Chameleons and a Corpse

by Ruby Loren

  “Someone needs to talk to her husband. We can’t keep quiet about it forever,” I told him.

  He nodded thoughtfully. “You should do it.”

  “What? Why me?”

  “The guy’s a historian who writes books. You’re a famous writer. Kind of,” he added.

  “How dare you! Comic book writing is every bit as much writing as writing is.” I felt myself stumbling over my words and reflected that perhaps it was fortunate after all that comic books only had small spaces for very succinct comments.

  Auryn grinned having baited me into giving him the very answer he’d desired.

  “Fine. But it’s your fault if I get murdered,” I told him.

  The next day I pulled up outside Avery Zoo with my two new employees in my car. I’d given them the grand tour of The Lucky Zoo, which had taken most of the morning. Now it was time to introduce them to our sister zoo. While they probably wouldn’t be spending much time here, I thought it was important that they both saw the standards to which we were all aspiring. Avery had experience and a polished finish. My zoo needed to play some serious catchup.

  I took them round all of the animal areas, hoping to give Gabby a feel for Vanessa’s brilliant work and to give Pierce an idea of how well-presented a zoo could be. The Lucky Zoo was impressive to look at, due to its groundbreaking eco design, but the way Avery used its best features in marketing and special events would, I hoped, become obvious to him.

  Halfway round, Gabby became engrossed in the insect house and I made the executive decision to leave her behind with instructions to meet back at the car later. She wouldn’t benefit from this next part anyway.

  “I thought it might be useful if you were to meet the head of commerce at Avery Zoo. I know that’s hardly the same as marketing and PR and that stuff,” I bumbled, remembering there was a good reason why I was hiring someone to do this for me, “but she’s in charge of a lot of revenue generation, and I thought you might be able to bounce some of your ideas off her.”

  “Sure,” Pierce said, amiably enough. I didn’t miss the slight smile on his lips. He knew I was pushing him to reveal something - anything - about what he was going to do in his new role. Half of me wanted to just throw my hands up and say ‘get on with it’ and wait to see what happened. So long as it wasn’t illegal and it worked, I’d be happy with that. The other half of me wanted to kick Pierce, who was surely being deliberately secretive. It was maddening.

  But if anyone could persuade him to confide, I was certain that Tiff was the right choice.

  My best friend walked out of the shop, right on cue. “Hi Madi! Hello,” she said, turning her bright smile on Pierce.

  It was like watching a car crash in slow motion. First, there was the shock then the dawning realisation that there was no way you were getting out of this unscathed. I’d seen it on men’s faces many times before when Tiff walked into their lives. Now I was seeing it happen to Pierce.

  “I’m Pierce,” he said, holding out a hand and shaking Tiff’s for a lot longer than he had mine when we’d first met. Some men went to pieces when they were faced with my beautiful friend, but something told me that Pierce was merely taking things up a gear.

  “It’s nice to meet you.” Tiff kept smiling and, a little more unusually, I could tell she was taken aback by Pierce the same way he was with her. Well, well! Perhaps there had been something to gain by their introduction after all. My new PR and marketing guru could be good for both the zoo and my best friend, who was still mourning the loss of her cheating ex.

  “How about I leave you talking about your success with the commerce at Avery. I’ll go get a drink and come back later,” I said, coming to the conclusion that my presence wasn't necessary or desired.

  When Tiff shot me a laser look, I realised I’d probably been a bit too obvious.

  “Don’t forget, you and Auryn owe me some squirty cream. And throw in some marshmallows for the trauma caused, too!” was all she said.

  “How about a lifetime’s supply of fancy hot drinks once the restaurant opens?” I offered.

  “You don’t know what you’ve just got yourself into. Deal!” Tiff announced with a grin so broad, I did wonder if she would prove to be correct. Her smile lessened a little when she remembered Pierce’s presence and clearly wanted to appear more demure and less like a woman with a whipped cream addiction. I decided to let my partner in hot chocolate drinking off, just this once. I nodded goodbye and left them to it.

  All of the talk about the restaurant opening had reminded me I needed to go check on its progress. Auryn had been keeping me up to date on my newest investment, but I wanted to see the progress for myself. After all - I had a bet to win!

  Auryn believed that, in spite of the larger initial investment, The Lucky Zoo would have made back the purchase cost before the restaurant I was rebuilding would have recouped the money I’d fronted. I knew Auryn didn’t believe the restaurant would actually ever make back what it was costing to rebuild it, but I had big plans for it.

  Before a bomb had quite literally gone off inside of the building, the restaurant itself had never been very successful. It had been an afterthought. Customers were already in the zoo, why not fleece them for lunch, too? As this had been the guiding inspiration, predictably, it hadn’t gone very well. The only time people had ever graced the restaurant in large numbers had been on Valentine’s Day, when they’d left it too late to book anywhere else.

  I was determined that this time it would be different.

  As well as making our fun little wager, the restaurant was also the only idea Auryn and I had been able to come up with for our wedding venue. I wasn’t the kind of girl who wanted a huge white wedding, but the restaurant-cum-wedding-venue sure as heck wasn’t going to be plastic foliage glued to walls and creepy stuffed animals that screeched at you when you walked past. It was going to be classy. Fortunately, with the first volume of my comic Monday’s Menagerie still flying off the shelves, I could definitely afford to make it so.

  I was watching the builders adding render to the outside walls when I saw Claudia, the zoo’s financial advisor, walking towards me. The relationship between us was a little tenuous, so I did my best to look happy to see her.

  “I heard that you were the one who found Timmy Marsden. Tough break,” she began. Already my heart had sunk a mile. Did everyone know the deceased?!

  “Technically, it was Auryn who found him,” I said for want of something better to say.

  “It was bound to happen sooner or later.”

  I blinked and stared at Claudia. Did she know something about his murder?

  “I just mean he got around a lot, you know? Everyone does it, of course, but he was particularly brazen,” she continued.

  “I’m sorry… everyone does it?” Was she about to give any specific examples?

  “Well, there’s just no loyalty these days, is there? It’s the new norm,” Claudia stated matter-of-factly.

  I was still thinking of how to answer that without finding myself falling out with Claudia all over again when Auryn arrived. I wasn’t sure if that was good timing or very very bad.

  “It’s looking great, isn’t it?” he said, nodding to the restaurant-in-progress. The exterior needs a little prettying up, but the inside is basically ready. Again, a few interior design features wouldn’t go amiss, but I reckon you could start serving food and drinks almost immediately. The kitchen’s in and wired up.” He leant in closer so I would be the only one to hear the next part. “It’s amazing how quickly money achieves things. Don’t forget our bet!”

  I grinned at him. I hadn’t. The sooner the restaurant started functioning as a restaurant, the sooner it would be making back my money.

  Auryn stepped back and cleared his throat. There was something about his face that made Claudia make her excuses and leave us to it. When she was gone, Auryn’s expression turned serious. “Timmy Marsden’s brother and wife are coming into town later today. They need somewhere to stay - som
ewhere with friends, as they’re understandably distressed. Jon would have offered, but his house is full of kids and he can’t really accommodate a couple of extra guests. Apparently, everyone else who was friends with Timmy is currently hiding under a rock.” He looked peeved. “Some friends they’re turning out to be.”

  “I suppose they want to wait to see who gets collared for the crime. They probably don’t want to get involved.” I was thinking about Scarlett when I said it. Her and Timmy’s friends could be one and the same. They were probably all considering that she might soon end up in prison. I frowned. “Have you heard anything more about Timmy?”

  Auryn shook his head. “The brother and wife coming is the latest I’ve heard. I’m sure we’ll find out more, once they’ve been down to the station.” He waggled his eyebrows. “See? Looking after them will have its benefits.”

  “Well, we can’t deny the house is big enough. We could put them on the top floor and never even know they were with us,” I joked. Auryn’s family’s house was far too large for a couple. There were rooms we never went into that were just left to decay. We both knew it was an unsuitable place to be living, but I also understood that for Auryn, it would be tricky to let go of one of the last ties to his family that he possessed, along with the zoo.

  With his father in prison and his granddad recently deceased, Auryn was essentially on his own. His mother had divorced his father long before he’d been in trouble with the law, but I now understood that it hadn’t been an amiable break up. Erin had insisted that Auryn would take over the zoo and had somehow managed to win custody. His ex-wife now had her own family and was living somewhere far, far away. Auryn rarely spoke of her, and from the little that he’d said, I gathered that far from being proud of him for rescuing the struggling zoo, she resented that he’d stepped into the shoes his father had been polishing for him all along. She must have the rest of Auryn’s relatives on side, too, because I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of cousins, aunts, or uncles. Auryn might have received his inheritance early, but he had been left on his own to enjoy it.

  “What about mother?” I asked, suddenly realising that if his brother was coming, shouldn’t she be coming, too?

  “She died when his dad did a few years ago, right before Timmy was due to head off to university after his gap year. There was this huge hunting accident that made the news and everything. Horses had to be put down and the two fatalities were Timmy’s parents.” He shook his head. “At least they died doing what they loved.”

  “Murdering foxes? Great,” I said, unimpressed.

  Auryn shot me a sideways look. “You might want to sit on thoughts like that one when these two arrive, and if you’re around anyone who knew Timmy. It might be illegal, but fox hunting is still a huge sport in certain circles.”

  “You’ve never… have you?” I was shocked that I even needed to have this conversation with my fiancé. I’d just assumed he was a reasonable human being.

  “No, of course not. I’m not a fan of bloodsports. I do miss horse riding, though,” he admitted.

  “I never knew you liked riding!”

  Auryn gave me a wry smile. “It was practically part of the curriculum at the school I went to with all of the other boys. There used to be stables in the garden at the house. My mother took the horses with her when she left, and my father had the stables demolished soon after. I suppose it was his way of accepting she was never coming back.” He snapped out of his thoughtful reverie the way I noticed he always seemed to when talking about his parents. “Anyway, that's fine, isn’t it? Having these people stay with us?”

  I nodded. It was Auryn’s house, and it would be nice to do a good turn for the recently bereaved. “Perhaps they’ll know who might have wanted to kill Timmy,” I said, voicing my thoughts aloud.

  “Do not say anything like that to them!”

  “I promise I’ll be on my best behaviour. After all, murder is a serious crime.” I narrowed my eyes thoughtfully. “And someone has to answer for that crime.”

  Auryn had uncertainty written across his face. “You just focus on your restaurant menu. We have a bet!”

  Unfortunately for my wager, I had more pressing matters to attend to once I’d retrieved Pierce from Tiff’s charming company and dragged Gabby away from the hissing cockroaches. After setting them up to work and reminding them that they could call me at any time with questions, I went back to the house to prepare the guest bedroom and dive into the other aspect of my life - my comic.

  I hadn’t got off to the best start with my current publishers. Without consulting me, they’d assigned me a publicist, who had crossed enough personal privacy lines for the Mallorca police to find there was a legitimate reason to arrest him for stalking. I’d offered to drop the case if the publicist was dropped from the publishing house’s payroll. They had grudgingly agreed and had later apologised. Whilst I had been keeping a close eye on things ever since, there hadn’t been any further deal-breaking problems. I’d done my fair share of press ops, interviews, and school visits, and in return, my publishers had continued to promote my comic book and say what a wonderful storyteller and artist I was. `

  All that had been great until they’d asked if the next book was ready yet.

  Part of my publishing deal was that I was permitted to continue writing and posting my comic strips on my webcomic site, where people could read them for free. To avoid crossover, I’d agreed to write separate storylines from the same comic, which made up the publishable work that people would buy in paperback and hardback. What I’d essentially done was create double the amount of work for myself.

  I didn’t mind writing and drawing the comic. Monday’s Menagerie had, after all, started out as a hobby. It wasn’t the most painful thing to turn into work. But I was aware that juggling a comic that had become something of a global phenomenon, and a new zoo that still needed a lot of handholding to get it through the early stages, was a heck of a big ask. Most people would have struggled to keep just one of those occupations going, but here I was, thinking I could handle both.

  I shook my head and opened my comic sketchbook. I’d had a long bargaining session with my publisher about just when the next book would be ready. At first, I’d kicked against a fresh one being in the shops by Christmas, but after a few concessions on the part of my publisher - including rushed printing so I had a longer deadline - I’d agreed. It was still going to be tight, but I’d found more time than I’d expected in-between long hours worked at the zoo, and the comic strips were coming on well.

  I was really hopeful that readers of my traditionally published comic were going to enjoy the deviation into marine animals that the storyline had taken - courtesy of my time spent at The Big Blue Marine Park. After what had happened, I’d been determined to take something good away from the experience. I smiled as I flicked through the pages and stopped at one where cartoon Lucky was tentatively dipping his paw into a shark tank, whilst a toothy shark looked up with menace. Fortunately, I knew my comic book cat would make a great escape and a witty joke before the panels ended.

  Real life Lucky jumped up onto my lap and bumped my chin with his head. I stroked him with a free hand and reflected that there wasn’t long to go before he was a whole year old. His kitten days were over and his feline thirst for blood was awakening big time. When he’d first been let out, he’d mostly brought back leaves, and then a few mice. Now we were out further in the country, he’d made it his mission to wreak terrible furry vengeance on the local rat population. I often wondered if he’d have been better left at Avery Zoo with the other feral cats, simply because of how effective a hunter he was, but then Lucky reminded me why we were supposed to be together, with a purr, or by doing something that showed me he was smarter than that. He was a cat who liked to be challenged.

  “I’ll take you with me to the zoo soon,” I promised him. “I just don’t know which way’s up at the moment.” Things had definitely been hectic with me running between zoos, bringing in new people,
and then getting up to speed with the comic again. As if that wasn’t enough, the success of Monday’s Menagerie meant I found that I was often approached by strangers who knew who I was. That I could deal with, but it turned out they also recognised Lucky. It was my fault for drawing him accurately, but it was making me think twice about letting him loose in the zoo. He would certainly rather be out having adventures than being stroked, so he probably wouldn’t appreciate too much attention. Having him on my lap was a rarity that usually demanded I drop everything and stroke him to ‘encourage affection’. Beyond that, I worried that someone might take him. Fame had a strange effect on people. While I thought Lucky wouldn’t go quietly, I worried about it all the same.

  But I also hated leaving him behind when he liked seeing the world. Not to mention the main reason I’d started teaching him to walk on a lead and answer commands in the first place. I’d always planned that I’d continue my work as an animal welfare and breeding consultant for zoos who needed my help. I knew that before I got back to that, I had to work my magic on my own zoo, but I still liked to believe that there would come a time when I’d be able to take on consulting jobs again.

  When Lucky settled down I tapped my pencil on the edge of the table and thought about everything that had happened over the past year. One year ago, would I ever have been able to imagine that I’d own my own zoo, have enough money to take on the renovation of a restaurant, and also be considered pretty famous? One year ago, I’d been saving up for a house without the thought of taking on more than my job as a zookeeper even crossing my mind.

  I moved my pencil, poised to draw, but another slew of thoughts overtook me. This time, they were the familiar worries and self-doubt that come no matter how successful the outside world may consider you to be. I wondered most of all about the future of The Lucky Zoo. When the Abraham family had planned to open a zoo so close to a competitor, it had worried Avery a lot. My zoo wasn’t working in competition but I couldn’t help wondering if business may be negatively affected. We’d already arranged our double zoo pass deals, but there would always be some people who’d just pick one zoo, and much as I hated to admit it, that meant I would need to at least compete as much as to make sure it was an even choice. If my zoo lost out to Avery, it would be on me.