by Ruby Loren
“Officer Gemma!” Detective Gregory burst out, saving me from needing an answer on that front. I finished writing and passed it back to her.
“Love your work,” she said, flashing me a grin, before scuttling away with the heat of Detective Alex Gregory’s stare chasing her. I privately hoped that she would consider my autograph worth it when she received whatever disciplinary action I could sense was going to come her way.
“How come the police officers use their first names, but they always address you using your last?” I asked. I’d wondered it for a while, and seeing how derailed we’d got, it seemed as good a time as any to ask.
“It’s part of an initiative for our public interacting staff to be seen as approachable,” Detective Gregory told me, far from thrilled. He left it unsaid that his last name was used because someone still needed to be an authority figure.
“You were asking what I was doing when I found Timothy Marsden,” I prompted with a hopeful smile.
It wasn’t returned.
I silently sighed. Treesden may be gone but I had a strong feeling that the good first impression I’d hoped to make on Detective Alex Gregory had just taken a nosedive.
“What were you doing?” he asked when I faltered.
“I was on my way back from a meeting of The Lords of the Downs club with my fiancé Auryn and his friend, Jon.”
“How long was this meeting planned for?”
“I think they meet every couple of weeks.”
“You think?” The detective raised his blonde eyebrows.
“I’m not actually a member. It’s a men-only club. I was only allowed in today because it was Auryn’s induction. It was supposed to be Timmy’s, too. Someone died to let him in,” I tacked on and then wondered if I was gabbling.
The detective stopped writing what I was saying down and looked up. “Someone died?”
“The club has a fixed intake. Someone has to die, or step down, or be kicked out for someone new to get in. Auryn’s father lost his place, which was why Auryn was inducted. Although, it took them a while to decide upon it.”
The detective looked curious, but I wasn’t going to elaborate on that. He would surely find out for himself in good time. Nothing stayed a secret for long in Gigglesfield.
“Who died to let Timothy Marsden join?”
“I have no idea,” I confessed. “I knew he wasn’t initially considered suitable, but I only found out today that when his father died they decided he wasn’t right for the club at that time. I’m not sure if they held his place, or if he was moved down the waiting list.”
“There’s a waiting list?” Detective Gregory looked more bemused by the second. “Just what is this club all about?”
“I think it’s quite popular,” I said, answering his first question. I’d gathered that much from the talk from certain people at the barbecue about how lucky Auryn was to be a legacy and have his place honoured even after his father was given the boot. I’d definitely got the impression that there were plenty of men who hoped to get into the club, but were still waiting their turn. “As for what it’s about… I’m really not sure. When I went today it was just groups of men talking about their businesses. You’ll have to ask them in order to get a better idea. As a woman, I’m somehow considered unworthy,” I couldn’t resist sniping before biting my tongue. Now wasn’t the time to let my views of the club rise to the surface. I was being interviewed as a part of what would surely turn out to be a murder investigation. Timmy Marsden hadn’t just fallen and died to end up the way we’d found him.
“Where were you yesterday evening and this morning, prior to the meeting?”
“He wasn’t dead yesterday evening,” I automatically said.
“How do you know that?” The detective looked every bit as suspicious as Treesden had when we’d had our brushes.
“I spoke to him on the phone right before we left for the meeting. He was definitely alive then.”
“What time was that?”
I thought about it. “It must have been eleven? We were really close to leaving when Timmy called. Jon was picking us up first and then we were supposed to go to collect Timmy.”
“Were you able to tell where he was when he made the call?”
“I assume he was still at home. He said he was going to be a little late but not to worry. I think he did intend to come to the club. He was wearing the right clothes,” I remembered.
“The right clothes?”
“I asked him what he was wearing. The club has a fairly strict dress code and dressing appropriately for the occasion wasn’t one of Timmy’s strengths. He said he was wearing a blazer with matching trousers and a black shirt. That’s what he was dressed in when he died.”
“What were you doing earlier in the morning, and could anyone verify your whereabouts?” the detective pressed.
I tried to remind myself not to take any of this personally… yet. “I was at my zoo filling in for a zookeeper who called in sick. I think I said hello to most of the staff, which at that time of the morning was probably about twenty different people.”
The detective nodded and made another note. “What was your impression of the deceased? Was he well-liked?” All of a sudden, Detective Gregory seemed to laser focus on me. I realised everything else had been leading up to this - the question he was really interested in having answered.
“You’re asking me if he had any enemies…” I thought for a second. “He might have had some. Timmy didn’t always realise when he was taking a joke too far. Perhaps he rubbed someone up the wrong way one too many times.”
“What about his wife, Scarlett? Does she have enemies?”
“I really couldn’t say. I only saw her in passing at the barbecue.” I hesitated and then bit my tongue as I stopped myself from oversharing about the fight they’d clearly been embroiled in on that sunny day - the one that had set the gossipers whispering about a divorce being on the cards. Someone else could tell Detective Gregory. I’d already passed on my fair share of hearsay.
“I think the most likeable member of the Marsden family is Rameses, their dog,” I said with a light smile. “At least… he’s my favourite.”
“They have a dog?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, he stepped all over the crime scene.”
“Oh, so that’s what it was. One of the officers suggested that it might show signs that he’d been dead overnight and a wild animal had somehow got in.”
I shook my head at the detective. “No, Auryn let him out of the door because he needed to go outside to do his business. He covered his hand with his sleeve when he did it and tried to be careful. Has no one seen him since?”
Detective Gregory shifted in his seat, sensing my alarm. “I’ll make sure it’s checked. The dog’s not dangerous, is it?”
“No, for all his hunting breeding, Rameses wouldn’t hurt a fly.” Of that, I was confident. “He just needs to be found. He’s apparently quite a valuable dog and it would be terrible if someone used this opportunity to steal him from an already bereaved family. Also, I don’t think he’d do too well out on his own. But hopefully he’s still in the garden. There’s a wire fence running along near the bottom, probably to keep him in.”
The detective made a note and then called someone else over to enquire about Rameses.
“Did the deceased give any particular reason why he was going to be late to the meeting?” he asked when that had been dealt with.
“He never said. It was just that something had come up. He seemed distracted but didn’t elaborate. After checking his outfit choice, I let him get on with it. There was no point in delaying him further with questions.”
“Okay,” Detective Gregory said, although I noticed there were frown lines deepening on his forehead.
All of a sudden a round of applause went up. I spun in my seat and observed, to my horror, that none other than Detective Treesden had entered the station.
“No need for any of that. I’m just here to collect a few t
hings I’ve been informed I left behind. That’s what happens when you hit retirement, your brain turns to mush.” He smiled a steely smile, and to my amazement, some of the staff in the station actually chuckled. I’d never seen Detective Treesden say anything approaching humour before.
Then he saw me and his smile disappeared. “Who’s dead this time?”
If it was meant as a joke, it fell catastrophically flat when Detective Gregory and I both looked grim.
“Can I have a word…?” Detective Gregory asked and together the two detectives went off to chat.
Either they didn’t walk far enough or they weren’t aware of the carrying acoustics in the police station because I was able to overhear almost every word.
“I see you’ve met our resident celebrity,” Treesden began in scathing tones. We really had not got on well together… even though I’d certainly helped him solve at least two murders and several other crimes to boot. When I said I’d helped to solve the murders, I really meant by making it pretty obvious who the bad guys were when they’d tried to add me to their kill lists, but that still counted, right? I was an asset!
“She seems a bit scatterbrained. When I heard she owns a zoo, works as some kind of consultant, and wrote some comic or other I expected her to be sharp,” Detective Gregory was saying.
Well, ouch. I really hadn’t made the impression I’d wanted to on the new guy.
“Scatterbrained? If she’s trying to give you that idea it means she’s probably hiding something… like she does every time.”
I very nearly stood up and marched over to find them when I heard that. I’d never knowingly lied to the local police force when being questioned! It wasn’t my fault that certain things had come to light when no police presence had been around. Also, there’d been times when I hadn’t been sure enough to involve the police, but when the truth had been revealed it had been a little too late…
However, Treesden’s accusation had got me thinking, and I’d realised that he was technically right. There was a piece of information I was still sitting on, wasn’t there? I looked across and caught Jon’s eye. His interviewing officer was writing up notes so we shared a moment of silent communication. He lifted his shoulders and set them down, but there was a troubled expression on his face. I took that to mean the ball was in my court as far as making a decision went.
Treesden and Gregory returned with straight faces, as if they hadn’t just dragged my name through the dirt.
“What are you up to?” Treesden barked in my face.
Much as I hated to give him the satisfaction, I’d already decided I was going to cave, as they clearly already suspected something. “It’s probably nothing, but I found a dog lead on the drive when I got out of the car. I thought someone might have just dropped it there accidentally. A lot of people own dogs in the rural villages,” I pointed out, fairly. “I wasn’t sure if it was relevant.”
“Yes you were,” Treesden informed me.
I sighed and reached into my bag. My hands closed around a lead and I pulled it out. “Here you go,” I said, passing across the lead. I was relieved I hadn’t said what kind of dog I thought the lead was for because no one would believe that the small harness I’d just handed over was for anything larger than a Jack Russell. Of course, there was every chance that if anyone bothered to test the fibres attached to it, they’d also discover that the lead belonged to a cat, not a dog. Then I’d be in for it. But for now, my little spur of the moment deception had worked.
I wasn’t even sure why I’d done it. It had only been at the last moment that I’d changed my mind and given them Lucky’s lead instead.
“They’ll find out,” Jon said when we were outside again and I’d filled Auryn in on what I’d found on the drive and my devious sleight of hand.
I looked across at Jon and observed that in spite of his words, he looked relieved. “I’m sure they will, but at least we won’t be the ones who told them. Anyway, there could be any number of explanations…”
We all looked down at the real lead, which I’d just taken out from my handbag. It had been brought back from Nepal by Timmy, who’d then gifted it to local crime historian, Andy Wright, at the barbecue as a thank you for looking after Rameses during the time he’d been away. I’d assumed that Scarlett had been too busy to care for the dog.
“I’m sure there is a good explanation for it being there,” Auryn echoed, but he looked just as troubled as I felt.
When we’d pulled up and found the front door unlocked, I knew that my first assumption had been that there was a woman in the house. Even though I hadn’t known him for long, I knew that Timmy had quite the history of extra-marital affairs. Although, I’d also heard that Scarlett wasn't exactly a saint herself…
The lead’s presence was troubling because of the way it had been left abandoned on the drive, as if the person doing the abandoning was sending a message to the original sender that their gift was not welcome. With Timmy’s reputation, I knew we could all hazard a guess as to why that might be.
Unfortunately, Auryn worked pretty closely with Andy’s wife. Annabelle and Andy Wright had been married for years. She was a high-flying lawyer who specialised in financial and criminal law. Avery Zoo had needed her to sort out some of the nastier aspects of the debts Erin Avery had racked up when he’d been running the zoo. I had always assumed that Annabelle and Andy had the perfect marriage - she, the local top lawyer and he, the local historian.
The lead left on the drive suggested otherwise.
“I could talk to her,” Auryn offered.
“No, she might not know anything about it. Someone should talk to Andy... but not you.”
With Annabelle’s fidelity in question and Auryn working so closely with her, his turning up on the historian’s doorstep could make matters worse. Especially if he murdered Timmy, I thought but dismissed it a moment later. I’d known who the lead belonged to and what it meant before going into the house, and when we’d found poor Timmy it had never even crossed my mind that Andy could be to blame. I asked myself why that was and all I could come up with was that, much like Jon, Andy was just too boring. The mild mannered man I’d met at the barbecue didn’t seem capable of flying into a wild rage. If I needed further proof, he’d spent the whole event hanging out with Jon.
“How come Andy’s not in the club?” I asked.
“He’s not ambitious enough and isn’t a legacy of any sort. His family are fairly new money,” Jon said, blushing somewhat. He was surely admitting that he was only in the club himself because of some legacy. I didn’t know a huge amount about Jon, but ambitious was certainly not a word I’d use to describe him.
“Thanks for doing that,” he said, and I smiled at him in return. I hadn’t thought a lot of Jon prior to today, but he was starting to grow on me. What I’d thought was a lack of interest in people that only furthered his boringness I now thought might have been shyness. Today he’d proved himself to be loyal and thoughtful.
I realised I’d also mentally discounted Jon as a possible suspect, even though he’d had ample opportunity to pop round Timmy’s house prior to picking Auryn and me up. It was the way his face had turned green when he’d seen the body that had done it. No coldblooded killer would have reacted like that, and it really had been a grisly scene. Whoever had done it had been angry.
Now that I thought about it, I felt rather green myself.
Clouds had turned the day overcast when I went back to Avery Zoo with Auryn. It had always been our plan to convene there after the meeting in order to discuss a few forthcoming events our zoos were to collaborate on, but I had a feeling that nothing productive would get done today. It was already close to being the evening and I would have to return to The Lucky Zoo for the evening feeds to cover for the keeper who was unwell. Instead, Auryn and I contented ourselves with getting hot chocolate from the machine in the staffroom and I raided Tiff’s supply of whipped cream in order to pimp it up. My locker had been empty for months now, as my pla
ce of work was no longer at Avery. I was still there to help oversee breeding programmes and any proposed enclosure changes, but The Lucky Zoo was where most of my attention was focused. Auryn and I even had a friendly little competition going over whose zoo would be the most successful. Avery had a heck of a head-start, and we weren’t really competing of course, with most visitors opting for the double zoo pass, but it was still fun to do.
I felt a little pang of nostalgia when I sprayed the squirty cream on the drinks and made a mental note to replenish my best friend’s supply. Tiff had been a little distant of late. I’d been ploughing everything into making The Lucky Zoo succeed and she’d been equally busy sorting out the commerce side of things for both of the zoos. I missed her a lot and hoped she was doing okay. Her last boyfriend, Darius, had turned out to be a cheat. Tiff had racked it up as just another case of her making bad choices when it came to men. I’d promised to vet whoever she chose next, but unusually for Tiff, she’d stayed single. I knew it wouldn’t be for want of offers, as hardly a day went by without Tiff catching someone’s eye, but I did wonder if she was feeling a bit down. And I was a bad friend not knowing for sure.
“Can you believe this?” Auryn said when we were settled in his office with our drinks. “Who would want Timmy dead? He was murdered, right? It looked like it… didn’t it?”
I brushed away the implication that I was somehow an expert on these matters. “It looked like someone stabbed him, although I didn’t see a weapon. I guess they must have taken it.” I bit my lip before continuing, knowing I risked joining the dots. “I wonder when they’ll find Scarlett…”
Auryn snorted and then looked embarrassed. “Sorry, I’ve just known them both longer than you have. When we were younger, I remember Scarlett from the local comprehensive crowd. She was just as wild as Timmy - probably worse. When she knuckled down on her underwear business and Timmy just… well… supported her, I guess everyone thought they’d finally settled down. But then… I knew they were both having flings even before we reconnected. There are people at the zoo who’ve been involved with one or the other of them at some point in time. Both of them were at it.”