A Day with the Birds

(my photos)

Frank and George were surrounded by birds. Their boss had sent them to Florida for a case to work on. They had made sure to get down there a couple days ahead of time so that they could get a little sight seeing in. Then they would be meeting with  another detective to talk about the case.

“Oh look there are some flamingos!” said Frank.

“You don’t say, is that a fact?” replied George. “I see you know your birds, eh?”

“Ask me any facts about birds and yes sir, I will give you an answer. Can’t promise you that the answer will be correct but I will give you one!” he said to George, with a laugh. George rolled his eyes and they walked on.

“So what kind of bird is that?” asked George.

Frank was quiet as he squinted his eyes at it and scrunched up his face. What he does when he thinks really hard. “Umm… I will get back to you on that”,  he said.

” I bet you are familiar with the Cuckoo bird, in fact you both may have something in common.” laughed George.

“Hmm…and perhaps you know the Dodo bird very well!” Frank said with a smile.

They took turns at feeding the birds with the food that was there for them. They were glad they came to these gardens, it was a relaxing break for them.

Taking a break on a bench, they sat down to eat some lunch when someone else came by to say “Hi!”  It startled George so much, that he dropped his sandwich, and it was gobbled up in no time!

Frank turned to George and said, ” I have a tip for you, next time you may want to pack 2 sandwiches!” George mumbled a reply.

Frank patted him on the back, “Its OK, I will pay the check for supper tonight.”  George smiled, “Sounds like a 5 course meal coming up!” Frank groaned, as George was laughing this time.

After eating lunch, they continued their tour of the gardens. They talked about what they knew about the case so far, that their boss had sent them to investigate. The details were sketchy and they were not sure if the details were fact or fiction. Figuring out the truth would be a challenge.

There were 2 possible suspects involved in the case of the very valuable painting that was missing. One claimed to be a photographer, who was addicted to coffee and had a pet bunny. How could anyone suspect someone that had a sweet, cute bunny? Frank and George had seen the pictures of it. Though it was also believed that he had a gnu, who would have a gnu for a pet, and where did he get it from?

The second possible suspect claimed to be a math professor. That alone made him suspicious. How could anyone enjoy dealing with numbers! Plus it was believed that he just made the purchase of a large beach house. Did he sell the valuable painting that was stolen and spend that money on his new beach house?

Frank and George kept talking about the tips that kept being called into the police station, but so far, all of them were leading to dead ends.

They were quiet for a moment, until George’s stomach growled, breaking the silence.

“I think we should call it a day and go for supper. We can delve into this mystery tomorrow. Sound good?” asked Frank.

“YES!” said George. “Oh look! I know what that is. I am a bird expert too!” George said with a smirk.

“Very funny!” said Frank, as they made their way out of the gardens.