“Apparently,” Mason said, “for reasons best known to himself, your father decided to put Casanova in a safe place for a while, and take another parrot with him to the mountain cabin.”
“Good heavens, why?” Sabin asked. “The parrot wasn’t in any danger, was he?”
Mason shrugged his shoulders and said, “We haven’t all the facts available as yet.”
“If you’ll permit me to make a suggestion,” Waid said, “it seems that the parrot most decidedly was not in any danger. The person who murdered Mr. Sabin was especially solicitous about the welfare of the parrot.”
Mason said, “ Peculiarly solicitous, would be a better word, Waid... Well, I must be going. I have quite a few irons in the fire. You’ll hear from me later on.”
Sabin followed him to the door. “I’m particularly anxious to have this cleared up, Mr. Mason.”
Mason grinned. “So am I,” he said. “I’ll have photostatic copies made of this divorce decree and then we’ll chase down the court records.”
Chapter six
Mason was two blocks from the office building which contained his office and that of the Drake Detective Agency, when his car was suddenly enveloped in the red glare of a police spotlight. A siren screamed him over to the curb.
Mason stopped his car and frowned across at the police automobile being driven by Sergeant Holcomb. “Well,” he asked, “what’s the excitement?”