Fatal, Family, Album

by Joanna Campbell Slan

  The royals were escorted past us. There were so many other bodyguards and officials that we couldn’t see much. Just Prince William’s receding hairline and Kate’s shiny mane of auburn hair. I also caught one quick glimpse of Detweiler as he brought up the rear. His sandy hair caught my eye because he was one of the tallest men in the group. As the knot of people moved on, the train blew its whistle. The chug-chug-chug of its engine alternated with the hissing of steam. The train would run only while the royals and the dignitaries were on board. Since Detweiler had disappeared, I figured he was either on the train or guarding our area.

  What followed was a very, very long 45 minutes. Not only were Erik and the three little girls excited, but they were quickly getting hungry, too. There was candy, but the other mother and I didn’t want to pass it out. The last thing we needed was a bunch of kids hyped up on sugar.

  “How about if we do crafts?” I asked. The ten-year-old girl pouted in an “I’m too old and too cool” sort of way, but soon boredom won out. Anya started assembling an animal. Miss I’m Too Cool quickly realized that doing crafts might be more fun than just sitting around.

  “Mom? Did you bring any glitter?”

  “As a matter of fact I think Rebekkah might have put some in the bag with the kits.” Sure enough, she had.

  As I leaned down to hand Anya the glitter, she wrinkled her nose. “What’s that smell?”

  “I don’t know. Where’s it coming from?”

  “From you, Mom.” Surreptitiously, she inhaled deeply, moving her head down the length of my body. “It’s coming from your pockets.”

  I reached inside and pulled out a mashed up fish stick. “Yuck. Erik must have crammed a fish stick into my pocket while I wasn’t looking.”

  Anya covered her mouth to smother a laugh. “He tried to put one in my pockets, but I caught him. I didn’t realize he’d put it in yours!”

  I was on my way to the restroom to dump the fish stick when the walkie-talkies came alive. The royals’ visit to the rhinos was over. Over the static, we heard the train whistle blowing. “Quick, everyone! Take your places. They’re coming!”

  Rather than sneak off to the john, I found myself pressed into service. One of the little girls had dumped glue all over. Anya and I grabbed baby wipes and began wiping up the mess. There was a lot to mop up—and very little time to get it done.

  According to the plan, the train would return here, the North Entrance, and the VIPs would get out.

  Reading the schedule to us, Curtis said, “There will be a wrapped book given to the royals, a wrapped book given to the Hungarian ambassador, and Jennifer’s group will be introduced. Fareed Farkada will make a quick statement of welcome from Zoo Keepers. A penguin parade will follow the gift giving.”

  “Hurrah!” Anya bounced to her feet. “The penguins are coming! Hip-hip-hooray!”

  In the distance, the train whistle tooted loudly. The royals were just moments away.

  Curtis continued, “After the penguins pass by, stuffed T-O-Y-S will be distributed. The young royals will come in here to play, leaving the adults to get their photos taken with our special guests. Then the children will have their pictures taken, and the event will be officially concluded.”

  Catching Anya’s excitement, Erik raced over to my side. “Mama Kiki! Dey is pen-gins, and I is going to feed them!” With that, he reached into his pocket. In his clenched fist he held something important.

  Could it be?

  “Erik? What do you have?”

  “Pen-gin food.”

  Gently I pried open his fingers. Smashed in the palm of his hand were two more fish sticks.

  “What on earth?”

  That little booger had stashed fish sticks all over the place!

  “Honey, I’m not sure if penguins eat this kind of fish sticks. I think they eat special fish sticks just for penguins. These are for little boys.”

  “Oh.” His lower lip trembled as I picked the mashed fish out of his hand.

  “Wait right here.”

  I looked around for a trash can. Whoever set up the “play area” had done a fine job, but there were no trash cans. “Do you see a trash can?” I asked Brawny.

  “No trash bins. They’ve all been removed. ‘Tis too easy to hide a bomb in a trash bin.”

  “Great,” I mumbled to myself. “Erik, honey? Come stand by me.”

  There was nothing I could do but tuck the fish sticks back into my pocket. I was about to meet Kate Middleton, one of the most stylish women in the world. She, undoubtedly, would be wearing White Gardenia Petals, her favorite scent. I, on the other hand, would stink of fish sticks.

  But I didn’t have much time to fret because the train whistled to a stop. All of us in the Welcome Center crowded around the velvet ropes, hoping to catch a glimpse of our guests. I caught quick snapshots of two fair-haired children. A shiny mass of bouncy auburn curls. The top of a balding head. A small raised platform had been moved to the far end of the Welcome Center. I saw Prince William take the microphone. In his deep voice, he thanked the city, thanked the zoo, and talked about the importance of conservation. When he finished, Mayor White joined him for a grip and grin. We all applauded, and that gave me the chance to look around.

  That’s when I saw Rochelle Owens. She was standing to one side of the podium. I recognized her from the photos in Peggy Rankin’s album.

  But why was Rochelle here? Okay, the uncomplicated answer might be that like Nancy, she loved animals. But that didn’t seem to fit. This girl had stolen a money market check from a group dedicated to helping endangered species. That didn’t sound like an animal lover to me. Not at all.

  Why was she here? Had Rochelle had a sudden change of heart? After Nancy’s death, had she found solace in supporting Nancy’s cause?

  The Ambassador from Hungary climbed the steps to join Prince William and Mayor White. Something was wrong about the enamel pin on his lapel. I did a double-take. The stripes were green, white, and red, but wasn’t right. I couldn’t explain why, but I knew it wasn’t.

  “Psst. Curtis!” I pulled him close so I could whisper in his ear. “Look at the ambassador’s pin.”

  After shooting me an annoyed gaze, Curtis did as I asked. I watched him look, squint, and look so hard that his neck jutted out like a turtle’s sticking out of its shell. “The pin…”

  “It’s not right!” I whispered.

  “Mooo-oomm! You’re going to ruin everything!” Anya whined quietly.

  Erik leaned against my leg. I reached down and took his hand.

  “You do know about diplomatic immunity, don’t you?” Curtis winked at me.

  “Point being?”

  “Our law officials will give that guy a wide berth. They can’t really hold him or convict him, so why arrest him?”

  Brawny noticed us talking. I explained my misgivings. “You would think that the ambassador to a country would be very, very particular about how he wears the emblem of his country.”

  “You would think.” Brawny frowned.

  Walkie-talkies crackled. A cymbal crashed. The marching band was coming our way. The penguins and their handlers would bring up the rear.

  “We can’t do anything about the ambassador,” I said, “except keep an eye on him, right? If he is a foreign diplomat, it would be a big faux pas to accuse him. Especially right now when he’s surrounded by onlookers.”

  “But we do need to keep eyes on the target.” Brawny lifted her walkie-talkie and briefly explained the anomaly.

  Now Kate joined her husband. She really was lovely. Mayor White urged a small girl forward. The tiny tot was holding a bouquet as big as her head so she probably couldn’t see her feet. She was hesitant, even as he pressed his left palm up against her back.

  The Hungarian ambassador moved to the rear of the podium. His eyes searched the crowd. He turned left and then right. Rochelle Owens gave him the tiniest of waves. He lifted his chin in acknowledgement.

  Something was about to happen. Something.
Something big. But what?

  “Psst.” I grabbed Brawny and pointed to Rochelle. “That’s Nancy Owens’ stepdaughter. Nancy who was shot in the head.”

  Rochelle edged her way through the crowd, walking behind people who were crowded around the platform. In response, the Hungarian ambassador was slowly moving closer to Rochelle.

  “Look! In her hand!”

  Rochelle was holding a business envelope. The ambassador had stepped down from the platform. He was trying to maneuver around a large woman. She didn’t want to move. Rochelle flapped the envelope at the ambassador, waving, signaling, offering up the piece of stationery.

  “That’s it,” I said to Brawny. “That’s the hand-off. That envelope has a cashier’s check for one million dollars! We have to grab it!”

  I didn’t yell, but the stress gave my voice a desperate screech. Brawny and Curtis were on full alert.

  “What?” Anya asked.

  “See that girl? The one in the black coat? See the envelope in her hand? There’s a check in there for a million dollars.”

  The marching band had moved off to one side.

  “The penguins!” Anya said. “I see them!”

  “I want to see!” Erik stood on this tiptoes.

  “I’ll tackle the ambassador,” Curtis said. “I have dual citizenship. If we’re making a mistake, it won’t matter so much.”

  “I can grab Rochelle,” I said. “She’s right there, in front of where the penguins are heading.”

  “No, you don’t. What about Erik?” Brawny had a strong grip on my shoulder.

  “He’s safer with you than with me!” I complained.

  “You stay right here and make sure Erik is okay.”

  Just then I felt something burrowing down inside my sweater pocket.

  “Trust me!” Anya said as she pulled out the fish sticks. “I’ve got this, Mom!”

  Pushing me aside, she sprinted toward Rochelle.

  “That’s my cue.” Curtis followed on her heels.

  “We have a situation, 10-67,” Brawny said into her walkie-talkie. “Suspect is transferring what looks to be an envelope. Our million-dollar check might be inside. Ten-39 to take down and capture.”

  CHAPTER 33

  Everything happened so quickly. Using their bodies as shields, federal agents hustled the royal family past us and into a waiting vehicle. In less time that you can spell, “zoology,” the prince, his duchess, and their two little ones were whisked away.

  Pandemonium ensued. Sort of. A girl’s voice shrieked, “Let go of me!”

  I held Erik’s hand tightly. Brawny told me to stay with him, which I really didn’t appreciate. Not when my daughter’s life was on the line. In a matter of seconds, the law enforcement officials had everyone herded into a tightly knit group.

  Everyone, that is, except my Anya.

  Later, when we were back in the safety of my kitchen, I would hear how she snatched the envelope out of Rochelle’s hand. With that precious piece of paper in her firm grip, Anya waded right into the midst of the colony of penguins.

  “Waddle,” Anya informed me. “Not a colony. The correct name for a group of penguins is a ‘waddle.’”

  Once surrounded by the bottom-heavy birds, Anya played keep-away. She held onto the envelope despite the best efforts of the fake Hungarian ambassador. Using Erik’s fish sticks as bait, she encouraged the penguins to swarm around her.

  The fake ambassador screamed with rage. He kept trying to get past the penguins. He demanded that Anya hand over the envelope. But she was too smart for him. She used those big birds like a mobile, bottom-heavy barricade.

  Meanwhile, Curtis bounded over people. He managed to tackle the fake dignitary and knock him to the ground.

  Uniformed police officers quickly handcuffed the culprit. Detweiler barreled his way through the penguins. While I was holding on to Erik, Detweiler hoisted Anya over his shoulder and carried her to safety.

  CHAPTER 34

  “But why did Nancy Owens have to die?” I asked. Erik and Anya had gone to bed. Finally, we adults could talk freely. To make sure the kids couldn’t overhear us, we crowded into Detweiler’s office.

  “It was a devilishly complicated plot,” Sanders said as he leaned over the back of a kitchen chair he’d dragged in. “It all started with Rochelle’s hatred of her stepmother. She knew that Nancy’s love of Zoo Keepers was her soft spot, and she’d overheard Nancy talking to Bert about the big check they were giving Prince William. Realizing this would be the highlight of Nancy’s life, Rochelle decided then and there to thwart her stepmother.”

  Montana nodded. He was seated on a folding chair. “Rochelle went online and quickly connected with a terrorism group posing as an anti-zoo protest group. These terrorists are way ahead of us in recruiting and manipulating disenchanted people. Especially young people who are naïve about their true intentions.”

  “The terrorists guided and shaped Rochelle’s next steps,” Sanders continued. “They talked her into getting a check for them, hoping they could somehow use their banking connections to get it cashed. Rochelle did as told, ripping a check from the money market bank book. When Lee Alderton discovered the missing check and told Nancy, Nancy immediately suspected Rochelle. Bert didn’t believe it, of course, but Nancy was adamant. She’d caught Rochelle going through her things before. Finally Bert agreed to look in Rochelle’s backpack while Nancy watched. Sure enough, they found the money market check.”

  Montana shook his head. “Rochelle had her daddy twisted around her finger. She cried and told him it was just a joke. Of course, he believed her. She said she’d learned her lesson. As far as Bert was concerned, that was that.”

  “But Lee had talked to Fareed, right? He must have spoken with Nancy about the check,” I said from the comfort of one of Leighton’s wonderful club chairs.

  “He did,” Sanders agreed. “Because they were old friends and because Mr. Farkada knew how much it meant to Mrs. Owens that she be the one to present the check to Prince William, he let it slide. He’d had problems with his own son, so he understood how difficult things could be. As a sign of good faith, he actually let Mrs. Owens continue to hold onto the cashier’s check for a million dollars after it was written. Of course, Rochelle knew all this. Her father told her everything. That was another reason she hated her stepmother. Before Mrs. Owens came along, Rochelle was her father’s only confidant.”

  “The terrorists hadn’t given up,” Montana picked up the narrative, “the minute they heard about the cashier’s check, they put plans in place to grab it. They instructed Rochelle to get her father out of town. She begged Mr. Owens to take her to Chicago for an exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry. He agreed, not knowing he was a pawn in a deadly chess game.”

  “Nancy was particularly easy to manipulate,” Detweiler said. He’d claimed his office chair. From behind his desk, his eyes were sad. I could tell he was thinking about the terrible position she had been in. “She only cared about two things: Zoo Keepers and Bert. With Bert out of town, it was easy to move Nancy around. Rochelle got her hands on her father’s phone. She texted Nancy saying that he’d forgotten something important having to do with his business. Rochelle, pretending to be her father, instructed Nancy to drive to Ferguson were she’d be met by a courier. That’s one of the text messages Nancy got during that last Zoo Keepers’ meeting.”

  “The other text was from Mrs. Alderton’s phone.” Sanders gave a little snort of anger. “This is where you really have to wonder if some people are born mean or just plain irresponsible. The terrorists got to the janitor at the Meyer Building. They bribed him to take the day off. Can you believe it? How irresponsible is that? He hands his keys to one of the terrorists and spends the day at home watching TV. When Mrs. Alderton had stepped out of the board room to help Annie Patel with the coffee machine, the fake janitor grabbed her phone. Then he sent Mrs. Owens a text message from Mrs. Alderton’s phone accusing her of being a thief and a liar. Nancy Owens
read it during the board meeting, and she was steaming mad.”

  Montana chimed in. “You have to put yourself in Mrs. Owens’ place. She’s sitting in a board meeting, across from a woman who discovered a missing check, and now that same woman is calling her a thief and a liar.”

  “Of course, this whole time, Lee is acting perfectly pleasant. Why wouldn’t she? She has no idea what’s going on or that her phone was missing,” Detweiler said, filling in the blanks.

  I understood what happened next. “When Nancy bumps into Lee in the restroom, Nancy goes ballistic.”

  “That’s right,” Sanders said, nodding his agreement. “That little spat in the bathroom and the text from Mrs. Alderton’s phone threw suspicion on her. It was flimsy stuff, but the terrorists knew it would give them a head start.”

  “But who actually shot Nancy Owens?” Brawny asked. She was in the other club chair. “I heard she was sitting in her car with the engine running and the windows down when it happened.”

  “On the face of it, her behavior did sound reckless,” Sanders said. “But you have to remember, she’d gotten a message from Bert, or so she thought. He asked her to meet a courier in the parking lot up in Ferguson. She expected to be handed a package. Of course, the fake courier knew she had the envelope with the cashier’s check. He’d watched her put it in her purse.”

  I put the pieces together in a flash. “Then then shooter had to be the janitor, right? He was able to keep tabs on Nancy through the CCTV in the Meyer Building. He locked up after her and followed her to Ferguson. When he approached Nancy in her car, she thought he looked familiar. That’s why he was able to walk right up to her and shoot her point blank.”

  “That’s right.” Sanders heaved a big sigh. “We asked local law enforcement to keep it quiet that the check had been stolen from Nancy Owens’ car. That wasn’t entirely true. The cashier’s check was taken. Of course, we couldn’t keep it a secret for long. Fareed Farkada found out, and he had to tell the board. Otherwise he would have taken the blame. Besides, the board all knew that Nancy Owens was dead, and she’d wanted to hand Prince William the check. For that reason alone, they had to change their plans. Naturally, they’d ask where the check was.”