Free The Beast of Barcroft by Bill Schweigart Page A

not swayed by my presentation or dazzled by my charm, I’ll leave you with one last clip.”
    The screen turned black and a video came on. The footage came from a fishing boat. Excited Japanese voices shouted over one another in the background as a massive red shape could be seen undulating next to the boat, just below the surface. Tentacles coiled around the cable hauling it to the surface. A giant squid, alive, captured on video.
    “After the initial thrill of seeing this for the first time, do you want to know what I thought?”
    He tapped his pointer a final time and the giant screen went black.
    “I thought ‘one less sea monster.’ ”
    The crowd applauded. After he shook hands with the excited docents, Severance found Lindsay by the doors.
    “Lindsay Clark, I knew you couldn’t stay away.”
    “You make the most persuasive case for pseudoscience I’ve ever heard, Richard.”
    “If you only had an imagination, you’d be unstoppable.”
    “If you only had scientific rigor, you’d be a real zoologist.”
    He smiled. “Backhanded compliments I can take, but don’t call my rigor into question.”
    “Simmer down. I actually stopped by on business. I was at a community meeting in Arlington last night where someone reported a mountain lion attacking his dog.”
    “Arlington, Virginia?”
    “I went to the site—fur, prints—it’s the real deal.
Puma concolor
. And big.”
    “That’s fun.”
    “I don’t think
fun
is the word. It snapped a full-grown greyhound’s neck in a resident’s backyard and nearly came back for seconds on the guy.”
    “No, that’s
really
fun. Why are you telling me?”
    “I don’t know. Maybe I figured this might be another anecdote to spice up your campfire stories.”
    “Is the institution getting involved?”
    “Arlington hasn’t officially approached the Smithsonian yet, and knowing who is involved, I doubt they will. I’m on my way to talk to Curator Bankbridge.”
    “Well, all this is very fascinating. You and I should buckle down immediately over lunch and a few cocktails and discuss your…kitty.”
    “I don’t like empty calories.” She turned to walk away.
    “Hey,” he called after her.
    She awaited his next innuendo with a smirk.
    “Sample?”
    “Of course.”
    “May I?”
    She dug into her shoulder bag and handed over a clear plastic bag filled with tufts of hair.
    He studied it and frowned at her. “Lindsay, if I had feelings, they’d be hurt right now. You think I don’t know a hoax when I see one?”
    He tossed it back to her.
    “Nice try, Clark.”
    “What are you talking about?” She held the bag up to the light. Even jumbled together, there appeared to be two distinct fur samples, one shorter and flat, the other longer and coarser. They were both darker than mountain lion fur, darker than Ben’s description of his greyhound too.
    “Wait, this is a mistake.”
    “Yes, yours.” He turned on his heel.
    “Richard!” she called after him, then quieter, said, “I wouldn’t do that to you.”
    He stopped and sighed. “Was it dark? Were there cocktails involved?”
    “Come on, I know
Puma concolor
fur when I see it, and
Puma concolor
was in here last night.”
    “Then someone is pranking
you
.”
    “No one even knows about this.”
    “I’d keep it that way. You’d hate to look like a pseudoscientist.”
    “Why would someone do that?” she said, more to herself.
    “Welcome to my world.”
    “Someone switching out my mountain lion sample and replacing it with two different fur samples? That’s ridiculous.”
    “More ridiculous than you being wrong, certainly.”
    “It was
Puma concolor,
I swear.”
    “Very fascinating, but I wouldn’t ask Bankbridge to commit zoo resources—and by extension
my
resources—until you get your ducks in a row.” He did an about-face and strolled back down the corridor. “Or in this case, your otters.”
    “What?”
    “Your sample. It’s not two animals, it’s