King Julien appeared much happier this morning when Paradise checked on him. He’d eaten all his food and stared at Paradise with contented red eyes from his perch on the rocks. The enclosure reeked of his scent markings, and she smiled at how ready he was to assert his dominance over the space.
He scampered toward her when he saw the banana in her hand. “You like it here, don’t you?” She poked the banana through the fencing, and he snatched it from her fingers.
There was no barking or aggressive behavior, and his eyes were brighter. It would take some time on the proper diet with exercise to get his diabetes and excess weight under control, but he was on the mend. She left him and walked into the wildlife clinic where she found Warren Gibson, her vet tech, with a red fox. It wasn’t an animal Paradise had seen in the park.
She approached the sedated animal. “What do we have here, Warren?”
“Someone dropped her off. She’s blind.”
Paradise winced. “Not being properly fed?”
“She’s very malnourished. I think it’s too late to save her sight.”
“But she’ll find a home here with our skulk.”
Warren smiled at the term. “I’m still learning all the names for groups of animals. You want to examine her?”
“I sure do.” She washed her hands and pulled on gloves before probing the fox’s mouth and extremities. She palpated the animal’s belly. “Does she have a name?”
“Ember.”
“I like it.” Paradise finished her exam. “I think her electrolytes are off. Let’s give her an IV to pump up her nutrition and fluids.” She prepped a balanced solution of electrolytes, glucose, amino acids, and lipids. “I’ll let you administer it. Any other patients today?”
“Nope. You probably noticed King Julien’s improvement on the way in.”
“I did. Let’s have him on his own for a few more days before introducing him to the conspiracy.”
“I thought you’d say that. The other lemurs have caught wind of his scent and are very curious, but it’s wise to take our time.”
“Good. I hope they welcome him.” She stripped off her gloves and tossed them in the trash. “I’m going to grab my brother and head out for a while. Call me if anything comes up.”
With a light schedule here at the park, she and Drew could begin their investigation. Blake had hired a college student to help with tours so he’d be free to go with them too. Paradise walked toward Jenna’s cottage and paused where she’d seen the leopard the other night. The park had taken in two animals since then. Was there any connection among the animals? A red fox, a lemur, and a leopard all in the area seemed suspicious. She reversed direction to see what she could find out about Ember.
She nearly ran into Warren on his way out. “Evan found Ember. She was left in a crate in the parking lot, and Evan found her when he got to work. He brought her straight to the clinic.”
“How weird. I’m going to ask Blake to check the cameras and see if he can tell who dropped her off.” If it was Creed Greene, he had some explaining to do.
She found the men on the back deck and stopped by Blake’schair. “Before we go, could you check the cameras? Someone dropped off a red fox in a crate in our parking lot. It seems odd we’ve acquired two animals back-to-back, plus we saw that stray leopard.”
“Thatisstrange.” He grabbed his phone and studied the camera recording. “Which area of the parking lot?”
“Warren didn’t say.”
“I’ll check all the cameras.” He fell silent as he flipped through his phone. “Here it is. It’s not under a light so I can’t tell who it is, and they left the crate clear out in the far lot. Maybe a guy and he’s in a pickup. That’s all the detail I can make out.”
“I guess it doesn’t matter, but it seemed odd.”
He rose and slipped his arm around her waist. “How’s your head?”
“Totally fine. I haven’t had a headache in a couple of days now.”
Drew, dressed in khaki shorts and a tee with a Blue Line emblem, stood. “Could I see the house you grew up in today? You already cleared it, right?”
She nodded. “Evan said Honey left it unlocked and we could go on in. She was taking the kids to an arcade in Foley this afternoon.”
“I want to walk the house and yard and see if I can tell how the killer likely got in.”
“I think I let him in, or at least left the door unlocked. The cable guy came and gave me a monkey music box like inThe Phantom of the Operathat had been left on our porch before going into the living room. The police found no sign of forced entry.”
