LITMIR.BIZ

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with long hair in the distance walking toward them. She wore a knitted cap, a thick jacket, tight jeans, and hiking boots. “Is that Vignette Garrison?”

      “Yep.”

      “We have an appointment. Thanks for the invitation though.”

      The accountant gave Decker a wave. “I’m off.”

      Gabe said, “I’ll come with you. I’ve never seen lions and tigers up close.”

      “Well, come along and enjoy the experience.” The man stuck out his hand. “Everett James.”

      “Gabe Whitman.” He took hold of the man’s right wrist with both hands and gave him the musician’s handshake. “Thanks a lot, Mr. James.”

      “You can call me Everett.” The man took out a set of keys. “This way.”

      James opened the gate to go in just as Vignette was about to go out. They spoke for a few seconds, and when it was over, Vignette came jogging over.

      Up close, she looked younger—late twenties or early thirties. Her hair was light brown streaked with blond and hung past her shoulders. Her complexion, even in the winter, was bronze in tone. Vignette’s eyes were round and dark, her nose was thin, and her lips were full and chapped. She rubbed her gloved hands.

      She stuck out a hand. “Vignette Garrison.”

      “How are you?” Decker took her hand. “Lieutenant Decker.”

      “Golly, it’s cold. I’m wearing thermal socks and my feet still feel like two chunks of ice.”

      “If you want to go inside, I won’t object,” Decker said.

      “Not that it’s all that warm inside. But at least my feet can thaw out.”

      He followed her up the three steps that led into the middle trailer. Inside, Decker saw a bank of metal file cabinets, four desks, and about a half dozen chairs. There was also a small kitchen with a refrigerator, a microwave, several hot plates, three space heaters, and a standing fan.

      “Have a seat.” She pulled out a chair. Then she bent down and turned a knob on the space heater, then rolled it toward Decker. “This will help a little.”

      “Is this battery operated?”

      “Kerosene. We do have a generator out back. It runs the fridge.” She took off her gloves and hat. “Most of the animals are cold tolerant, but we always have backup heating just in case we have prolonged cold snaps. We also have our hot days. For the animals, we can control the heat by dumping ice in the water pools. We have a variety of animals that live in a variety of climates. What’s comfortable for savannah lions isn’t necessarily good for jungle tigers.”

      “I’m sure it takes a lot of work to get it right.”

      “You can say that again. People don’t realize that you just can’t dump animals in a single environment and expect them to get along let alone survive.” She sat down. “I’m glad you came to visit in the cold rather than the heat. You’ll see the cats at their best. The fur is magnificent. Is that your son who went off with Everett?”

      “My foster son.”

      She wrinkled her nose. “He looks a little old to be in foster care.”

      “He’s been with us for a while. By now, we consider him a member of the family.”

      “We’re not so different, then.”

      “How’s that?”

      “I adopt strays, you adopt strays. It shows a giving spirit … to take in something and nurture it back to health. I often think of Global Earth as one big foster home.”

      “Well, I hope it runs more efficiently than county care.”

      “Oh it does.” The joke was lost on her. She pulled off her boots and then placed her sock-covered feet atop the space heater. “Did you find out anything about the will?”

      “I found out there is a will.”

      “Great. Do you know when it’s going to be read?”

      “Uh, I don’t know if it’s like the movies where everyone sits in a lawyer’s office and hears all the allocations read aloud.”

      “So how does it work?”

      “I’m not positive, but if I were to guess, I’d say his lawyers along with the executor go over the provisions one by one. Then they are supposed to carry out the wishes of the deceased.”

      “What happens if they don’t carry out the wishes?”

      “If you think that someone deliberately took assets that were allocated to you, you can sue, I suppose.”

      “Sounds very messy.”

      “It probably is.”

      She took out a tube of ChapStick and coated her lips. “So how will I know if I get any money?”

      “Are you expecting money from Penny’s will?”

      “No, not me personally. Mr. Penny did say he intended to support Global Earth after he died.”

      Decker took out a notebook. “He said those specific words to you?” She was staring at the notebook. “Do you mind? Memory isn’t what it used to be.”

      “No, sure, go ahead.”

      “Did he say how he intended to support the sanctuary?”

      She shook her head no. “I didn’t ask him. I thought it was greedy and ghoulish to get into specifics. It’s not about me, Lieutenant. I live in a one-bedroom apartment that’s as spare as the trailer. But I do care about the animals. Ever since Fern died, I’ve been trying single-handedly to carry on the legacy.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “I miss Fern. She was an incredible woman. No one could possibly do what she did.”

      “She died a while back, didn’t she?”

      She swiped her cheek with her sleeve. “Three years ago. She was the backbone of this place. If Mr. Penny hadn’t come along, we might have folded.”

      “How’d you meet Mr. Penny?”

      “He found us.” She rubbed her toes. “Now that you’re here in person, I’ll tell you what I knew about Mr. Penny and the tiger. He had inherited the cub from an exotic animal importer who wound up in jail. I never got the whole story. What I do know is that he was going to donate the cub to us. That didn’t happen right away, and I guess after a while, he grew attached to her. I kept telling him that a tiger wasn’t always going to be a cub. I tried to let him know that she was going to grow up to be a very large and dangerous animal. And he kept on saying that he knew that and he’d eventually give her up. One day, he called up and asked me to come to his apartment. I thought that this meant he was ready to let her go.”

      She shrugged.

      “Instead we talked for a long time with the tiger in the room. At the conclusion of our conversation, he whipped out his checkbook and gave us fifty thousand dollars. I should have reported him, but I was stunned by his generosity. And … we really needed the money.”

      “I see.”

      “I’m sure you’re making assumptions, but it wasn’t just about money. Tiki is an unusually calm cat. She’s gentle once you gain her trust. And she really did seem bonded to the old guy.”

      “I’m sure she was.”

      Vignette swallowed hard. “Did she hurt him in any way after he died?”

      “Actually, no she didn’t.”

      The woman was visibly relieved. “See? That’s Tiki. The two of them were exceptionally close. I know it was stupid to let it slide. But it came from a deep love between Hobart and Tiki and a firm commitment to this place.”

      “What

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