— you may have seen him on television.”
Northlake raised his eyebrows. “Boogie Dewlapp?” He said this as though he were saying, “Snot?”
Boogie was a popular object of derision, I knew that. He was to legal advertising in Washington what the crew-cut Tom Peterson was to appliances down in Portland. You got the best deal possible with Boogie or Tom — or so they claimed in their commercials. Peterson offered “a happy place to buy,” and Dewlapp provided “expert, affordable legal advice for everyone. First visit free of charge.”
Boogie Dewlapp had paid my rent on more than one occasion. Under Adonis’s casual sneering, a truly dedicated samurai or ninja detective — if he was to properly honor his liege — was supposed to maintain his cool, but it was tough. I can be hip up to a point.
“The young man and his wife say they’re innocent,” I said mildly. “I suppose somebody ought to check their story out. I know I’ll do my damnedest.”
“Oh, well, of course,” Northlake said. He didn’t want to come off as being illiberal on top of being a kowtowing baldie.
I took a bite of my chiliburger. It was delicious.
“Say, tell me,” I said, “just how does one go about counting owls in the first place? They’re nocturnal, aren’t they? Surely they don’t line up and count off for you! Just what is it you do?”
Chapter Eight — They Fly in Ghostly Haunts
Lois Angleton liked birds or she wouldn’t have become an ornithologist. She was pleased to tell me the right way to count spotted owls. She said, “Ahh, this is the detective in you, eh, Mr. Denson? You do like puzzles.”
“I like birds, too. For a while I got all involved in carving and painting ducks and shorebirds.” So Jenny had told Northlake about me? How much did she tell him? Just that I had picked her up after her car broke down, or more? Angleton said, “You gave up your carving?”
“That’s when I had a girlfriend whose father had a band saw and cutting knives. It was fun, but now I float around too much to lug all that gear with me. How do you people find a spotted owl, anyway? Do you walk around hooting in the woods?” I took a sip of coffee, thinking about Jenny.
“It’s difficult for a human to imitate a spotted owl call and get a reply, but they’ll respond to a tape of a real bird.”
“I was close, then. You walk around in the woods playing taped owl calls.”
Angleton finished her coffee.
The gallant Northlake popped to his feet. “I’ll get us refills. Would you like another cup, Mr. Denson?”
“Sure. Thank you,” I said, and drained the one I had.
“Thank you, Adonis.” Angleton, a thoughtful finger to her chin, watched Northlake stroll coolly to the counter. “The first thing we try to do is find their nests, Mr. Denson, and see if there’s any fresh spotted owl droppings. In New Mexico and California spotteds live in caves or crevices on cliffs, but we’re looking for nests high atop broken trees or in hollowed-out trunks. When a spotted is forced out of an area, other birds take over the nest, so we can’t rely on simple nest counts.”
“I see. Then you have to find the birds themselves?”
“At night. A lot of owls feed at dawn or dusk, when the game is active, but a spotted feeds solely at night.”
Northlake was back with the coffee. He said, “Out there with things that go bump in the night, Mr. Denson.”
Angleton said, “It’s hard to pinpoint a call in a pitch black forest, so we usually split into pairs about fifty feet apart and use a crude form of triangulation. When you hear one, you have to pay attention.” She cupped her hands around her eyes and moved her head slowly from side to side. “Then, when you get a call, you pinpoint the bird with your flashlight”
“Ahh, their eyes reflect the light.” I found myself listening to Lois Angleton and thinking about Jenny and Northlake at the same time. It was just impossible not to, with Northlake sitting there.
“Yes, they do, but all owls are not all the same. Most of them have yellow eyes, and they’ll reflect the flashlight from almost any angle. Spotteds have dark blue eyes that look brown, and what you have to do is make sure you’re looking right down the beam of light at the owl or you won’t see the reflection. The best way is to