Wanna Take A Bite?
Note: Set during "Odds On A Dead Pigeon"
Francine kept glancing at the lunchbox Lee had dropped off with her. She wasn't scared of snakes but she had a healthy respect for them, especially the poisonous ones, and a coral snake – an angry coral snake no less as this particular specimen was bound to be – was something to be treated with care. That was why the box was still sitting on her desk. She didn't want to hand it over to someone else to take care of the snake. One of her many acquaintances possessed a good-sized collection of exotic animals. He would very likely be delighted to take care of a coral snake. And since he already owned several poisonous snakes, he should know how to handle it.
Francine had decided to drop off the snake in the lunchbox with him during her lunch break which was about to start in ten minutes. The snake would be fine. There was a narrow gap between the lid and the bottom of the lunchbox that allowed some air in but was too narrow for the trapped animal to escape. Not much, thus, that could go wrong in ten minutes, especially since she kept the lunchbox well within sight.
At least that was what she thought until someone swept up the lunchbox from her desk.
"Hey!"
She looked up at the perpetrator.
Fred Fielder. Of course. She should have known. No one else would dare to take stuff from her desk without asking.
Fielder smirked at the lunchbox, turning it this way and that.
"Very stylish, Desmond. What did Mommy pack you for lunch?"
He gave the box a slight shake.
"Apple and a sandwich?"
Francine gave him one of her fabled haughty looks.
"Coral snake", she told him.
Fielder snorted.
"A coral snake? Good one, Desmond."
She said nothing, just kept looking at him and watched him turn pale when he realized she wasn't joking. Slowly, very slowly, he set the lunchbox back down on her desk and backed away just as slowly.
"Nice. Gotta go. Meeting."
He turned and fled.
Only now did Francine allow the grin that she had been hiding to spread over her face. Fred Fielder wouldn't touch any of her stuff again anytime soon.
She checked her watch again. Five minutes to go. Oh well, why not leave a little early? The sooner she got that snake out of here the better. The next idiot who grabbed that box might accidentally drop it and if it opened hitting the floor … She didn't want to have to deal with an angry coral snake on the loose.
She picked up the lunchbox and went over to Billy's door. He was sitting at his desk reading reports.
"I'm heading out for lunch", she told him. "I'll be back in an hour."
He gave her and absent-minded not. He probably hadn't even heard what she had said.
Francine hesitated. The grin reappeared on her face.
"If you hear anything about me keeping poisonous snakes in my desk – I'm not but don't tell anyone, okay?"
"Okay."
Francine turned and left. Time to re-home that coral snake.
Billy turned one page of his report. Then another one. And another one. He frowned. Looked up and blinked and glanced through the open door at Francine's desk.
"She – WHAT?"