Poison Frog Mystery Read Free Page A

lock the cage, and it found its way out. It was missing for three days, and for a while the zoo thought they’d never find it again. Then a woman visitor stopped by Lindsey’s office and told her how much she liked the “live outdoor exhibits in the lunch area.” Lindsey was speechless—the zoo didn’t have any live outdoor exhibits in the lunch area! Hurrying to the scene, she discovered the koala in a small tree. About a dozen visitors were standing around it, taking pictures.
    When listening to Lindsey’s funny story, Violet looked at the gorgeous framed pictures and the books. Certainly there were more beautiful pictures in each of them! Lindsey told Violet she could look through any book she wanted.
    When she spotted a book about small mammals, she thought of the black-footed ferrets. Sure enough, there was a section on ferrets at the back. Violet looked through it and was surprised at how much she already knew about black-footed ferrets from what Lindsey had told them today:
Adults weigh about a pound and a half ... They live in burrows and are very secretive ... Light brown with black markings on their feet, giving them their name ...
    She kept reading, hoping maybe she’d come across something she didn’t know. It didn’t take long, and when she got to that information, her heart jumped:
Black-footed ferrets are carnivores, which means they eat meat.
    “Oh, no,” she said to herself.
    “What’s the matter, Violet?” Jessie asked.
    “Huh? Oh, nothing, sorry.” She didn’t want to bring up the ferrets again, at least not today. She knew Lindsey was tired of talking about them.
    But she still looked worried, and Lindsey noticed this. “C’mon, Violet. What’s up?”
    “Um, well ... I don’t mean to bring this up again, but I read something here about the black-footed ferrets, and I don’t know if it’s important or not.”
    “What’s it say?”
    “It says that they only eat meat. They’re carnivores.”
    “So?” Henry asked.
    “You mentioned that the thief stole a bag of food. That was food for—”
    “Herbivores!” Lindsey said.
    “What are herbivores again?” Benny asked.
    “Herbivores are plant-eaters,” Lindsey told him. “They only eat plant leaves, berries, nuts, and stuff like that.”
    “So if the thief took only a food bag for a herbivore,” Jessie cut in, “then that means—“
    “That means the ferrets don’t have anything to eat,” Lindsey said in almost a whisper.
    “Will they ... will they get sick?” Benny asked timidly.
    “I don’t think so,” Lindsey replied. “If you had gone to the trouble of stealing them, wouldn’t you make sure you knew how to take proper care of them? As soon as they see that the ferrets won’t eat any of the stolen food, they’ll probably check a book for more information. Just like you did.”
    The children still looked worried about the ferrets’ health.
    “Look,” Lindsey said, “whoever stole the ferrets obviously cares about them. If the thief didn’t care, he or she wouldn’t have bothered to take any food at all. Please don’t worry. They’ll be all right.”
    “Well, at least we have another little clue to build on,” Jessie said.
    “What’s that?”
    “The thief doesn’t know what ferrets eat.”
    This was a little clue. It certainly ruled out the possibility that one of the more experienced zookeepers in the mammal house was the thief.
    “Good point,” Lindsey said. “Very good point.”

CHAPTER 3
Partners
    The next morning Lindsey had a meeting with Jordan Patterson, one of the zoo’s two owners. They planned to meet in the ferret room at noon. Lindsey knew the Aldens planned to see the rest of the zoo that morning, so she asked them to stop by afterward so they could meet Jordan.
    As soon as the Alden children arrived at the zoo, they split up: Violet and Jessie went to the Bird Barn, while Henry and Benny stopped at the Reptile Range.
    The first floor of the Reptile Range was filled with