that led into the house from the Asian Plains was wide open. I could see Chief Hoenekker inside, on Rhondaâs side of the metal fence, taking measurements around the point where the bullet had impacted the wall.
The guard posted at the door of the rhino house didnât seem surprised to see Summer and me. He held up his hand, signaling us to wait, then called out, âChief! Theyâre here!â
Hoenekker looked up and sighed heavily. Then he pointedly went back to his measurements without saying anything to us.
âHey!â Summer yelled to him. âMy dad sent us to see you.â
âI know.â Hoenekker jotted something on a small notepad, then climbed out of the rhino pen and came to the doorway. âI understand you have a letter for me?â
I handed him the envelope J.J. had given me. Hoenekker tore it open, read the message inside, then crumpled it angrily and threw it on the ground. âApparently itâs official,â he growled. âIn addition to conducting an investigation, I now have to babysit both of you.â
He was so disdainful that, if Iâd been there by myself, I might have given up the investigation. But Summer stood up to him. âDaddy wouldnât have sent us here if he didnât think we could help.â
âYeah, your daddyâs very proud of his little girl.â Hoenekker waved us into the rhino house, then pointed at a corner. âStay over there and try not to mess anything up.â
Summer reacted, offended. She wasnât used to people treating her like this. âWhat could we possibly mess up? Thereâs nothing in here but cement and rhino poo.â
âThis is a crime scene,â Hoenekker told her. âAnything in here could be evidence.â
I dutifully moved to the corner he had indicated, trying my best not to antagonize him. However, Summer had a point. Save for a few chalk marks that had been made around the spot where the bullet had hit the wall, the rhino house seemed exactly the same as it had that morning. It didnât look very much like a crime scene. âHave you learned anything yet?â I asked.
Even though Iâd asked as nicely as I could, Hoenekker still seemed annoyed by the question. âWhat do you think weâve been doing here all day? Playing tiddlywinks?â
âYâknow,â Summer said, âthis would work out much better if youâd answer our questions instead of being such a jerk.â
Hoenekker glared at her. I got the sense that if anyone else had spoken to him that way, he would have tossed them out the doorâor at least chewed them outâbut since Summer was the bossâs daughter, she could get away with more than most people. So the chief swallowed his pride and reported what heâd found. âWe dug the bullet out of the wall. It had flattened on impact, but we were still able to determine the caliber. It was from a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum, which is relatively rare in this country. Itâs a big gun, for big animals with tough hides. Use something like that on a white-tailed deer and you wonât have anything left but the hooves. But itâs very popular with big-game hunters in Africa.â
âDoes that mean itâs hard to get here?â I asked.
âIn Texas?â Hoenekker laughed. âYou can pretty much get any hunting rifle you want here. I checked around. Thereâs quite a few stores in the area that carry them.â
âEven though theyâre too powerful for deer?â I asked.
âOh, thereâs plenty to kill here thatâs not local,â Hoenekker told me. âThereâs hunting ranches throughout Texas stocked with exotic animals. Theyâve got all kinds of big game: kudu, eland, water buffalo.â
I was completely startled by this. âYou mean, people are raising all those animals around here just for people to hunt?â
âOh yeah,â Summer said sadly.