P is for plot

The yellow chalk in the shape of a heart on the sidewalk near Gordon’s building was all the indication he needed to know Birdwas summoning him. He made his way to the river’s edge a mile down river from where Bird was, to try and avoid any suspicious followers.

When he found Bird he was obviously tired and shaken.

“What’s wrong Bird?”

“I… I found something.”

“What is it?”

Bird raised a wing in the direction of the stashed body he had discovered.

“Th... There”

Gordon made his way down the path and could see the pile of brush concealing the bag, he knew what to expect but nothing prepared him for the way a decomposing puppet looks when it’s been soaking in river water for a day.

“Oh my dear lord!” he whispered.

The seams on Bif’s worn and already tattered face had weakened with the increased moisture. The stuffing was protruding and it was clear from the yellowness of it that despite the murder, Bif likely wouldn’t have survived his Cigarette addiction much longer anyway. Gordon used a stick to move the contents around a bit and discovered the feathers and three toed shoes as Bird had the night before. He also spotted two gunshot wounds to the neck (the only way to truly kill a puppet). It was evident to Gordon that the killer was a very accurate shot, and knew how to decisively take life.

“Bird, where did you find this?”

“It was hooked on a branch just downriver, who could have done this?”

“Well I spoke to Elmo last night, Bird. He’s on the run and he told me that a few nights ago, he escaped Bif and Sal after they picked him up on bail. He shot blindly into the dark alley behind Hooper’s with the gun he had planted himself the night of Maria’s murder, he ran away and never looked back, Bird. From the wounds in Bif’s neck I would say that there’s no chance Elmo could have killed him without having been point blank, and even with that, there were two of them and you know they were armed and quite capable of takin gon poor Elmo.”

“But why would Elmo have planted a gun near Hooper’s the night Maria was murdered?” Those words still didn’t seem real to Big Bird.

“I think he saw something that night and was so scared that he turned himself in for police protection knowing full well that Bruno would post his bail and have his goons do away with him, he also knew that their dirty deeds were always done in the alley behind Hooper’s near the River. Elmo thought he killed those two, but couldn’t explain why bodies hadn’t been found, he definitely couldn’t have moved the two of them himself. When Bif and Sal opened that door to get Elmo out of the car, Elmo bolted and ran for his life while bullets were flying; he snagged his gun and opened fire until the shots stopped. There’s no way he could have killed them, there was a fourth person in that alley and I think Bif and Sal may have saved Elmo’s life!”

“So that means Elmo is in danger. Gordon, we have to help him!”

“I know Bird, but how do I find him? Maybe I’ll ask Telly and Worm, they were looking for him last night to catch up on old times…" Gordon paused in silence and his mouth grew wider " wait… something struck me as odd with that conversation, I couldn’t put my finger on it, but Telly wouldn’t look me in the eye and Worm was looking every which way but at me. I think Elmo has a lot of bad people looking for him even old friends are out to get him.”

“We’ve got to do something before he gets hurt!” Bird pleaded.

“First of all we need to get you out of here and to someplace safer, if murderers with Bruno’s outfit know of this place, then you aren’t safe at all.”

Gordon explained to Big Bird that he knew a place he used to hide when he was a kid. It was the last place anyone would look for him and Bird could finally get some rest without worrying.

He gave him directions about 5 miles upriver to an abandoned church in the thickest part of the woods. There was only one access to it and without having Gordon's intimate knowledge of it nobody could ever find it. Gordon assured Bird that he would find him there later than night after dark. For right now he had to find Elmo.