The feather had long knots consisting of several protruding tips.
In the order of sparrows, the knots are close together and conical.
In the order of wading birds, the knots are pointed and conical, the barbules hairy and hard.
Climbing birds have feathers with strongly protruding knots with four tips.
Aquatic birds have strong knots with dull points.
Chickens and other birds in the
Pigeons… ah, pigeons.
Pigeon feathers have long knots consisting of several protruding tips.
The feather in the room was a pigeon feather.
The feathers in the one pillow on the bed were duck down. The feather found, therefore, had not come from the pillow. It was found stuck to a smear of blood, so chances were it was left by the killer and not left by someone who'd been in the room previous to the killer.
If the killer, therefore, had a pigeon feather stuck to his clothes, chances were he was a pigeon fancier.
All the cops had to do was track down every pigeon fancier in the city.
That job was for the birds.
The department stores on Friday, December 22nd, were a little crowded. Bert Kling could not honestly say he disliked the crowds because the crowds forced him into close proximity with Claire Townsend, and there was no girl he'd rather have been proximately close to. On the other hand, however, the alleged purpose of this excursion was to pick up presents for people like Uncle Ed and Aunt Sarah-whom Kling had never met-and the sooner that task was accomplished, the sooner he and Claire could begin spending an uncluttered afternoon together. This was, after all, a day off and he did not enjoy trudging all over department stores on his day off, even if that trudging were being done with Claire.
He had to admit that of all the trudgers around, he and Claire made the nicest looking pair of trudgers. There was a tireless sort of energy about her, an energy he usually associated with Phys. Ed. majors. Phys. Ed. majors were easily identified by short, squat bodies with muscular legs and bulging biceps. Claire Townsend had none of the attributes of the Phys. Ed. major, except the tireless energy-Claire, in Kling's estimation, was perhaps the most beautiful woman alive. She was certainly the most beautiful woman he had ever met. Her hair was black. There are blacks, you know, and then there are blacks. But Claire's hair was a total black, a complete absence of light, a pure black. Her eyes were a warm brown, arched with black brows. She had the pale complexion of a high-bred Spanish girl coupled with the high cheek bones of an Indian. Her nose was straight and her mouth was full, and she was obviously the loveliest woman in the world. Whether she was or not doesn't matter. Kling thought she was.
He also thought she was a dynamo.
He wondered when the dynamo would run down, but the dynamo kept right on discharging electrical bolts and buying gifts for Cousin Percy and Grandmother Eloise, and Kling trailed along like a dinghy tied to a schooner in full sail, mixing his metaphors with reckless abandon.
"You should see what I got you," she told him.
"What?" he asked.
"A gold-plated holster for your ridiculous weapon."
"My gun, you mean?" he asked.
"And a carton of soap for your dirty mind."
"I'll bet I could make 2nd/Grade in ten minutes just picking up shoplifters here," he said.
"Don't pick up any who are young or blond."
"Claire…"
"Look at those gloves! Only $2.98 and perfect for…"
"Cousin Antoinette in Kalamazoo. Claire…"
"As soon as I get these gloves, darling."
"How do you know what I was going to say?"
"You want to stop all this nonsense and get some drinks, don't you?"
"Yes."
"Just what I had in mind," Claire said. And then, being in a gay and expansive mood, she added, "You should be delighted. When we're married,
It was the first time the subject of marriage had come up between them and, being towed as he was, Kling almost missed it. Before he became fully aware of the miracle of what she had said, Claire had purchased the $2.98 gloves and was whisking him along to the roof garden of the store. The roof garden was packed with matronly women who were bulging with bundles.
"They only serve those triangular little sandwiches here." Kling announced. "Come on, I'll take you to a shady bar."
The shady bar he took her to was really not quite so shady as all that. It was dim, true, but dimness and shadiness are not necessarily synonymous.
When the waiter tiptoed over, Kling ordered a Scotch on the rocks and then glanced inquisitively toward Claire.
"Cognac," she said, and the waiter crept away.
"Are you really going to marry me someday?" Kling asked.
"Please," Claire told him. "I'll burst. I'm full of Christmas cheer, and a proposal now will just destroy me."
"But you
"Did I ever say so?"
"No."
"Then what makes you so impetuous?"
"I'm sure you love me."
"Well, confidence is a fine quality, to be sure, but…"
"Don't you?"
