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To Birdie’s surprise, Detective Michaels didn’t laugh.  Instead, he leaned back in his chair and placed his fingertips together one by one, flexing his hands up and down like a bouncing spider.

“What makes you say that?”  He eyed Birdie, his dark eyes sharp but kind.  Forcing herself not to squirm in her chair, Birdie raised her chin and tapped the folder.

The detective grinned.  “Ok, you win.”  He picked up the folder and thumbed through it.  As his eyes scanned the pages, his smile faded and the crinkles around his eyes flattened.  He set down the folder, his stare now incredulous.  “How did you find out about this?”

Birdie lifted her shoulders in what she hoped was a casual shrug.  “I asked questions.”

“Apparently, better ones than I was.”  The detective smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.  Tapping the desk, he stared at the folder.  “I’ll make you a deal,” he said finally, his eyes never leaving the folder.  “I’ll tell you everything I know, if you agree to leave that with me.”

“Deal.”  Birdie grinned.  She wouldn’t bother telling the detective that everything in the folder was a copy.  She had the originals hidden safely at home.

The detective took a deep breath and propped his feet on his bottom desk drawer, his worn shoe heels hanging off the sides.  “According to our information, Pemberely was just a harmless mad scientist until a few years ago.   He’d been arrested for breaking and entering, trespassing, trying to free animals from shelters and pet stores–nothing incredibly dangerous.  Most people thought he was a quack, and no one paid much attention to him.”

Birdie stayed silent.  She knew this already.

“But as you discovered, Pemberely managed to squirell his way into high society in California,” the detective continued, rolling his eyes.  “I’ll never imagine why those people talked to him.  But rich people are odd; you never know what they’ll like.  Anyway, as you found out, Pemberely managed to land the attention of Maximillian Magnus the Third.”

“Hollywood tycoon and real estate mogul,” Birdie supplied, winning a smile from the detective.

“You certainly know how to research,” he murmured.  “Our information was merely that Magnus was bored and was giving large sums to Pemberely in the form of scientific grants for environmentally friendly pet research.  We never paid much attention to it…”  He trailed off, looking at the folder.  “But from what you’ve discovered, it appears we should have.  It raises a lot of questions as to why Pemberely came here, to this small town.”

“And opened a pet shop,” Birdie added, unable to stop herself.  “Particularly after he was arrested for stealing exotic animals and tricking people out of their pets.  And no one knows where those pets went.  Or where all the money for scientific grants went.”

“Or where Magnus went…”  the detective finished, drumming his fingers together.  “I had no idea he had disappeared…the press really buried that, didn’t they?  I mean what’d you do, read the back of the papers?”

Birdie just smiled.  “My question to you is: Why would Mr. Pemberely, a respected but kooky scientist in charge of a major scientific campaign to create green living for pets with a billionaire in his back pocket giving him everything he wanted get arrested for stealing tigers from sound stages and Hollywood sets and pets from starlets and disappear with cash after months of controversial research that had nothing to do with what he was hired to do?  He’s on record with dozens of people talking about how he wanted to make animals more personable, to blur the line between human and animals for good.  PETA hired him for a commercial, for heaven’s sake.  And now you’ve got a missing millionaire and a tiny pet shop in a tiny town with animals that no one can see.”

The detective blinked at her.  “The store has animals?  I’ve never seen any animals when I’ve been in there.  All I see is parrot food and gerbil cages.”

Birdie hid a smile.  “Trust me, they’re there.”

“They can’t be,” the detective argued.  “All the cages on the wall are empty.  There’s never any barks or noises….There’s barely any fish in the aquarium!”

Birdie shrugged.  “What can I say?  Sometimes, not everything can be seen by everyone.”

The detective raised his eyebrows and shook his head.  “You’re an odd little girl, Birdie.  Did I answer your questions?”

“No,” Birdie replied bluntly, making him laugh.  “But I don’t think you can.  You don’t know any more than I do.”

The detective nodded wearily.  “Unfortunately, I don’t.  I had checked Pemberely out, but I was under the impression he was pretty harmless.  I guess I was wrong.”

“Do you think it’s true what the vet said?” Birdie asked, biting her lower lip.  “Do you think Mr. Pemberely is really going to try to experiment on these animals?  You know, give human attributes to cats and cat like reflexes to people?  Do you think he’ll try to create some kind of super pet species?”

The detective paused for a moment.  “You know Birdie, I have no idea,” he said finally.  “From everything that I’ve seen, Mr. Pemberely is a lonely, confused man.  They say that genius is only steps from insanity, and if he was teased and bullied for years by his peers like these reports say….it’s possible.  It’s possible he’s so desperate to be right that he’ll do anything to prove it.  It’s also possible that he just decided to open up a pet shop.”  He shook his head.  “Please don’t do any more research.  I’d hate for you to get caught up in this.  You should focus on your schoolwork.”  He grinned.  “Maybe you can have my job one day.”

Birdie smiled and took the hand he had extended across the desk.  “I need to get home anyway and check on my dog.  Thanks for your help.”

“Be careful.”  The detective slid his feet off the drawer and leaned over, opening the door.  “Have a good night.”

Birdie picked up her backpack and waved, hurrying out.  Ignoring the cop at the entrance with the enourmous stomach leering at her, she hurried down the steps and down the sidewalk.  As she told Detective Michaels, she had to go home and get Sassy.

And then they had some investigating to do.

Stay tuned, Invisible Friends!  We have a delicious, fantastic pie tomorrow and Friday, a new Dallas Jean!  Then this weekend, some Easter fun!  Stay tuned!

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