THE WINCHESTER-NABU DETECTIVE AGENCY
YEAR TWO: CASE FILE NO. 18-70
AMBER LOVE 10-SEP-2018 Catch up on Year One and previous Year Two cases at the Winchester-Nabu Detective Agency. This work is supported by the generous backers who adore my cat stories at Patreon.com/amberunmasked and they also get first access to what’s happening with my books and podcast. For a one-time tip, you can go to the new PayPal.me.
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Where we left off:
We dove into our investigation of crimes occurring in Gnome Grove and have a prime suspect now: Joey Bag O’Peanuts.
The Fallen Sparrow
I’ve always loved finding a feather on the ground. It’s given me a sense of magic and connection to the earth in a unique way. Last year, I was finding a lot of feathers in the summer. Sometimes several in a day. This year, is less alarming with maybe one every week.
Noted in a previous case file, crow feathers come with particular significance of messages. I have yet to determine what other feathers mean. I’ve found blue jay, Canada goose, and woodpecker. I took my questions to Professor Oliver Winchester, household feather expert. Oliver loves feathers. I mean really LOVES feathers. If you give him one, it’s the utmost sign of respect and friendship.
Until we opened the Winchester-Nabu Detective Agency, I had never found a crow feather in the wild before. Ages ago in one of my Witchcraft as a Science courses with Laurie Cabot, she spoke about how she found crow feathers frequently. She used them in spells, especially for justice. I was envious. To find crow feathers? Then again, she was the most powerful witch I ever met.
Unfortunately, the resources Oliver and I have scoured haven’t given us information about other birds and the meanings behind their feathers specifically. I’d like to be able to shine some better light on the birds other than them being flying poop factories. But, let’s be real – they are flying poop factories.
Blue Jays:
I’ve come to realize that birds have completely different languages. I don’t know if a blue jay can understand a crow or if something like a great barn owl can talk to a lovebird. There must be some kind of context clues at the very least – which brings me to blue jays. So pretty. So rude. One chased a cat of mine when I was a teenager.
Blue Jays to me are like those Staten Island women with the tight dresses, dagger-shaped nails, and flammable bouffant hairdos. They don’t sing; they screech. And they will freaking attack you.
Symbolism of Jays:
Determined; focused; eyes on the prize; protective; energetic in a wtf-is-wrong-with-you? kind of way; considered bold and curious; great investigators; represent digging up memories.
Woodpeckers:
There was a woodpecker murder last year which we concluded was most likely a larger bird of prey since free roaming cats hadn’t been seen in that particular spot. This year I’ve found only a couple of woodpecker feathers.
Symbolism of the Woodpecker
The woodpecker has innate sensibility for following resources; perseverance to keep digging for information or nourishment; it can also represent opportunity knocking. In dreams, seeing a woodpecker could mean something IRL really needs your attention and you shouldn’t ignore it.
Canada Geese:
These buggers are virtually everywhere in New Jersey which has left plenty of us wondering how they got the name “Canada” geese. They have filthy green poo and some places hire dogs to chase them from airports or business entrances. They honestly do have problems navigating the skies with planes. For real, how do they not see nor hear a giant-ass mechanical thing coming towards them?
These are the geese that make cool “V” or arrow shaped patterns in the sky. It’s a goose version of the Blue Angels. They don’t seem all that bright. It’s a follow the leader mentality. But then again, someone has to be the leader, so maybe that’s you if you found a goose feather or dreamt of a goose.
Symbolism of the Goose:
Team players; in synchronicity with others; they care deeply about their flock; never leave a friend behind; excellent communicators; able to lead with authoritarianism or follow when needed.
Wolpertingers:
I previously explained how my ancestors were responsible for bringing the Bavarian wolpertinger to the New World; and despite similarities to the southwest’s jackalope, they are different creatures with different time lines of development. We don’t have time to get into jacklopes here. The newer species of the North American wolpertinger is our focus as that’s what we have in New Jersey.
While it is believed that the wings of wolpertingers closest resemble that of pheasants, there are key things to note about this: first of all, there are a great number of pheasant subspecies just like dogs; and secondly, no one has empirical data on wolpertingers; finally, best we can do is speculate from photos and eyewitness accounts. If any of these feathers is actually a wolpertinger feather that would be groundbreaking science!
Resources:
*note:
I’m not responsible for their offensive names.
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.