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Fiona figured the list they’d made earlier—about the entomologists and exotic pet keepers operating in Portland—would still be relevant. It wasn’t easy to get one’s hands on either of these specimens, and yet the killer had done it.
The greeting card was in the lab, also being processed, now that it was an official part of the crime scene. Fiona was curious to know where it had been purchased and to see if that gave them any clues. Her job was to focus on the insects and arachnid, though, so she tried to stay on task, focusing on her ongoing research on her laptop. Fiona had gone through the list of entomologists and exotic pet keepers and had located three people who dealt in both hornets and spiders. However, she had no record of them having specifically Asian giant hornets or importing them. Of course, they could have obtained them illegally, but with no connection between either victim, it was hard to pick them out as a suspect.
Frustrated with her lack of answers, Fiona leaned back and rubbed her eyes beneath her glasses. She hoped Jake was having better luck than her, but she hadn’t heard from him in a while. Maybe it was time to switch focus a bit; they had Trish Walker as a victim now, so they had a wider suspect pool to work with, potentially.
Fiona decided to see if she could track Trish’s movements in the recent past—see if she’d visited any strange places, maybe to do with insects or spiders, like a museum. She went into the database and accessed Trish’s credit card history, which had been submitted in the past hour after the FBI had confirmed Trish’s death was a homicide.
Fiona scrolled through the list of transactions, her eyes scanning for any anomalies. She saw that Trish had made a few purchases at the local pet store, but nothing out of the ordinary. She had also made a few online purchases for various items, but none of them seemed to be related to insects or spiders. In fact, it seemed as if Trish had been living a fairly normal life in recent months with no unusual activities or hobbies.
Fiona sighed and continued scrolling through the list, now focusing on more recent transactions. She noticed that Trish had visited a few restaurants in the past couple of weeks and paid for parking fees near the waterfront last weekend. But again, nothing was out of the ordinary.
Another thing that Fiona noticed was Trish’s bank account balance. It was rather large for someone who worked at a diner, and now that Fiona had noticed that, she realized Trish really didn’t spend much money when she did go out.
Fiona kept scrolling through the list until she saw an unusually large amount spent—at least for Trish—a hundred and fifty dollars… at a zoo.
Fiona paused. This was three weeks ago. Trish had visited a zoo…
It was called Shady Acres Zoo. Fiona had never heard of it before, but she decided to look it up online and see what it was all about.
When she opened the homepage, Fiona was surprised to see that Shady Acres Zoo had only been open for a year. It seemed like it had become quite popular in that time, though; there were photos of exotic animals, tours of the aviary and reptile house, and even a petting zoo. The website also boasted about their wide variety of insect specimens, from butterflies to beetles to spiders.
Fiona clicked on the “About Us” page and read through the details about how Shady Acres Zoo had been founded by a local entrepreneur named Douglas Applegate, who wanted to bring the joys of nature to their city. The founder had worked with experts in zoology and conservation to ensure that each animal was given a home where they could thrive and be protected from harm.
It made sense now why Trish would have chosen this place; it was new, exciting, and close enough for her to visit easily. Plus, they obviously had an incredible selection of animals…
But could they also have access to Asian giant hornets and a Sydney funnel web?
Surely, with their impressive collection, it would be easy for them.
Fiona focused on the photo of the founder, Douglas, on their website. He was young, probably no older than thirty-five. His photo showed him in a safari outfit holding a snake.
Looked innocent enough, but then Fiona closed the website and went into the FBI database.
She typed in Douglas Applegate’s name and waited for the results, tapping her fingers on the table. Then they loaded.
Fiona’s stomach dropped.
Douglas Applegate had a criminal record.
Her heart pounded as she looked deeper into her findings.
It turned out that Douglas had been arrested for assault when he was twenty-three. He had gotten into a fight at a bar and ended up hitting someone with a beer bottle, resulting in serious injuries.
Douglas had served his time and paid the necessary fines, but it seemed like he still had a bit of a temper.
Fiona wondered if this could be related to Trish’s death. Maybe Douglas saw her at the zoo and chose her?
But that didn’t explain the senator.
Quickly, Fiona went into the database to view the senator’s transactions. Jake had already gone through them and confirmed nothing strange had happened recently. But maybe he missed something.
Fiona scrolled through the list, but she couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. No purchases from Shady Acres Zoo. No suspicious payments or withdrawals. Nothing that could link the senator to Trish’s death in any way.
Fiona sighed and leaned back in her chair, feeling a bit defeated. This lead with Douglas Applegate had potential, but maybe it wasn’t quite good enough.
Fiona took a moment to breathe and clear her thoughts. She wanted to be confident, but it was hard. She’d slept terribly last night, and that horrific dream about Joslyn still kept making appearances throughout the day.
She thought back to how real her sister had looked in the dream. And how cold she’d felt when Fiona touched her dead body. It was as if it were a real memory, but that was impossible. Joslyn’s body had never been found.
