The Man Who Liked Lions: Judgment At Three O'Clock

A quiet afternoon at the zoo should be harmless, even dull. Families drift from cage to cage, children press their faces to the rails, and the animals endure the heat and the noise. But one man moves through the crowd with purpose, listening more than he speaks, measuring people the way a hunter sizes up terrain. He knows exactly what time it is, and exactly what is coming.

As the hour approaches, small acts of cruelty and casual laughter pile up around him. He watches how people taunt anima...