“All of these hybrids are on the small side,” Duke said.

“You know the larger chimera are illegal,” the doctor said. “The ecological park has some of the last known ligers and grolar bears in the United States. And once they’re gone, they’re gone.”

“Seems a shame,” Duke said, though he preferred his animals on a plate.

“A shame?” the doctor said, his voice testy. “It’s to keep quacks from making monsters, as you well know.”

Monsters could be quite useful, Duke thought. Especially the human ones. But he didn’t say it.

The last cage had a series of large cocoons suspended from the top with some sort of biological resin. But they weren’t shaped like cocoons. They looked more like eggs of some sort, mottled and gray. “And what will these be?”

The doctor tapped a pen on the lab table, tap-tap-tap. “The specimen, Mr. Goodson. Where is the specimen I was promised?”

“We’re working on it.”

“What do you mean, you’re working on it? I thought you had captured it.”

“We did. But it seems it escaped.”

“Escaped? How could it escape?”

“It’s a smart little bugger,” Duke said.

“It’s not little, and that’s the point. There are very few of the larger chimera available to work with, particularly not chimera made up of more than two species. I need that specimen.”

“More than two species? What are you talking about? I thought it was a cat mixed with another cat.”

The doctor’s newt eyes seemed to glow the way the rabbits had. “Oh, it’s much more than a cat, Mr. Goodson. Much more. I need to study it.”

“I have my best people on the job. It won’t be long.”

“Your best people? Candi?”

If newts could have crushes, Duke might say that the good doctor had a crush on Candi. Most men did. And almost everyone believed her. Candi, like all Duke’s ladies, disarmed people, soothed or inflamed them, depending on what she wanted them to feel. Her blandly pretty face—with hair bleached to the color of spun sugar, black spiky lashes, the lipstick applied just so—was arresting, mesmerizing. She could say almost anything and people took it as gospel. “Science has proven that to get rich, you just have to have the right attitude!” “Lazy, good-for-nothing thieves raid your fridge when you’re at work!” “The president is a spy for Greenland!” “Are your neighbors stealing your Wi-Fi?” Quite extraordinary when you thought about it. But that was the point. Many folks simply didn’t enjoy thinking. It was far too much effort. They preferred to have someone else doing their thinking for them. And who better to tell you what to think than someone who looked like a more accessible version of a movie star or the Barbie doll you played with as a child?