Season 1 · Episode 45
No Alibis
Published 13th October 2026
The Jacks press Gary for answers, while Marlboro faces questions of her own across the boundary and Batman attempts to reopen the windswept Square.
A Provisional Reopening
The rain had stopped, but the wind had not. Batman Smith stepped out onto the fence at lunchtime, announced that the Square was reopening, and was immediately blown back into the hedge.
“A provisional reopening,” he amended from inside it.
The Oak Exchanges Stories
The Jacks returned to the Oak in the afternoon. Mr Jack Daw found his cousin examining the branch from which he had watched Gary and Stirling avoid everyone’s questions.
“You are still looking for a better view?” he asked.
“I am looking for a place from which they might accidentally explain themselves.”
Mortimer crossed above them. The cousin called up to ask whether he knew anything. Mortimer kept going, which was an answer of a kind, although not one the cousin could repeat with confidence.
By then the Jacks had turned the Oak into a crowded exchange of stories. One claimed Stirling had returned Gary’s shiny possession. Another insisted the Lieutenant Colonel had buried it again. A third could not decide which version required more digging and began describing both.
Reginald passed overhead. The entire assembly fell silent until he was well away, then resumed at twice the volume to make up for lost time. When a passing shower drove several of them under the leaves, the cousin declared that the weather was attempting to suppress testimony.
“It is attempting to get you wet,” said Mr Jack Daw. “For once, I sympathise with it.”
Gary Gives No Alibis
The shower passed. Reginald appeared again later, untroubled by the committee’s lack of progress. As the light began to soften, Gary arrived near the Fruit Tree. He paused when he saw how many Jacks had found room in the Oak.
“Have you been waiting for me?”
“We have been discussing events,” said the cousin.
“That is not a denial.”
Mr Jack Daw came down to a lower branch. “You needn’t stay.”
“I know.” Gary looked towards the Summerhouse. “Has Stirling been here?”
“Not today.”
For an instant Gary appeared relieved. Then he appeared annoyed with himself for looking relieved, and took the branch opposite Mr Jack Daw.
The cousin leaned in. “Did he believe you?”
“He listened.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“It is what I’m telling you.”
Gary left them with that and returned once more as evening gathered, when the Jacks were beginning to settle. Mr Jack Daw did not ask for more. The cousin made a visible effort to follow his example, though it caused him some discomfort.
Marlboro Manages
The wind kept the branches restless after the last daylight had gone. Across the boundary, Marlboro occupied herself with the business of keeping her own place. There were no visitors, no offers of advice, and no one to tell her she had chosen the wrong tree. She found this state of affairs deeply satisfactory.
“It is possible,” she told the dark, “that I am managing.”
The dark offered no objection. She tried the sentence again with considerably more authority, as though a parent might be listening from an unreasonable distance. None answered. Marlboro decided that did not make the statement any less true.
The night went on without an argument. She had another thought, shared it with her garden, and then left the question of who might have heard it to look after itself.
Across the Boundary
Near dawn she was still awake when Mortimer appeared above the Square. He settled far enough away to allow her the courtesy of ignoring him. She did not take it.
“You are early,” she said.
“You are late.”
“We have established that neither of us approves of the other’s schedule.”
Mortimer considered this. “The Jacks were trying to name a visitor yesterday.”
“The Jacks try to name things they haven’t even seen.”
“They thought you might know who it was.”
Marlboro looked across her own garden, then beyond it, towards the family boundary. “I can tell them where I was tonight. I cannot account for every owl who chooses to speak in bad weather.”
“They will ask whether it was you.”
“Then they may enjoy not knowing.”
Mortimer watched her move back among her trees. He made no attempt to turn her answer into an accusation, which put him considerably ahead of the Oak committee.
Excellent Teachers
The Jacks returned as morning gathered. Batman and several other Robins began to reclaim the hedges, making enough fuss for birds who had spent much of yesterday sheltering in them. The wind still tugged at every branch. A brief shower sent Batman under cover again, though he insisted that this was part of a planned inspection.
Mr Jack Daw found his cousin staring towards Gary’s empty perch.
“Perhaps he will tell us today,” the cousin said.
“Perhaps.”
“And perhaps we will learn who was here in the night.”
“Perhaps.”
The cousin frowned. “You are becoming very difficult to talk to.”
Mr Jack Daw looked at the Summerhouse, then at the trees beyond the boundary. “I have had excellent teachers.”