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Subject of Inquiry

Nothing of any real consequence happened over the next week or so - merely the mundane drollery of life. A letter did arrive from Abu Hilotep, containing a bank draft for "$3,000.00 dollars US", just as advertized. I deposited it but didn't send out any money. I figured that either I was reading too much into what the email was saying, or it was actually a very well thought out fishing expedition trying to locate the missing lioness. The latter hadn't occurred to me until events at the zoo later brought it into question.

* * * * *

"Are you Mr. James Peters?" I turned around and saw two men in what looked to be rather cheap but well-made suits and sunglasses. This naturally aroused my curiosity a bit as most of the time the only people that wore suits around here were politicians hoping to have their picture taken with some animal, board members "examining" something or another, salesmen trying to get us to buy whatever animal-care product they were selling, or investigators from some governmental body or another.

"I'm Jim, what can I do for you two gentlemen?" I smiled and played along. Who knew what they'd be after.

"I'm Agent Al Schubert and this is Agent Trainee Perry Marshall of the Federal Bureau of Investigation," the older suit stated as he flipped open a leather wallet with a shiny badge and an identity card.

"Are you acquainted with a..." the younger one flipped through a small notebook as he inquired, "Mr. Jeffrey Sadler?"

I nodded. "Yes. I've known him... hm.... " I furrowed my brow. "Oh hell, I can't remember how long I've known him. Years and years. Well, not really KNOWN him, I should say. We've chatted on the internet and emailed over the years. Once I visited him when I was in Minnesota near where he was living and working at the time. Back then I was making a living manufacturing and selling specialty caging and stuff like that. You know, for big cats and other larger animals that need something more than standard dog kennels and like that. The park he worked for bought some on his recommendation. Why do you ask? Something happen to him and I inherit a boatload of money?" I chuckled, looking a little hopeful.

The younger one smirked and the older one frowned. "No. We're trying to find him to arrest him on suspicion of grand theft and other charges."

I looked surprised and shocked. "Theft? Wow.... Never would have figured Jeff to steal from anyone. He always seemed straight-up to me, at least when I was around him in person. What'd he do? Take someone's car or something?"

"Have you seen him recently or know of his whereabouts?" the younger suit asked, evading the question.

I shook my head. "The only time I saw him in person was when I was in Minnesota... that was.... hell, 20 years ago or close to it. And the last I knew he was someplace on the east coast - New York, I think. Haven't really chatted with him in... 10 years, maybe? He'd send me email forwards all the time but it seemed even those stopped awhile ago. I tried emailing him recently about something regarding one of our animals here that I figured he might have some insight into, being an animal handler as well, but the email got bounced back from the last email address I had for him. But... you've got me curious. What'd he take? Steal someone's cash horde? I've head that's going on more these days with the economy the way it is."

"No, he stole from his employer." The younger suit responded as the older one jotted down some notes.

"Embezzled from his employer? That certainly doesn't sound like Jeff. Unless he was really hurting for money, but if he had a job, he shouldn't have been since he didn't have a family or anything the last I knew." I frowned.

"He didn't embezzle money. Have you heard of ReCirq Labs?" the older suit responded and inquired.

I nodded. "I'm pretty sure they've bought biologicals from us... frozen animal semen, frozen embryos, blood... that sort of stuff. What's that got to do with Jeff?"

"He was working for ReCirq Labs when they closed, that's when the theft occurred. Were you aware that ReCirq Labs closed?" the younger one asked, his expression inquisitive. The older suit remained stonefaced as he examined my reactions.

I nodded "I didn't know he was still working for them, but yes, I knew they closed. Only heard about it recently, though. Julie up in the office tried calling them to see why they hadn't purchased anything from us this breeding season and got some recorded message about settling outstanding accounts with some law firm or something. If Jeff didn't take off with money, what would he have taken then? Research they were doing or something?"

"The theft didn't involve research documentation as far as we can tell. Our information only suggests he took off with one research animal owned by ReCirq Labs," the older one finally offered in explanation.

"Oh! Well, now THAT would figure for the Jeff I know. Especially if he had been working with that animal and felt deeply about it's safety or whatever. I guess that makes a little more sense now. What kind of critter are you looking for? I'd imagine it's not a little white mouse if you're out looking for him." I chuckled and was a bit relieved.

"No, we're looking for a lioness with a very distinctive appearance." The younger suit said, which seemed to irritate the older suit, perhaps because it gave away more information than necessary.

"Well, all of ours are accounted for as far as I know. We have three lionesses, two lions, one tigress, and two cougars the last time I checked. You say she's got a very distinctive appearance? What, like three eyeballs or only one ear in the middle of her head? I've heard rumors about ReCirq Labs making weird genetic mutations but never thought they were true." This was my turn to look curious.

"We're not really at liberty to say how she's distinctive. At any rate, we've gotten permission from the zoo director to look around the property here in general and the cathouse in specific, even the areas out of public view." The younger one seemed to put on his "tough guy face" to try to intimidate me some. The older one just looked like he was going through his checklist of shit to do and wasn't inclined to try to lean on me.

"Oh, ok... " I shrugged. "Would you like to come to the cathouse now, or... would you like me to show you around after you've poked around a few other places?" I was being far more pleasant than I was typically inclined to be, generally, but I'm sure they didn't know that, or perhaps they did.

"Yeah, right now would be best, if you don't mind," the younger said.

"Sure, just one moment." I held up a single finger to the two suits and waved high above my head. "Jerry! Come over here!" I shouted off to my left as I saw Jerry Parker crossing the courtyard.

"If you'll excuse me a moment, gentlemen," I stepped a single pace towards where Jerry was heading my direction.

"What is it, Jim?" Jerry asked as he noticed the people I was with. The younger suit looked Jerry up and down as he approached.

"These people are detectives investigating someone I know who stole from his workplace. But that's not why I called you over..." I started heading Jerry towards the office building "you still have those master keys to the cathouse and I want them back in the cabinet so you don't lose them." I made sure I was speaking loud enough for the two suits to hear. "Take my keys and put them back, please. And don't forget to lock up the office when you're through. I'm gonna wait right here until you do it." I unclipped my keyring from my belt and handed it to Jerry. He frowned a bit. "I was just heading for a lunch break."

"Your lunch can wait. Make sure to put them on the hook under the carousel keys, ok?" I said with a wink at the word "carousel". Jerry got the cue and grunted "Fine! I'll be right back," and trudged off towards the office like a chastised schoolboy.

I turned and went back to the suits as the older one raised an eyebrow in inquiry. "Oh, that's one of the associate keepers. He's in charge of the bears and needed some supplies from the medical rooms in the basement of the cathouse and still had the master key set for the cathouse. Since there's more enclosure keys than grounds keys, I'm in charge of replacements for all keys of the place. Naturally, the ones that get people into the off-exhibit areas or the enclosures themselves are more closely guarded than those just opening public-access doors and like that. Anyway, I didn't have any spares for the cathouse so I just lent him the master set and wanted it back in its place before he accidentally looses it and I have to re-key like 40 locks." I shuddered at the thought. "I already have too much work. He'll be right back with my office keys and then we can get you into the cathouse... well, at least into the human-access areas. I'm not about to let you in with the cats no matter what you say!"

The younger one chuckled and the older suit seemed to accept my explanation. Jerry was quickly back with the keys and tossed them to me. "Here you go, Jim. I'm off to lunch. See you later."

I caught the keys and nodded to him. "Ok, later, Jerry."

Jerry turned and headed back towards the offices and I smiled to the two suits. "Well, shall we, gentlemen?" I gestured in the direction of the cathouse and off we strode. I opened the door for them as we went into the cathouse onto the main floor. "As you can see, we have both indoor and outdoor enclosures for all of our cats. The first two on this side are used for lions. The outer enclosures have a connecting area in the wall that has a gate panel that was removed, so we can again separate the two sections if we wanted to, and of course you can see the gate between the two indoor sections. The last section there has Tatiana, our tigress." I gestured to the one side of the cathouse. "And on this side..." I turned around, "we have our two cougars in this enclosure. Their outdoor enclosure isn't so very large because of the public-access path out that side door, but that seems to suit Zeus and Anna just fine. The other two enclosures haven't been used in some time." I explained to the suits, and some of the people around me took interest in what I was saying.

I turned and looked to the two suits. "Is there anything you'd like to see closer up here before we head downstairs?"

After looking around a bit they shook their heads and the older one spoke. "You have off-exhibit pens?"

I nodded. "Downstairs, yes. Most of the time when they're used it's as a quarrantine measure or medical checks so there's no outdoor sections for those pens. Shall we, gentlemen?" I gestured to the one door that headed to the basement as well as the terrace.

The younger one nodded and we went over to the door, which I unlocked after sorting through my keys. Letting the two through I locked the door again behind me. "Watch your step, gentlemen. This building is built to look older and it accomplishes that by being true to older construction and design methods, including limited lighting in this area." Down we went and soon we were at the basement level. "Let me know what you want to see down here."

"Everything," the older suit said. "Open every room, please."

I shrugged. "Your time. Makes no nevermind to me." I then proceeded to unlock the storage room door, and they looked inside. Then the first disused office next to it. Then the first medical bay. They raised their eyebrows some at the appearance of "the park" and I explained its purpose and its location between the two medical bays. The holding pens along the sides were only dimly lit from the aisleway but I didn't open their gates. The offices and rack rooms I opened, and they just cursorily looked in. Then we got to the end of the aisle and they asked what was behind the large iron-covered door to the left.

"That's to the utility tunnels that run from the powerhouse to some of the buildings on the property here. Most of the larger buildings are connected to the tunnels in some manner, whether by tunnels that a cart can be pushed along like this one, ones only a man can walk through, and some are crawl-tubes carrying the conduits and pipes," I explained.

"Could we see those, too?" the younger one asked, then the older one put his hand up to stop me as I went to unlock the door. "Nevermind. How many miles of tunnel are there beneath this place?" the older man inquired.

I looked thoughtful. "I don't really know. I just go from here to there sometimes using them to take medical stuff around because the cathouse here is about the best-equipped place as far as having an actual surgical space. I'd imagine there's at least ... oh... 2 miles? I really don't know. I know that'd seem kind of silly to have that much underground in our size of park, but I know there's about 8 miles or so of paved paths here crammed onto the property, and a lot of the places where those paths go have utilities which... I'd figure come through the tunnels in some manner or another. The only place I know that doesn't have tunnel access is the old Victorian home that's the "education center" and spiffier offices. That was bought a few years back when we had the opportunity and only wired in a new phone system so it wasn't part of the zoo property here before that. So... do you want to see them or don't you?" I inquired politely and thumb-pointed to the door.

"We'll pass, for now," the younger suit backtracked.

I shrugged. "Ok, your tour. What next?"

"What's down that way?" the older suit pointed to the right.

"More holding cages and a couple observation rooms. We use those mostly for when we're expecting litters of cubs or have to watch a sick animal around the clock." I gestured in that direction and we walked through the area, checking in the rooms for whatever they were looking for. When we finished we ended up back at the aisleway by the stairs. "So what next?" I asked.

"How about we take a ride?" the older suit asked.

"Excuse me?" I looked confused.

"I'd like to see where you live, since you live nearby. I could get a warrant if you'd like..." the older suit said firmly.

"Well..." I canted my jaw some. "I don't know you, and while your credentials look valid..." I tilted my head and gave a "you never know..." look, stalling some, then I offered "If you want to see my place, that's somewhat alright, but I'm not about to get in a car with two people I don't know, regardless of who they are, if you don't mind. You can follow me there if you like, though."

That seemed to satisfy the two of them and we headed back up to the main floor then out along the paths towards the main gate. I started heading to my car and then turned for a moment. "I better check if I can leave. Wouldn't want the zoo director getting upset at me."

The younger one volunteered, "He said we'd get anything we wanted, and that includes your time."

I chuckled. "Well, that's all well and good, but someone needs to know where I'm at if they need me for some reason or another. I'll just duck up there to grab my laptop from my office and let Julie know I'm heading home to show you around there."

The older one grunted "We'll ALL go to have a look at your office and let the secretary know."

I shrugged and up we went. I unlocked my office and stepped inside, putting my laptop in its carry-bag and slinging it on my shoulder. The two stepped into my office as I did so and looked around. The younger one pointed to the army cot Cleo had been snoozing on earlier that day. "What's up with that?" he asked.

"Animals don't always have their problems during the hours we're open, so sometimes when I get through with things I'm too bushed to head back home. My cat there can go without a meal once in awhile without any real problems, so I just sack out here," I said. "Haven't had to use it in awhile, but now that I've said that I may end up spending more nights here than I'd like to." I gestured to the door and out we went, with me shutting the lights off behind me and locking the door. I went down the hall to Julie's office and ducked my head in.

"Hey Julie, I'll be off the property for awhile. These guys want to look my place over as part of some investigation. I should be back before closing. And if Jerry comes looking for me, tell him I'll discuss Sarah's issues with him after closing because I'll have to do rounds when I get back."

Julie nodded. "You got your cellphone in case we have something go wrong?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yeppers. Anyway, I'll check back in when I get back." She simply nodded and I turned to the two suits.

"Are you parked in the public lot across the street?" I asked.

"No, at the education center," the older one said, "and who's Sarah?"

"Sarah is one of our grizzly bears - one of Jerry's charges and that works for where you've parked. I'll wait for you at the end of that driveway and you can follow me from there. I'd offer to drive you myself but the back seat of my Blazer is all covered in cat hair, and I'd wager you'd not want to mess up your suits," I said.

"You let your cat ride around loose in your car?" the younger one asked, somewhat surprised.

"You've not met my cat," I chuckled. "You should see her when we get to my place," I said as we walked along the corridor and down the steps to the door to the employees' parking lot. I unlocked my Blazer and nodded to the suits as they headed along the path across the lawn to the smaller parking lot at the rear of the old Victorian.

The ride out to my place was relatively uneventful and I had to smile as my Blazer easily navigated the slightly rutted farm lane that was my driveway while their sedan didn't fare as well. I parked in front of the single bay of the garage and sat on the rear bumper for a moment as they drove up and parked behind me.

"Welcome to Shangri-La, gentlemen. What would you like to see first?" I asked.

"How many buildings are here?" the younger one asked as he looked around.

"Well, counted individually there are 17, but some are interconnected," I responded with a shrug. "Oh, 18. Forgot the old outhouse out back. But I wouldn't recommend going in there as the floor's rotted over the decades. It's just a one-holer anyway."

The older one looked toward the barn. "Pigs?" he asked, scrunching his nose some.

"Barn's rented out to a neighboring farmer. His brother rents the fields from me, too. The lower shed down there is rented as storage space and has a few classic cars. The Quonset hut has some of my machinery in it. The old oilhouse is packed full of my smithing gear and some other crud. The old piggery and chicken yard is pretty well empty... the woodshed you can readily glance through. This small bay I use as a garage but the larger one is kind of a machine shop. Then there's my office, animal pens, a veterinary area, the old scalehouse from when this place had a grainery, and the sawmill building - minus its sawmill, unfortunately. One of these years I'll get around to putting one back in."

"Wow..." the younger suit looked surprised. "Didn't know you had all this."

I chuckled. "I've had a lot of hobbies over the years. Where would you like to start?"

"How about in the house?" the older suit inquired.

"Suit yourself. It's a mess, because I'm a bachelor that lives like a bear with furniture, as they say, but... if you don't comment about my living habits, no biggie," I said as I walked up the front porch steps and opened the screen door. The two suits followed and I could see through the glass of the main door that there was an interesting surprise waiting for them. I smiled as I unlocked it and went in.

The older suit had his hand on the screen door and went to follow me in when he froze as a hissing sound met our ears. "Holy Shit!" screamed the younger suit, who whipped out a pistol from under his coat.

"Put that down!" I said firmly, then turned to the source of the sound. "Peaches, dammit. How'd you get in here? Go to your room!"

I could see from the periphery of my vision that the younger one was shaking a little. The older one was just frozen in place. "Gentlemen... for one thing, put that pistol away, and for a second thing step SLOWLY into the house and shut the door. It'll be alright." I spoke slowly and firmly.

Peaches was watching the unexpected guests rather intently as the younger one lowered his weapon but didn't put it away. They both did as I instructed and came in through the door and shut it behind them. "Stay up close to the wall and don't make any sudden moves," I told them. "Peaches!" I snapped my fingers and finally got her attention. "Go to your room, NOW!" I commanded and pointed in the appropriate direction. She grudingly padded down the hall. I noticed the basement door was open again and shut it tight. I opened the door to her room and herded her inside before closing it again.

Returning to the living room I saw the two suits hadn't moved from their spot by the door. I looked curiously to the younger one, who had finally holstered his pistol.

"That.... was a cougar!" he finally stammered.

I simply nodded. "Yep. That's the cat that goes riding in the car sometimes. Takes up the whole back seat, hence the hair issue."

"Why.... do you have one?" the younger suit seemed in shock at the thought.

I moved to my recliner and flumped down. "Because I can. I like them... how do you think I became head keeper and still am in charge of the big cats? You work with what you enjoy and your job is far easier than if you work with, or at, things you don't enjoy. I'd imagine that's why you went into law enforcement."

The older suit started looking at the objects around the living room while the younger was doing his best to compose himself.

"Do you have other animals here?" the older suit asked.

"Not at the moment, but sometimes I bring animals from the zoo here to separate them. Like awhile ago I had Pickles, one of our lionesses, here for a while. She's sort of a special case in that while our other lionesses are on birth control, it didn't work with Pickles so to keep her from being bred she sometimes spends a few days here every month most months. Because of previous birth control methods sometimes she skips cycles. Other than that, it's just me and Peaches there," I offered.

"And the pigs," the older suit commented.

"And Paul Mitchell's pigs." I nodded in agreement.

"Mind if we have a look around upstairs?" the younger one nodded to the stairs.

"No, by all means. The one bedroom is still set up as sort of a training and play room for Peaches and other cats I bring here. The other is my bedroom. Please ignore the sex toys and porn DVD library," I smiled. The younger one raised an eyebrow in reaction. "Hey, it gets lonely sometimes! Haven't you ever beat off?"

The older suit rolled his eyes and the younger one went upstairs to look through the rooms. I just stayed sitting in the recliner as the older fellow looked around downstairs.

"What's in here?" the older one asked. I got up and looked where he was. He was standing at the basement door.

"That's the basement," I responded.

"Well, I want to see it, if you don't mind."

"Well, that one I do kinda mind," I started saying as the younger one descended the stairs and came to where we were. "You see, that's how Peaches got up into the main house. She knows how to jostle the lock on the outdoor hatch to the basement and she's likely down there right now wanting to be in the main part of the house. She's usually kept in just her room, which has its own oversized cat-door to the outside. Normally she only gets let into the main part of the house when I'm here... except now she's learned a new trick how to get to where the couch and rugs are and I've not gotten around to fixing the latch just yet... which I SHOULD do soon, but you know how things go."

The older one frowned and the younger one said "I don't want to see that cougar any more than I already have, Al."

"Anything special down there we should know about?" the older one seemed to relent.

"Nothing special... some food in the fruit cellar section, a heap of dirty laundry by the washing machine... furnace... water heaters... pressure tank for the water pump... an old workbench from god only knows when. Just... stuff." I shrugged and told it how it was.

"We'll just take your word for that, then. Want to show us the animal pens you mentioned?" the older suit asked.

"Sure. You can see the garage and workshop on the way." I went back to the front door and opened it for the duo. After stepping through I asked, "Is there anything else you need to see in the house? If not, I'll lock it back up."

"Since we can't see the cellar, no. Nothing else we'd need to see inside there," came the reply. I nodded and relocked the front door behind me.

I opened the driver's door and pushed the remote button which opened the garage door. As it was rising, the younger suit sarcasticlly asked, "Any surprises inside here we should know about?"

"Nothing I can think of. If there is something, it'd be a surprise for me, too," I answered truthfully.

There wasn't anything there that should be a surprise for me. We walked in and the older one pointed out the window in the service door which led in the direction of the house. "What's that little room off the side of the house?"

"Mudroom... in the older days that was where the farmer would take off his muddy boots, take off his dirty overalls, and wash up some before coming into the relatively-clean main part of the house. I would have taken you out that way but it would have meant coming through Peaches' outside yard area to get in here. To the left of that is the outside hatch to the basement that needs tinkering with so she isn't in the main house unsupervised."

That seemed to satisfy them and I unlocked and opened the door between the garage bay and the workshop bay.

"How come all the locked doors?" the younger suit asked. "I've not seen someone with that many keys before unless they were a janitor or something."

I chuckled. "When you have valuable equipment around, you'd want to make it as difficult as possible for someone to steal it. While it may not look like it..." I gestured as the two stepped into the workshop space, "... there's about $300,000 worth of tooling and materials in here. Much of it can fit in a briefcase. Then there's the stuff I have in my veterinary area... and that shit's even MORE expensive than this stuff. You wouldn't believe what an EKG machine or anesthesia rebreather costs."

The older one nodded to the younger one in agreement. "Yeah, you'd be surprised at how expensive tools can get, especially specialty tools." He walked over to the roll-cage Cleo came in. "Transport cage for your cougar?" he asked.

"Yes and no. She'd fit in that one, to be sure. That was actually one of the ones I manufactured years ago to airline standards of the time for shipment of lions or tigers or whatever would fit. It was up for sale on one of those online auctions for cheap and I bought it back. The fellow dropped it off awhile ago. Not in too bad of shape for it being close to 20 years old, is it? Quality work shows... but that's kinda what put me at a disadvantage, too. My shit doesn't break like other peoples' products so I don't have someone buying another one after 5 years of use. Don't really know what I'll do with it but it shows how my roll-cages and display cages can stand up to years of use and abuse. That and you always find use for something like that when you work with critters. Kinda like how it's always handy to have multiple dog crates even if you have just one dog."

The two suits nodded and I led them to the hallway. "Down that way is the woodshed, in that door is the office. Down that hallway is the vet area and the animal pens, and there's the crapper," I gestured to the open door, the porcelain throne somewhat visible from the sun shining through the window at the far end of the hall.

The two suits looked around. "Office first?" the younger one asked. I shrugged and unlocked the door.

The two looked a little disgruntled at the cobwebs hanging from the shelves over the sofa. It was somewhat like stepping into a bit of a time capsule as the television on its cart was from the 70s, there was an electric typewriter under its yellowed plastic cover on a typewriter stand up against the wall under the large window that looked out onto the indoor runs of the animal pens. My desk in there was its typical cluttered mess, as was the other desk against the opposing wall which held one of my older computers - the newest large item in the room. The countertop separating the lounge-ish part from the part of the room with the desks was cluttered with other bric-a-brac and parts to various machines. "Sorry, I don't have a maid."

The older one cracked a smile and the younger turned and headed out the door to the other hallway. I shut off the lights and locked the door behind me, then followed them down the hall. I unlocked the surgery door and flicked on the lights. The dichotomy couldn't have shown more, as compared to the mess of my office, the vet area was its usual degree of sterile surroundings and stainless-steel surfaces.

The younger suit whistled. "You could perform surgery in here...." The older one rolled his eyes some and I chuckled. "That's the point, sir. It's not like I can just take my cat to the vet - or the zoo cats when they're here - so the mountain has to come to Muhammed, as the saying goes."

The younger one looked concerned "What's that supposed to mean." The older suit rolled his eyes. "You never heard that phrase before?" The younger one shook his head and the older one frowned. "You need to read more."

I chuckled and smiled. "Not everyone has had the benefits of practical education."

The older suit nodded. "Don't I know it," he commented.

I opened the door and we were in the unheated section - originally a machinery shed that I'd converted to animal pens. "And here are the indoor animal pens. Each has an outdoor area about the same size. Nothing much to see."

"What's up those stairs?" the younger fellow asked and pointed to the far end of the shed.

"There's storage above. Mostly a whole lot of crap from when this was a farm. You can go up the stairs but I wouldn't go onto the floor because I need to replace the center brace on the building before winter in case it snows." I pointed to the adjustable bracing pole laying on the dirt floor towards the center of the building, it's matching screw-plate still fixed to a double-rafter on the ceiling. "That's what holds the middle of the floor up, and the roof beams above it. It's just a whole bunch of crap up there anyway."

The younger one went over to the stairs and partway up, then came down again. "Quonset building?" the younger suit asked.

"Ok... we can head out through the woodshed so you can see that, too. Not that there's much to see," I suggested, then led the way back down the hall, down the other hall, and out the door into the woodshed.

"It really is a woodshed... I thought that was just what you were calling it," the younger suit blurted out.

"No, it's important when you're using wood to fire a stove, heat your house, or fire steam engines that it be properly aged and dried. Especially pine... too much sap can cause chimney problems with creosote buildup, so you want it to de-sap as much as possible through sitting for a couple years after being cut and split. That's best done indoors out of the weather so it doesn't rot, too."

"Quite an education you're giving, Mr. Peters," the older suit offered, seeming to loosen up a bit.

"That's what I do for a living, sir. Answer people's questions, show them things they'd never really seen before, and have them walking away thinking differently about the world around them than they did when they came through the zoo gates. This isn't too much different, really," I commented as I opened the sliding door which led back to the front of the garage to the side of the workshop bay.

"I guess that's true... I'd never thought about it that way before," the younger suit said. We passed by the pumphouse at the bottom of the old windmill, which had long ago been relegated to holding a television antenna. "What's in there?" the younger suit asked.

"Pumphouse. That's where the water comes from for the farm. Just the wellhead and a heater to keep it from freezing in winter. There's also a concrete trough from when this was a dairy farm way back when... before refrigeration they kept the milk cans cold by immersing them in cool water from the well. Comes out of the ground at 52 degrees or cooler so the closest thing to refrigeration was to have that cool water flow past the milk cans before it was routed to a horse trough." It was clear the younger suit was getting quite an education, but there was much more to come.

We walked past the old piggery and chicken yard, which I told them about. I unhooked the door and they only looked in to see the dusted cobwebs draping from the fence boards and the chicken roosts. The one chicken coop was full of old tires, so that held even less interest for them. Walking back out of the pig yard we went past the oilhouse - which they just looked in the windows at - and then I unlocked the main doors of the Quonset. Throwing the doors apart on their roller tracks revealed the nose of something they'd likely never seen before...

"Wow, now THAT's old," the younger suit said as the sun shone on the front end of the 1912 65HP Case traction engine I'd gotten years before at the auction of an older acquaintance.

I couldn't help but laugh. "A century old and still can beat the pants off a lot of newer equipment, not just for durability but for sheer power," I winked. The older suit said "I think my grandpa had something like this way back when. It's kinda nice to see that some of these old things are still around." There were other older things in the shed - a couple of pre-WWII trucks, my first pickup truck, a threshing machine to go with the engine, and an old horsedrawn grader.

"Lots of old iron in here..." the older suit said, wandering around a little bit.

"Yep, lots of heavy toys that people can't just walk off with. But gotta keep it locked cuz a lot of the stuff that CAN walk off is attached. You'd be surprised how much steam whistles go for. One of the ones on that old girl is worth about eight grand all on its own. It's damned near priceless to me," I said as I drew the doors back shut and locked them up.

"Why priceless?" the younger suit asked with genuine curiosity.

"My granddad worked for the railroad who owned the engine that whistle was once attached to, and it probably was heard late in the nights calling out through this very valley about a century ago. That's why." I nodded to put emphasis on my bragging. It was bragging, but on some level I felt I had the right to be proud of what all I had and what all I'd managed to do.

"Anything else you'd like to see?" I asked them as we wandered back towards the garage.

"No..." the older suit said as he shook his head. "I gotta level with you. At first we had to check you out because you might have been involved in this mess somehow. When you showed us the cathouse and your office at the zoo and everything, I figured you were on the level and we could cross you off the list. Then when you were a bit hesitant to have us look around your place here I figured you might really be involved, but now I see you had a right to be concerned about visitors, with that cougar of yours as a pet, and that you might get robbed or have stuff stolen yourself if someone got ahold of the keys to this place."

I chuckled and nodded. "Someone could make out like a bandit if they knew I had half this shit, yes... Then some of the stuff I've got around here is irreplacable, which is why I have everything as secure as I can around here."

The older suit nodded. "I can see that. Well, unless you have her in the basement or hidden someplace around here, I can cross you off the list."

I chuckled "I don't have a lioness in the basement. I swear the only big cat around here is Peaches and she'd be a little pissed off if another one were in her territory. I'd imagine there might be a few housecats in the barn or stalking the fields around here, but they're not exactly mine any moreso than the deer that wander through the fields."

The two suits nodded in unison. "We seem to have been chasing a red herring here investigating you. But we have to check out all the possibilities."

I nodded. "Due diligence. Don't worry, I know about that sort of thing. I've got a number of friends who are lawyers so I know all about what police and such have to do. Even gotten to know a few of the local police officers through things happening at the zoo. Like how they have to respond to each and every call even if they are sure it's a load of crap. Like when the fire department showed up the first few times I had the old Case out and running. People driving by on the road thought the woods were on fire. Now they quick call me first if they get a call out this way to see if I'm doing something out and about before they roll the trucks."

The older suit seemed to be a little impressed. "You seem to know a lot about the law for just a zookeeper."

I couldn't help but laugh. "I'm not JUST a zookeeper. That's what I do for a job. I'm one of those schmucks that never quit learning, never quit questioning things, and never quit trying to find the answers to questions that popped into my head. It's served me well over the years, and I've been fortunate enough to be able to remember most of what I've learned."

"That'd make sense," the younger suit commented.

The older suit proffered his right hand, at which I smiled and shook hands with him. "I'm sorry I had to lean on you a bit back there with the "let's take a ride" bit, but I had to test your reaction to us wanting to check out your home. But I'm sure you understand why we did that. We can't let anyone steal from others, regardless of their reasons." He seemed sincere in his apology.

I nodded, then canted my jaw and looked down, thinking. The older suit noticed and gave me an inquisitive look. I noticed his expression when I looked up.

"I was just wondering what Jeff's motives would be. I'd not seen it posted where there were animals for sale of the species I know ReCirq had in their possession. I'm guessing what their likely fate has been, so I'd wager Jeff did whatever he did to save that lioness' life. I'm not going to ask if my assumptions are correct because I really don't want to know that what must have been hundreds of animals - especially my favored cats - were killed just to close the books of a business."

The older suit gave a smile. "That's a wise choice. And... even if I were to personally agree with that sort of... lifesaving?..." the older suit was clearly choosing his words quite carefully.

I smiled and finished his sentence for him, "...you have your sworn duty to uphold the law as written without passion or prejudice."

The older suit smiled and nodded. "You do get it. I figured as much. Anyway, sorry to have taken up so much of your time. Here's my card..." he dug out a business card and quickly scrawled something on the back. "... with my office extension and personal number. Give me a call, anytime, if you hear from Jeff or know of his whereabouts."

I nodded. "Will do, sir. And hope you two have a good evening. Can you find your way back into town or do you need directions?"

"Got a Garmin, Mr. Peters. We should be fine," the younger suit said as they climbed into the sedan. I waved politely as they backed up. I looked at the back of the card as they were pulling away.

Not Inspector Javert Want to clear books Did right by lioness

I smiled a bit as I watched the sedan's brake lights flash now and again as they drove down the farm lane towards the road. It might have been a trick for me to lower my guard, but... if the older man was genuine about it, he was going to check me off his list and never think twice about it. I shrugged and tucked the card in my shirt pocket and got back in my Blazer and headed back to the zoo.

I started thinking about things and pondered... What if they put a tail on me, having me followed to make sure I'm not giving them a snowjob. Maybe even for a night. Then again, why would they bother putting out that kind of manpower for something like this? I'm sure they have actual terrorists to track rather than an animal thief. As I pulled into the parking lot again I figured I'd have Jerry take Cleo back to my place in his car, just to be on the safe side.

I then gave it some more thought... if I was going to invite Jerry over for the first time, why not Julie, too. And if they were coming, I should invite Jim Bridger and his wife, even though she'd likely not come because of Peaches. I rolled the idea around in my head as I got out and shut the car door.

I walked up the stairs to my office and Julie popped out of hers and pointed to my door as I opened it. I let her in and shut the door behind her.

"Are your Men In Black gone?" she asked.

"I think so, for the time being at least. Don't know if they're trying to trap me in something or not, but only time will tell with that," I answered as I sat down at my desk.

"I know they're after Cleo because I heard them talking with Jack earlier. I'm so glad you got Jerry to take her out of here before they looked in your office." She smiled with that same bouncy look she'd had around me since she met Cleo. "He's waiting for you down at the Bear Dens. He had me help her get out of here. You know she's not quite as thin as she was when I first met her."

I had to laugh, as Cleo was indeed filling out as part of the affects of her upcoming litter. "They made it through the crawl-shaft alright, right?"

She nodded. "I had to help lift Cleo's rump, but yeah, they got out into the tunnels without too much of a problem. I don't know where he took her, though."

"She should be in the storage room under the carousel if he followed my cue to him." I got up and then realized what I'd been pondering before. "Julie, are you doing anything special tonight? Like for dinner or whatever?"

She looked a bit surprised. "No, why?" she said in a guarded manner.

"I was gonna have Jerry take Cleo back to my place in case the two that were here are having me followed or watched, and so I figured if he was going to come out, you might as well, too, and we could have a sort of movie night or something. Don't worry, it'd not be a date or whatever, just co-workers unwinding with some food and some fun." I smiled to reassure her I wasn't exactly hitting on her.

"Oh! Sure, that does sound like fun. Cleo will be there and... don't you have another big cat, too?" Julie perked up quite a bit at that.

I nodded. "Yeah, a female cougar named Peaches. She'll be there, but don't expect her to act as friendly as Cleo. She would likely be quite standoffish because she hasn't met you nor Jerry yet. Most cats are very wary of strangers. Cleo is an exception. Now... for the food part. Fish patties on a bun, pizzas, or chicken marinara?"

She looked curious. "You're gonna cook, too?"

I laughed and nodded. "Man of many talents, but really the food won't likely be that good. What would your selection be?"

She thought about it awhile. "I've not had fish in awhile, so I'd have to say I'd like that best."

I nodded. "With spicy steak fries and tangy cole slaw. You got it!" I smiled and chuckled.

"Oh! That DOES sound good. But... where do you live?" She asked.

"I'll print out Mapquest directions for you and Jerry in a bit. I've got to go see if he's got plans, too. I'll meet you at the carousel around closing." I said and headed towards the door. She exited ahead of me and went back to her office. I headed down the stairs towards the Bear Dens, and ran into Vic, almost literally.

"Hey, Vic, is the bandorgan still acting up?" I asked.

Vic grunted, "Yeah, and it's even worse now. Haven't had time to get to that yet as there's so much other shit that's a bit more important that keeps bumping it further down the list."

I nodded. "I know how that goes, but I'll take a look at it today around closing. Or, a listen, as the case may be. If I can figure out what's wrong, I'll let you know if I can't fix it myself right there."

Vic smiled some. "Thanks, Jim. That'd help out a lot."

"Gotta go chase down Jerry Parker now, but see you around, Vic." I said with a wave as I headed out the door. Vic half-waved back and went up the stairs. It seemed this day might not be total shit after all, if I could get both Jerry and Julie over for movies and food. That'd definitely settle my nerves, and it'd get Cleo home without issue. Oh! Jim Bridger... I fished my cell out of my pocket and dialed his number.

"West Side Veterinary Clinic, this is Michelle. How may I help you?" came the perky voice from the other end of the line.

"Hi Michelle, is Jim busy? This is Jim Peters," I casually said.

"Nope, he's right here, one moment..." That was somewhat surprising. Maybe it was a slow day for him.

"Jim Bridger here, what can I do for you?" came the mechanized inquiry.

"Jim, it's Jim Peters. I'm having a few people over for food and movies at my place and wondered if you and your wife would like to join us. Fish and chips, cole slaw, all the soda you can belch...."

I heard a laugh at the other end. "Hi Jim. Well, I'd really like to but the wife is gonna drag me shopping for new living room furniture when I'm through tonight." His disgust at the thought was audible. "Otherwise, I'd say I'd be out there without question. But I guess I'll have to pass this time, unfortunately."

I chuckled "Well, gotta keep the wife happy, Jim. I know how that goes, so don't worry. Just figured I'd ask anyway, even though it was short notice."

"Yeah, let me know a bit in advance next time and I'll drag Michelle over there and Billy too. We can lock Michelle in your office for her to freak out about how dusty it is, let Billy bounce on your old iron toys to his heart's content, and have a good meal and talk over the movies in the house." Jim was practically laughing at the thought of that all.

"That's IF you can drag Michelle out there in the first place. I think she'd only been out once, ever, and even then she stayed in the truck the whole time." I commented.

"Yeah, she's a party-pooper when it comes to animals. But then again, they run my life more than she does so I'd imagine she's jealous," he said rather directly.

I couldn't help but agree. "Yeah, that'd make sense. Anyway, I gotta get back to what I'm supposed to be doing. I'll give you a call some other time for another movie night or something."

"Thanks Jim, talk to you again soon," the vet said, then the line disconnected.

I tucked my cell back away and unlocked the gate by the bear dens, and went through, then unlocked the door.

Jerry was snoozing seated on a folding chair leaned up against the wall by the entry way. I half pondered giving the chair a gentle tap to cause it to slip some and startle him awake, but decided to check the health sheets first, without him knowing it. Yep, he'd finally had "pi" with Sarah, though it was a couple days ago. She plodded over and whuffled the bars as I approached. I rubbed her muzzle and knucklerubbed her stop before turning back to the sleeping keeper.

"Oh, Jerry.... oh! Oh! Oh!" I moaned in a faux-feminine voice.

That brought a mumble from the slumbering slouch that sounded like "Yeah.... you're so good Sarah."

I couldn't help but laugh out loud at that, the sound of which startled Jerry awake with a snort, and he started so bad he nearly flopped the chair all on his own.

"Dammit, Jim!" He growled. "Sneaking up on a person while they're sleeping."

I laughed harder. "Wasn't hard... Only required opening the door."

"Bastard." He scowled a little, but couldn't hide his smile. "Cleo's under the carousel like you asked. Was a bit of a time getting her through the crawl-tube into the tunnels, though."

"I hadn't figured on her extra weight, but there wasn't really any other way," I frowned some.

"Yeah, I could see you were in a bit of a spot with those two suits standing right there. Don't worry, I didn't mind." Jerry stretched some as he stood up. "Almost time to go or something?"

I shook my head. "It's a fair bit before closing, but that's not why I came looking for you. You got any plans for tonight?"

Jerry shook his head. "Not really. Nothing of any importance, why?"

"Well, I gotta ask another favor of you." I said.

"Oh boy, here we go..." Jerry quipped.

"No, nothing like that. I just need you to take Cleo back to my place in your car, in case the two fibbies are having me followed. They can't really watch my place all that well because of how it's situated, but they can trail my Blazer pretty easily and pull me over if they like."

Jerry nodded. "I'd do it, but I don't know where your house is. Never been out there before."

I nodded. "I know. But to make it up to you I'll cook supper for you, me and Julie. And we can watch movies and chat about shit for the better part of the night if you like."

Jerry's eyebrows raised. "Well, that sounds real nice, Jim. And I'll get to meet Peaches, too, after all this time of hearing about her."

"Well, that's if she wants to meet you. You know how animals can be wary of strangers," I cautioned.

"Yeah, I guess I'm too used to Cleo's habits already. She'd follow nearly anybody that's friendly," Jerry answered.

I just nodded. "Yeah, she spoils people." I winked. "Anyway, meet me by the carousel around closing. I've got to check out the bandorgan on it for Vic so... I'll meet you both there and give you directions to get to my place. For now, though, I'd better do my rounds and check on the zoo's cats rather than worrying about supper."

Jerry nodded. "And I'll go back to sleep, Snorz-all there kept me up a couple nights back and I haven't made up the lost time."

I laughed as I let myself out while Jerry tried to balance the chair back against the wall. This was certainly shaping up to be a fun evening after an odd day.