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didn’t see the relevance. Ian kept his mouth shut.
    â€œAnyhoo,” Arnie said, “I’m sure glad I don’t have to work with that Damrey. Once they go rogue, there’s no going back.”
    â€œShe’s not a rogue,” Ian said softly.
    We pricked up our ears, but that seemed to be all he had to contribute.
    â€œHere’s what I think happened,” Denny said.
    â€œFasten your seatbelt,” I muttered.
    Denny didn’t notice. He learned forward, jabbing a finger toward the rest of us, all enthusiasm and energy. “Damrey and Nakri have some sort of issue going on, and Wallace tries to break it up. Damrey aims for Nakri, he gets clobbered by mistake. That’s one possibility. Another is that those animal rights people broke into the barn and planned to turn both elephants loose. Have them roaming all over the zoo to get a lot of press coverage. Wallace tried to stop them, they hit him and ran away. But it could be that Wallace was involved in some sort of corruption with the bond measure money and got wiped out for a double-cross. The hit man dumped him in with the elephant so that she’d take the blame. I think that’s the most likely.” Denny paused to lick catsup off his fingers. He’d managed to consume a mushroom burger while free-wheeling. “And,” he added pointedly, “I hope he wakes up soon and tells us.”
    Hearing Wallace’s injury processed through Denny’s mental cyclone somehow made the accident less the stuff of nightmares, closer to everyday reality. Denny’s fantasies aside, wild animals were always dangerous. Accidents happened. I shivered anyway, seeing that hand twitch as Damrey’s trunk tip plucked at his jacket.
    Ian, by contrast, looked at Denny about the way he might look at a goldfish in a hay bale, but he didn’t say anything. Kayla, the veterinary technician, tugged a chair over from another table and perched on the edge of our circle next to him. A lacey lavender shirt contrasted with her lab coat and our dull uniforms. Today’s jewelry—her signature—was a necklace of big silver links. “Do you guys know yet what happened with Kevin Wallace and that elephant?” she asked.
    â€œNo!” said several voices.
    Kayla recoiled. “Just askin’! Good grief! What’s up with you guys?”
    Denny sat back, already changing channels. “Did you know that humans and elephants can transmit antibiotic-resistant bacteria between each other? That’s the kind of superbug that gives you boils and abscesses.”
    â€œStill eating,” Linda warned.
    â€œWhat does that have to do with Wallace?” Kayla asked him.
    â€œNothing,” I assured her. “Denny is speed-hypothesizing. Try not to get any on you.”
    â€œI want to know,” she insisted. “Mr. Crandall won’t let me in the barn anymore, keepers only. We need to finish the elephant project. Jean—Dr. Reynolds—is upset about it.”
    We turned to Ian for elaboration.
    â€œOnly keepers in the barn.”
    â€œI got that,” I said. “Are you and Sam safe? With the new rules?”
    Ian chewed the last of his burger, stalling. “Manage behind barriers.” He paused, apparently to let a trickle of words refill his verbal well. “I worked places that manage elephants that way. Train them with treats instead. Takes longer at first, but it works. Fewer accidents.” He considered for a moment while we waited. “Better to transition gradually. Not in one day.” I thought he was done, but he added, “Wallace took chances.”
    â€œYou mean routinely?” I asked. “He didn’t follow his own rules?”
    Ian nodded.
    Sam’s voice startled us. He’d come up behind me, where Ian wouldn’t see him either. “Wallace knew elephants. He didn’t take chances. Something strange happened the other night, and we’d better