Poison Frog Mystery Read Free Page B

exhibits of snakes and lizards. On the second floor they saw turtles and alligators. On the third and final floor was Amphibian Hall, where the zoo kept all the amphibians. Here Benny and Henry looked at frogs, toads, salamanders, and newts from all over the world.
    Benny thought snakes and lizards were neat. He was fascinated by all the different colors and patterns, and by how some snakes were so tiny while others were huge. Some were poisonous while others were harmless.
    Benny played a game with himself—he made a list in his head of his favorite snakes and lizards. He saw some pretty scarlet snakes and a shiny black indigo snake. Once they had seen all the snakes, Benny decided his favorites were the beautifully striped red, white, and black San Francisco garter snakes.
    He turned to tell Henry he had chosen his favorite, then stopped. The young man standing next to him wasn’t Henry! Benny was surprised and embarrassed and a little bit afraid. He turned quickly, all around, until he spotted Henry on the other side of the room still gazing at the scarlet snakes. Benny had been so interested in the animals that he hadn’t noticed he’d walked so far away from his brother. He hadn’t even heard the young man next to him come into the room. It was as if he had just appeared.
    The young man had his hands deep in his jacket pockets, Benny noticed, and he stared into the enclosure with a hint of a smile on his lips. He was standing perfectly still, Benny thought, as if he’d fallen asleep with his eyes open. Even from the side, Benny could tell the young man had unusually bright blue eyes. Another thing Benny noticed was the Boston Red Sox baseball cap. It was easy to recognize—red with a blue B at the front. But it was hard to get a better look at him without being rude.
    “Aren’t these beautiful animals?” the stranger asked. He looked and sounded like an older teenager, or maybe twenty at most.
    “Er ... yeah, they really are. And rare, too. They’re part of the zoo’s endangered-species program!” Benny liked to hear him-self use such big words.

    The young man nodded. “I know. I’ve been following the story in the newspapers. Boy would I love to have an animal collection like this. I love reptiles and amphibians most of all, but I love all animals, really. They’re doing really wonderful things here at the zoo.”
    “They sure are. Snakes are my favorite,” Benny said.
    “Are they?”
    “Yeah, although I like all animals a lot.”
    The stranger nodded. “So do I. I like everything about nature. The animals, the plants, the fresh air.”
    “Me, too,” Benny replied.
    The young man never took his eyes off the snakes, never really moved a muscle.
    “Well, have a nice day,” Benny said finally.
    “You, too.”
    Benny turned away to look for Henry. The young man seemed friendly enough, but Grandfather wouldn’t have been very happy if Benny spent too much time talking to strangers.
    Just then Benny’s eye was caught by some movement in the next enclosure. It was a fat brown cricket scuttling up a low branch. A chameleon was nestled in some leaves high above, watching it carefully. Then, in a flash, the chameleon fired its long tongue out and brought the cricket back into its mouth. Wow, Benny thought. That was unbelievable!
    Unable to control his excitement, he turned back toward the young man and said, “Did you see that?”
    But the stranger had disappeared, again without making a sound. It almost seemed like he hadn’t ever really been there at all. Benny shivered. Then he hurried over to Henry.
    Ten o’clock rolled around, and Lindsey and the Aldens met with Jordan Patterson in the same room where the ferrets had been stolen.
    The Aldens liked Jordan from the moment they met him. He was a tall, thin man in his mid-thirties. He had short brown hair and a round, pleasant face. He also smiled a lot. Lindsey had told the Aldens on the way over that he was one of the gentlest, kindest, and most