Murder at the Movies Read Online Free Page A

Wings
.
    During the month several things happened that were to cause Tretheway some concern. On Sunday the eighteenth, in the late evening, a phone call verging on hysteria came into Central. A lady living in the area of Dundurn Castle reported a bird, a very large bird, sitting on a sturdy branch of an apple tree only feet from her rear window.
    â€œI’ve seen smaller
people
,” she exclaimed.
    The police calmed her down. They asked for a description. When the caller came back to the phone, she had to admit, with a touch of embarrassment, that the bird had flown. The police were naturally skeptical. Even the caller began to doubt her sighting. They didn’t send a car.
    The next call was different.
    â€œCould you describe the bird?” the policeman asked.
    â€œBig. Black. Some white on the wings. Skinny neck. His head looks bald and orange. White bill. His legs are pink. Eyes red.”
    â€œYou’re sure about this, sir?”
    â€œHe’s sitting on my back porch,” the gruff voice continued. “Under the verandah light. He’s growling at me like a dog. We’re eye to eye.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œThe son of a bitch is four feet tall.”
    The police sent a car.
    Three burly policemen, aided by two SPCA employees hastily called in for the occasion, eventually cornered the disoriented bird in one of the small backyards. The amazed captors watched while the creature spread its wings, almost ten feet across, and attempted an awkward escape. It half flew into a fence and a tree, then rammed a storage shed in the next yard. Even though it was stunned, it took all of them to hold the bird’s wings down and slip a small sack over the upper part of its body. A convenient but puzzling length of stout rope already tied to the bird’s left ankle was used to bind its legs together. The SPCA pair carried the subdued bird to the waiting ambulance for the trip back to the shelter, an end to the night’s entertainment. An early phone call to the police from Dundurn Castle the next day explained the whole thing, almost.

    In 1832, Allan Napier McNab purchased property in Fort York’s north-west end with a breathtaking view of Wellington Square Bay. Immediately the young lawyer began construction of a regency-style mansion that was to be, in his words, “the finest home west of Montreal.” McNab named it Dundurn after hisancestral seat in Scotland. Impressed with its grandeur, the locals dubbed it a castle. The misnomer stuck.
    Dundurn Castle contained about fifty rooms. They included an imposing entrance hall with a magnificent hanging walnut staircase, an elegant drawing room, a library, several sitting rooms, a smoking room and a formal grand dining room with French doors leading onto terraces and gardens. It also boasted a schoolroom for McNab’s daughters.
    Sir Allan McNab, knighted for his actions in the 1873 Rebellion, went on to great political success. He became in turn the leader of the Tory-Conservatives, Speaker of the Assembly and, from 1845 to 1856, the Prime Minister of Canada. During this period several additions were made to Dundurn; a family burial plot, stables, two elaborate gazebos, a small octagonal building to house cockfights and, of course, the customary aviary.
    Such an estate demanded a lavish lifestyle, which in the end proved too expensive even for Sir Allan. At his death, Dundurn was heavily mortgaged. The furnishings were sold at auction and for two years it stood vacant. Subsequent residents also found it too costly to maintain. In 1900 the City of Fort York purchased the whole property and renamed it Dundurn Museum. It became a storehouse for artifacts and old furniture donated by well-meaning citizens. The locals still called it Dundurn Castle.

    When the Museum staff reported for work that Monday morning, they discovered the damage. A heavy wire screen covering the outside section of the aviary had been cut and rolled back,