The Magician's Bird (11 page)

Laurie stared at the stage. Walker LeFranco was still talking, but she couldn't hear anything, just the sound of blood pounding in her ears. She could see Misti's shocked face as she turned around in her seat to stare at Laurie and Bud. And she could see Bud's mouth hanging open as he gaped at the bird.

It was sitting there, a beautiful metal bird just like the one they'd found in the secret room. It looked exactly the same. Except the bird they'd found was still hidden. Wasn't it?

Laurie felt a hand on her arm and let herself be dragged outside into the sunlight.

“How did he get the bird?” It was Misti's voice, but Laurie hadn't even seen Misti leave her seat.

Laurie shook her head. It didn't make sense. “I don't know. Do you think he knows about the secret room?”

“He couldn't, could he?” Bud sat on the step.

“But he's got the bird! If he's got the bird, he knows about the room. Unless . . .” Misti frowned. “Are there
two
birds?”

Laurie laughed bitterly. “No, there's just the one. That's the whole point. It was one of a kind, and only Marchetti knew the secret.”

“Then . . .” Misti hurried back to the doorway. “Hold on a second.” She stepped quietly back inside.

Laurie and Bud exchanged a glance and then plowed back in after her.

Reginald was at the microphone. “Well, it's like I said. I was clearing the room out, and I found this bird here.”

“Yes, I know.” The reporter for the
Daily Herald
sounded irritated. “But where
exactly
was it? In a box? On a shelf? Where?”

Reginald glanced at Walker LeFranco. “That's it. In a box on a shelf. That's right.”

Walker LeFranco stepped in front of Reginald. “Now that we've answered everything—”

“Excuse me, but I have a question.”

Laurie's ears pricked up. She'd recognize Calliope's voice anywhere.

Walker LeFranco frowned. He and Calliope were neighbors, but they'd had a falling-out earlier in the year. It didn't look like they'd made up.

“Yes, Miss Judkin?” The windows almost started to frost up, his voice was so cold.

“That's a pretty bird, but can you make it work?”

Walker LeFranco glared daggers at her. “Excuse me?”

“You know, make it unfurl its wings and sing, and all the stuff the Marchetti Bird is supposed to do. If you can't make it do that, how do we know it's the real one?”

Walker LeFranco smirked at her. “It's the real one.”

“So make it sing.”

Walker LeFranco's smirk looked a little less smug. “Cute.”

Without another word, he clapped his hands and looked over Calliope's head into the crowd. “Thank you all for coming today! I will have exclusive photos of the bird in tomorrow's paper, along with details about Tutweiler's murder plot. Thank you!”

Walker LeFranco swept the Marchetti Bird up in his arms and hustled Reginald out of the room.

Laurie stared at the door he'd gone through in shock.

She was still staring at it when Misti came running back over and grabbed her arm.

“Okay, first things first. We get back to the secret room. NOW.”

“But if he found the bird, he knows! That's where he'll be going!” Bud protested.

Misti shook her head. “I don't think so. I don't think that's the same bird.”

“Stop!”

They were halfway to the shed when Misti skittered to a stop, forcing Bud to slam into her and knock his chin against her shoulder.

“What the heck, Misti?” Bud said, feeling around in his mouth with his tongue to make sure he still had all his teeth. He did.

“We're so stupid! This isn't going to prove anything,” Misti said, rubbing her shoulder. That Bud sure had one bony chin.

“What do you mean? If the bird is there, it's not the same one. Simple.” Laurie bobbed up and down on her heels. They were wasting time.

“Unless it just means that LeFranco got there before us and put it back. You know something weird's going on with that room.” Misti tucked the chicken legs dangling from her hat behind her ears. “Look, this is what we do. We have to split up. You guys go check on the bird. I'll tail LeFranco and keep him and his bird in sight. If we coordinate, we'll have definite proof.” Misti reached in her pocket and pulled out her hot pink phone. “I've got my baby phone. And you guys have your high-tech real phones. If we coordinate, we should be able to keep visual contact on both subjects at all times. Roger?”

Laurie nodded. She thought she knew what she had agreed to. It was hard to be sure, though, since Misti seemed to have lapsed into her own version of military talk.

“We'll meet up later,” Misti said, taking off back toward the courthouse and LeFranco. “And be careful! If I'm wrong, he could be in there already!”

Misti disappeared down the road as Bud and Laurie started jogging back in the direction of the shed.

“Sure, we're the ones who are risking getting caught,”
Bud grumbled. “We're the ones risking the face-to-face in the secret room. Nice of her to wait until she was halfway down the street to point that out.”

Laurie grinned at him. “You noticed that, huh? That Misti's no dummy.” Then she took off at a sprint, leaving Bud in the dust.

Reginald was coming down the courtyard steps when Misti spotted him and made a beeline for him.

“Oh, no. No indeed, not another one.” Reginald took a step back. “I've had enough of you kids, with that girl reporter and that other liquid spiller. Just stay away from Reginald, you hear me?”

Misti tried not to be hurt. She and Laurie had only spilled one drink one time. It didn't seem fair to brand them as liquid spillers for the rest of their lives.

“I just want to talk to you!” Misti said mournfully.

“Forget it.” Reginald pushed past her down the steps.

“And not even really
you
! I just wanted to know if you knew where LeFranco was going,” Misti half wailed. It would've been a full wail, but she didn't want to tip LeFranco off if he was nearby.

Reginald hesitated. “That's all?”

Misti nodded. “That's all.”

“No questions? Don't want to interrogate me about that bird?”

Well, yeah, sure she did. But Misti shook her head anyway. “No. Just LeFranco.”

Reginald stopped and looked at her. He wasn't under any obligation to keep pesky kids away from LeFranco, especially if it got them out of his hair. And how much damage could one girl do? It's not like she had any liquids with her. And she was wearing a Clucker hat. That
would really get LeFranco's goat. “He's fixing to leave. Should be in the parking lot out back still, so you better hurry if you're planning to catch him.”

“Thank you!” Misti rushed forward and hugged Reginald before he knew what hit him. Then she raced off in the direction of the parking lot.

Misti had considered the best ways to approach LeFranco if it came to that, but she hadn't decided exactly how to do it. She was thinking the subtle approach would be best—maybe approaching him for directions, making small talk while she checked out his bird, that kind of thing. Of course, that option kind of goes out of the window when you accidentally trip over your subject's briefcase and slam into him from behind.

Misti cringed. She seemed to be lacking in basic coordination lately.

LeFranco had been kneeling down to load his draped bundle into his car trunk when Misti came wheeling around the corner, slipped on his briefcase strap, stumbled, and took a header into the small of LeFranco's back. Right where it counts.

Note stuck to the door of the shed

Bud crumpled the note in his fist as they crept down through the trapdoor. “That ‘friend' really creeps me out.” Bud attempted to make air quotes, but the crumpled paper in his hand meant his attempt was less than successful.

“Me too,” Laurie confessed as they closed the trapdoor above them. “I don't think he knows about this room, though, or he would've left it there. Anybody
could find a stupid note out there on the door.”

Bud hoped Laurie was right. But he still had a crawling feeling on the back on his neck. They hadn't noticed anyone watching them before, but the notes proved someone sure had been. And since they hadn't realized they were being watched, Bud wasn't convinced they even knew what they should be looking for. Aside from a person standing there with binoculars or something. They'd have no problem noticing someone like that.

Calliope Judkin folded up her binoculars and stashed them in her bag. She'd followed Walker LeFranco into the hallways of the courthouse, shouting questions at him until he threatened to call the cops on her, so she'd almost lost Bud, Laurie, and Misti in the shuffle. She'd spotted them running toward the school and watched long enough to see them have some kind of animated argument and then split up.

They were definitely up to something. That Clucker gear Misti was wearing was a dead giveaway. No normal person would dress like that without a reason. No, definitely up to something. And Calliope was going to figure out what.

“Oh, wow, I'm really sorry,” Misti gasped as she struggled to her feet.

“Erp,” LeFranco gurgled from the pavement. He didn't seem to be in the mood to talk.

“I came around the corner, and there you were! I didn't even see you. Is that the Marchetti Bird?” Misti said, poking the drape with her toe. She wanted to peek underneath it, but she didn't want to be rude.

“Urrrgghh,” LeFranco groaned, hunching over in an unflattering way.

“It is, isn't it?” Misti pushed the drape aside a little with her toe. It definitely looked like the base of the bird. She glanced at LeFranco, who was making unattractive horking noises in the back of his throat. Definitely incapacitated. She'd never have another chance like this. “Mind if I take a quick peek?”

“Narrrrr,” LeFranco said, pulling himself upright. “Leave it.”

“Okeydokey.” Misti let the drape drop back down and smiled. “Would you excuse me? I have to make a phone call.”

Bud and Laurie were staring at the Marchetti Bird when Misti's call came.

They'd been sitting there, just staring at it, ever since they'd made sure the coast was clear. It was pretty boring, actually, but they didn't know what else to do. It was kind of a relief when Laurie's phone started buzzing and playing the Tuckernuck Cluckers' fight song.

“My mom programmed it,” Laurie said apologetically as she flipped the phone open. “If you can figure out how to change it, for the love of god, let me know. Misti?”

Laurie listened for a few minutes. “Yeah, us too. Yeah. I've got a visual. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Uh-huh.”

Bud strained to make out what Misti's tiny voice was saying. Would it have killed Laurie to put it on speaker? Nothing like listening to half of someone else's conversation. Bud could've been a throw pillow for all the attention Laurie was paying him. But then, the throw pillows probably had a better chance of hearing what Misti was saying.

Laurie said a couple of more yeahs, a wow, a no way, and a couple of uh-huhs, and then snapped the phone shut. She grinned at Bud. “That was Misti.”

Bud rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Yeah, I got that. What did she say?”

Laurie patted the Marchetti Bird. “She saw LeFranco. He's still got his bird.”

Bud nodded. “So what does that mean?”

Laurie rested her hand on the Marchetti Bird's head. “One of us has got a fake. Or one of us is lying.”