The Anteater of Death

by Betty Webb

  “She’s always offended.” I lowered my voice further. “You’re having an affair, aren’t you? Who is she?”

  “I don’t kiss and tell.” He sounded a bit smug. And why not? Men like Roarke felt entitled to the best life has to offer, regardless of how miserable their behavior made their wives.

  “That’s why Aster Edwina’s selling the townhouse, because she’s tired of it being used for reasons having nothing to do with business. And your wife knows all about you and your women, doesn’t she?” I’d always wondered why such a beautiful woman felt so insecure. Now I knew. Henry Gunn’s catty comment about his new wife, Pilar, came back to me, that Pilar had once been after Roarke. To many women, movie star looks connected to piles of money acted as strong aphrodisiacs.

  Roarke’s smile was mean. “Watch yourself. You can accuse me of anything you want but keep my wife out of it.”

  I glanced over at Frieda. Other than those dark circles under her eyes, she looked like she’d never had a bad day in her life, but having once been married to a serial cheater myself, I understood her misery.

  “Who—?”

  He didn’t let me finish. Grabbing me by the wrist, he squeezed hard. Too hard for comfort. “For the sake of our lifelong friendship, tomorrow I’ll pretend this conversation never happened. But right now, I want you off my boat.”

  There was no point in arguing, so when he released me I left him to his party. On my way back to the Merilee, I went over our conversation again. Who could the woman be? Who was attractive enough, secretive enough? I’d almost made it to my boat slip when the answer popped into my head. Roarke didn’t always prefer blondes. When we were teenagers, he’d dated a long series of dark-haired women. And at one of his cocktail parties several weeks earlier, an odd look had passed between him and a brunette I happened to know.

  Energized, I headed for the parking lot, climbed into my pickup and drove to the zoo. Bypassing the zookeeper’s parking area, I took the back road through the lengthening shadows of eucalyptus trees to Dr. Kate’s house. This time I wouldn’t let her evasions keep me from the truth.

  After my knock, the front door opened, but not by Kate. It was her husband. Although I’d known that Lowell Long had been confined to a wheelchair for the past several months, I was dismayed by his deterioration. The multiple sclerosis that had weakened his muscles had also ravaged his fac and instead of looking like the forty-something Silicon Valley hotshot he’d once been, he now resembled someone’s great-grandfather. A pang of guilt hit me so hard that I almost turned around and went home. But remembering that Zorah was still suspected of murdering Grayson, I stood my ground.

  “Hi, Lowell. I need to speak to Dr. Kate.”

  “Inna house. Wanna c ... come in?” He slurred like a drunk, but I knew he didn’t drink. This was simply more evidence of MS’ downward spiral.

  Before I could answer, I heard footsteps coming down the hall. Kate, looking harried, shoved a cell phone into her pocket. When she saw me, she frowned.

  As he pivoted his wheelchair around, I met her eyes and placed a finger over my lips.

  She understood. “Honey, we need to talk about zoo matters. Would you watch the kids? They’re in the family room.”

  “Always g ... glad ... t ... t...” He stopped, simplified his answer. “Yesss.”

  She bent down and kissed his cheek. “Thank you. I’ll be right outside if you need me.” She closed the door behind her and followed me to a grouping of lawn chairs set up near a big bougainvillea. Its magenta flowers glowed in the dusk.

  Once out of sight of her husband, she dropped her smile and chose the chair across from me, not the one that almost touched mine. “Why so mysterious? I don’t like keeping secrets from him.”

  “If Zorah’s freedom weren’t at stake, I wouldn’t be here. But she’s my friend and she’s facing a murder charge.”

  “Then hurry it up.”

  “Two questions. One, what was in the independent vet study?”

  “As I’ve said before, I can’t tell you. It’s merely a prelim, and therefore confidential.”

  “Question two. Where were you when Grayson was murdered?”

  Her obvious irritation flared into anger. “In bed with my husband, probably. From what the police said, I’m pretty sure I’d left the fund-raiser long before Grayson wound up in the anteater enclosure. As if it’s any of your business.”

  “Are you sure you weren’t in bed with Roarke Gunn? And wasn’t that him on the phone, warning you I was on my way up here?”

  To my surprise, she began to laugh, her wild black hair shaking as her shoulders heaved. With an effort, she pulled herself together. Wiping her eyes, she said, “Jesus, Teddy, what have you been smoking and can I have some?”

  Startled at her reaction, I tried again. “But I saw the way you looked at him at one of his parties. I know he’s having an affair.”

  The big grin vanished. “Yeah, he is, with some young idiot who thinks he’ll leave his wife for her. That’ll be the day. Regardless of the bastard’s behavior, he loves Frieda. And that ‘look’ you’re talking about? I saw him and his new little hotsy together once, some out-of-the-way restaurant near Carmel. They were all over each other, so the next time I saw him I told him what I thought of all that screwing around behind his poor wife’s back. One more thing. The phone call I was on when you came banging at the door? That was the woman who runs the book club I belong to. She was rescheduling our next meeting because she’s having trouble with her recent tummy tuck.” She laughed again. “We’re reading the new Updike, which as usual, is about adultery. Talk about apropos, huh?”

  I felt like a fool and I guess it showed on my face. Before I debased myself further, Kate leaned forward and tapped me on the knee. “Don’t take it so hard, Teddy. You’re not the only one who thought I was having an affair with Roarke.”

  An owl hooted from the eucalyptus and I looked around to see that all traces of light had vanished. Something rustled in the bushes behind me, and the owl dove out of the tree. The rustling intensified until a small animal screamed. When the owl flew back into the tree, something wriggled in its talons. Kate ignored it.

  The small but vicious wildlife drama finished, I asked the obvious. “Who else thought so?”

  “Barry.” Her humor disappeared. “Like you, he misread the signs, although he had more to go on. He was having his second job interview with Grayson the same day I happened to be shopping up in San Francisco. I dropped by the Gunn’s townhouse to have lunch with Aster Edwina in case she was in, but Roarke answered the door and told me she’d gone home. He invited me in for coffee, and I took him up on it. Now, before you get excited, it was all above board. He never touched me, and I sure as hell never touched him. What I didn’t know at the time was that Barry had arrived early for his interview and was killing time by having coffee on the Starbuck’s patio down the street. He spotted Roarke walking me out to my car afterwards.”

  “He recognized you?”

  She shook her head. “Not me. Roarke. He’d been to some social function up there that Roarke and Frieda both attended.”

  “How did you find out he’d seen you two together?”

  “One afternoon he cornered me in the Animal Care Center and told me that he wanted to, let’s see, how did he so delicately put it? Ah, yes. That he’d seen me with Roarke, and that he ‘wanted to sample my considerable charms, too.’ If I didn’t oblige, he said, he’d tell my husband everything. I told him where he could go.”

  My mouth dropped. “That’s blackmail!”

  She gave me a twisted smile. “Sexual harassment, too. Once he pulled that stunt with me, I started watching his behavior with the rest of the zoo’s female staff.”

  “Which is why you were so quick to ask me...”

  “If you were having trouble with him. Silly you, for not admitting it. I would have helped.”

  Adding that remark to my ever-growing list of regrets, I took my leave.

  ***
<
br />   I needed to make one more stop, but since it was on the way back to the Merilee, it wouldn’t take long. p>

  In the night sky, the castle looked especially forbidding, but I didn’t let it bother me. With Aster Edwina ninety miles north in San Francisco, I felt confident I’d get the answer I needed. As it turned out, I was right. In the three weeks since Grayson’s murder, Jeanette had calmed down enough so that she didn’t sob at the mere mention of her dead husband’s name, and she no longer referred to him in the present tense. But his suit still lay on the bed and its condition didn’t bode well for her mental health. She looked every bit as ragged as the suit. Her former robust build had shrunken in on itself, her eyes were dull, and her blond hair had lost all its luster. I hoped Aster Edwina would follow through on her plans to take her to a therapist.

  Since she refused to move away from Grayson’s suit, I sat next to her on the bed. “How are you feeling?”

  “I had another migraine this morning, but it’s gone now.” Her voice was devoid of all affect, and she wouldn’t let go of the suit’s sleeve, holding it as if Grayson was still inside. The female anglerfish, mourning her vanished mate.

  I tried to erase the image from my mind. “Aster Edwina says you’ll see a doctor soon, someone who’ll help you get...” I’d started to say “get over this,” but rephrased it to “...who’ll help you feel better.”

  She gave me a look that bordered on hostility. “I’ll never feel better.”

  Unless she entered therapy, she might be correct. Now I had to make a decision. Comfort her or get what I’d come for. I made the cold-hearted choice but segued into it slowly by spending a few minutes chatting about the zoo and the giraffe’s new calf. “It has eyelashes to die for!” Before I could catch myself, I began blabbing about the impending birth of Lucy’s baby, that it could happen any day and that the vet had promised to call me the minute the anteater went into labor. Then the picture of what Lucy had done to her husband’s body flashed across my mind.

  “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to talk about Lucy!”

  Her answer reminded me of her commitment to the zoo and its animals. “I’ve never blamed the anteater, Teddy. She was only following her instincts. Besides, the medical examiner said Grayson couldn’t feel anything by then, that he was already...” A tear leaked out of one red eye. “...gone. You’ve never really loved a man, have you?”

  Her question took my breath away. “How can you say that? I loved Michael!”

  Yes, that was hostility in her eyes. Remembering her temper from our old Monopoly days, I moved out of slapping range.

  “You sure got over him fast enough,” she said. “It’s only been a year and you’re already dating the sheriff.”

  Sometimes I hate small towns. “I haven’t been ‘dating’ the sheriff. He’s an old friend, that’s all.” I tried to get her back on the subject. “I want you to do something that might help with the mur ... with the investigation.”

  No answer, just another glare.

  I kept talking. “The last time I was here, you tog about the that Grayson was very meticulous about his zoo work, that he made copies of everything.”

  She began to finger the suit again, and when looked up, her hostility had faded. “You wouldn’t believe the amount of files he kept at the zoo. I was always nagging...” Another tear leaked out. “If you’re asking me to go over there and poke around, I just can’t.”

  “But he kept an office here at the castle, too, you’ve said. Maybe he copied the vet report. You know, after that other zoo had its problems...”

  “The one where the elephants and red pandas died. Terrible.”

  “Yes, terrible.” Now that I had her attention, I started my explanation again. “Then you’ll remember that the National Academy of Sciences sent out a team of vets to zoos all over the coun...”

  Her eyes began to drift. “I want to go back to sleep.” She lifted the suit sleeve and kissed it.

  “But this is important. For Grayson’s memory.”

  Her eyes found mine again. “His memory?”

  “Don’t you want people to remember him as a man who took his duties seriously?”

  She kissed the sleeve again. “Naturally I do. What do you want, then? A copy of that stupid report?”

  “If he made one.”

  The hostility returned. “I told you he copied everything. Do you want to see it or not?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  She stood up, albeit wobbly. “Wait here and I’ll fetch it from his office across the hall.” When she left the room, her face was unutterably sad.

  She was gone longer than I’d expected, but upon returning, held a legal-sized file folder in one hand, a sheaf of papers in the other. The papers she gave me were warm. “I copied the report because I’m not letting you take the original away. It’s the last thing I have that he worked on.”

  Worried about her ability to operate a copier in her condition, I asked if I could take a few minutes to compare the copy to the original.

  The dullness came back to her voice. “Do what you want.” She handed it over.

  When I flipped through the two sets, I discovered them to be identical, so I handed the original back.

  “Would you mind if I take the copy with me to the Merilee? I want to read it more carefully.” Either what I was looking for wasn’t there, or in my haste, I’d missed it.

  She sank back on the bed, wrapping herself in the suit’s sleeves; it looked like Grayson’s desiccated corpse was hugging her. “I don’t care what you do. My husband is gone, and nothing will ever matter to me again.”

  I left her there and walked down the stairs, expecting the housekeeper or at least one of the maids, to let me out. But the hall wasdeserted. I guessed since letting me in, the housekeeper had disappeared into her own room to do whatever housekeepers do when their employers aren’t watching.

  While I’d been inside the castle, the wind had shifted and instead of smelling the Pacific, I smelled the gamy scent of animal. With the zoo now closed for the evening, there were no human sounds on the evening breeze—just a symphony of roars, night bird shrieks, and the trumpeting of elephants. For a while I stood there in the shadows of the castle listening to the music of the zoo, wishing I was there, not here in this dark, isolated place.

  Then I climbed back into my truck, turned my headlights on bright, and started the five-mile drive to Gunn Landing. I must have talked to Jeanette longer than I realized, because the winding road was deserted. Even the stream of zookeepers headed back toward San Sebastian and Castroville had dwindled to nothing. I made good time until—with a half mile to go before I reached the main road to the harbor—flashing blue lights loomed in my rear view mirror.

  I continued along the narrow road until it widened to accommodate a stand of scrub and live oak, then pulled over. A squad car with SAN SEBASTIAN COUNTY SHERIFF emblazoned along the side drove up and Joe climbed out. He cut his lights and approached my driver’s side window.

  His stern voice didn’t match his grin. “Turn off your headlights and get out of the truck, ma’am.”

  When I cut the lights, blue flashes from the squad car lent the live oaks an eerie glow. Some other time it might have been frightening, but now it seemed downright erotic. I lowered my voice and tried my best to sound sexy. “Surely I wasn’t speeding, Sheriff.”

  A muffled laugh. “No, Teddy, you’ve always driven like a little old lady because you’re afraid you might hit some jaywalking chipmunk.”

  “Guilty as charged, Officer. May I ask the reason for this rather ridiculous traffic stop?”

  He waggled a finger. “Never sass a police officer or you’ll wind up in handcuffs.”

  A thrilling thought. “And then what?”

  “Get out of the truck, Ma’am.”

  I exited the truck so fast I almost fell flat on my face. Handcuffs!

  “That’s better, ma’am. Now step toward the police officer.”

  I stepped toward the
officer and felt arms slip around me, soft lips press against mine.

  “Oh, Officer, what a big gun you have!”

  The officer pulled me tighter.

  When we came up for air, he asked, “Why haven’t you returned my calls?” Before I could answer, he kissed me again. Then he proceeded to thoroughly search me.

  A few minutes later, when we’d both caught our breath, he asked again why I hadn’t returned his calls.

  “I’ve been busy. And upset.”

  I searched back.

  Eventually, he said, “What else could I do but pretend ignorance? Your father didn’t exactly parade up and down the street, but one time I saw him buying spices at a bodega over in Castroville. And you know how much he looks like you, even with that cheap dye job. I didn’t want to arrest him, but at the same time, I could hardly...”