Koala Killer Tenth Installment

Morning brought many pains to start the new day. The least of which was the tight wrapped ribs and ankle cast. Her head and neck hurt something fierce. Daylight also brought Lt. Wilson to her hospital bedside. He tried to hide his annoyance with her as he questioned her for the second time.

"Well, Ms. Nuclett. I'm sorry to see you in this situation. Can you tell me what happened last night?"

He made her feel guilty without understanding why. Exactly. Should she tell him everything? Was her accident connected to Stan's death?

As if reading her thoughts, the lieutenant added, "It would be best if you told me everything you remember since you found Dr. Reed in the zoo infirmary."

She blurted out, "Last night someone ran me down from behind. I didn't see anything or anyone, any more than I saw anyone when Stan was shot. I don't know what's going on. I went to see Stan in the hospital and didn't see anything there either."

"You were at the hospital?" He looked around and pulled up the big chair and sat down. He went on, "Well, even if you didn't see anything, someone may think you did. They may want to get rid of you or just frighten you, in any case, it looks like you're in danger."

"In danger?"

It's one thing to think to yourself that you might be be a target and quite another to have the police tell you you are.

"This is serious, Ms. Nuclett. There's someone ruthless out there and they're likely working right there in your zoo. They want to stop you from exposing them. I know. I know, you don't think you know anything, but you were close enough to knowing something to be a threat. We need to go over everything that's happened, but this may not be the best time. For right now, please just tell me, in detail, what you remember of last night's attack."

"Attack. Good grief. Well, I was heading over to see Tommy when the storm blew in ..."

"Who's Tommy?"

"Tommy's the new baby giraffe."

She told him everything she could remember of that evening's events including about the person behind the mower that she thought had been watching her. They made an appoinment for him to come to her apartment the next day to go over the whole thing. He called in an order for a watch to stay outside her hospital room even though she was probably going to be released later today.

He was barely out the door when she decided to call Cass. She needed a friend to talk all this over with. When he came on the line she broke down crying and could hardly talk.

"Marigolden, what's wrong honey?"

She never could handle sympathy. She choked up even more. Just hearing that old nickname again. She finally gasped out, "I'm in the hospital, Cass."

"Hospital? Mari, are you all right" What happened, honey?"

"I'm Okay. A broken ankle and some cracked ribs. Someone ran me down at the zoo."

"You were in an accident?"

"The police don't think it was an accident, Cass. They think someone may be trying to kill me."

"Trying to kill you! Who the hell would want to kill you, Mari?"

"I don't know." She could tell he was upset because he never swore. She started crying again.

"Look, sounds like you need a friend. Shall I come out there? I can catch the next plane if you want me too, Marigolden."

Koala Killer Ninth Installment

She opened her eyes as the first large drops of rain were coming down. She was on the side of the path in the grass. Her leg was at an odd angle and when she tried to move it the pain was searing. She peered into the darkness in every direction. The vehicle was gone. No one was around. She didn't know how long she had been unconscious.
She closed her eyes again and thought of Cass, her friend, once boyfriend, now best friend. She wished he would appear and help her right now.
Her memory heard him say, "You're the strongest most competent person I've ever met." He'd been in college at the time and impressed with someone making their own way. She'd come back with, "Add brave, and back atcha." They'd even talked about getting married after graduation. By the time that came around it had become evident to them both that Cass was 99% homosexual.
"Time to start moving along," her inner voice said. "And where was everyone, for god's sake?"
She realized that the path between the African and Australian exhibits were not on any service route. She needed help. She struggled to stand but it wasn't possible, so she started crawling with her arms and one good leg. Rain was coming down steady now, blowing in on the west wind as usual. She was soaked and a puddle was forming. She headed into the rain and wind, down the middle path toward the employee entrance, hoping someone would see her soon. She was cold.
She laughed to herself, "Hell of a way to cool off."
Her whole body hurt but her rib cage was the worst, especially when twisting back and forth trying to crawl. She wasn't getting very far, very fast. She lay her forehead down on her extended arm to rest a minute. The wind was still whistling through the trees and she could hear an elephant trumpeting and cries from monkeys and tropical birds. By the time she'd made the curve passing the restrooms, the rain had lightened up. The storm, it seemed, was being pushed along by the wind. Finally, she saw a light and heard one of the electric carts coming toward her.

She was so relieved she just let events carry her along. A warm blanket. Reassuring voices. A cup of hot tea from someone's thermos. A cozy ride to hospital. A nice sedative and a little wrangle getting the leg set and the ribs x-rayed, but all out of her hands and restful for that.
Until she remembered poor Owen - home alone. She asked the nurse to call her neighbor Bea. She had her easy number memorized. Bea had a key to her place and had taken care of Owen for her before. When that was done, she fell into a dreamless sleep until early morning.

When she woke she remembered that Stan had died in a hospital bed just like this one.

Koala Killer Eighth Installment

She met Jorge coming out of the building.
He said, "Mari, here you are. I was just coming to find you. What's the matter dear, you look a little startled?"
"I don't know, Jorge. I'm jumpy, I guess. What's happening with the investigation? Is that Lt. Wilson around?"
"He was back just a little while ago. He had an order to go over the personnel files. But he's left again. Do you need to talk to him?"
"I don't think so, not right now, anyway. What have you found out about the koala?"
"That's the strangest thing. There's no evidence that there ever was a koala in the infirmary, or anywhere here, Mari. No one else has seen it."
Mari frowned at that, but said nothing.
"You know, of course, that even if we could afford one, we can't keep koalas in Pueblo Valley because of Valley Fever that we get here. Koalas are as susceptible to it as gorillas and chimpanzees are."
"I didn't know that."
And she didn't know what to think either. She might be imagining someone watching her, but she knew she saw a koala the night she found Stan.
"Could you have been mistaken, Mari? You were excited, upset."
"Absolutely not, Jorge, the koala was there as surely as Stan or the gibbon was."

Chapter 3

"Well, it's all bound to come out in the investigation, I suppose." Jorge said lamely.

She didn't get the strong impression that he believed her. And why should he? She told him she'd finished feeding the birds and would be in the giraffe area if he needed her.

It was almost sunset, the visitors had gone home, as well as the personnel that catered to them: gift shop, ticket booth, snack bar, and office staff. The animals and their evening keepers had the park to themselves. The mood relaxed. Most of the birds were singing their last songs of the day, settling in to rest. And some were coming alive, time for the nocturnal to take their turn.

She saw and felt the advancing storm, as rain-scented winds drove falling eucalyptus leaves against the pink horizon. Time for a little monsoon weather. If it rained it would help the fires in the dry canyons, but if the storm was electrical, the lightning could start more fires. Clouds were piling up over the Rimrock Mountains on the northeast horizon.

She was within sight of the giraffe enclosure when she decided to go back to her birds and do a little flood prevention around their enclosures. There was an established routine for it, which she had read but never done. It would be good practice. She had been with the zoo since last autumn, after monsoon season, and winter had been exceptionally dry.

As she was hurrying down the path she heard a park vehicle coming up behind her. It sounded like it was coming awfully fast. She turned quickly and realized she was about to be run over. She shifted her weight while still turning and fell backward, but it was too late. Her right leg caught in the vehicle somehow and the world went black.