The denizens of Pickax are starstruck: Thelma Thackeray, a native of Moose County, has returned to spend her declining years 400 miles north of everywhere, after a nearly six-decade-long career in Hollywood! And she doesn't intend to spend them idly, either - with the acquisition of the old opera house, her plans for a film club are already becoming a reality. But Thelma's celebrated arrival on Pleasant Street is marred by the birdnapping of her fabulous Amazon parrots, and the circumstances of her twin brother's recent death appear increasingly suspicious to columnist James Qwilleran. Will Qwill's Siamese, Koko, deign to take the time from his stage debut in the Kit Kat Revue to help his master find the person or persons responsible for these dastardly deeds?