Read Online The Penguin Who Knew Too Much by Donna Andrews - Free Book Online Page A

mother's dog, though we’d had him on semipermanent loan ever since her allergist had recommended a trial separation.
    “I expect she’d sooner take one of the hyenas,” Michael said. “They’re smarter than dogs, you know.”
    “Hyenas?”
    “Llamas. The Peruvians have been breeding them for intelligence for centuries. Basically, they eat the stupid ones.”
    “I’ve been at parties like that,” I said. “So you’ve been reading up on llamas?” The idea alarmed me. Since childhood, I’d known that bringing home stacks of books on a topic was a danger sign that a new enthusiasm had seized Dad. By the time I’d recognized the same symptoms in Michael, it was a little too late to change how I felt about him.
    “Well, not yet,” Michael said. “There hasn’t been time. But Blake's been telling us all about them.”
    “I can imagine,” I said. “I can hear him from here.”
    We both turned and glanced back at the house. Randall and Vern Shiffley, along with several of Chief Burke's officers and a handful of my relatives, were gathered around something in the middle of the lawn. Blake, standing on a picnic table bench, was lecturing his makeshift student body.
    “Officious old goat,” I muttered, turning back to the llamas.
    “You don’t seem to like Dr. Blake much,” Michael said. “Any particular reason?”
    I was opening my mouth to protest that I liked Blake just fine when I suddenly realized it would be a lie.
    “No, I don’t,” I admitted. “Don’t ask me why. I’ll watch myself. Be extra polite to him and all that.”
    “Odd,” Michael said. “That's just what your mother said a minute ago. She doesn’t seem that keen on him, either.”
    So it wasn’t just me! I felt a surge of relief.
    “Well, after all, he's spoiling Dad's fun, or hadn’t you noticed?” I said. “Dad's usually the one who gets to give the wildlife lessons.”
    “That's why you dislike him?”
    “I don’t Jislike him,” I said. “But I don’t trust him. What's he doing here, anyway? Why isn’t he off in the veldt or the tundra or the bush somewhere, rescuing something in front of a camera?”
    “Supposedly, he's here to rescue the Caerphilly Zoo,” Michael said. “Not sure whether he's going to donate the money Patrick needs or find him some other donors or maybe take over the zoo—your Dad was a little vague on what Patrick is expecting. Or maybe it's Patrick who's being vague. But whatever it is,
    sounds like a good idea to me. Soon as Patrick shows up and they can work things out, our animal problems will be over and we can move full speed ahead on The Plan.” “I wouldn’t count on it,” I muttered.
    “You haven’t changed your mind,” Michael said, looking ashen. At his tone, all the llamas stopped grazing and lifted their heads to stare at us. “We’ve got the license and the plane reservations and—”
    “No, I haven’t changed my mind, and there's no threat to The Plan,” I said, raising my voice slightly to be heard over the humming of the llamas. “But I wouldn’t count on Montgomery Blake solving all our animal problems anytime soon.”
    “Why not?”
    “How long has Blake been in town?” “A few days—why?”
    “Blake shows up, Lanahan goes AWOL, and the next thing we know, Dad's digging up bodies in the basement.”
    “Bodies! Have they found more than one?”
    “No, just the one,” I said. “But one's enough. I gather Chief Burke hasn’t announced whose body it is.”
    After a moment, Michael's face turned from puzzlement to dismay.
    “You think it's Patrick Lanahan's?”
    “I’ve seen it, remember?” I said. “I had to drag Dr. Smoot into the basement. It's Lanahan all right.”
    “Damn,” Michael said. “He seemed okay, Patrick. Your father's going to be pretty upset. He’d been spending a lot of time with Patrick, working on the zoo. And what happens to the zoo? It could take a while to sort that out.”
    “Let's just hope Lanahan was organized enough