“Who… is Gabriel?”
“Detective Hyde. The beautiful specimen in the front seat of the other golf cart.”
“Ah. Okay… yeah…” Lacey weirdly seems uncertain what to do with this information I’ve just bestowed upon her.
“The old zoo entrance… do others use that often?” I ask.
“No one that I know of. I didn’t even know it was still accessible. Pat said that it’s kind of an unspoken thing that we’re not supposed to use it, but then she realized that she might not have made sure everyone was aware of this. She thinks Nadine must have gotten a key from the former director who was pretty close to her. When you found Nadine last night… do you think she’ll be okay?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re not the fondest of talking, are you?” she teases.
“You should be a detective.”
Lacey laughs and shakes her head. “I’ll leave that to you.”
“Can you get me a list of all of the poisonous and venomous animals at the zoo?”
She hesitates and looks over at me. “You… you think someone used an animal to kill that man?”
“Can you get that or not?”
“Oh, yes, of course. I’ll do that as soon as I drop you off. I’ll also make you a list of who handles them. The handling and care of the venomous and poisonous animals and insects is pretty specific, as is anything extracted from them. You can also talk to the veterinarians and scientists to make sure no one is missing anything.”
“What is your job here?”
“I’m currently in HR, but my plan is to eventually become director. I’ve been taking classes while I prepare for the opening. Pat is planning on leaving us in a few years and I want to make sure I’m a good candidate when it happens.”
Why does she think I care about all of this information?
The two golf carts park outside the office building and we all get off, but before we can get too far, Pat stops us.
“Lacey will be taking you to Nadine’s office. Lacey is the closest person to her, so she can help you out with Nadine’s stuff and any questions you might have.”
“Thank you,” Gabriel says.
We’re led to Nadine’s office, but I get very little out of anything there. After a while, I leave them to it and wander off to stare at the venomous snakes. They’re lying there doing absolutely nothing of interest. Then I go into the back area by flashing my badge at the door and examine where they care for the snakes. I walk around their vetting facility looking for something, but I’m not quite sure what. Finally, I head overto the conservation center to look around. I question people wherever I go, but there are detailed records of venoms and antivenoms on hand and all are accounted for.
Just before lunch, we return to the department where I walk right to my desk, not yet sure what I’m looking up but feeling like there is somethingrightthere to latch on to.
“Here’s the list of venomous and poisonous animals,” Gabriel says as he rolls his chair around to land next to mine. “On this list there really aren’t many insects that could just… kill a man—and kill a manquicklyat that. The death had to have happened within an hour from when Nadine leaves the park at nine and when we see the hyenas out at ten. That rules out quite a few of the snakes as well. Obviously, Zach could have had a reaction to anything that bit him which caused him to die faster, but if the person’s intent was to kill, a reaction or a prolonged death is probably not likely. That leads me to one snake in particular: the black mamba. Without treatment, there is a nearly one hundred percent fatality rate. The issue is that death can span between twenty minutes and about fifteen hours. Would our killer take that risk?”
I contemplate this. “How fast would they die if you gave the victim two or three times the amount a snake would normally inject into the body?”
Gabriel raises an eyebrow. “You think someone was collecting the venom from the snakes? You know how hard and risky that would be?”
“No, I’ve never handled a snake before.”
I glance up and see Jesse standing next to Matthew’s desk.
Gabriel must take note of what I’m looking at. “Don’t you dare plan on trotting over there and playing Cupid some more. Or did you think Jesse might know something about snakes?”
“Nah, I was thinking about grabbing some lunch. What do you want?”
“Oh, I don’t know.”
“It’s taco Tuesday down at the Mexican place on Bellmore.”
