Page 84 - Effable Encounters

The Formic Solution

“Ha! I tumbled right away to your transparent attempt to
assassinate the kitchen ants. I have never left a beverage unfinished;
you should know that. At any rate, your pathetic efforts were not
without value. When I discovered your bait, not a single ant was near
it. Curious, eh? Then I tried to transfer a few of them into the ant
farm, to bolster the sagging population. But the newcomers were
attacked, killed, and buried—buried just like the original ants that
were poisoned. Then I did call a myrmecologist. And that was
enough to end the mystery.”
“Mystery? You mean about the missing do-gooder?”
“What do you think? You see, the two groups of ants look alike to
us, but they are really not the same. This bunch, which came with the
farm, are Argentine ants. They like sweets. The ones in the kitchen
are thief ants, also called grease ants. Different diet, but they are
happy to sneak into other ants’ nests, stealing their young for a snack.
Thus we observe an obvious case of macro-microcosmic
synchronicity of harmonically resonant morphic vibrations. In other
words—”
A knock at the door interrupted his disquisition. Ann shook her
head and sighed. Really off the deep end. I wonder if I can get a job
as a skip-tracer: couldn’t be worse than this.
Minnie van Ehrbagge, once admitted, headed straight for Gill’s
armchair, like a dog knowing it has to sit in the right place to get a
biscuit.
“Oh, Mr. Gill,” she gushed. “I’m so glad you called. This past week
has been a trial for me. Why, what is that on your desk.? It seems to
be a—”
“Just a gift for one of my collateral descendants.” He hastily
yanked the ant farm off his desk and dumped it out of sight on the
floor next to his chair. Ann’s instincts were instantly aroused: was he
merely embarrassed to be caught by a client with a toy on his desk, or
could there be some subtler reason for this action?
“Please brace yourself, Miss van Ehrbagge. I’m afraid the evidence
points to your cousin no longer being among the living. The police
will have to confirm my conclusion, but it is the only explanation to
fit the facts. I have analyzed the list of names of the homeless women
present in the shelter on Fridays, going back several months;
presumably Margaret Pye was there on most, if not all, of those days.

83