Animal Whisperer: Take Back My Life and Love Chapter 104: The Birdbrained Witness

Simon shook his head. "No, it’s just a common surname. I suspect that’s part of why the hospital mix-up happened in the first place."

Nancy couldn't hide her disappointment.

"Mom left behind some manuscripts," Simon added. "I was afraid of losing them, so I keep them in a bank safety deposit box. I can't make heads or tails of the writing—it’s full of hand-drawn diagrams, animal skeletons, and cellular structures. I have a feeling you might actually understand it. Once we wrap up this case, I'll take you to see them."

Nancy’s interest was instantly piqued, and she nodded eagerly.

Just then, the frantic flapping of wings announced Master Crow’s return. Nancy and Simon exchanged a quick look and followed the bird immediately. "I discovered something huge! Follow me!"

Master Crow eyed the bucket of fish in Simon’s hand. "Hide the fish first. I'm just worried that those folks would swarm the fish without me being able to ask anything!"

After Nancy "translated," Simon found a secluded spot and stashed the bucket.

Master Crow led them downstream to a mudflat where a group of Black-crowned Night Herons was holding a "nightly tea party." These creatures looked like the penguins of the bird world—stout, blue-gray bodies perched on short legs. When they tucked their necks in, they looked exactly like walking bowling pins. The best part was the few strands of white feathers atop their heads that bobbed whenever they spoke, looking for all the world like sentient cowlicks.

Night herons are the most common birds by the water, and they rarely let birdwatchers leave empty-handed. Nancy thought the tufts on their heads, paired with their round little eyes, gave them the air of elder statesmen who were trying to be Machiavellian but couldn't quite do the math.

Nancy crouched down, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. "Hello, friends. I’m a detective with the police. Did any of you see anything here two nights ago?"

The colony erupted into a flurry of chatter, their head-tufts trembling as they whispered among themselves. Finally, the largest heron was pushed to the front. This "spokes-bird" cleared its throat importantly, tucked its wings behind its back, and assumed the stance of a seasoned negotiator.

It tilted its head, eyeing Nancy with an air of superiority. "Cough! I am the one in charged here! However… our information isn't free!"

A younger, more impulsive heron chimed in greedily. "Exactly! One piece of information is going to cost you three fish!"

The spokes-bird immediately smacked the youngster on the head with a wing before turning back to Nancy with a look of profound wisdom. "Idiot! We can't possibly make things easy for these humans!"

It turned to Nancy and spoke in a cocky tone. "Three pieces of information for one fish! Did you hear that? Otherwise, we'd be losing out on profits here!"

Nancy’s eyes widened. She had a whole list of haggling points ready, but they died in her throat. Did this bird just haggle against its own interests? It seemed the rumors were true—these birds really couldn't do math.

A slightly sharper-looking heron rushed forward, flapping its wings. "Wait! Boss! You got it all wrong! It should be three fish for one piece of information!"

The leader tilted its head, its tuft bending into a literal question mark. "Is there even any difference?"

The younger bird stamped its feet in frustration. "Gosh! It's a huge difference! We would go bankrupt if you make that deal!"

The leader had a sudden epiphany. "Oh! Well then, five pieces of information for one fish then!"

Nancy’s shoulders shook as she fought back a laugh. These poor birds were calculating their way into bankruptcy. "Deal!"

Before Nancy could even ask a question, the spokes-bird started spilling everything like a tipped bucket of beans. It flapped its wings, reenacting the scene with dramatic flair. "It happened two nights ago! Hmmm… According to human logic, I guess that'll be… um… before the sun rose twice!"

The bird used its wings to mimic someone pushing a heavy weight. An older heron nodded solemnly. "There was a fishing boat! Two burly looking men was holding an old man captive. They pushed him into the water!"

Suddenly, the leader flew over. "That was really scary! We saw everything!"

It mimicked what it saw. "We know that boat, we see it all the time around here."

It lowered it's voice and said, "They seem like they're fishing, but we've been watching it and they seem to be looking for something."

Suddenly, it covered the spokes bird's beak.

The spokes bird was looking around nervously and said, "Shuush! That'll cost you more! We can't tell her that the fishing boat found a jar."

Nancy asked, her suspicion rising. "What were they pulling out? Jars?" Could it be smuggling?

The leader, unaware it had already leaked the secret, continued its description. "Jars with big ears! They seem heavy."

Jars with "ears"—they sounded like the bronze or ceramic vessels from a history textbook.

"They said something about water holes being harder than dirt holes."

Nancy sensed that "water holes" and "dirt holes" were professional slang. She translated the bird’s chatter for Simon.

Simon stiffened. "That’s tomb-raiding slang. A 'water hole' is an underwater tomb; a 'dirt hole' is one on land."

Nancy’s eyes went wide. "So the people who killed Professor Korbin were tomb raiders? Did he stumble upon them while they were at it and get silenced?"

"It’s highly likely," Simon agreed, his expression grim.

The spokes-bird was still rambling on. "According to our other family members, they stayed by the water for a very long time now. But they only started looking for jars a few days ago. They said their boat was too small, and they needed to spilt the job into a few batches."

When the younger heron realized their leader was a total sieve. It lunged forward and used its wings to cover Nancy’s ears. "Stop listening! That information will cost you!"

Nancy nearly choked on her laughter. Their first instinct wasn't to shut the leader up, but to cover the human’s ears! She teased the little creatures by pointing to her head. "Too late! I heard it with both ears!"

The leader finally realized its mistake, its head-tuft drooping in shame. "Dammit! Cunning humans!"

The younger heron panicked. "Boss, we realized that we didn't ask her for a deposit! It'll cost her nothing if she refused to pay us after she got her information!"

"Don't worry," Nancy said, pulling out a bag of bird biscuits—a new shrimp-and-fish flavor they were bound to love. She laid them out before the herons. "This is just an appetizer. Once we finish collecting the clues, the real fish are yours!"

"What? Not only do we get fish? We get snacks too?"

The herons were stunned. "Gosh! We have found ourselves a rich person!"

The shrimp biscuits were gone in a heartbeat. The old heron sighed contentedly as it munched. "Wow! This tastes like heaven!"

The spokes bird said, "Say, who do you think made these snacks? They taste great!"