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She turned to regard me with an air of satisfaction. “You just illustrated my point.”
Kane leaned over her shoulder. “Can you narrow down by age now?”
“Do I look like an amateur to you?” Birdie tapped the keyboard and half the names disappeared.
“Twelve residents named Sarah over thirty,” Kane said. “Could be worse.”
“Would it be possible to print off the names and addresses?” I asked.
The rising whirr of a printer indicated Birdie was one step ahead of me.
“Thank you,” I said. “This is incredibly helpful.”
“Like I said, any friend of Kane’s is a friend of mine.”
“What do you do with the information you learn?”
“Depends. Sometimes I’ll trade it for goods and services. That’s how I met Kane.” She winked at him. “Other times I’ll pass information to the police or an interested party indirectly. Less often, I’ll send an anonymous warning to someone if I learn they’ll be in mortal danger in the near future. I can’t control the information I’m given, so I can’t guarantee answers to specific questions.”
“I’ll be curious to see what the crow brings back,” I said.
“Me too,” Birdie said. “That’s the fun part.”
Kane and I left with the printed sheet in hand and a container of chili. I didn’t ask, but Birdie insisted. Psychic, indeed.
“How did she end up in a wheelchair?” I asked, once we were in the car.
He drove along the dirt road toward town. “No idea. I haven’t asked.”
“Some collector of secrets you are.”
“I have no need of Birdie’s secret. If she wanted to tell me, she would. I suspect she doesn’t wish to be known as the woman in the wheelchair any more than your friend Otto wishes to be known as the blind vampire, so she doesn’t discuss it.”
“Otto’s far happier being known as the curmudgeonly vampire.”
Kane grunted a laugh.
“For what it’s worth, I think the Crow Lady has a nice ring to it,” I continued.
“She’s formed an incredible connection with those birds. I’m in awe of her.”
“Same.” I started to feel guilty about Buddy, the scarecrow I’d placed in my yard in autumn. Live and learn.
“It’s amazing how much information the crows can not only absorb but share with her. I have my own methods of gathering intel, of course, but Birdie’s is, by far, my favorite.”
“What will you give her in return for the favor?” I asked.
Kane kept his gaze straight ahead. “We fly.”
“Like in one of those small airplanes?” I seemed to recall meeting a pilot in his nightclub.
“No, when I’m a blackbird. I’ll take her with me.”
I couldn’t picture it no matter how hard I tried. “How do you defy the laws of gravity?”
He spared me a glance. “I can shapeshift into a blackbird and a monstrous beast, but you’re concerned about scientific principles?”
“So what you’re telling me is that you’re a very strong blackbird.” I mulled it over. “Do you carry her in your beak? That doesn’t seem comfortable for her. And how do you keep her from being spotted by humans? People would freak out if they saw a woman dangling from the beak of a bird fifty feet in the air.”
