Read Online Zero at the Bone by Mary Willis Walker - Free Book Online

several day’s stubble of black beard and his coveralls were badly stained with stiff-looking spots that looked a lot like blood. She read the badge on the left side of his chest: “Vic Jamail, Head Veterinarian.” He looked more like one of the maintenance crew, Katherine thought.
    “Miss Driscoll,” he said, “I certainly am sorry about your father. And your elbow.”
    Katherine nodded and looked away.
    “You must think we’re a callous lot going about our business like this, but we find this kind of accident difficult to—”
    “No, I don’t find you callous at all. I’m going about my business, too, Mr.—”
    “Jamail, Vic Jamail.”
    The secretary, emerging from the office, interrupted him. “Please come right in, Miss Driscoll. So sorry about everything. I didn’t know who you were when you came in before. So sorry.” She stood aside to let Katherine pass through the door.
    Pausing a moment to smooth her shorts in back, Katherine glanced back at the big man, still sitting on the corner of the desk, watching her. Technically, he wasn’t smiling, but a knot in the muscles at the corners of his mouth and the glint in his black eyes made her certain he was laughing internally. She felt unaccountably irked by it as she entered the director’s office.
    The three men leapt to their feet from identical green leather club chairs. In the corner behind them on a wood perch, a large white bird raised a crest the color of apricots and squawked, “Hello. Hello.”
    No one paid any attention to it. Sam McElroy approached her with his right hand extended. “Miss Driscoll?”
    Katherine nodded, trying to assume a gravity proper to the situation.
    “I’m so sorry.” He took her hand as if to shake it and then covered it firmly with his other hand, squeezing it tenderly in a long nonverbal message of condolence. His wiry, tensed body bent close to her and his tanned forehead crinkled with solicitude. “When I said Lester had no close family, I had no idea you were here. I meant he had no family living in Austin. You should have told me you were here. That … circus out there couldn’t have been very nice for you. Forgive us.”
    He continued to grip her hand. His moist pale eyes, the hunching of his shoulders, and the way he cocked his head all conveyed sympathy. Katherine was convinced. She felt a sudden tightness in her throat. Real emotion from him was the last thing she had expected. It made her feel like an impostor.
    “I haven’t seen my father since I was five, Mr. McElroy, so you were right in saying that he had no close family.”
    He turned toward the other two men. “Miss Driscoll, this is Lieutenant Sharb from the Austin police, and this is Hans Dieterlen, our head keeper.”
    The policeman stepped forward to shake her hand. The arm he extended toward her was so short and thick it appeared to be a deformity, but as she studied the rest of him, she decided it was in perfect proportion. She had the most inappropriate wish to see what he looked like naked.
    She tightened her lips and shook his stubby hand.
    Before he spoke, he pulled a wadded handkerchief from his pocket and blew his nose into it. He looked down into the handkerchief with a frown as he spoke to her. “We’ve been trying to locate you, Miss Driscoll, but we just got your address about an hour ago from Mr. Hammond, your father’s attorney.” His voice was so hoarse and gravelly Katherine thought it must be painful for him to talk. “You must have been on your way from Boerne. We don’t like to have people learn these things before we tell them.”
    There was a long silence. Katherine felt they were waiting for her to say something, but she didn’t know what.
    “How did you find out, Miss Driscoll?” Sharb asked finally.
    “Oh. Just now, when I came in the office and asked to see … my father, the secretary out there showed me the newspaper.”
    “What brings you today, Miss Driscoll?” the policeman croaked. “After not