Lunch.
I was ravenous, and in no mood to forage far afield. So I trotted over to the food tent area to test a theory.
And I was right. The salad wars had begun. The Episcopalians were doing such a booming business with the chicken Caesar salads that the Baptists had added a Cobb salad to their menu. Normally I waited in line with the tourists, but not today. I slipped behind the counter and caught Minerva’s eye.
“Could I have a Cobb salad to go?” I said.
“Coming up,” she said. “You see Henry out at the Inn?”
I nodded.
“How’d he look?”
I thought about it.
“Not too frazzled, under the circumstances.”
She shook her head grimly, handed me two Cobb salads and a pair of iced teas, and pushed my hand away when I tried to pay.
“Thanks,” I said. “But I only need the one.”
“You keep the other one there in the tent, and if Henry shows up, make him eat it.”
“Roger.”
I was planning to go straight back to the tent, but I spotted my grandfather striding down the sidewalk, so I gave chase.
It took me till the far end of the town square to catch him. He was mopping his face with his handkerchief.
“What are you doing here?” I asked Grandfather. I realized a few seconds too late that the words sounded a bit rude. “Shouldn’t you be inside out of this horrible heat?” I added.
“I won’t be out here for long,” he said. “Just going to sit here in the shade. I could even cool off by sipping some iced tea if I could find anyone thoughtful enough to bring me some.”
“If I gave you one of these, do you suppose I could persuade you to sip it inside where it’s cooler?” I asked. I held one out without waiting for his answer.
“Inside won’t work,” he said. “I’m going to inspect that vulture trainer’s work. Ah, there he is now.”
Mr. Doane was approaching us. Instead of carrying a bird on his arm, he was pulling a small wheeled cage. Grandfather rose and stood with crossed arms, frowning slightly.
“Here she is!” Doane’s voice reminded me strangely of the proud tones with which Michael introduced the twins. I’d also seen the cool analytical gaze with which Grandfather was inspecting the occupant of the cage. I’d seen him turn it on the boys often enough, and I could never tell if he was feeling family pride or comparing their behavior to the young of other primates. He sipped his iced tea several times during his leisurely inspection.
“Cathartes aura,” he said eventually. “Turkey vulture,” he translated for those of us not up on our scientific Latin. “One of the few vultures that finds carcasses by smell.”
“Exactly!” Doane exclaimed. “Most New World vultures and all of the Old World ones are sight hunters, and that would be useless for my project. I call her Nekhbet,” he added. “After the Egyptian vulture goddess.”
“Good name,” Grandfather said. “And she’s a fine specimen.”
I wasn’t sure what was so fine about her. Nekhbet was about two and a half feet tall, with brownish black feathers. Her legs and feet were chalky white and her head was bright red, featherless, and oddly small compared with the rest of her. I could easily imagine that head perched atop a rather large lizard.
“You do realize it’s illegal to keep them in captivity?” Grandfather asked.
“I am a certified wildlife rehabilitator!” Doane drew himself up to his full height. And then his face fell. “That’s part of the problem, really. Up until recently, the only birds I’ve had to work with are the ones I’m rehabilitating. And around the time I began to see some real progress with them, I’d have to release them back into the wild. But now that I’ve finally got permission for my work, I hope to make more progress.”
“You going to show me now?” Grandfather asked.
“If you want to, sure,” Doane said. “Beats hanging around waiting in case your police chief releases the courthouse and we can all go back on duty.”
“Although as long as you’re getting paid for it, waiting around’s not such bad work,” I said.
“Wouldn’t be if we were getting paid, but they put us all on furlough,” Doane said. “The jerks.”
“Well, I’ll put you on my payroll,” Grandfather said. “And your first assignment is to hang around with the other furloughed guards and keep your ears open for any information that would help solve this murder case.”
“Yes, sir!” Doane said.
“No, wait,” Grandfather said. “That’s your second assignment. Your first is to show me what your vulture can do.”