by Ruby Loren
I remembered that there was still the ongoing case of the stolen dogs and horses. As far as I knew, the police hadn’t drawn a parallel between the murders and the thefts, but what if Josh was the tie-in, and it was his house-hunter girlfriend who’d run the whole racket with him? If that were the case, she could be in danger, too, I realised, remembering that a pair of dogs had disappeared from the house we’d visited - presumably before we’d been there. Josh had been near to Farley and Sons on the night of the murder, but what if he hadn’t been at home when he’d remembered to drop the papers off? What if he’d really been at the house, stealing the dogs at the same time the murderer was there? But in that case… where were the dogs now?
I frowned and rubbed my temples. Asking ‘what if?’ wasn't getting me anything more than a headache. Josh might have seen the killer, either at the house or when they returned Harry Farley’s car, but there was no telling who he had or hadn’t told, and unfortunately, Josh wasn’t alive to tell the tale. I was in the dark about the whole thing. All I could do was hope that the police knew more than they were letting on.
Auryn and I went out for dinner that evening. I was reassured to see that The Wild Spot was busy as usual - despite it being a weeknight. Auryn was less amused and claimed my choice of a date spot was just another manipulation to help me to win the bet we had over whose investment would become profitable first.
“How close are you? Are you even covering your costs?” Auryn asked.
I smiled demurely. “Are you asking about the zoo or the restaurant, darling?”
“Don’t ‘darling’ me! That’s not fair. You’re holding all the cards.” He sulked. “The Wild Spot is on my property. I should be allowed to see the financials!”
I stuck my tongue out. “You agreed it wouldn’t be part of Avery Zoo! It’s my business. Maybe I don’t want to share my runaway success. It will only upset you!” I teased back.
“Oh yeah? Prove it!”
“All in good time,” I told him, maddeningly.
“I know we’re supposed to be deadlocked, but this is brilliant!” Auryn said when our meals arrived. He’d ordered the house special, which tonight consisted of seared ‘Roar’ tuna steak served with a side of parmesan and basil hand-cut French fries. There was a soy dip included for the tuna and also some homemade tartare sauce. I liked to think of it as the ultimate posh fish and chips.
I looked down at my own meal - lasagne, but done with enough cheese to be dangerous and in the most beautiful tomato sauce you could imagine. “Connie is a genius,” I said, referring to the chef I’d hired. Although Joe was doing a great job at getting people through the door, and now apparently booking weddings, Connie was the magic ingredient that was making the restaurant into a place that locals visited regularly and to which out-of-towners flocked.
“The interior looks great,” Auryn commented, nodding his head towards the tasteful sculptural seed-heads and terracotta vases. I’d been going for a classy but warm vibe - the kind where you walked into the dining room of a friend’s house and thought ‘wow, I’d love this at my house!’. I’d been sure to stay away from any overtly animal themes that I knew would tie the restaurant too closely to the zoo and make it gimmicky - with the guilty exception of some of the dish names.
“Good enough for our wedding?” I asked with a little smile.
“I’d marry you in the cat barn and still be happy,” Auryn told me. “But this is obviously, far, far better than the cat barn.”
I smiled and dug into my food now that the cheese had stopped bubbling. After everything I’d seen the previous evening, I’d decided I deserved to splash out and indulge a little. Due to my less than gigantic stature, I found that I really had to watch what I ate - especially as I was a slave to sweet things. My active job certainly helped, but now there was the dress to think of, too… I told my brain to shut up and got stuck in. There was ages to go before the wedding anyway. It was a whole… I thought about it. Heavens! Could it really be less than two months away? And Tiff’s was even sooner than that!
I frowned a little when I thought of my best friend and her current predicament.
“What’s wrong?” Auryn asked. I realised I hadn’t been careful with my facial expressions.
I bit my lip. “There’s something about Tiff that she hasn’t yet shared with anyone,” I said to Auryn. I knew that Tiff probably wouldn’t mind me telling her employer because he was a great and understanding guy, but I also knew she’d want to be the one to tell him properly.
I thought Auryn may have already had an idea by the way he didn’t react with any surprise. “I’m sure she will when the time is right,” was all he diplomatically said, before changing the subject.
“Last evening’s club meeting went well.”
“Did it?” We hadn’t had a chance to discuss Auryn’s evening. News of my horrible encounter had reached his ears in the morning and he’d come over to The Lucky Zoo to chat about it at lunchtime, when he’d presumably woken up from his late night. We’d both agreed that the topic would be off-limits when we’d decided to go out for the evening.
“Everyone I’ve spoken to has made favourable noises about both zoos and our conduct. Well… for the most part.” He shot a knowing - but amused - look my way. “Apparently we had a complaint lodged against us by a non-member, whose identity shall remain a mystery, claiming that we aren’t supportive of the club’s ideals.”
“Big mystery,” I said, thinking of Auryn’s hunting contact who’d been pipped to the post over the lynx. Taylor the animal welfare officer had messaged me this morning to let me know that the lynx had been captured the previous afternoon and was currently at a specialist vet who would then try to ascertain where the animal had come from. He’d promised that if no rightful, and respectable, home was forthcoming, my zoo would be very high on the list of considerations for housing the lynx.
I’d been unsurprised to discover that the papers must have managed to find out the good news before I had. The headline I’d read when I’d caught a glance of the local paper in my zoo’s staffroom read ‘Lynx Living Wild in Sussex!’
I only hoped that people wouldn’t assume that either of our zoos was responsible for letting the lynx go.
“The big decision meeting for business support is coming up later this week. They throw a big evening that all local businesses are invited to - members and non-members. Everyone there is hoping for favour, or at the very least, not to have done something to anger the club. Not long now before it’s all over and you can lobby against fox hunting to your heart’s content,” he said with a grin. “Well - at least for the start of the year. When it’s renewal time again I assume we’ll have to undergo the same process of toeing the line.” He looked about as happy as I did about that thought.
“Honestly, it’s ridiculous. They shouldn’t have power over anyone. It’s just like the mafia charging protection money!”
Auryn spread his hands wide on the table. “Unfortunately, it’s just the way it is. I can’t think of any way around it that wouldn’t risk bad things happening to our zoos. If it were just us who was going to suffer…”
I sighed, knowing he was right. Our zoos employed a large number of staff - most of whom came from the local area. If either of our businesses got in trouble a lot of people stood to lose their livelihoods. “Surely the esteemed club members must realise that they’d be ruining a lot of local people’s lives if they didn’t support the zoos?”
“Hmmm… if they cared about normal people they would.” Auryn saw the look on my face. “Not all of them are terrible. It’s just… when people like that get together.” He sighed, too. “I don’t know why I’m sticking up for them. I’m just as sick of it as you are. I thought it would be nice to reconnect with my old school friends, but I’ve realised they all went away when my father was shunned by the club. Now they’re back, but I know it’s only because I’m in the club.”
“We should do something about it,” I said, my mind whirrin
g furiously but not giving me any hint of an idea of how to wriggle out without risking the wrath of a bunch of men with too much money.
“We should,” Auryn agreed, looking more certain than I’d seen him look in a long time.
He looked hopefully at me and I looked hopefully back at him.
The conviction was there, but the ideas weren’t. But then, I knew someone who was very good at wriggling out of tight situations unscathed, didn’t I?
If Joe Harvey could wriggle out from MI5’s clutches, he could definitely fix our little problem.
11
Man of Mystery
I was in a bad mood by the time Friday rolled around. In the aftermath of the two murders and the lynx escape, cameras and reporters had materialised outside The Lucky Zoo. At first, I’d thought they’d wrongly assumed that the missing lynx had escaped from my zoo, but I’d soon realised they were here for a far more personal reason. Someone had told them that I, the creator of Monday’s Menagerie, had been unlucky enough to find two dead estate agents whilst I conducted my search for a luxurious new house.
I’d definitely been nonplussed by the rubbish reporting when I’d heard that was why they were hanging around. I hadn’t even been looking for a house of my own! Beyond that, I found I was more annoyed than ever by the gossiping estate agents. One of them, although I wouldn’t like to guess who, had clearly decided to make a little extra cash by selling a fluffed-up story to the press.
An optimist would probably argue that I should look on the bright side - both my zoo and my forthcoming comic release were being majorly plugged - but my patience was definitely wearing thin with the media circus, and I also had a far greater fear. Some of the smarter journalists had looked into my past before, but I didn’t think they’d seen more beyond unlucky circumstances meaning I’d been close to several cases of sudden suspicious deaths. But these two most recent deaths could tip the tide against me. I knew that I hadn’t done anything to anyone, but I was all too aware of how the tabloids could spin things. And what would The Lords of the Downs think about their association with our zoos then? I’d thought it sarcastically, but now that I considered it, what if it did turn out to be a problem? “You’ll still be famous. Infamous. Whatever,” I muttered to myself.
I lifted my head and looked up at the grey sky. We were fast closing in on the end of August and it was a positively gloomy day. Perfect for a funeral, I reflected, not feeling much brighter than the weather.
“We’ll leave as soon as we can,” Auryn promised me out of the side of his mouth. A second later he smiled and nodded at a man I recognised from The Lords of the Downs. Auryn may have been pinning everything on the big business night later this week, but we were both aware that we were on display today. If The Lords of the Downs weren’t enough to worry about, the press had also been tipped off about the funeral. I was furiously embarrassed by the attention that was on me at an event that was supposed to commemorate the deceased.
Felicity Farley shot me daggers when I walked into the Gigglesfield Church. At least I could tick one person off my potential candidates for selling a story to the press.
Auryn automatically moved towards the side of the church that was filled out with his old school friends and members of The Lords of the Downs. I reluctantly followed him, peeved to be playing the role of obedient partner.
On the way to my seat, Tristan Herriot looked over and gave me a courteous nod. I noticed that he was sitting next to Esme and wondered if he was making inroads there after all. Yolanda was with another woman whom I didn’t recognise and I also saw a few other familiar faces from the get together, including Sophia Blanky, Helen Greer, and Drew James. Drew looked as stunning as ever, and I was forced to look away when he turned and flashed me a ridiculously bright smile. Sophia just looked bored.
Lucinda’s husband had wisely been situated at the back of the church where he appeared to be sitting demurely in stubborn silence. I wondered who’d been the one to have words with him. To top it off, members of the police force stood by the doorway, watching us all. Everyone knew they were looking for Harry Farley’s killer, and I was almost certain that someone in the congregation knew who was responsible.
I was on my way into my office in the barn conversion after the funeral had ended when I was nearly bowled over by a man on his way out. I turned to look after him, but he didn’t even glance back, let alone apologise for shoving me against the wall.
“Joe!” I shouted, remembering to use the right name in the nick of time.
His head poked around the landing and looked down the stairs. “What can I do for you?” he asked pleasantly.
I shot him a ‘don’t mess with me’ look. “Why was I very nearly flattened against the wall by the man who left this building a second ago?”
Joe looked thoughtful, which didn’t exactly make me inclined to believe what he was going to say next. “People are unhappy that your restaurant is beating a hotel that apparently paid a lot of money for the top spot and used some top search engine optimising firm.” Joe shook his head. “I said they should have paid me instead.”
“Was that man complaining about that?”
Joe looked shifty again. “He wasn’t really complaining about anything.”
“Joe…” I warned knowing he was doing his best to not lie to me whilst still managing to avoid the truth.
“If you must know, he was the informant who’s been supplying me with all the information I have on our little smuggling side-project.”
“Don’t call it that,” I said, worried that someone might overhear and think that I was somehow involved with smuggling. My curiosity won over my being peeved at Joe. “What did he say? What did you say?” I amended when I remembered the man’s speedy exit.
Joe sighed, coming down the stairs to stand closer to me - uncomfortably close. “I may have given him the impression that I was interested in dipping my toe into the action - seeing as I’m out of a job, as far as that life goes. He wanted me to stake him some money for an initial shipment, but this isn’t my first rodeo. I’m not about to front up money to a guy who promises the world but hasn’t delivered a penny. Anyway, I’m not doing any of that anymore. It’s a life of bothering expensive PR firms for me!”
“I’m not sure whether I should be glad to hear that or not,” I said, only just managing to follow everything he’d said. “Let me get this straight, if you’d paid him, he would smuggle you a shipment of animals?”
Joe shrugged. “That’s what he claims, but I’ve met types like him. He keeps his hands clean and never sees the product, so I doubt he even knows exactly what kind of thing he’s selling. I’ve been telling him I was thinking about setting something up with the zoo…” He shot me an apologetic look. “I had to convince him somehow. Just because I’ve got good history, so to speak, I still had to feed him some lines to get him to tell me stuff.”
“As long as no one actually smuggles animals in or out of here,” I said, deciding to be lenient - especially when I had an idea brewing. “How about you tell him you are interested in a shipment?”
Joe looked at me and then spread his hands wide. “I know what you’re thinking. You think you’ll set up a sting operation with this first shipment and you’ll catch yourselves some smugglers.”
I nodded, that had been the general idea.
Joe shook his head. “It’s the first thing they expect. A new client comes along, eager to do business with them and then - oh look! It was all some kind of trick. That’s not the way things work. That’s the kind of thing uninventive police officers think up - no offence,” he added at the last moment.
“Well, what do you suggest we do then? It’s no good knowing about a giant animal smuggling operation and not being able to do a thing to stop it.”
Joe leant even closer to me. “You take your time and you act sensibly. When I laughed my contact out of my office today I did us both a favour. You’ll see,” he said, tightening his jaw.
“Why would you e
ven want to help?” I asked, failing to see the benefit of all this for Joe. I’d thought about it a lot and I had no idea why he was doing any of this, beyond wanting to get on my good side for some unknown reason.
Joe shrugged. “I’ve always said I’m the good guy. Things aren’t as black and white as other people make them out to be.”
“So, what next?”
“Leave it with me. I’ll let you know when and how you can act to start bringing their operation down. It will take time, and I can’t stress how careful we both need to be. In my experience, these people…” he looked at me “…they can be unpredictable and dangerous. They’ll go to any lengths.”
“So will I to stop this terrible trade,” I said, certain of it.
“You wouldn’t go to any lengths,” Joe said darkly, making me aware of just how much could be at stake. It did occur to me that he might be exaggerating the consequences in order to discourage me from sticking my nose in, but I wasn’t so sure that was it. And what happened next made me even more uncertain.
“I was just on my way out for the day. I wasn’t kidding about those stuck-up PR companies. They think they can somehow prove that what I did to help The Wild Spot was illegal.” He laughed and grinned. “They don’t have a clue what they’re talking about. You know, it’s amazing how nice… well… you know,” he said, and looked embarrassed.
I would have to wonder forevermore what he’d been trying to say, as when we walked out of the barn conversion I saw a familiar face. It took me a while to realise that the man who’d walked away from the zoo attractions to admire the barn with its living roof and small placard commemorating the Abraham family (whose land it had been) was the same man who owned the house where Josh Finnigan had been murdered. Once I’d got over my surprise, I reasoned with myself that it was a complete coincidence that he was here at the zoo. The man was likely a local and must have fancied a day out, but all the same, I couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t the kind of person who liked to walk around looking at animals.