Faye Kellerman - Predator

“You’re going in there?” Decker was aghast.

“I got about fifteen minutes to work.” Vignette winked at him. “Wish me luck.”

Decker was speechless. Vern unlocked the cage door, and Vignette went inside. She worked swiftly and professionally. First she disinfected the cut, washing it out with a squeeze bottle of salt water. Then she followed with a medicinal salve or ointment. Lastly, she sealed the wound as best she could with liquid bandage material.

Decker was constantly checking his watch. With each passing minute, he became more nervous. Vern said, “He’s startin’ to move, Vignette.”

“I’m almost done. I just want to make sure …” Her words trailed off.

It was Decker who now began to pace. “Please get out of there.”

Vingette got up. “I’m fine. Main thing is he’s fine.”

“No, the main thing is that you get out of there alive and whole.”

She smiled and dusted her pants off. Vern opened the gate and closed it quickly, rapping the solid chain around the gate and securing it with a padlock. As soon as the bear was upright, he teetered over to Vignette and moaned. She offered him more fish, and even though the animal was woozy, he took the bait.

“That’s a good boy,” she cooed. “You feel better?”

The bear grumbled then walked away, limping of course, but it was less marked.

The three of them watched in silence as the bear tried to restore his balance. Every few minutes, he hobbled over to Vignette, who fed him salmon in progressively tinier pieces until she told him, no more. Fifteen minutes later, his nose twitched and he trudged over to his lunch. He started with an appetizer of raspberries on the branch.

“Good job,” Vern told Vignette.

“Just glad he’s better.”

“Wow.” Decker was daunted. “I can see why Mr. Penny was a supporter.”

Vignette’s smile was in full wattage. “Now you understand why I care so much. It’s for Cody and Tiki and all the animals here. They can’t talk, so I talk for them.”

“You seem to be a good interpreter,” Decker said.

Vignette smiled. “How about a tour, now that Cody’s been taken care of.”

“Sure.”

She turned to Vern. “Keep an eye on our fellah. If he becomes agitated again, we’ll do it officially and call in the vet.”

“I’ll do just that, Vignette.”

“This way,” she told Decker. They walked a few moments in silence. “So you really don’t know anything more about Mr. Penny’s will?”

“I told you all I know.”

“I know I seem greedy, but running a nonprofit is like the jungle. Only the strong survive. If you’re timid, you either die of starvation or you’re eaten alive.”

As they continued to stroll, Vignette pointed out the different cages and enclosures, giving Decker a personal story of each animal: how it was obtained, how the environment was maximized for survival, how the diets were individualized, and finally the cost of maintaining the animal. “We barely manage on a shoestring budget. We depend on people like Mr. Penny for support.”

“How much support did he supply?”

“A lot of our operating costs came from his generosity.” She stopped in front of a tiger pen. “Tiki’s in the back of the enclosure, protected in her own cage. It’s going to take a while before she’ll be allowed to roam in the enclosure. We have to make sure that Juno and Bigfoot will accept her.”

“You’ve got a male and a female tiger?”

Vignette nodded.

“How is Tiki doing?”

“All I can tell you is that she’s been eating. That’s good.”

“Have you had a chance to examine her?”

“The vet comes this Friday.”

“So you don’t know if she’s hurt or anything?”

“No.” Vignette turned to Decker. “Why would she be hurt?”

“She was left alone in the apartment for a while. There were all sorts of broken glass and sharp objects on the floor.”

“Oh, I see what you’re getting at. So far as I can tell, she’s fine. But I have no idea what she ingested and what she looks like internally.” They stared at the two tigers in the enclosures. “Gorgeous animals.”

“Where did these two come from?”

“A for-profit zoo that went under and another mail-order fiasco. We’re lucky that these two get along.”

“Are you going to breed them?”

“Not a chance. Like I said, we don’t know the genetics, and the last thing we want are unstable and unhealthy lines. All the males have been neutered and the girls have been spayed.”

They moved on. Decker said, “I know from my reading that Global Earth Sanctuary originally started out in the Santa Clarita Valley area. Why’d you move?”

“This place is like twenty times bigger than the old one in Santa Clarita. Fern was quite the visionary. Man, that was crazy when we moved! It took forever to transport all the animals. We had to do it at night for safety reasons.”

“So does Global Earth own the land here?”

“Yep.”

“Outright, or is it mortgaged?”

Vignette stopped walking. “Why?”

“Just trying to get an idea of costs. If it’s just paying to maintain all the animals, that’s bad enough. But if you have a mortgage, wow, that’s really hard.”

“Tell me about it. Seen enough?”

“Whatever you want.”

“I’m a little cold. Let’s go back.” The woman reversed directions, and the two of them started down the trails.

Decker said, “I’m just wondering how Fern got the money to pay for all of this.”

“I don’t know.” Vignette bit her lip. “But I do know you’re asking questions out of more than just plain curiosity.”

“Did Penny help Global Earth buy the land?”

“The first time I ever talked to Penny was when he called up and asked about tiger cubs. If he had contact with the organization before that, I don’t know about it. Like I told you, after Fern died, Allan Gray worked as the acting head of Global Earth.”

“The vet who took off for Alaska to study grizzlies.”

“Yes. He left behind a real mess. Records were incomplete and indecipherable. I could have reached him and asked questions. But it was easier to just start from scratch. I took this job out of love for the animals, not because I was particularly good at leading organizations.”

Decker nodded. “So you don’t have any old records or …”

Again, Vignette stopped. “Why are you asking me all these questions?”

“There’s no good way to tell you this, Vignette.” A pause. “Hobart Penny didn’t die a natural death. He was murdered.”

The eyes widened and the color drained from her cheeks, which had been red because of the cold. “Murdered?”

“Yes. That’s why the police are involved. It’s not just because of an errant tiger.”

“Oh my God!” She brought her gloves to her cheeks in a silent scream. “What happened ?”

“Investigation is ongoing. That’s why I’m talking to you. Mr. Penny seemed to have been a recluse the last twenty-five years. You’ve had recent contact with him. Anything you can tell me about him would be very helpful.”

“Oh my God!” She stared at Decker. “And here I am talking about a will. You must be looking at me as a suspect!”

“Right now all I’m just trying to do is get some facts.”

“I had absolutely nothing to do with his murder! I just want you to know that.”

Decker nodded. “Would you mind answering a few more questions?”

“Not at all.”

“You said the last time you saw Penny was three or four days ago, when you gave Tiki her shots?”

“Yeah, that’s—How was he murdered?”

Decker rubbed his hands and ignored the question. “My homicide detectives and I have had a lot of discussion about the crime. One question keeps coming up. How could anyone get past a loose tiger?”