The Case of the Missing Pinwheel

 Anna enjoys planting flowering plants in baskets outside our living room windows each year.  Unfortunately, the neighborhood pigeons have in the past decided the planters were installed for their benefit.  The result was broken plants and a very displeased Anna.  What to do?  She tried adding bamboo skewers to the planters (pointy ends up). The pigeons were singularly unimpressed.

Then Anna and David were walking by a toy store and saw pinwheels.  PINWHEELS!  Why didn't we think of them sooner?  Soon each planter had its very own pinwheel.  Since our apartment is on the fourth floor (by French count - fifth floor US), there are ample winds and gentle breezes to keep the pinwheels merrily spinning, AND, to discourage pigeons.

Geraniums living happily with their merry little pinwheel.

Then one day one of the pinwheels was missing.  It had been windy, that's true, but where did the pinwheel go?  All that was left was part of its supporting stick.

The remains of the pinwheel.

Anna checked the sidewalk, the street, and the gutter below our apartment. But, there was no sign of the missing pinwheel.  Time passed, and she pretty much gave up on that pinwheel.  

Then, there it was! Its new employment was decorating a display for a restaurant below our apartment.  Since it seemed to have found a happy new home, Anna simply left it there and walked home.  Mystery solved!