Author: Fredric Brown
Source: Homicide Sanitarium
Story Number: 64
Slimjim Lee, a bookie has been murdered with a crocheting needle in Perley’s residence. Perley, a man whose profession is to mimic bird calls and songs, has been arrested for Lee's murder as his neighbors heard his mocking bird tunes at the exact time of the murder. Perley claims that he wasn’t present at all in his house and hence requests private detective McCracken to find the actual murderer. A costly ring which Lee used to wear all the time is missing and since this has been insured, an insurance agent joins the investigation in the hopes of recovering the ring.
With no one else as good as Perley at imitating bird calls, they find it tough to find a suitable replacement to take his place as the murderer. A cleverly disguised clue found at the scene of the crime helps McCracken in breaking the case - identifying an equally well hidden culprit with a strange murder method to boot.
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