TEDDY TONED IT down for the panel. He’d created enough of an impression for the Syrians, and didn’t need to draw any further attention.
The panel was, as Teddy had expected, in the room Marcel DuBois had shown him, the one with the single solid door.
There were two men at the door checking names. It was not enough to show your name tag with the star, you also had to show a photo ID to prove that you were the person named on it, and not someone who just happened to get hold of the name tag. The men were passing themselves off as convention staff, but Teddy recognized them for what they really were: muscle.
Teddy saw the Syrian party was already seated in the front row, and he took a seat in the second row at the opposite end of the room.
More panel goers drifted in. They filled the first three rows. Nobody sat behind Teddy in his cowboy hat.
The meeting included gentlemen of all nationalities. Many had zoologists in tow.
When everyone had been seated and the doors had been closed and locked, Fernand Guillaume, a dapper Frenchman with the air of an auctioneer, took the lectern. He glanced around the room and smiled. “My friends. Have any of you been to Las Vegas? There is a saying, ‘What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.’ The same is true of this panel. Since you are here, you already know that. But I cannot emphasize it enough. Anybody found to have loose lips will be banned from any future opportunities of this kind.”
No one took exception to the remark. It was greeted with nods of approval.
“Now then. Down to business. This panel is entitled Rarest of the Rare. That is absolutely true. Our presenters will be showing you some of the rarest animals in the world. Many are on the endangered species list. Some will be there soon. There is one unifying factor. It is illegal to hunt these animals. A violation of this law carries a stiff sentence.
“In the privacy of this room, we acknowledge the distinction between laws of man and of nature. We speak freely behind locked doors. And we never speak freely outside them. Only in this room may your business be conducted.
“We are divided into two groups. The buyers and the sellers. You may sell the animals. You may buy the animals. No one is going to ask you what you wish to do with the animal you bought.”
Though Teddy had anticipated the secret purpose of the mysterious and exclusive panel, he was still jolted to hear the truth of it. An illicit marketplace of endangered animals, hiding in plain sight, right in the midst of a conference on conservation.
“Some animals will be presented on the panel. Some can be seen on exhibit in the convention center. The larger animals will be shown in photos and on videotape, and our organization has verified the existence and advertised condition of those creatures.
“The auction will begin tomorrow, so for now I hope only to whet your appetite.”
He stepped aside and gestured to the screen behind him. A video montage showed some of the animals in question. A snow leopard, a sea otter, lemurs, and a fierce-looking, rodent-like creature that apparently was a Tasmanian devil. A polar bear that looked scrawny. Teddy wondered if that was part of the allure, shooting a truly endangered, sick animal.
The black rhino looked positively magnificent. When it appeared on screen, it was as if the room took a collective breath. Teddy glimpsed over at the Syrians to gauge their reaction, but Fahd and Aziz wore carefully blank faces.
One of the animals on offer was of particular interest to them, though which was still unclear to Teddy. The bigger question was: What did Fahd want with an endangered animal in the first place?