I Heard Animals' Voices novel · Chapter 21 of 24

Chapter 21: The Line Down the Path

The inspector from the state veterinary board arrived at nine on Tuesday with a clipboard and a thermos.

She was gray-haired, square, and about sixty.

She shook hands.

"Dr. Hargrove," she said. "I have a complaint that cites a school file and a pattern of delusional claims."

"Yes, ma'am," said Derrick.

"Is any of it true?"

I stopped breathing.

Derrick stood in the doorway of the clinic with his hands at his sides.

"Yes, ma'am," he said. "I told the director on Friday."

"I'm not going to tell you anything different."

The inspector wrote one line on the clipboard.

"Thank you for your candor," she said. "The board doesn't license what you hear. It licenses what you do."

"I need your records, your drug logs, and an hour with your staff."

"My staff is outside," said Derrick.

He opened the clinic door.

The line went down the path, past the flamingo pond, stretching dozens deep.

The reptile keeper was first, holding the python around his shoulders like a scarf.

"This is her," he said to the inspector. "Eleven feet."

"The city vet said put her down. Dr. Hargrove sat with her two nights."

"What was wrong with her?" asked the inspector.

"She didn't like the new heat lamp."

"How did he know that?"

The keeper looked at the python.

"He's very observant," he said.

The python rolled its eyes at me.

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