Whales and a Watery Grave_Mystery

by Ruby Loren

  “You’re using real animals for this?” Auryn cut in. A glance across showed a frown I knew matched my own.

  Ben tilted his head from side to side. “Yes and no. It would be pretty hypocritical if we put the animals here under any kind of stress in order to pretend to recreate these atrocities. Parts are taking place in enclosures where the animals are already used to human interaction, but they’re not being forced to do anything outside of their natural behaviour. Well… nothing worse than the way they’re cooped up anyway.” He raised his eyebrows at us.

  “We both work at a zoo,” Auryn rather bluntly informed him, in case he hadn’t known.

  “It’s my understanding that The Big Blue are working mostly as an animal sanctuary. They rehabilitate marine wildlife and, where possible, they re-release animals back into the wild,” I said, hoping to strike a safe middle ground.

  “That is what they want you to believe, yes,” Ben agreed wholeheartedly.

  It took a couple of moments to process what he was actually implying, by which time, he’d already moved back to our previous conversation.

  “Anyway, the shots we get of some of the animals will then be used to create a CGI reproduction of what might have happened. I think the end result will be pretty shocking, but sometimes that’s what’s needed in order to have a real impact,” he looked solemn and brave all at the same time.

  In the dramatic pause, I thought back to that snippet of overheard conversation right before Ben had come over to us. Could the park staff have been talking about Ben Ravenwood in less than glowing tones? I was fast getting the impression they might have been.

  I cleared my throat when the pause went on for too long. “I think it would be great if you could tell me more about what, exactly, this documentary is about in as much detail as possible.” I hadn’t meant my voice to come out as grim as it did, but I realised I was serious about it.

  Ben looked surprised but his smile only slipped for an instant. “I get it. You’ve got to be careful what you’re associated with now you’re out in the public eye. We’ve all been there, believe me! I think this will jibe perfectly with the deeper message you’re promoting in your comics. But, don’t take my word for it! Come and have a look around, meet the guys, and make up your own mind whether this is something you want to be doing, or not. No pressure.” He held up his hands and looked at me with his golden hazel eyes, seeming to be searching for something. Whatever it was he was looking for, I doubted he’d find it.

  “I’m going to see if I can find Nile. We still need to have that chat,” Auryn said, shooting me an unreadable look before peeling away through the crowd. I watched him go but wasn’t left alone with my thoughts for long.

  “Okay, great! Looks like it’s you and me. Let’s go have a good look round and I’ll give you all of the gossip.” Ben patted me on my shoulder and then shepherded me through the crowd of constantly moving people.

  “Hash brown?” a young woman dressed in a red and white ‘Smithy's Nice Nosh’ uniform popped up with a basket full of grease and what must have once been potatoes. She had bright red hair that clashed with her outfit but the rest of her looked very well-polished, right down to her false eyelashes.

  “No thanks,” Ben said, sidestepping.

  I was going to say no thanks, too, but she didn’t wait around to offer the basket to me. Ben was clearly a person people either sucked up to or despised. I was still trying to figure out exactly why people might have taken against him. I allowed that what Auryn and I had heard could have been completely out of context, but I would have to be nuts not to admit that a few alarm bells were already ringing in my head at the way Ben clearly seemed to be less than impressed with the standard of animal care at The Big Blue Marine Park. I may not be a marine expert, but I thought it was pretty obvious that this park was of an incredibly high standard and had a great attitude towards the animals they rescued and cared for. I wasn’t sure what Ben’s problem was, but I was determined to get to the bottom of it.

  I found myself unsurprised when we meandered our way around and ended up by the great white shark’s tank. This area of the park was still very much open to the public, so tourists were gathered around, kept back by the barriers, watching a shark that was almost impossible to see in captivity.

  Ben shook his head, which was really all I needed to see to know his opinion. He gave it to me verbally anyway. “What do you think about that? It’s a disgrace, isn’t it?”

  I took a breath, preparing to not quite contradict someone I’d enjoyed watching on TV for years. Someone I’d looked up to and been inspired by. “The head keeper explained that Blanca was found in the wild with an injury she wouldn’t have survived, if left. The way they brought her here seemed to me as stress free as was possible, and as far as I know, she’s been eating, which is better than the majority of great whites that are attempted to be brought into captivity. I was also told that as soon as her injuries show signs of being healed enough that she stands an actual chance out in the wild, she’ll be released.” I looked across at Ben, but his expression was carefully blank. “I am not an expert on sharks, or any of these animals, but I’d like to think that I can tell when the person in charge of caring for them really does care. Nile isn’t sure that he’s made the right choice bringing her in here. It might sound strange, but I’m glad he’s unsure. If he were cocky, it would be a sign that he was wrong and making a decision without considering the implications. If Blanca’s story doesn’t end as well as we’re all hoping, I really think that he’ll learn from it. They’re not going to be hauling in great whites just to improve visitor ratings.”

  “So you admit that the shark is improving visitor ratings,” Ben said, sounding amused.

  “Of course it is. Something like that is a significant visitor attraction.” I was certainly familiar with the concept of star attractions, having worked as a zoo consultant. “However, I got the impression that Nile was concerned that it would be taken that way. I have no reason to stick my neck out, but it is my opinion, from what I’ve seen so far, that the head keeper here really believes in the conservation work they’re doing.”

  To my surprise, Ben was nodding along. “Okay, I’ll buy that. But what about the big bosses? The guys with the money who pull all the strings at a place like this?”

  “I’m not sure,” I confessed. I’d never actually encountered any big bosses who were solely focused on money - just medium-sized ones trying to keep their zoos afloat. As a one woman operation, I was hardly going to be drafted in by the giant zoo franchises. The Big Blue Marine Park wasn’t part of a franchise, to my knowledge, but it was also a lot bigger than any single or dual owner zoo I’d seen. I strongly suspected that there were shareholders and a board pulling all of the strings around here at a place that would have some pretty giant profit targets to hit.

  “They’re the ones with the real power. And often they’re the bad guys we warn about in documentaries like the one we’re making right now,” Ben said seriously.

  I stopped watching Blanca’s hypnotic swimming and turned to face him. “Are you telling me you’re actually going to speak out about this place in the documentary itself?”

  “Well, not exactly…” Ben began, but I’d taken him by surprise with my forthright question. I doubted he was often faced with people who questioned him so openly.

  I shook my head, badly wanting this conversation to be over. The more I talked with the zoologist, the more involved I became. I didn’t want to be taking sides in this debate. I was supposed to just be here for some silly little interview gimmick. “You should know better than most that saving animals actually costs a lot of money. I’m not saying that a shark should have been brought in solely for the purpose of boosted attendance - and I’m certainly not saying that was the reason why it happened - but sometimes, in order to educate and make a change, a small portion of the world’s animals can help to save the rest by being in the forefront of our minds in places like this one. We learn fr
om them and learn what we’ll be losing, and about the mistakes we’re currently making as a species in ourselves.” I felt kind of stupid giving the old ‘zoo education officer’ chat to Ben Ravenwood, of all people.

  “You’re really for keeping animals in captivity?” Now he was the one asking me the tough questions.

  “Auryn’s already mentioned that we’re involved with zoos. I actually own one,” I said, feeling both proud and strange to say it. At the core of everything, that was always how I would define myself. Not a comic writer - a zookeeper with her own zoo.

  “You’re kidding! Really?” Ben looked torn between horror and fascination.

  Fortunately I was saved from giving what would have no doubt been a dangerous answer by the arrival of a group of well-dressed people.

  “Ben! We’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Gina said, the Hollywood smile dancing on her lips. One of the men with her was dressed in the same immaculate fashion with dyed dark hair that was swept cruelly off his large creased forehead and greased down. The other man was younger, dressed in a tweed suit that didn’t fit the warm weather. He also sported a neatly cropped afro that formed a halo around his head.

  “You have Madigan with you,” Gina continued, stating the obvious for some reason.

  “We were having a friendly discussion. I was supposed to be showing her around but we did get a little sidetracked.”

  Something about the way he said that bothered me, but I decided to ignore it. All of this showing off stuff was ridiculous.

  “We need you back at the plaza. There have been some changes made to the schedule that you need to look at,” the dark-haired man said before casting a perfunctory look my way. Clearly I didn’t pass muster because his expression glazed and he turned back to Ben without bothering to introduce himself.

  “Madi, this is Patrick Bright, and Travis Bean, the producers of the documentary. I think you’ve already met Gina Alonso?” Ben said, covering for the silent producers.

  “We’ve met,” Gina confirmed, once more stating a fact without deciding to elaborate any further. I was completely stumped. Travis and Patrick didn’t bother to give me another glance, so I didn’t bother to say anything to them.

  “Let’s go look at that schedule. Come with us and I’ll catch up with you later?” Ben said, looking at me with genuine interest in his eyes. I assumed he wanted us to continue what I was pretty certain would turn into a heated debate, and perhaps even an argument.

  “I’m sure I’ll still be around,” I said, realising that Auryn had gone off to find Nile without any thought as to how we’d meet up again. I happened to know his phone was back at the villa, as he’d forgotten to charge it last night. I would just have to hang around and wait for him.

  Once we were back at the centre of the action, Ben and the rude producers peeled off and I was left with Gina, who had decided that her tablet screen was much better company than I made. I shook my head, seeing as no one was going to see it, and was about to walk off when Gina suddenly reanimated.

  “Oh, Madigan! You must meet Ross Cowley. He’s an amazing cameraman who’s worked with Ben on so many award-winning pieces of wildlife art,” she gushed. I’d never seen her display so much emotion and inwardly raised an eyebrow at her unusual description of TV shows.

  The man she was talking about was in the process of walking over to us, having seen Gina’s rather frantic wave. He had jet black hair that fell almost in ringlets around his weathered face. A gold hoop earring in his left ear further added to the ‘seen it all but still cool’ look. I was willing to bet that the leather jacket he wore, in spite of the heat, was also unlikely to be one that had paraded up and down a catwalk in Milan anytime this century.

  “Hey, you're the comic book writer, aren’t you? I’ve been seeing your face everywhere,” he said, sticking out a hand, which I shook. I observed that his was the roughest palm I’d touched all day, but that was hardly surprising.

  “I’m sure I’ve seen your work, too. I love nature documentaries.” It sounded lame when I said it like that.

  Ross raised a dark eyebrow. “Let me guess… the ones that Ben is in, right?”

  I pretended to laugh whilst simultaneously brushing my waving hair back from my face with my left hand, showing off the beautiful paw print engagement ring Auryn had given me. It was hardly subtle, but I was so tired of all this innuendo and incorrect assumption.

  “Gina, have you noticed the sheep getting nervous? The wolf is in the flock,” Ross said, and then laughed uproariously. Next to him, the director looked uncomfortable. I thought I knew why.

  “Nice meeting you…” I started to say, knowing that I didn’t want to stick around for more of this ‘us vs. them’ stuff. But at that exact moment, the door to one of the large caravans, currently lining the exterior wall of the shell-like staff building, opened, and everyone in the plaza seemed to hesitate for a moment and look over.

  “There she is… the star of this whole thing,” Ross said, sounding less amused than he had. After a quick snoop at the polished presenter, everyone went back to rushing around. I kept looking over at Leona, who was dressed in a floaty blouse and some long, pale tan chinos that looked a little formal for both the park itself and the warm weather. I put it down to her feeling as though she was on show all the time. I really hoped I never felt that way, or at least, decided not to care if I was caught looking like I somersaulted through a hedge backwards.

  I was about to avert my overly long gaze when I noticed the actress pull a pained face and limp a couple of steps, before taking a deep breath, and walking normally again. I was still wondering what had happened when I turned away and found that, although the conversation had continued and Ben and the rude producers had returned, the cameraman was also frowning in the direction of the actress. I reassured myself that I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed. Judging by the way Ben had looped an arm around Ross’ shoulders and was grinning from ear to ear, the cameraman was popular with presenters. It said something good about his character that he cared about them, even though his job was just to make them look good on camera.

  We were only a few metres away from the caravan Leona had just left, and a moment later a surprise breeze blew past and pushed the door wide open. I walked over to close it, being nearest to the caravan. After walking up the steps, I hesitated in the doorway for a moment, unable to resist a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes life of the woman everyone seemed to be orbiting around.

  My attention was drawn by a fish tank full of small fish with blue and red metallic streaks on their bodies. Even from this distance I recognised them as neon tetras. Avery Zoo may not have an extensive collection of aquatic animals, but they did have quite a few exotic fish. I bet Ben wouldn’t approve of that aquarium, I thought, smirking to myself. Considering his high and mighty ‘no animal should ever be kept in captivity’ stance, it was pretty hypocritical that his co-star kept fish in her trailer. I wondered if he knew.

  The rest of the trailer wasn’t nearly as interesting, but it was equally weird. The wall was lined with pages torn from magazines and blown-up posters. It took me a while to realise they were all of Leona Richards herself. Who decorated their room with pictures of themselves - and just them? My gaze had slipped on to the hideous blue glass statue of killer whales leaping into the air - the kind you could pick up at any trashy souvenir shop - when some instinct warned me to shut the door. I turned around in time to see Ben alight on the first step.

  I slapped a smile on my face. “Sorry, I came to close the door but got a bit distracted by my thoughts. Inspiration strikes when it pleases.” I was banking on it being par for the course that outlandish excuses like that one were more readily accepted when you were published and popular.

  Ben shrugged. “I just came over to ask if you wanted a drink. It’s pretty hot out here and you’re looking a little pink.”

  “Oh, hmm… maybe you’re right. I’d better put on some more suncream,” I said, knowing full well that
my current shade was due to being caught doing something I shouldn’t have been doing. With my fairly pale, lightly freckled skin, I tended to wear a fair amount of suncream anyway - especially when the season was getting going. I didn’t tan so much as get more freckly.

  “Uh-oh, looks like you’ve missed your chance on the drink front. They’ve just packed up and driven down the hill. The action this afternoon is happening next to the sea pen down by the beach. We’re filming reconstructions next to the pen in the hopes that there’ll be marine mammals in the background of the shot. The camera crew are going out in a dingy to get some shots of the animals in the pen right now.” His features seemed to sharpen as he said the next few words. “It should be very interesting to see their behaviour and condition.”

  I frowned at the accusatory tone. “It was my understanding that animals in the pen are either injured, or were rescued too young to be able to fend for themselves.”

  “Rescued, huh!” Ben said, looking more sceptical than ever.

  I just shook my head. This wasn’t my argument. I didn’t know the histories of whatever was in that pen, I just knew what I’d been told.

  As I couldn’t think of a good excuse to slip the company of the zoologist, we traipsed down the hill with the rest of the rabble on their way to the beach to watch the reconstruction filming. After silence had descended for half a minute or so I finally hit on a way to start a conversation that hopefully wouldn’t lead to another disagreement.

  “You might not be the right person to ask, but I bumped into my best friend’s boyfriend the other day and he said he was working on the documentary. I was just wondering what he might be doing. It would be nice to say hello.” I decided to stop talking there, wondering if I’d already laid it on too thick.