Lost & Hound, page 23
“Why haven’t we heard of this reptile underground? Given the money in it, you’d think we would.” Freddie thought it strange not to have some idea.
“I called Ed Clark, of course. He said it is one of the biggest problems now for wildlife people. The Wildlife Center of Virginia deals with all manner of wildlife, so Ed was aware of the profits being illegally made. It never occurred to him that Barry was reaping the benefits.”
“Why do these people want turtles? Don’t they have turtles in China?” Freddie thought the profits were absolutely nuts.
“According to Cameron, as I asked the same thing,” Ben answered, “they love the geometric patterns on our different kinds of turtles. Same with some of our snakes. Their colors are beautiful to them. Having a reptile or an amphibian for a pet is easier than a dog.”
“Some of those countries, people eat dogs.” Betty shivered.
Ed piped up. “If there are trade penalties for that, it will slow it down.”
“Ugh” was all Yvonne could say.
“When Ronnie, Sister, and I visited Barry’s foundation, it was clean. The few creatures in there looked healthy.” Betty stopped for a moment. “He did take care of them.”
“But he seemed to love amphibians and snakes.” Sister was thinking of her J. Edgar.
“Maybe he did but he loved millions more. Some of my team are at the foundation now, removing what’s left there, which isn’t much. I sent Jude over to help, to catalog what animals are there. Ed said it was mostly empty, so Barry must have shipped out a large number of creatures as the cold closed in. Cameron again emphasized how much money is in poaching. My late-night research, I couldn’t get to sleep, uncovered thirty major smuggling cases in fifteen states. This really is big business.” Ben turned to Ed. “Thank you for taking these critters.”
Ed replied, “Of course. They’ll be fine. We’ll find them homes in the spring and those that can’t be homed will live with us.”
“What about the stamps?” Ronnie wanted to know.
“Clever.” Ben nodded to him. “When a shipment was ready to go out, Barry would send stamps of what was coming. That’s why so many of the stamps were the same. No phone calls. Stamps, FedExed to Timothy. Cameron was close, so the stamps were often delivered by a local service. The stamp year indicated the number of turtles or snakes. And if the number didn’t correspond with the stamp year, the stamp would be affixed to an envelope, the correct number written under the stamp. No cash. No calls. No emails. The recipient knew where to meet the plane. The number of reptiles, their cages, determined the size of the plane. They used airports, where they paid off people, very easy to do at the smaller ones.”
“Who would have ever thought of that?” Yvonne was astonished.
“Exactly.” Ben exhaled. “If it hadn’t been for greed, who knows if it would have been uncovered. Thanks to the National Wildlife Foundation people who talked to me, I now know poaching is a huge business, not just reptiles. Billions. Billions in trapped and sold animals or animals like rhinos killed for their horn.”
“It’s really cruel,” Gray simply stated.
Ben responded, “It’s possible other people were in on the take, including vets. Loaders on the tarmac at Charlotte’s airport, for instance. The planes flying to Asia. Did the pilots know? Many went out on large jets, according to Cameron.”
“This is hard to believe.” Betty shook her head. “You know, if people this clever can think of ways to make money illegally, why can’t they think of ways to make money honestly?”
“We’ll never know,” Gray answered.
“Do you think it’s the thrill of getting away with something?” Yvonne asked.
“I’m sure there’s a thrill in not paying taxes.” Ronnie looked at Yvonne.
“How can this be stopped?” Tootie asked.
“We have to list protected species once legislatures identify them as protected.” Gray knew the ropes. “That takes time and argument. For instance, North Carolina needs to list box turtles. That’s their state reptile. Musk turtles? Maybe they’d list all turtles in their state. If every state would agree on a specific list, that’s step one. Then the penalties need to be spelled out and enforced. Enforcement is difficult and markets such as exist in Hong Kong and other Asian markets would have to see a severe drop in their supply. Drive them out of business. They won’t respond to our laws. Look how many countries violate our copyright laws. Without pain on the other end, the poaching won’t stop.”
“They might respond to international laws, even if they ignore ours,” Kasmir thought out loud.
“Yes, I think most would especially if they were penalized elsewhere, say, in their gas supply. There are a lot of ways to hold people’s feet to the fire.” Gray sometimes enjoyed watching people squirm over this. “But we have to form coalitions with those countries also dealing with killing or stealing animals.”
“You’re right, but don’t you think, given the problems in today’s world, that this will be low on our country’s priority list, as well as other countries’?” Freddie was a realistic woman.
“The only way to realize this ban is to affix it to a larger piece of legislation. That often works.” Gray then continued, “And like the work for monarch butterflies, if people can come up with diminishing numbers and what that means to the environment. It’s a beginning.”
Listening to all this with fascination, Sister asked Ben, “How much is J. Edgar worth?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. If you’re in Hong Kong or Singapore, maybe one to two thousand dollars?”
“I’ll never look at a box turtle the same again.” Betty laughed.
“Did Cameron ever suggest who hit me?” Ronnie asked.
“No. Barry was at the foundation when you were attacked, but Cameron did make a revealing statement. Barry feared you because you figured out that the stamps were payment or perhaps a signal. You were on the right track.” Ben paused. “He could have paid someone to whack you over the head, or Cameron could have done it. It will take time to get everything out of Cameron, and sometimes you can’t, even with a tempting plea bargain. They never tell all. Everything Cameron told me and the team clears him of murder. Could he have waited for Ronnie? Possibly. Could Barry have hired someone? Yes. But all we know now of Cameron’s confession is he will be charged with illegal transport, risking rare species as well as common ones. Jail time? Depends on the court, but if he hires a very good lawyer, he will get a reduced sentence. Money again. And Cameron has the money to hire the best.”
“Did Cameron have an idea why stamps were put in my trailer and one lone stamp on Ronnie’s door?” Ed asked.
“Cameron thought Barry was unraveling. The threat from Snavely to expose him if Barry didn’t pay him more money hit a nerve. Putting stamps in your trailer was a way to deflect attention from shipping out illegal animals. It made him look like an odd victim. Who steals his own stamps? But no one even thought about it. Barry opened that door a crack himself. He feared Ed because of his work here and internationally. Ed might have put two and two together. But Ronnie, Ronnie was getting close, thinking the stamps might be some kind of payment or promise of payment. Barry was seeing threats everywhere.” Ben shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
“He wasn’t too far off.” Alida nodded in agreement with fearing threats. “Cameron was threatening him. He sort of betrayed himself.”
“He did,” Ben agreed.
“You put in a long day and night.” Sam smiled at Ben.
“My team did. Calling them late Friday night. They all came to help, I have a great team. Young.”
Sister, absorbing all this, asked Ben, “Do we even know the half of what goes on in our country? The theft? The fraud? The damage? The greed? Plus how those criminals are protected?”
“No, Sister, we don’t. But I don’t think they know any more in any other country either.”
“You know, this gives me an idea.” Ronnie grinned. “We’re thinking of ways to make money for the club, right?”
Everyone, including Ben, looked at him and said, “Yes.”
“This would make a great movie. We should write a screenplay and sell it.”
Sister spoke, all heads turned toward her. “As your Master, I think that is an excellent idea, but only if J. Edgar is the star.”
They laughed, the laughter of friends and the laughter of relief. Ronnie had been severely injured. Yvonne could have been killed. It was as Sister’s mother used to say, and probably everyone else’s mother: You never know from one day to the next.
Dedicated to
my wonderful, vivid neighbors
Jim and Joan Klemic.
Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Ed Clark gave me the idea for this novel. I had no idea something like this was going on, endangering our wildlife. We hunt together and after hunts, there are often breakfasts, potlucks. One has a chance to sit and chat, for foxhunting is a most companionable sport. One could write many novels based on what Ed knows, works with, the politics of environmental, wildlife issues.
Rachel Moody, my stable manager, rides with me many mornings. An hour on my kind mare, Kali, gives me peace, new thoughts. Hunting on Kali makes me realize she takes care of me, for which I am grateful.
As always, Marion Maggiolo of Horse Country bursts with ideas. Her creativity is not limited to plots and characters. Her visual sense is astounding. Those of you who have walked into Horse Country know this. I have never spent a dull moment in her company.
Donna Gamache in northern Michigan, near Traverse City, sends treats for my hounds and comes up with ideas. From a Virginia viewpoint, this is a unique area, one that fosters creativity.
I thank my agents, Emma Patterson and Emily Forland, often, but not in print enough.
The same goes for Anne Speyer, my editor, who being much younger alerts me to current sensitivities. They astound me. Remember, I’m a foxhunter. Shut up and get over the fence.
Lisa Feuer as always makes my books look great.
Lee Gildea, a true hound man, gives us all those drawings, so true to life.
Lastly, whenever I needed a pickup I reread Dreyer’s English. It’s a tonic for those of us who love language.
The Sister Jane series
Outfoxed
Hotspur
Full Cry
The Hunt Ball
The Hounds and the Fury
The Tell-Tale Horse
Hounded to Death
Fox Tracks
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
Crazy Like a Fox
Homeward Hound
Scarlet Fever
Out of Hounds
Lost & Hound
Books by Rita Mae Brown with Sneaky Pie Brown
Wish You Were Here
Rest in Pieces
Murder at Monticello
Pay Dirt
Murder, She Meowed
Murder on the Prowl
Cat on the Scent
Sneaky Pie’s Cookbook for Mystery Lovers
Pawing Through the Past
Claws and Effect
Catch as Cat Can
The Tail of the Tip-Off
Whisker of Evil
Cat’s Eyewitness
Sour Puss
Puss ’n Cahoots
Santa Clawed
The Purrfect Murder
Cat of the Century
Hiss of Death
The Big Cat Nap
Sneaky Pie for President
The Litter of the Law
Nine Lives to Die
Tail Gait
Tall Tail
A Hiss Before Dying
Probable Claws
Whiskers in the Dark
Furmidable Foes
Hiss & Tell
The Nevada series
A Nose for Justice
Murder Unleashed
Books by Rita Mae Brown
Animal Magnetism: My Life with Creatures Great and Small
The Hand That Cradles the Rock
Songs to a Handsome Woman
A Plain Brown Rapper
Rubyfruit Jungle
In Her Day
Six of One
Southern Discomfort
Sudden Death
High Hearts
Started from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer’s Manual
Bingo
Venus Envy
Dolley: A Novel of Dolley Madison in Love and War
Riding Shotgun
Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser
Loose Lips
Alma Mater
The Sand Castle / Cakewalk
PHOTO: © MARY MOTLEY KALERGIS
Rita Mae Brown is the bestselling author of the Sneaky Pie Brown series; the Sister Jane series; the Runnymede novels, including Six of One and Cakewalk; A Nose for Justice and Murder Unleashed; Rubyfruit Jungle; In Her Day; and many other books. An Emmy-nominated screenwriter and poet, Brown lives in Afton, Virginia, and is a Master of Foxhounds.
ritamaebrownbooks.com
To inquire about booking Rita Mae Brown for a speaking engagement, please contact the Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau at speakers@penguinrandomhouse.com.
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Rita Mae Brown, Lost & Hound
