A White Christmas and The Ravens (or in this case, some Crows)

Special Bulletin from our Home Correspondent

This just in, folks! New season of "A Crow's Life" begins in January!

Yes, that's right, you heard it here first, folks. In the meantime, enjoy a special Christmas Eve presentation right here from our fine entertainers! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

A Little Holiday Cheer for You ...

'

A Spooky Halloween Show

The oh-so great Louis Armstrong contributes a jazzy little Halloween tune for us this week ...

Ace: Private Eye (or the Case of the Golden Osprey -- Final Chapter)

All right, both of you keep your wings in the air. I don't want any sudden moves.

Unless you have a bottle of glue, you've got nothing for your client, Ace.

Not so fast, Professor. You see, that wasn't the real Golden Osprey!

What do you mean? I stole it myself from the museum --

Nope. You stole a fake that Mr. Lewtes donated to the museum. The real one was hidden here in his office all along --

-- behind this bird tapestry. That makes three little birds, right by the window -- just like the riddle says.

Looks like I've got that reward after all, boys.

(Narrator's Voice): "There it is, folks, another day in the life of Detective Art Ace, Private Eye. Tune in again for his thrilling, mysterious adventure in, Doberman Springs!"

The professor had the drop on the hapless hooligan the moment he turned his back.

Good thing I brought this handy little revolver with me, Mr. Malloy. Now that I have my bird, I'll just be going.

Not so fast, Professor -- hands up!

I had the drop on him from behind, but the Professor was quick --

-- he scrambled like a shot towards the exit, clutching the Osprey.

Unfortunately, he'd forgotten about Malloy's cover until this moment.

AAAEEEIIIIAAAAA!!!!

CRACK!!!

Now all that was left of the Golden Osprey was in pieces on the floor.

All right, hand it over, Professor!

It was the janitor, all right -- only without his costume, I recognized Tough Fingers Malloy, one of the sharpest birds on the street.

What makes you think I still have the Golden Osprey? I've given you every cent I have for the past two years --

Cut the crying and hand over the bird! I knows you got it, 'cause I've seen the riddle. Birds is birds, Professor "Plock". Now give it up or I'll --

All right, all right! Open the top drawer of the desk behind you. I hid it in there when I heard you come in -- hoping maybe I could talk you out of this.

Say, this is a pretty nice lookin' piece, Professor. It looks way better than in the paper's pictures after you pinched it from the museum.

It should, since I spent every day polishing it since then -- and it looks like I'll go on doing it!

Ace: Private Eye (or the Case of the Golden Osprey -- Part Seven)

It was cold and raining outside the Lewtes building, where my client's father once had his office. I had a hunch that the professor was meeting someone here -- why else would he drop by at midnight?

All I could see through the window were two dark figures. That's when one of them pulled a weapon.

I didn't have a choice. I made for the nearest entrance, and ducked inside. Lightening flashed in the hallway as a peculiar sight greeted me...

A pile of cleaning supplies and a janitor's uniform.

I took off on Monday to tail the professor for awhile. I was moving at my usual slow pace, until I heard a funny roar behind me.

That's when I looked back and saw a sinister fiend driving his car straight at me!

I scrambled hard as the maniac floored it --

The car squealed past as I leaped into a pile of garbage cans. There was no license plate to identify it...

Just a brief glimpse of a sinister dark figure hunched behind the wheel..

Ace: Private Eye (or the Case of the Golden Osprey -- Part Five)

It's just nonsense words on a piece of paper -- rubbish! Are you a real detective or is this some sort of joke?

Maybe it is ...

Stop saying that! And get out of my museum before I call the police!

I can smell a dead end from a mile away, so I took my leave. In my office, I made a few phone calls, trying to check up on the professor.

Clean your office, Mr. X?

Sure, buddy.

The leads didn't pan out right away, but one of my stool pigeons told me he heard the professor was making regular payments to a suspicious character -- reason unknown. I clicked off the line. Just when I thought I was in the indigo of the blues ...

... I noticed the only part of my office the kid cleaned was the trash can -- empty of the note I showed to the professor.

So I had a missing gold bird on my plate ...

... and one riddle scrawled in a book for a clue.

It wasn't much to go on, but I've gone with worse. So the first thing I did was pay a visit to the museum and the old bird in charge of the exhibit, a Professor Plock.

Yes, of course I remember the Osprey. Very valuable gold bird. Stolen in the middle of the night, as I recall -- thief presumably still at large.

Maybe. Maybe not. I've got a hunch that there's more to the story than just a thief strolling in off the streets one night.

Are you implying someone with the museum took it?

Maybe ... maybe not. Does this riddle mean anything to you?

We Interrupt This Story to Bring You --

All right, boys and girls, here's another classic video (featuring again our fearless friend Felix as opposed to some cool crows). Another break from the world of feathers for the world of felines, as they say. Enjoy!

Ace: Private Eye (or the Case of the Golden Osprey -- Part Three)

Her words hit me like a ton of bricks dumped in the river. A missing fortune was right up my alley after weeks of tailing cats and getting a bookseller out of a bind ...

Have you ever heard of it?

The Golden Osprey? Are you sure you don't mean the Maltese Falcon?

No, I mean the Golden Osprey -- it's famous, a museum piece that belonged to my late father. It's a bird statue made out of solid gold. My father was so afraid of losing it, he loaned it to a museum, who kept it behind bars --

--only to have a thief steal it one night while the museum was closed.

So what can I do to help?

You see, my father was obsessed with that bird -- for weeks over the theft he brooded in his library all alone. Weeks after his death, I found this in one of his books...

It's a riddle, but I think it's about the location of the stolen bird. I think he knew where it was, but couldn't rescue it. Mr. Ace, if you could help me find it --

Say no more, ma'am -- Detective Ace is on the case.

I was sitting at my desk when the door swung open --

Excuse me, is this the office of world-famous anthropologist Dr. Kilgore?

Sorry, you're in the wrong story, mister -- try two door doors down for Kilgore.

Sorry, old chap, my mistake. I'll just be popping off, then.

As he closed the door behind him, I settled in for a long winter's nap, just as --

Mr. Ace? Excuse me for barging in, but I need your help.

What about, miss --

Miss Abigail Lewtes -- heir to the missing Golden Osprey fortune, Detective.

Ace: Private Eye (or the Case of the Golden Osprey -- Part One)

It was a dark and foggy night, with rain drilling on me like marbles on a tin roof. My name's Ace. Art Ace.

I'm a detective, which is why I'm standing here in the rain under this streetlight ...

...watching a case go south across the street. But before I get too ahead of myself, maybe I should start back at the beginning.

It was a Tuesday in my office. Just like any other day until trouble walked in ...