The furry hooligans stared directly into the surveillance camera, recognizing  immediately their nefarious act had been caught on tape. The lifeless body of the majestic blue jay, who moments earlier had been fluttering around the condo in anticipation of a fabulous evening with friends, was the victim of the killers’ base instincts.

“Uh, this isn’t good,” Leia whispered, unsure of whether the system also was recording their voices.  “What now?”

“I dunno,” Maddy retorted, also speaking in hushed tones.  “Lemme think a moment.”

The duo stood in stunned silence, pondering their plight for what seemed like an eternity.  In reality, only a few seconds had passed.  Time can appear motionless when murder is afoot. 

“We’ve gotta move the body,” Leia hastily suggested.  “Get it outta here before someone finds it.”

Maddy thought otherwise.

“That won’t do any good. The camera recorded us.  It’s only a matter of time before ol’ blue feathers here is reported missing.  The cops’ll look around, check the video… and we’re busted.

“No,” Maddy surmised, “we’ve got to make it look like this happened much later. Long after we’ve split.” 

Fortunately for these pussycat partners in crime, Maddy had access to all parts of the building — most importantly the audio-visual room.  Years of treating maintenance men and other members of the condo support staff with basic dignity had earned her that privilege.

“I can get into the room on Monday and erase the video,” she said, “but we still don’t want the cops tracing it back to this moment.  They’ll notice the missing footage and pinpoint the time of death.  Too many others saw us coming in here.”

“So, what are you’re saying? Leia asked, incredulously. “That we need to find some way to make everyone in the building think this stupid blue jay is still alive?”

“Correct,” Maddy replied, “at least for the next day or so.  If witnesses could testify to him being alive after this particular moment, the two of us would be off the hook.  But how can we make that happen?

“How can we make the impossible possible?”

It’s hard to know exactly how and when the inspiration struck her.  Some say it was a byproduct of her keen intellect.  Others claim she must’ve read about a similar ploy in a classic mystery novel.  And there are even those who insist it was Leia’s idea, calling on her years of training from the North Hollywood Academy of Absurd Slapstick.

Regardless, once they fitted their victim with those tiny sunglasses, it turned out to be quite the interesting weekend at Birdie’s.