CHAPTER FIVE: THE FIRST RETURN
When Daniel reached home, a local officer was photographing his mailbox.
The officer explained that a formal report would document the property damage.
Daniel showed him the video of Carol striking the box and provided his contact details.
“I’m not interested in a shouting match,” Daniel said.
“I just want the damage handled.”
“That’s sensible,” the officer replied.
Bell stood nearby talking with a postal carrier.
The inspector asked Daniel whether he had time for a few additional questions.
Daniel described his conversation at Meadow Haven and showed the brochure photograph of the adoption fair.
Bell listened carefully.
“We’re investigating potential misuse of the mail,” he said.
“We don’t control animal licensing or private boarding services.”
“Then who does?”
“The county’s animal-services division has an investigator assigned to related complaints.
”
He gave Daniel the agency’s public contact number.
“Don’t go looking for evidence inside a private facility,” Bell added.
“I’m not planning to.”
“Good.”
Daniel hesitated.
“What do you think Carol was trying to find in my mailbox?”
Bell looked at the empty opening.
“One possibility is that she expected a returned business envelope.”
“The one she was supposed to receive yesterday?”
“Possibly.”
“Why would that matter?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Bell was careful not to turn a hypothesis into a fact.
Daniel respected that more than he liked it.
The next morning a woman named Tessa Moreno knocked on his door holding a photograph of a small gray cat.
She had heard from Amy that Daniel was asking questions about Meadow Haven.
“I need to know if you’ve seen her,
” Tessa said.
The cat was named Mabel, and she had a missing notch in one ear.
Tessa’s mother had boarded Mabel during an unexpected hospital admission.
When Tessa tried to collect the cat, Meadow Haven claimed her mother had authorized a permanent surrender.
Her mother denied signing any such authorization.
“They told me she was placed with a foster family,” Tessa said.
“Can you contact that family?”
“They won’t give me a name.”
“Have you reported it?”
“Yes, but they say they need to examine the records first.”
Tessa’s hands shook when she folded the photograph.
“The adoption fair is tomorrow.”
Daniel remembered the green-paw van.
“Have you shown that photo to the county investigator?”
“Not yet.”
“Do that today.”
Tessa looked ashamed.
“I feel ridiculous asking a stranger to care about one cat.”
“You don’t need to apologize.”
Daniel called the public animal-services line with her standing beside him.
A dispatcher took down Mabel’s description and said an investigator would call.
The urgency in Tessa’s face made Daniel wonder how many families had been told not to worry until worrying was all they could do.
