“She dreamed about this place,” Amanda said. “No question about it.”

Willa pushed her way to a closer view of the screen.

Maybeck said, “Are we just going to watch TV all day? Let’s do something.”

Willa pointed. “Zoom in on this.”

“On what?” Philby said.

“Just do it,” Willa persisted.

Philby used the AnimalCam’s joystick to aim the camera where she pointed: a section where the wall met the dirt.

“Zoom in,” she directed.

It wasn’t dirt, as it turned out. Slowly a geometric shape became apparent: a wooden hatch with grass growing around its edges.

“That couldn’t be what I think it is,” Maybeck said.

“It’s a trapdoor!” Amanda declared.

“A trapdoor in a tiger yard,” Maybeck said. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

“She’s in there,” Amanda said. She looked to Finn for support. “Don’t ask me how I know, but she’s in there.”

“Philby?” Finn asked. “What’s a trapdoor doing there?”

“You’re going to think I’m crazy.”

“Try me,” Finn said.

“Let’s say you’re the person running the tigers. How are you going to get any tigers into this lower yard?” He switched camera views. It showed a slowly rising hill of grass.

“How ‘bout trying the gate?” Maybeck asked.

“There is no gate. Not in the lower yard, only in the upper yard. We know from what Wayne told us that all the animals are accounted for each evening. They’re kept in barns and pens backstage. I’m thinking they probably move a couple tigers into this upper yard in the morning—then they open the hatch. It leads to a short tunnel that connects to the lower yard. Tigers are cats, so they’re smart. They learn fast.” He zoomed the camera to where a second hatch could be seen, this time in the lower yard. “Once the first tigers are in the lower yard, they close the hatches and put two more tigers into the upper yard. Tigers are territorial, so this system keeps them apart.”

“Brilliant,” said Willa.

“I don’t mean to play devil’s advocate,” said Maybeck, who thrived on playing devil’s advocate, “but if they let them in in the morning, then don’t they let them out in the evening? So if Jez is down there, which personally I don’t believe, doesn’t that mean…?” He didn’t finish his thought.

“That if she’s still down there at closing, then the tiger gets her for dinner,” Philby said.

Willa gasped.

“How could she have gotten down there in the first place?” Maybeck questioned.

“She could have crossed the savannah,” Willa proposed, “after escaping the tree trunk. Jumped a wall, or entered an open gate, only to find herself facing tigers. Maybe the hatch was already open; maybe she opened it herself. We won’t know until we find her.”

“One thing,” Philby said, “supporting this theory…if I were rigging the sound for the Park, the wires would follow the path. It might make sense to have a junction box down in the tunnel connecting the yards. Workers would have a place to check the wires that’s out of the view of the guests and safely away from the tigers.”

“No matter what,” Finn said, “I think we talked ourselves into checking out that tunnel.”

“A tunnel we don’t even know exists,” Maybeck reminded them.

“But there’s something else to think about,” Finn said. “The M on the satellite photo is a match with the M in the diary.”

“So she could just as easily be hiding someplace on the M,” Maybeck said, pleased to have some evidence to support his view.

Amanda shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. She played that song over and over. She has to be under the C.”

“Then what’s the M about?” Maybeck asked.

“Well, for one thing,” Willa said, “it’s your initial.”

Maybeck looked as if he might stick his tongue out at her, but he resisted.

“In the diary there’s a blob of ink on the lower right stem of the M,” Philby pointed out. “That could be a mistake, or it could mean something. And I might add that everything in the diary so far has meant something.”

“Agreed?” Finn said.

“So look where it is,” Philby said.

“Dinoland.” Philby looked around at the others. “Do any of you ever come to this Park?” he inquired sarcastically. “Dinoland is ridiculously boring except for one attraction.”

“That research thing—Dr. Grant Seeker,” Willa said.

“Dinosaur. Remember anything special about it?”

“Only that it was really cool,” Willa answered.

“Not cool—well, yes, it’s cool—but it’s also cold. And it’s computer controlled. Majorly computer controlled. There have to be some serious computers running that ride.”

“The second server,” Finn whispered, “could be hidden among them.”

“As good a place as any.”

“Listen to you!” Maybeck sniped. “We don’t know any of this for sure!”

“No…” Philby said. “But there might be a way we could find out. If I can get back on VMK, and Wayne gets me into the control center, I may be able to track network bandwidth usage.”

“Speak English,” Maybeck snapped.

“Think about it: if we go after Jez, how is Maleficent going to come after us?”

“With birds,” Maybeck said.

“And monkeys,” Willa added.

“And lions,” said Finn.

“And DHIs of all of the above,” Philby said. “The more DHIs she uses, the more bandwidth usage on the network. What I’m saying is this: we want her to come after us with everything she’s got, because when she does, I can probably locate the second server. And if I do, then maybe I can cut it off the network. That would take all the DHIs of animals out of the equation.”

“So we split up,” Finn said. “Maybeck, Willa, and Philby will team up to take out the second server, to destroy it if possible. Charlene, Amanda, and I will get inside the tiger yard and get into that hatch.”

“Oh, yeah, like that’s going to happen,” snipped Maybeck.

“Philby said the tunnel makes sense for maintenance. If that’s the case, do you think the maintenance workers go through the tiger yards every time there’s a problem? I don’t think so. There’s going to be another entrance—a hatch, a manhole, something—probably hidden in the jungle. Something that Jez can’t get to, or isn’t strong enough to move. Philby can check it out when he gets into VMK. There must be a way to open the hatches in order to move the tigers. Philby can look for that, and we’ll be in position, ready to move.”

“There are still a few sketches in the diary that we haven’t run into,” Amanda reminded everyone. “We shouldn’t forget about them. There’s the hairy gorilla and the owl on the branch. There’s the elephant and the hunchback guy who looks sort of Indian.”

“Everyone will stay alert for those,” Finn said.

“Alert?” Maybeck said. “I’m half asleep on my feet.”

“No sleeping!” Philby warned. “Willa and I messed up things by getting caught. We’re both sorry and appreciate everything you did for us. But the Park is closing soon: six o’clock. And that means the animals will all be moved backstage, including the tigers. If there is a tunnel between the tiger yards, and Jez is down there…” He didn’t have to finish the sentence.

But apparently Maybeck felt obliged to. “Then she becomes kitty chow.”

51

CHARLENE INSISTED THAT she could slip over the wall of the upper tiger yard with no one the wiser.

“I don’t think so,” said Finn. He, Amanda, and Charlene were assembled along the edge of the Jungle Trek, very near the tiger yards.

“I can stay close to the wall, like I did at the bat enclosure,” Charlene said. “No one’ll see me, and that includes the tigers.”

“Tigers are fast,” Amanda reminded her. “Very fast. And they can jump, let’s not forget.”

Charlene nodded. “But also lazy. I’ll be on the opposite wall. If the tiger moves or shows any interest, you can warn me. I can vault the wall in a nanosecond. It’s not as if it’s going to get me.”