The Purple Parrot — Clyde B. Clason

The only door open to Hezekiah Morse's study was under observation when someone slipped in and stabbed them to death. To the police, it looked like only his granddaughter could have done the deed, especially since she was to be disinherited-except for a terra-cotta statue of a purple parrot-if she defied Morse in her choice of a marriage partner.