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“Yes, that’s me.”
“Baptiste, it’s Jennifer Comeaux. Well, I’m Dr. Jennifer Yang now. We went to high school together. You haven’t changed a bit.”
“Damn. Jennifer, I’m so sorry. You look great!”
“Don’t flatter me. I’m forty pounds heavier, more wrinkles than a sheet left in the dryer for a week, and I ache like a bitch,” she laughed. “What can I do for you?”
“Can we speak briefly? I promise it won’t take long.”
“Of course, come on back,” she said. The receptionist gave her a look that said, ‘are you kidding me,’ but she only smiled back, holding up one finger. “Come on in. It’s a mess, but it’s just me this week. My husband and I run the clinic, but he’s at a conference in Los Angeles.”
“We really appreciate you giving us some time,” said Otto. She looked up at him, squinting as if to determine if she knew him. “Sorry. I’m Otto. This is Pork. We’re friends of Baptiste’s.”
“Jennifer, we heard that you’ve seen a few kids with rabies and some strange urinary infections.”
“That’s right,” she frowned. “How did you hear that?”
“We have a good network,” smiled Otto. “We’re investigating a puppy mill, abuse of puppies and the adults. We’ve found a number of them dead and others that are sick and being treated. We’re one step behind these guys all the time. They’re pumping out litters of puppies and attempting to sell them outside stores, on the side of the road, anywhere they can.”
“Damn,” she muttered, taking a seat. “Four of the five I treated for rabies were due to dog bites. The other was due to the bite of a raccoon. Stupid kid tried to feed it.”
“We were all stupid kids,” smirked Baptiste.
“Maybe. The parents said the kids found the puppies on the side of the road when they were coming home from school.”
“They were all from the same school?” asked Pork.
“Yes. St. Luke’s over on Millican. The kids are all local, low-income, and attend on scholarship. They said they found a box of puppies in the ditch, and they all picked them up. They were covered in fleas, so the kids had flea bites all over them, but it was the biting that got the parents worried. Luckily, they still had the dogs, so we were able to confirm rabies. Those kids aren’t happy, though. Shots. Every damn day. We caught it all early so the kids will be okay.”
“That’s good,” nodded Pork. “Did any of the kids see anything? Anyone in the area see anyone place those puppies in the ditch.”
“No, no one said anything to me. It was clear they wanted those puppies to die, though. We were expecting huge storms that afternoon. That’s why the kids took the dogs out of the ditch. They were afraid they’d drown, and they would have.”
“I assume the puppies have been put down,” asked Otto.
“Yes. I’m sorry, but there wasn’t another choice. I’m a physician, but I know enough to know that usually, puppies don’t get rabies. They were either bitten by an animal that had it or exposed during birth. That just seems sick to me.”
“It definitely is. You’ve been a great help, Jennifer,” said Baptiste.
“I heard you got married, had a little girl,” she smiled.
“I sure did. Rose and Elizabeth are my whole world. Liz is married now and has triplet sons. Great men.”
“Wow! You Robicheauxs know how to repopulate the area,” she laughed. “Cho and I have a son in medical school and one working as an engineer for a firm in Oregon. No grandkids yet, but we’re hoping.”
“That’s great. It was really nice seeing you, Jennifer.”
“I’ll let you know if anything else comes in, but as you can see, we’re busy all the time.”
“Thanks again,” waved Otto and Pork as they left the clinic. Baptiste got into the SUV and turned to them both.
“No, I didn’t date her.”
“Brother,” laughed Pork, “I wasn’t gonna ask that.”
“Good. But she did want to date Raphael. I’m surprised she didn’t ask about him and surprised she could tell us apart. I don’t know why he never asked her out. She was pretty in high school. Still pretty. She was smart, was on the debate team. He just never asked her.”
“Things happen or don’t happen for a reason,” said Otto.
