Adieu at the Zoo_A Jefferson Zoo Mystery

by Harol Marshall

  Since my car was now nearly a block away from Nate, whose truck was hidden from my view by a small stand of trees, I pulled to the curb directly across the park from Alice’s house. If I couldn’t see Nate, I reasoned, he couldn’t see me. Besides, I was pretty certain he wasn’t looking in my direction.

  I was too far away to clearly identify the male person hurrying up Alice Pickett’s front walk. I hoped she would turn on the porch light, but no such luck. Despite the darkness, Alice must have seen him coming because the front door opened before he reached the top step. She stood in the doorway backlit by the grandiose ceiling fixture in her entry hall, but her blonde head was unmistakable.

  I could see her leaning against the doorframe as the driver of the pickup walked up and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her squarely on the mouth. Not the light kiss of a friend or relative, for sure. Watching the two of them play kissy face, I couldn’t help but wonder what Nate was thinking. At least I now knew why he was spying on his mistress. Seems she was two-timing him, which, I have to say, couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

  Chapter 57

  Sitting in the dark across the street from Alice Pickett’s house, I narrowed my eyes to focus on her lover who wasn’t our general curator. I couldn’t see his face, but his clothes were memorable. An Indiana Jones hat prevented me from seeing his hair, but his body type fit Nate Olson.

  If I hadn’t known Nate’s whereabouts, I might have mistaken him for Alice’s new BFF. I conjured up an image of Winston Mooney. He had a similar build, but with more of a paunch, which I couldn’t really see from this angle.

  Had Alice dumped Nate when she learned Bob found out about the affair? Or, I thought, had she dumped him because he was acting like, well, himself? If so, she’d moved at warp speed to reel in another fish, no doubt a rich sucker by the name of Winston Mooney. The pair seemed pretty cozy at his office the day I visited, and they did leave together in Mooney’s Cadillac. The more I thought about Mooney, the more I wondered if he and Nelson Farthington, and maybe Alice Pickett, were in the plant smuggling business together. If so, that would tie up a lot of loose ends.

  I fidgeted in my car, wishing I had a pair of binoculars since I was ninety-nine percent certain the man rounding the bases with Alice inside the Pickett residence was the ‘perp’ as Billy called him, who ran Jodie and me off the road. However, I had no way to identify him without putting myself at risk. At this point, I was wagering on Winston Mooney. He had the three attributes Alice valued most: money, money, and money.

  I toyed with the idea of trying to get a read on the pickup’s license plate, but that would be foolish. I’d be seeing Dan in less than an hour. I could tell him what I found, and he could contact the sheriff. Thinking of Dan made me realize that if I didn’t hurry, I wouldn’t make it home before Dan.

  As it happened, he arrived at my house fifteen minutes after I returned from my adventure staking out Alice Pickett’s house. Stake-out was Dan’s phrase. I insisted I merely drove by.

  “Why didn’t you call the sheriff or call me the minute you spotted those quirky headlights? The sheriff might have made an arrest by now.”

  “I don’t know,” I replied, wondering how I could have been so dumb as to not call the sheriff. “I knew I’d see you shortly, so I figured I’d tell you and you could give the sheriff a call. Believe me, the way those two were going at it, he’ll be at Alice Pickett’s place until the morning.”

  Dan gave me a quick hug. “I’m just glad you’re okay. I may hire a chauffeur for you until the sheriff clears up this case. At least then I’ll know you’re safe and not driving around town with a target on your back.”

  He took out his phone and called Sheriff Joyner. I only heard one end of the conversation, but it sounded as though the sheriff couldn’t march over to Alice Pickett’s and arrest her visitor on my say-so alone.

  Nevertheless, when Dan hung up, he said, “If we’re lucky and the sheriff does his job, there may be an arrest in another day or two.”

  “Which would still leave at least one culprit free, maybe two if Alice is involved.”

  “And that culprit is?”

  “Nelson Farthington.”

  “Maybe the pickup driver and Nelson Farthington are one and the same.”

  “I suppose that’s possible,” I admitted, “but I doubt it. Unless Nelson Farthington was wearing a down jacket with shoulder pads and insulated underwear, the build of the man I saw kissing Alice Pickett wasn’t close to that of Nelson Farthington.”

  “We’re back to Mooney, then.”

  “Mooney, Alice Pickett, and Nelson Farthington,” I said, which is where we left things, ending all discussion of my first foray into fixed surveillance.

  I’d neglected to mention that I might scale up to mobile or rolling surveillance next, because that might have put Dan over the edge, and I really wanted him to try my dessert, including the mashed strawberries and cheesecake.

  Chapter 58

  After Dan left, I fell into bed, exhausted. I’d set my alarm for 8:00 instead of my usual 6:30, in order to compensate for my inordinately late bedtime, but at 7:34, my cell phone chimed.

  “Hello,” I croaked, my body parts barely awake.

  A cheery voice answered. “Morning Sam, this is Maralie.”

  Sally Ann’s faithful secretary. I groaned, “Kind of early for a Monday morning isn’t it, Maralie?”

  “Well, not for the animals. They’re all out on exhibit, and Sally Ann’s been in her office since six.”

  Did she just equate Sally Ann with the animals?

  “I came in at seven,” she bubbled. “You’re the only sleepyhead today.”

  Even in my groggy state of mind, I doubted the veracity of her last statement. There are days I’d like to strangle Maralie, and today seemed to be one of them. What was it about perpetually cheerful people that was so annoying? Especially in the morning? I tried to guess the reason for her call.

  “Am I supposed to be in a meeting right now?”

  “Not according to my schedule,” she replied, explaining nothing. I waited in silence. Finally, she said, “Sally Ann wants to schedule her first meeting with the Planning Committee for A Do at the Zoo, and she wants to know if you can meet at ten this morning. So, can you?”

  “Uh, hang on while I check my calendar.” I put Maralie on hold and flipped through the day planner app on my phone. “My morning’s open,” I said, “I can make it.”

  “Okey-dokey, then, I’ll let Sally Ann know. Oh, and by the way, Nelson Farthington will be attending today’s meeting, in case you want to get a little more gussied up than usual.”

  “I appreciate your concern, Maralie, but there’s nothing going on between Nelson Farthington and me.”

  “That’s not what I heard, but that’s your business, not mine.” Exactly, I thought, as she blabbered on. “Sally Ann talked with Nelson last night and he said he’s excited to be able to help out. Your suggestion scored big with Sally Ann, as I expect you know.”

  And now I’m paying for it, I thought.

  I lay in bed a while longer, figuring out how I might set a trap for Nelson Farthington now that Sally Ann’s meeting gave me an opportunity to talk with him alone. The sheriff would be more than happy to have me do his work for him, especially if I could trick Nelson into admitting his crimes.

  Eventually, I hit on what I thought was a great idea, and hopped out of bed, feeling energized. I decided to stop for breakfast at Comfort’s on my way in to the zoo. Their service was faster and the food twice as good as anything I could fix for myself.

  §

  Entering Comfort’s, I picked up a copy of the morning newspaper and asked the waitress for a booth. I’ve learned that casual acquaintances are less likely to join you if you’re comfortably ensconced in a booth rather than seated at a table. It’s not that I’m anti-social, but I like to drink my coffee and read my morning paper in solitude.

  The waitress handed me a menu. I decided on my order and l
aid the menu aside, signaling the server. A waitress I’d never met arrived, which meant I could keep conversation to a minimum. I tucked the insert back in the menu and ordered my usual—scrambled eggs with veggies and cheese, and an English muffin with a packet of marmalade.

  She poured my coffee and I turned back to the paper. I’d reached page five when a shadow loomed over my booth. Expecting to see my server with a coffee pot in hand, I reached for my half-empty cup without looking up. As luck would have it, the shadow belonged to Nelson Farthington.

  “Good morning, Sam. Are you expecting company, or may I join you?”

  For once I thought quickly. “Of course, please do.” I folded my newspaper and slid it aside as Nelson slipped into the booth across from me. True to form, he resembled an ad for GQ.

  “I’m delighted to see you again. In case you didn’t know, you’re the reason I agreed to serve on Sally Ann’s Planning Committee.”

  “Oh,” I said, feeling tongue-tied. “Thank you. I’m looking forward to working with you.”

  “Me, too,” Nelson replied, which made no sense, so he added, “working with you, I mean.”

  Sparkling conversationalist that I am, I added another thank you.

  “I heard you were in an automobile accident,” he said, as the waitress placed my breakfast in front of me and poured a cup of coffee for Nelson.

  “That looks good,” he said, pointing to my breakfast plate. “I’ll have the same thing.” He glanced at me and smiled.

  Without thinking, my hand went up to my bruised face. My bruises were at the turning green stage, and I hoped viewing them wouldn’t turn Nelson Farthington’s stomach.

  “Some nasty bruises there,” he said, as if I didn’t already know.

  “They’re getting better.”

  “I hear you got away with no bones broken.”

  “I was lucky, I guess.”

  “Not my notion of luck, but I’m glad you’re okay.

  I wondered how Nelson knew so much about my accident since the sheriff had kept it out of the local paper. News travels fast in small towns, but then again, maybe he had first-hand knowledge, I thought, which caused my mind to go blank.

  The waitress arrived, saving me from having to come up with a response. Thank you Lord, I prayed, as she refilled my coffee cup. The rest of my prayer had to do with keeping Dan Saunders away from Comfort’s that morning.

  I felt confident my prayers would be answered since I’d earlier asked for an opportunity to meet with Nelson Farthington alone in order to lay my trap, and that prayer seemed to have been answered more quickly than I’d anticipated.

  All in all, a good start to my day. Time to catch a thief, I thought, and redeem my reputation.

  Chapter 59

  Nelson’s next question came as no surprise. “Have the police learned any more about the driver who ran you off the road?”

  “If they have,” I said, “they’re keeping it to themselves, or at least, not sharing it with me. I haven’t heard a thing.”

  I could tell he was hoping for inside information on the investigation, but I had my own investigation in mind. I changed the subject to one that furthered my agenda. “Has your father added any new plants to his collection?”

  “If he has, he’s keeping it to himself, or at least, not sharing it with me.”

  I nodded and gave him a lead-in I hoped he’d jump on. “So, no Ghost Orchids yet?”

  Nelson sipped his coffee in the same way my grandmother sipped hers, not quite slurping but almost. He shook his head. “Sadly, probably never.”

  He provided exactly the opening I wanted. I lowered my voice to a conspiratorial level, “I may be able to help with that.”

  In the middle of raising his coffee cup to his lips a second time, he stopped halfway, letting the cup hover in mid air. “Are you serious?”

  “Yes,” I said. “I know people.” I hoped I wasn’t overdoing my gangster impersonation here.

  My mark brought the coffee cup to his lips and glanced over at me with a suspicious look. Finally, he said, “How soon could you arrange it?”

  My heart pounded at the alacrity of my success. “I’m not sure, but I may have access to seeds in the next week or two.” I wracked my brain, trying to remember exactly when the pod of the pollinated orchid would dehisce its seeds. I should have looked it up before I left home this morning.

  “How exactly would this work?” he asked.

  “My friend would need fifty percent of the money up front, and I’m afraid it won’t be cheap.” I should have looked this up, too. I hadn’t a clue how much a few Ghost Orchid seeds would be worth on the black market.

  “What’s the price?”

  I thought fast. “Honestly, I don’t know, but I can arrange a meeting with my friend if you’re interested.”

  “I’m interested,” Nelson said, which came as no surprise to me.

  The waitress arrived with Nelson’s breakfast, and I gulped down the last of my coffee so she could re-fill my cup. Reaching for the container of jellies and jams, I selected a packet of marmalade, opened it and spread it on the remaining half of my English muffin.

  “Frankly, I’m surprised, Sam,” Nelson said, in between feeding dainty forkfuls of scrambled egg into his mouth. “I had the distinct impression the night we had dinner that you were diametrically opposed to any form of illegal plant trading.”

  My mind raced. “Well, I did some research on you in the meantime,” I told him.

  “Meaning you talked with Alice Pickett?”

  Alice Pickett? I knew it! Nothing surprised me about that woman.

  “Well, let’s say Alice and I have an understanding,” I said, which wasn’t exactly a lie.

  I was now one hundred percent certain Alice was the person who told Bob I might be smuggling plants out of the conservation area, and she did so in order to steer suspicion away from herself.

  I wondered again if Nate might be involved, as well, close as the two of them had been. If so, maybe Alice would toss him under the bus in order to cut a better deal with the district attorney. I could only hope.

  “I see.” Nelson swallowed his last bit of bacon and sucked on the lid of his coffee cup, apparently lost in thought, which gave me more time to think as well.

  “I’ll need to set up a meeting,” I told him, “to iron out the details concerning the amount of money, number of seeds available, and delivery place and time.”

  “How soon can I meet with your guy? I’m assuming your contact is a he?”

  I nodded. “Tonight. Can you meet at nine in the parking lot outside of El Provencal?”

  “Suits me,” Nelson said, checking his phone. “Ten minutes to our meeting. We’d better head out to the zoo.”

  I caught the waitress’s eye and made a writing motion. She lifted the ticket pad out of her apron pocket and came over to our table.

  “Was everything all right?” she asked.

  “Just fine,” I said. “We have a ten o’clock meeting, so we’re in a bit of a hurry, here.”

  “No problem.” She handed us each a check. “You can pay at the door.”

  Nelson reached for my check and I let it slip from my hand as he said, “I’ll get that.”

  I returned his smile with great difficulty. “Thanks, you’ve made my morning,” which was the truth. I was happy to let him pay for my breakfast. In fact, I intended to see that he paid for a lot more—with fines and jail time, the creep.

  Why, I wondered, does someone who already has all the money in the world, need to resort to theft, especially thefts that endanger already threatened plants and animals? It’s all about entitlement, I fumed. The wealthy think they can get away with anything.

  I was working myself into a lather. I needed to calm down before we met with Sally Ann, so I could think clearly and handle this meeting in a business-like manner. It would take every last bit of self-control I could muster to put up with Nelson Farthington and his upstanding citizen act.

  By t
he time I reached the zoo, I’d managed to think logically again. I decided to keep the act going and waited for Nelson as he parked his Porsche two cars away from mine. On the way inside, I asked him if he realized we had 162 threatened or endangered plant species in North Carolina.

  “I had no idea the number was that high,” he said, adding, “some are quite valuable, too.”

  And I expect you know all the valuable ones. I tried without success to bite my tongue. “Twenty-six of those species are on the federal list of designated threatened or endangered plants,” I told him, spewing statistics in my futile attempt to lay a guilt trip on him. I knew I was wasting my breath, but I couldn’t help myself.

  Chapter 60

  Sally Ann arrived at our Zoo Do planning meeting late as usual, leaving Nelson and me to spend the first few minutes in awkward silence. Fortunately, our zoo’s nutritionist, Donna Banks, arrived and spared us additional embarrassment.

  Frankly, I was surprised at the change in Nelson’s attitude after I informally joined his business as a supplier. I expected him to be friendlier, but instead he appeared distant and preoccupied. I hoped he hadn’t hit on the idea of a sting operation.

  “Good morning, good morning,” Sally Ann sang out as she waltzed into the room, all khaki and desert tan. “Thank you so much for coming.” She greeted each of us with a big smile, “And I apologize for the last minute invitation.”

  Invitation? She was the boss and this was work for goodness sake. Other than Nelson Farthington, what choice did we have?

  “And particularly you, Mr. Farthington,” Sally Ann cooed. “What a pleasure to have your support, as always.”

  I tried not to gag.

  “The pleasure’s mine, and please call me Nelson.”

  “Thank you, Nelson.” Sally Ann focused her director’s gaze on Donna and me. “Shall we get down to business? And speaking of names, I’ve been reminded that “A Do at the Zoo” is not terribly original, so if your committee decides to change the name to something a bit more creative, please go right ahead, I won’t be offended.