CHAPTER THREE: THE OFFICER
Priya Santos arrived in a county truck twenty minutes later with a wildlife transport crate and a narrow inspection camera.
She wore a faded green uniform, practical boots, and the expression of someone who disliked surprises around frightened animals.
Her partner, Ben Kline, stayed outside to check the perimeter of the house.
Daniel showed Priya the panel without touching it.
Carol remained on the porch, where Daniel could see her through the doorway.
“Was this room part of a licensed rehabilitation facility?” Priya asked.
“It’s my kitchen,” Daniel said.
Priya knelt and inspected the edge of the panel.
She carefully lifted one corner of the green tape and looked into the gap with a flashlight.
“Those aren’t local sparrows,” she said.
Daniel felt a chill despite the summer heat.
“What are they?”
“I need a better look before identifying them.”
She inserted the camera through the gap and watched the image on a small screen.
Daniel stayed back at her request.
The screen revealed a row of narrow wooden compartments stacked behind the wall.
In the nearest compartment, a bird with bright green feathers clung to a perch.
Two smaller birds huddled beneath it.
Another cage sat farther back, its bottom littered with seed husks.
“These are parakeets,” Priya said.
“But this setup is completely unsuitable.”
“How many are there?”
“I can see six right now.”
Priya shifted the camera and her mouth tightened.
“There may be more behind the second partition.”
The wall cavity was larger than Daniel had imagined.
It extended past the kitchen into the empty space behind the pantry,
where the former owner had installed thick insulation.
Someone had converted that unused space into a concealed series of small cages.
The panel was an access door.
A thin flexible hose ran upward between the compartments.
Priya followed it on the screen until it disappeared toward an exterior vent.
“We need to make sure every animal has air before moving them,” she said.
She called her supervisor and requested assistance from a veterinary team familiar with confiscated birds.
Daniel went outside to find Carol talking rapidly on her phone.
“Tell Lewis to come here,” he said.
She covered the mouthpiece.
“He’s already coming.”
“With whose permission?”
“He’s responsible for the birds.”
“He’ll be speaking to the officers,” Daniel replied.
Carol’s voice dropped.
“If he gets here first, he’ll tell them you agreed to the installation.”
Daniel looked at her in disbelief.
“Why would he say that?”
“Because that’s what he says whenever someone asks where the birds came from.”
A new sound came from inside the house.
It was a sharp series of squawks, followed by Priya calling for a towel.
Carol tried to rush past Daniel, but he held up a hand.
“The officer knows what she’s doing.”
Carol stopped.
“You don’t understand,” she said.
“Some of them won’t survive being moved.”
“Then why did you wait until now to tell anyone?”
“Because I thought I could get them out without anyone knowing.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
Daniel saw genuine shame on her face for the first time.
He wanted to believe it meant something.
Then he noticed her phone was still connected.
He took a step away so she could not use him as an excuse for her next decision.
“Tell Lewis he’s not entering my house,” Daniel said.
Carol looked down at the call and whispered something into the receiver.
She ended it without explaining.
