The Real Macaw: A Meg Langslow Mystery

one of the overgrown azaleas or boxwoods would break my fall. Even better, I could crawl down the ivy that was growing so thickly up the walls. I slipped the latch so I could try opening the window.
    “Meg? Are you all right?” Debbie Anne.
    “I’m fine,” I said.
    “Sammy’s about two minutes away, and the chief’s a minute or two behind him. They’re coming without sirens, so they can catch the intruder if possible.”
    The window slid up easily. No danger of being trapped in the attic.
    Through the open window I heard a familiar squeak.
    “I think they’re going to be too late,” I said, picking up the phone again. “I just heard the screen door open.”
    A car started outside, and roared off almost immediately.
    “They’re leaving,” I said.
    “They? Are there more than one?”
    “How do I know?” I said. “I can’t even see the car for all the shrubbery. He, she, or they just drove off in a hurry.”
    “I’ll tell the chief.”
    I returned to the stairway and occupied myself trying to see if I could stick something through the opening of the trapdoor and dislodge the latch. It didn’t take long to realize that if I hadn’t had my cell phone I’d have been stuck with crawling down the ivy.
    And I was definitely stuck for the time being, I took out my camera and the pages I’d copied from Parker’s files. It only took a few minutes to photograph the pages of the contract and the article and e-mail them off to Cousin Festus.
    I was pondering whether to call Michael or wait until I could report that I’d been safely rescued when I heard footsteps downstairs.
    “It’s us, Meg,” Sammy called. “Are you okay?”
    “I’m fine,” I said.
    “We’re searching the house first,” he said.
    “Okay.”
    I was sitting cross-legged beside the trapdoor, crossing off a few completed items in my notebook when the trapdoor lurched open slightly.
    “Blast!” the chief exclaimed.
    “Did it hit you?” I asked. I peered down. He was frowning at the stairway, but he didn’t appear to be nursing any wounds.
    “It would have if I didn’t have good reflexes,” he said. “Are you all right?”
    “I’m fine. Annoyed, but fine.”
    He pulled the ladder the rest of the way down and came marching up. I collected the suit and shirts from the nail where I’d parked them.
    “And just what were you doing up here?” he asked, when he reached the top of the stairs.
    “Finding some burial clothes for Parker.” I held up the hangers. “For some reason, Maudie objects to having one of her clients in a Hawaiian shirt at the viewing.”
    “I haven’t even released the body yet,” he said. “I probably won’t for days.”
    “You know Maudie. So Clarence asked me to come over and see if I could find something more suitable.”
    “In the attic?”
    “That’s where I found these.” I held up the clothes again. “He only had more Hawaiian shirts in the closet. But his household inventory showed that he stored his old business clothes in the attic. I was about to bring these down when someone closed and latched the door.”
    “You have no idea who?”
    I shook my head and pointed to the dormers. He picked his way through the boxes to stare out of each one.
    “Drat,” he said, after the second. “No, you can’t see a thing from up here. And you heard nothing?”
    “Random noises.” I shook my head. “Nothing that gave me a clue to who was down here.”
    “Did you snoop through the whole house before coming up here?” he asked.
    He’d probably have Horace fingerprinting the place before long. Honesty was probably the best policy.
    “Yes,” I said. “I asked Clarence, and he gave his okay. Though I didn’t search the cellar, assuming there is one. I figured it was the last place to look for clothes.”
    “Good,” he said. “Come down and tell me if you see anything missing or rearranged.”
    “Can you give me a minute?” I said. “I need to let Michael know I’ll be late.”
    Michael probably wouldn’t worry for hours yet, but I wanted to hear his voice. And look, just for a few seconds, at the picture of the boys that appeared whenever I turned on my cell phone.
    Michael’s phone went to voice mail immediately, so I left a brief message and hung up. Then I spent the next forty-five minutes inspecting all the rooms but to the chief’s disappointment I couldn’t identify any major changes. In fact, the only change I found at all was one that I’m not sure the chief even