The Broken Bird

By Joslyn Chase

One suspicious death. One key to what happened.

 

Innocence and malice, hatched in the same nest, ends in tragedy for one family. Father Tonio Rinaldi helps fold back the layers exposing the rotten egg, standing by to pick up the broken pieces.

 

One girl holds the key to the truth. Can Father Rinaldi guide her into revealing it?

 

Fans of Jeffery Deaver, Ruth Rendell, and Daphne Du Maurier's short stories will love reading The Broken Bird. Grab your copy today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paraquel Press
• Release date: Apr 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781952647031

Joslyn Chase

Joslyn Chase is a prize-winning author of mysteries and thrillers. Any day she can send readers to the edge of their seats, chewing their fingernails to the nub and prickling with suspense, is a good day in her book. Joslyn's story, "Cold Hands, Warm Heart," was chosen by Amor Towles as one of The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2023. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Fiction River, Mystery, Crime, and Mayhem, Mystery Magazine, and Pulphouse Fiction, among others. Known for her fast-paced fiction, Joslyn's books are full of surprising twists and delectable turns. You will find her riveting novels most anywhere books are sold. Joslyn's love for travel has led her to ride camels through the Nubian desert, fend off monkeys on the Rock of Gibraltar, and hike the Bavarian Alps. But she still believes that sometimes the best adventures come in getting the words on the page and in the thrill of reading a great story. Join the growing group of readers who’ve discovered the thrill of Chase! Sign up at joslynchase.com and get VIP access to great bonuses, like your free copy of No Rest: 14 Tales of Chilling Suspense, as well as updates and first crack at new releases. See you there!

Book preview

THE BROKEN BIRD

══════════════════

Joslyn Chase

GET THE ENTIRE COLLECTION…FREE!

The Broken Bird is part of the short story collection

No Rest: 14 Tales of Chilling Suspense

Get the book free when you join

the growing group of readers who’ve discovered

the thrill of Chase!

Get started now!

The

Broken Bird

══════════════════

THE STORY

The idea for The Broken Bird sparked in my mind when I read Ring Lardner’s great classic story, Haircut. The idea of innocence and malice nesting together frightened and intrigued me and the story just unfolded, layer by layer, each one revealing a bit more of a very disturbing picture.

As dark as it is, I like the hope and humanity that shine through in this story, for there are always blessings to be counted.

══════════════════

When Father Tonio Rinaldi was five years old, he’d gone for a walk with his grandfather and found a dead bird on the sidewalk. It was a baby, its graying pink skin fuzzed over with wisps of down, eyes bulbous in the tiny head, a beak like sharpened yellow lips protruding above the broken neck. A black line moved and writhed over the defenseless body, and Tonio had been horrified to see it was made up of miniscule ants.

He began to cry.

Grandfather carried him home, and mama gave him milk and cookies. Tonio wanted to know why the bird had fallen from its nest and mama said there were likely too many babies squirming about and he’d been accidentally pushed. Or perhaps he strayed too far and fell.

Grandfather said maybe the bird was sick and had been shoved from the nest to make more room for the healthy birds. Mama clucked her tongue at that and sent grandfather out to the mailbox.

That had been his first encounter with death, and the memory came persistently into his head all these years later as he stood on the front lawn of the Bradshaw home, staring down at the sheet-covered form on the concrete walkway. That had been their baby. Sixteen years old, but a nestling still, and now a cold mound on the sidewalk, drawing ants.

Tonio bowed his head and uttered a prayer. Summer was over, and a bleakness filled the sky, leaching the color and life from it. Autumn had long been his favorite season, invigorating him with its crisp air and spicy scents.

This year was different.

The team of police personnel moved around the scene, taking photos, preparing to remove the body. They nodded to Tonio as he mounted the front steps and hesitated at the door. It stood open, and Preston Bradshaw caught sight of him, coming to meet him in the foyer.

Father Rinaldi, thank you so much for coming. His voice was subdued, his face taut, the skin stretched over bony plains. As I mentioned on the phone, Julia’s mother is ill and elderly. She’s devastated by what happened, and we thought you might give her some comfort.

"I’ll do everything I can for her.