you have? You have a case which entirely revolves around a parrot. Casanova is the key clew to the whole affair. Notice that whoever killed Sabin was particularly solicitous about the welfare of the parrot.”
“You mean that it was someone who loved the parrot, or was tender-hearted about birds in general?”