by Ruby Loren
Adele and Luna had probably planned to have a longer break after the early morning feed, but they both stood up eagerly. An invented emergency was infinitely better than putting up with Flannigan prying into their private lives.
“I’ll be in touch if there are any more questions,” Flannigan said, as if he’d decided the interview was over.
It took all of my willpower not to offer him a chocolate on the way out.
Once he was definitely gone, I turned back to Adele and Luna and breathed a sigh of relief.
I suddenly realised they were both looking at me like I’d sprouted horns.
“What was that?” Luna said, a smile slowly taking over her face.
I looked from her to Adele, confused. “What was what?”
“That! The way you gave him the boot. It was like a fluffy Chihuahua throwing a fit and giving someone a bite that needs stitches!” Luna clarified.
I frowned at the ‘chihuahua’ analogy and pouted when I remembered she’d also called me ‘fluffy’.
Unfortunately, they were too busy laughing to notice.
“That's exactly what it was like,” Adele said, much to my annoyance.
I tried to shrug it off. “I just don’t see what right he has to ask all of those irrelevant questions. I don’t know why he was trying to turn the suspicion on us. We were on the ground when it happened! We told the police everything when we gave our statements, right? As far as I’m concerned, that means we’re done. Or at least… it should be the police asking further questions, not someone with a hidden motive.” I frowned again when I thought about that. Lowell had said the agents came from the British government, but why were they here? Was this all to do with witness protection, as he suspected? Or was it something else?
“Let’s go on a walk, just in case that awful man is watching us from somewhere,” Adele said.
“Oh, I’m meant to be working,” I said, but they both tilted their heads at me imploringly. I rolled my eyes heavenwards. “Fine. I’ll just take it out of my lunch break.”
Now that I was self-employed, I got to schedule my work hours. It meant I had more freedom, but at the same time, I didn't want anyone to think I was lazy. I was determined to give my employers their money’s worth.
“Everyone will think you’re working if you’re walking with us,” Luna tried to reassure me.
I shook my head with a rueful smile. “Anyone with eyes knows we’re thick as thieves. Let’s get going, or I’ll have no lunch break left at all.”
We walked out of the tiki hut into the already warm sunshine. I’d been right to think it would be another beautiful day when I’d arrived at the zoo. Summer had not yet breathed its last sigh.
Visitors were already milling around the zoo, but Mondays were not one of L’airelle’s busiest days - especially now we were at the end of the summer season.
“Luna, are you still okay to take Matti home with you when the action kicks off?” Adele enquired. “Matti’s my dog - a Dogue De Bordeaux. He’s a big softie, but we aren’t sure how he’ll react to puppies,” she explained for my benefit.
“It's no problem. Bring him round if you even suspect something’s happening. You know I love looking after your dogs. Hopefully it will convince you that I’m the right choice to be one of those puppies’ new mum,” Luna said, waggling her eyebrows.
Adele laughed. “Wait until you see just what we’ve got on our hands.”
“I know I’ll love them,” Luna said.
“Me too,” Adele agreed. “Maybe so much I won’t want to share,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. “Thank you for saying you’ll look after Matti. Even if you’re doing it as some sort of bribe…”
“How dare you suggest it’s a bribe! It’s actually more of a hostage situation. I’ll be keeping a hold of Matti until I get my puppy,” Luna joked. She sighed happily. “It’s nice to talk about something that’s not to do with Pascal. How long do you think his death will be hanging over us?”
“As long as it takes to either solve, or exhaust all avenues of enquiry,” I replied, automatically. “I think the police are stumped. They’re probably waiting to see if anything else happens.”
“Anything else?” Adele queried.
I gave her a brief account of Lowell’s suspicions about the witness protection programme. I was glad I’d never been trusted with a secret like that. It would probably slip out in no time at all.
“That’s interesting,” Adele commented. “I think everyone in the village is realising they didn’t know Pascal as well as they thought they did. I wonder who else that’s true for," she mused.
“Hey, speaking of weird things… you’ve both got phones in your house, right?” Luna asked.
Adele and I nodded, although no one had called us at our rental property.
“Have either of you been getting junk calls recently? I keep getting those funny ones that when you answer, someone just hangs up. It’s so annoying!”
“Have you reverse dialled the number?” Adele asked.
“It was private,” Luna replied.
“I just get the usual solar panel and life insurance sales people. They never give up,” Adele said.
I just shook my head at Luna. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure if the phone was actually plugged into the wall.
“Awww!” I said, unable to resist going up to look through the window at the Pallas’s cats. They mostly spent their days inside the artificial caves and burrows. I knew they tended to come out at night. The southern French weather was too warm for them with their thick coats.
Today was an exception. One of the short legged cats had made an appearance and was rolling around in the dust of their enclosure. There was something very appealing about their large eyes, wide spaced ears, and stocky bodies. They were one wild cat you’d love to have a cuddle with, although the cat itself would definitely have a thing or two to say about that.
These cats were another group of animals at the zoo that I really wanted to engage. Their enclosure had been beautifully thought out. L'airelle Zoological Park gave them some good space, but in the wild, the cats would be hunting during the day. Interestingly, as well as hunting rodents and birds, the cats had also been known to hunt spiders and insects.
There was a lot of debate within the zoo community over whether or not live prey should be allowed for carnivores. There was a European regulation against giving zoo animals live prey, as it caused stress to the prey species. However, although it sounded harsh, I knew that visitors didn’t mind nearly as much if a live insect was dropped into a snake’s vivarium, as opposed to a fluffy mouse. Adding a few more spiders than might be strictly natural to the Pallas’s cats enclosure might give them something fun to do that also resulted in a nutritious (albeit gross) snack.
We were all still watching the solitary Pallas’s cat when I noticed both Adele and Luna flinch. I was about to ask what was up when someone started talking at us.
“What a surprise. You zookeepers think you run the place! Never working, always skipping work. You disgust me. I’ll be reporting this to Francois,” the woman said, using the zoo boss’ first name.
I turned around and found myself face to face with a frizzy-haired woman. She had darkly tanned skin and a mouth that looked like it remained permanently pursed.
“They’re with me. I needed to ask their opinion on an idea I have to liven up the Pallas’s cats’ lives a bit.” I tried a smile but it was like smiling at a block of marble.
“You’re the one claiming to be able to solve all of our problems, aren’t you?” she replied, looking me up and down. Whatever test she was running, I could tell I hadn't passed.
“I’ve never made a claim like that. Perhaps you’re thinking of someone else,” I said, knowing my politeness was becoming strained.
“No, it’s you,” the woman said.
I waited for a second but she seemed to have reached the end of her spiel. “Okay, well I’m glad that’s all cleared up.” I turned away and s
he started talking again.
“I’ll be reporting your laziness to Francois. I want him to know exactly what you're doing with time he is no doubt paying you far too much for.”
“Knock yourself out,” I said and then wondered if that little phrase might translate to a literal threat to someone for whom English wasn’t a first language. Oh well, it’s not bad advice, I thought.
The mystery woman spun on her heel and clip-clopped away, leaving me to wonder if she tiptoed everywhere until she found someone she deemed to be not doing their job properly. That would explain why none of us had heard her approaching until it was too late.
“Who was that?” I asked, baffled by what had just happened.
“Constantine,” Adele and Luna replied in unison.
“She hates me,” Luna confided.
“She hates everyone,” Adele amended, rolling her eyes at Luna. “She’s the assistant manager of the restaurant but she seems to have far more free time than she accuses us of having. She patrols the zoo like it’s her personal mission to find anyone wasting the zoo’s money by not having their nose glued to the grindstone. She’ll run off and report it to Monsieur Quebec.”
“We think she’s doing it because she thinks he’ll give her a promotion to be his second in command. I don't know why she doesn’t see that if you make everyone at the zoo dislike you, when you do make it to the top, people will still hate you. It’s just stupid,” Luna cut in.
“Still, we’d better all get back to work,” I said and they nodded. I automatically felt for my folder of notes and realised it must still be in the staff hut. I shut my eyes for a moment, wondering what my brain had been doing these past couple of days.
“Oh no!” Adele said, as soon as she walked back through the door of the tiki hut.
“Adele! I just came by to ask you something.”
A young man I thought I recognised from the caretaker team was stood next to the counter. I looked down at the box of chocolates, which was now fully unwrapped and open. A few of the chocolates were missing.
The young man followed our collective gaze and blushed. “Oh, sorry. They were already half opened. Did you mind?”
“No, it’s fine," Adele said when no one else spoke. "Do you feel okay, Nathan?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, thanks for asking. I was just wondering if you’re doing the tour later today? Justin was supposed to, but as he’s taken today off…”
“Oh! Sure, that would be fine. Thanks for letting me know. I’d have completely forgotten,” Adele said, flashing Nathan a smile. I thought he seemed to glow with the praise.
“See you later!” he said, nodding to each of us in turn.
I waited for him to leave the hut. “At least we know the chocolates are probably not poisoned,” I said, glad for Nathan’s sake that they had turned out to be innocuous.
“Good, that means I can get stuck in!” Luna said, grabbing a couple.
I was sorely tempted to join her, but even I wouldn't be able to come up with a good enough tall tale if Constantine or Mr Flannigan were to walk back in. It was time to tackle the reptile house.
5
Attack of the Killer Emus!
I sketched out a new A4 page storyline for my comic. Lucky was on an adventure and the ducks were conspiring to make their escape, with the goal of world domination. I smiled at the scenes in front of me. The zookeepers in Monday’s Menagerie were going to have their work cut out for them.
The publishing agent had emailed me back and had agreed to reschedule. They’d been really understanding and had even reiterated how brilliant it was that my art reflected my life. Apparently it would make a great selling point. I still had my doubts about the wisdom of revealing my identity by slapping my real name (a rather unmistakeable one) on the front of a book. My comics were never truly based on real people, but some of the characters I sketched certainly drew inspiration from real life. I was worried people might come to associate the comics with what really went on at Avery Zoo. I was certain Auryn would never forgive me if I unwittingly managed to give the zoo a bad reputation!
I shook my head. I was getting ahead of myself. I hadn’t even had a discussion with the agent yet. I had no idea what they were offering. All I knew was that they seemed genuinely interested in my comic. It was nice, but I knew full well that even if the book was picked up by a publisher, there was no guarantee it would be successful. Being popular on the internet was one thing, but I wasn’t naive enough to think that my small success online would translate well into print when shown to an audience who hadn’t tuned in every few days to read the new comic.
“We’ll see,” I said, making the final touches to a fully coloured comic and then bringing up the upload page.
I checked my inbox and quickly replied to the regular fan emails. There had been far more recently, even than the steady increase I’d started to expect. I suspected it was all to do with the crowd funding campaign. Speaking of…
I clicked to the comic’s crowd funding page and felt my breath catch. It was 200% funded already and it still had time to run. I looked at the amount of money and felt a bit faint. I knew that some of it was taken as a fee and I’d also calculated just how much it was going to cost for me to be able to produce all of the rewards and the stretch goals. I rubbed a tired hand across my temples, wondering if I should design a whole new tier of stretch goals if it funded another 100%. I actually hoped it wouldn’t come to that. A small, limited print run was one thing. I didn’t want to have to set up my own factory to post endless comic books.
I shook my head and returned to the fan emails, reading and replying to every one. When that was done, I still had one more task to do.
I braced myself and opened Tiff’s email. She’d somehow found time to set up my Etsy shop, whilst holding down her job as the commercial manager at Avery Zoo and also creating and selling her fantasy maps.
I clicked to the shop apprehensively. Tiff had already given it the same name as my comic and had also used my comic’s logo as the shop's logo. She’d written in the email that all I needed to do was use the photoshop templates she used to sell her maps and paste my comic sketches into the gaps. I had long admired Tiff’s presentation of her maps and I knew it was a great favour that she was letting me use her templates, but I thought it was all so posh for my rather, well… ‘sketchy’ sketches.
I opened a template and gave it a try.
“That does look pretty good,” I admitted to myself. I quickly knocked up ten sketches for sale and sent them all back to Tiff. At least it would get her off my back about it. As a little footnote she’d added ‘Don’t forget to link to the shop on your comic site’. I stifled a groan. She’d thought of everything.
I sent off the email and then made the changes to my website. There, hopefully now she would be happy. I’d already included some of my original sketches as rewards in my crowd funding campaign, but I wasn’t convinced they'd sell in real life. Especially not at the price Tiff had suggested! She’d reminded me how long it took me to make each one, and that they were original works of art. Her side-business was producing prints, so she could run them off quickly and affordably.
I just worried that my comic fans would think I was out to get their cash. All I’d ever wanted was to have a fun hobby I could use to express my creativity.
I sighed and shut the computer. Lowell was in another room of the cottage, working on some remote detective cases (I hadn’t asked beyond that). I tapped my fingers on the case of my laptop for a few seconds, before I decided to go and see if I couldn't persuade Lowell that he was done with work for the day…
* * *
The clouds were crowding overhead two days later when I walked up the hill to L’airelle Zoological Park. It was the first sign I’d seen of the approaching autumn, beyond the leaves beginning to turn copper and scarlet. It seemed rather fitting that the weather should be reminiscent of good old rainy England when I visited the zoo’s collection of farm animals. It was almost en
ough to make me feel a little homesick.
“Bonjour!” I said, popping into the staff hut.
To my surprise Adele and Luna were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t even notice me come in. It was only when my shadow fell across them that they both looked round and jumped.
“Is everything okay?” I said, concerned that something serious must have happened.
“It’s fine…” Adele said and then looked across at Luna. "We think it’s fine… probably.”
I sat down on a chair opposite the sofa.
Luna lifted her face and I immediately noticed that it was lined with worry. It was Adele who spoke first.
“Do you remember that I asked Luna to look after our dog, Matti, if Jolie showed any signs of the puppies coming?”
I nodded.
“Yesterday evening, Jolie started getting a bit more agitated and we thought it would be better to take Matti away because he seemed to be getting stressed. Luna took him home.”
Luna nodded and continued the story. “I took him for a walk, fed him, and so on. Later that evening, I let him outside to do his business. He was taking a long time, so I just left the door open while I sorted out some washing. I must confess, I did leave it a little longer than I should have done before I checked on him, but when I called out the back door he came back right away.” She hesitated and I knew she was about to get to the point of her story. “Someone had painted a pink heart on his back.”
I blinked. “What?”
“A heart! In some pink paint. Don’t worry, I washed it off right away and then called Adele to let her know. I don’t think it was toxic paint. It’s just really weird.” Adele bit her fingernails and then thoughtfully lowered her hand. “My garden is enclosed by walls and a fence. There is a gate they could have come through, but I don't know… I’ve looked after Matti before and he’s usually talkative when it comes to strangers. I was only just inside the house and I’m really surprised he didn’t bark his head off when whoever it was got out their paintbrush.” She shuddered. “I don’t know why, but this really creeps me out. Why would anyone do that to Adele’s dog?”