by Lois Schmitt
“Mei, is that you? Are you okay?”
No response. I couldn’t open the door without moving the boxes.
Moans, now fainter than before, echoed from inside the closet.
Using my entire body, I pushed the cartons aside.
The door was clear. I swung it open and stared at Mei sprawled on the floor.
Spread across the intern with its head lifted more than two feet, an Asian cobra fanned its dark brown hood, facing me.
It was ready to strike.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
I slammed the door shut.
A wave of nausea swept through my body. With my hands shaking, I pulled out my phone and punched in 911.
“Don’t be a hero,” the emergency operator warned. “Don’t go into the room.”
“But she—”
“You’ll make matters worse. We’re sending help immediately.”
I stashed my phone back in my bag while glancing at the closet. With a cobra bite every second counted. I wanted to pull Mei out, but no way could I handle a cornered venomous snake. I needed to find my brother or someone else from herpetology.
I raced down the corridor to the office. Mary, the clerk, was the only one there.
“Oh, my God, no one’s here now who can handle a snake,” she said with panic in her voice. “Gary went to the cafeteria to get a muffin. Fred has a later shift, and Jennifer’s on vacation. I don’t—”
“Where’s Tim?”
“I don’t know. I saw him earlier, but I’ve no idea where he is now.”
“Let me see if I can find someone.”
I ran out of the building in the direction of the cafeteria, hoping to find my brother or Gary, the reptile keeper. I stopped for a second to catch my breath, and from the corner of my eye, I spied a figure headed away from the herpetology facility. It was Saul Mandel, or at least I thought it was from the brief glimpse I gleaned before he vanished.
Thinking he might know what to do, I was about to run after him when Tim approached from the opposite direction.
“A cobra’s loose in the storage room,” I yelled. “It bit Mei. I called 911, but I don’t know if she’s alive.”
My brother ran quicker than I’d ever seen. He pulled out his two-way radio.
“Gary, get over here now. The cobra escaped.”
Once in the building, Tim darted into the storage room and grabbed a large container, a long hook, and heavy gloves.
He slowly opened the door to the closet. “Damn!”
My heart pounded. Was Mei dead? I edged closer to the closet until I could see inside.
Tim was having difficulty. It wasn’t easy picking up a reptile measuring more than four feet. He grabbed the snake with the hook, but the creature slipped off and slithered back onto the floor.
“Get out of here, Kristy!” he ordered.
As I scurried away from the closet to the far side of the room, I heard someone running down the hall.
“What’s going on?” It was Gary, huffing and puffing.
“A snake bit Mei. Tim’s trying to capture it.”
Gary didn’t say a word, and he didn’t rush to assist Tim. He picked up gloves, but he stayed far away from my brother and the snake.
“Gary, are you okay? Maybe you should help Tim.” I was puzzled by his strange reaction. As a reptile keeper, he should have been trained for situations like this.
Tim grabbed the cobra again with the hook. “Got it. Get the cover, Gary.” Tim dropped the snake into the large container.
Gary didn’t move.
“Gary!” Tim yelled.
I shot by Gary and slammed down the lid.
“What the hell’s wrong with you, Gary?” Tim secured the lid, then dashed into another room while yelling, “Kristy, that was plain stupid!”
I wasn’t listening. I made my way into the large closet and now knelt next to Mei’s body. But before I could do anything, Tim returned carrying a small box marked Antivenin.
“She’s still alive.” Tim inserted a syringe in Mei. “Kristy, go to the entrance and wait for the ambulance.”
I raced down the hall as sirens blared in the distance, becoming louder with each second. An ambulance and a police car pulled up on the grass in front of the building.
“The victim’s in there.” I pointed to the storage room. “The snake’s been captured so you can go in.” The medical technicians hurried into the room with a gurney. One police officer pulled Tim aside and another began talking to Gary.
After what seemed an eternity, but was probably only a few minutes, the medical technicians rushed Mei out of the building into the ambulance. Tim followed.
“How bad is she?” I asked, running alongside Tim.
“She’s alive but barely.” Tim’s voice cracked as he spoke. “I don’t know if the antivenin is too late. I’m driving to the hospital.”
The ambulance sped off with sirens blasting. When I spun around, I found myself facing a police officer whose badge identified him as Officer Cooper. I was thankful it wasn’t Detective Wolfe, although a sinking feeling told me that he would be contacting me soon.
“Are you the one who found the victim?” he asked.
“That’s right.”
He scribbled down my name, address, and phone number. “If you don’t mind, I’d like you to tell me exactly what you saw.”
Even if I did mind, it’s not like I had a choice.
“Mei sprawled on the floor with the cobra atop her body,” I said. “I thought it was about to strike. I slammed the door shut and called for help. Then I spotted the herpetology curator coming up the path. He captured the snake and administered the antivenin.”
“Did you see anyone near the storage area?”
“No, but I did see someone outside the building. I’m pretty sure it was Saul Mandel.”
Officer Cooper’s big, horsey eyes narrowed into slits. “The reptile keeper told us you’re the herp . . . herpa . . . you’re the sister of the guy in charge of the snakes. Is that true?”
“Yes.”
He paused then shut his notebook with his meaty hands, apparently satisfied for the time being. “Okay. We’ll contact you later for a formal statement.”
Before I left, the second police officer returned. I overheard his comment to his partner. “The cobra is missing from its tank. I think we can assume it’s the same one that bit the victim.”
It felt like tiny spiders crawling in my intestines as I considered the most likely possibility. Someone had deliberately released the snake?
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Would Mei survive?
Dozens of questions shot through my mind, but that was foremost. The day I’d first run into Mei, she had mentioned keeping a diary and writing her thoughts in it. Instinct told me the diary held the answer to a lot of my questions. I wanted to go to the hospital, but I needed to find this book. Since the intern’s current assignment was herpetology, my search would begin there.
I hurried back to the office where Mary appeared to be fidgeting with a pencil. I would have to get rid of her before snooping. Luckily no one else was here.
“Is Mei okay?” Mary asked immediately. “I can’t stop thinking of her.”
After providing a rundown of what happened, I said, “Mei was currently assigned to this department, wasn’t she? Do you know her well?”
“Not really.” Mary pushed a wisp of white hair away from her eyes. “She hasn’t been with herpetology that long. She worked in the small room next to Tim’s office. He assigned her to special projects, so she really had little contact with me.”
Glancing at the coffee machine on a nearby shelf, an idea formed in my mind. I didn’t know if I could pull it off but decided to try. “I better sit down. I feel dizzy.” I made my way to a chair.
“It’s no wonder, you poor thing. You had a horrible morning. Sit here and rest a while.”
“I’d love a cup of tea to settle my stomach.”
“I wish I could offer y
ou some, but everyone here drinks coffee, so we don’t have tea.”
“Maybe once I feel better, I’ll walk to the cafeteria, but I feel too shaky now.”
“I tell you what, honey. I’ll go to the cafeteria and get it for you. Tim would want me to do this for his sister.”
Once Mary disappeared out the door, I scooted into the small room off Tim’s office. Mei’s desk appeared the same as when she was my student—like the aftermath of a nuclear explosion.
I sorted through the clutter atop the desk and found nothing resembling a diary. The top right drawer contained only stationary supplies and a few candy wrappers.
I yanked opened the drawer to the left and there it was, a spiral notebook with the words Daily Journal scrawled across the cover. After stashing the book in my bag, I dashed into the main room and slipped back into the chair as the front door opened.
“Here’s your tea, dear,” Mary said, handing me a cup. “Have you heard from Tim? Any word on Mei?”
“No. I’m anxious to get to the hospital.” After taking a few sips of tea, I rose from my chair. “I should get going.”
“But the rest of the staff will be here soon. They’ll want to know what happened. Besides, you haven’t finished your tea.”
“I’ll take it with me. I feel much better.” I bolted for the door. “Thanks again.”
As I hurried down the path, bird keeper Frank Taggart emerged from the ornithology building. He took giant strides until he caught up with me.
“I heard you found the intern. You may have saved her life.” With his face now inches away from mine, his breath smelled like a dirty ashtray.
“I hope so,” I said, quickening my pace. “I know cobra venom is powerful.”
“Was she conscious?”
“I don’t think so, but I’m not really sure.”
“If they got the antivenin in her in time, she could recover. If not . . .” He shrugged. “Cobra venom acts real fast. Twenty minutes can do it.” He vanished in the direction of the cafeteria.
If I wasn’t worried before, I sure was now. Twenty minutes. How long had Mei been in that room?
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
No antiseptic can take away the smell of fear in a hospital waiting room.
I found Tim in a corner of the waiting area, his head in his hands. He looked up at me. “No one here can tell me anything. I don’t know if Mei is alive or dead.”
“How could a snake have gotten in the closet?” I asked after hugging my brother.
Tim glared at me, his body stiffening. “Why are you asking me? You think I did it, don’t you?”
“Of course not, Tim. I only thought that as a curator you could explain how the snake could escape from an exhibit.”
“There’s no way in hell that cobra could escape. Someone deliberately removed it from the tank and dropped it in the closet.”
“But why? Isn’t a snake bite an unreliable method of killing? Whoever did it had to realize Mei might be rescued in time.”
“The Asian cobra’s bite is among the deadliest in the world. But still, this isn’t like McKenzie’s murder where a specific amount of venom was injected through a needle. No one knows how much venom a snake will release when it bites.”
“Do you think someone was trying to scare her?”
“It’s a risky way to scare someone.” He stared at the ceiling. “The whole thing is crazy.”
I gently placed my hand on my brother’s arm. “Do you have an alibi?”
“Not really. Saul called a breakfast meeting at seven for Linda to present her latest nutrition findings. The meeting ended in thirty minutes. I didn’t feel like returning to the office, so I sat on a bench by the polar bear exhibit and went through my reports. I’m sure no one saw me.”
“Besides Saul and Linda, who attended the meeting?”
“Amanda, of course. And Ginger, too. That’s it.”
“What did everyone do afterward?”
“We all went our separate ways. I think they headed back to their offices, but I don’t know for sure.”
I flashed back to when I ran out of the herpetology building seeking help.
“Tim, I’m pretty sure I saw Saul—”
“Excuse me,” a nurse interrupted. “The doctor will see you now. You can go in there.” She pointed to a room on the other side of an open doorway.
“Is Mei okay?” Tim asked.
“Dr. Aghassi will tell you everything.”
We stepped into a small, windowless room furnished only with a couch and a table. A pitcher of water and a stack of plastic glasses rested on the table.
A few minutes later, Dr. Aghassi arrived.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“I’m sorry. We couldn’t save her,” the doctor said.
My eyes filled up. I couldn’t believe this was happening.
The next moment, I heard the sound made by high-heeled shoes clicking across a tile floor.
“They told me you were in here.” Ginger Hart, in a peacock blue sundress, strutted into the room.
Tim blurted out the news. “Mei’s dead.”
“Oh, no. This is the second murder at the zoo in less than two weeks. I can just imagine the newspaper stories. This is terrible.”
“It’s not too good for Mei, either,” I said, thinking this woman had the warmth and compassion of a scorpion.
“I’ll contact the family.” Ginger seemed oblivious to my sarcasm. “I’ll check our records to find the name of her closest relative.”
“Mei’s parents are dead.” I wiped a tear from my face. “As far as I know, she only has an aunt in this country.”
“I’m sure that will be in our files. Tim, why don’t you go home? You look awful.”
“I’m heading back to Rocky Cove. I need to find out how that snake got into the storage room closet.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t.” Ginger was texting while talking. She didn’t look up as she spoke. “The police need to talk to you. I don’t think that should occur at the zoo.”
“You have an attorney,” I reminded my brother, suppressing my urge to rip the phone out of Ginger’s hand. “When you meet with the police, make sure Stan Margolis is present.”
Tim looked at me with a deer-in-the-headlights stare.
Work was the furthest thing on my mind, but, unfortunately, I was expected at Animal Advocate.
“Did you hear?” Clara called out as I stepped into the office. “There was another murder at the zoo. A student intern.”
I blinked, afraid I might tear up.
“We’ll talk later,” I said, taking off down the hall. I didn’t want to discuss this with Clara or anyone else now. “I’ve a ton of work to complete.”
Once I settled in my cubicle, I pulled Mei’s journal from my bag and began reading. The book detailed Mei’s daily responsibilities. I paid particular attention to Mei’s notes on the day immediately preceding Arlen McKenzie’s death. Although scheduled to work in herpetology, Mei had been called away from her regular duties and assigned to a special public relations program titled “Keeper for a Day.” A handful of sixth graders had been chosen to shadow Rocky Cove’s zookeepers. McKenzie had made sure he took a photo with each student. Mei’s responsibilities had consisted of assisting the photographer in setting up the pictures near various animal exhibits.
I rubbed my forehead. When I had first run into Mei, she told me there were things at the zoo that didn’t make sense. My gut told me she would have written about that in this book. But everything I read appeared straightforward—except one item. By process of elimination, I determined that had to be it. I flipped back to the beginning of the journal.
I scanned a list of four names, each one accompanied by a number.
MAX—720
MYRA—420
SCOTT—570
TORY—105
A note, scrawled on the bottom of the page, read: “SM concerned about Tory. Please keep advised.”
SM must stand for Saul Mandel, I th
ought. But who are Max, Myra, Scott, and Tory?
I was ready to call it a day. I rose from my chair just as my cell phone trilled. Abby’s number popped up.
“I just heard about the murder of the student intern, Mom. A cobra!”
I closed my eyes and held the phone away from my ear.
“Why didn’t you call me?” Abby asked. “I know you were there. You told me you were going to the zoo this morning.”
“I planned to phone you later. How did you find out?”
“Jason called me at work. He heard it on the news.”
“I thought Jason was studying for the bar exam every waking hour.”
“He was taking a break. Don’t change the subject. He called and told us what happened.”
“Us? Does your father know?”
“He sure does.”
“I guess Dad’s upset.”
“He’s ranting about how dangerous the zoo is with a lunatic killer running around. He feels you should concentrate on your articles, not the murders.”
This was not the time to mention that I was the one who discovered Mei in the closet with the snake. Instead, I proceeded to tell Abby about the list of names and numbers in Mei’s journal.
“Maybe Dad’s right,” Abby said. “Maybe you should stop asking questions. In fact, maybe you should stay away from Rocky Cove. At first, I didn’t think there was any problem with a little harmless snooping. But that’s changed. I’m betting Mei was murdered to keep her from talking. What if the killer thinks Mei passed information to you before she died?”
“I don’t think—”
“You could be the next victim, Mom.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Since I accomplished nothing at the office, I spent the next day working at home. Roy Maxwell from Fish and Wildlife had sent me more material, so I started with a recent press release.
It read: “A joint effort between the United States Drug Enforcement Agency and the Fish and Wildlife Service has resulted in the arrest of Wayne Babcock, owner of B & S Animal Importers, and the seizure of eighty-seven boa constrictors arriving at Kennedy airport in New York from Columbia, South America. The snakes had been implanted with cocaine-filled condoms inserted through their rectums, which were then sewn shut.
