“Well, make a figure eight, just for the sake of being absolutely certain,” Mason said.
When Drake had completed the maneuver, Mason nodded his satisfaction. “Okay, Paul, drive right to the bungalow.”
“That’s rather a snoopy neighbor,” Drake observed thoughtfully. “We’d better switch out the lights a block or so before we get to the house... How about parking a few doors away, Perry?”
“No,” Mason said, “I want to make it fast. You can drive around the block once, and I’ll size up the situation, then switch off your lights, and swing in to the curb as near the screen porch as you can make it... I hope this damned parrot doesn’t squawk when I start moving him.”
“I thought parrots slept at night,” Drake said.
“They do,” Mason told him. “But when they’re being dragged around the country in automobiles, they get nervous — and I don’t know how much of a squawk Casanova will make when I steal him.”
Drake said, “Now listen, Perry, let’s be reasonable about this thing. If anything goes wrong, don’t get pigheaded and keep trying to make the switch. I’ll be all ready to make a getaway. For God’s sake, drop that parrot and make a run for it.”
“I don’t think anything will go wrong,” Mason told him, “—not unless the house is being watched, and we should be able to find that out by swinging around the block.”
“Well, we’ll know in a minute,” Drake said, turning the wheel sharply to the left. “We’re within two blocks of the place now.”
He ran two blocks and swung once more to the left. Mason sized up the bungalow as they glided past. “The house is dark,” he said. “There are lights in the house next door, and lights across the street. The screen porch looks easy.”