Penguins and Mortal Peril: Mystery (Madigan Amos Zoo Mysteries Book 1)

by Ruby Loren

I exchanged a relieved look with Alison Rowley when the police officer restraining her released her arm and walked over to Rich instead.

  It wasn’t long before the reinforcements arrived and we made the journey to the dependent animal unit. Auryn had got into a fight with Todd and Gary and all three were looking rather worse for wear, although happily no machetes had been brought into play.

  “They were going to take him to the penguin pool and push him in, still tied up,” Auryn muttered to me while the police arrested Todd and Gary. They hauled Lowell back up off the floor from where he’d presumably been knocked over during the fight.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want any part in this but dad said I had to do it. I had no idea they were behind the bomb, and Ray…” He gulped. “I only found that out this evening when they told me I had to help them out with this shipment. I swear I didn’t know much at all, they kept me out of it. I just thought it was something a bit illegal on the side.” He shook his head and his floppy blonde hair curled down over his eyes. “I guess I was so worried about fitting in here and doing my part for the family business that I didn’t see what was really going on. I’m so sorry it nearly got you killed.”

  A police officer was watching us. He tilted his head at me in a silent question. I sighed and turned back to Auryn.

  “You’d better go with them and give a statement. Tell the truth and it will be okay. I know you weren’t really a part of all this,” I told him, figuring it was the best I could do. I doubted any charges would be made against him. It was as plain as day that the poor teenager had been co-opted into this mess. I believed him when he said he hadn’t had any idea of the lengths his father was going to. Perhaps to an outsider, it may seem obvious, but just as Mr Avery senior had proved when he hired a private detective instead of going straight to the police, love for your family could make you blind to their flaws.

  EPILOGUE

  It was quite a surprise to think that just three weeks later, you wouldn’t have known anything major had changed at Avery Zoo. Mr Avery senior had stepped out of retirement and promoted his old friend, Lawrence, to joint head of the board of directors. They had acknowledged the deficit that Erin Avery had been covering up and were working on ways to get the zoo’s coffers back in the black.

  One of the new ideas that had been announced was a greater focus on environmental impact and education. Apparently there were a lot of grants and funding that could be applied for and the board were hopeful that the zoo could be saved simply by investing in the future of the planet.

  Rich, Gary, Todd, Tom, and Erin were all awaiting trial for various offences including murder charges. I’d heard they were out on bail, but a restraining order had been put in place to keep them away from the zoo. The police had offered me protection on the off chance that someone wanted to get even but I’d politely refused. It might seem naive, but I felt like it was over. The fake extremist group had been used to cover things up, but with everything out in the open, it was my view that they wouldn’t be out for revenge. It had never been that personal. The whole operation was about money with some extreme, and not always intentional, collateral damage.

  I spared a thought for poor, unfortunate Ray, whose only error had been confiding in the wrong person. I wondered when Erin Avery had decided that saving the zoo was worth more than a man’s life? The thought had probably never crossed his mind when he'd told Rich what to do. Killing Ray had simply been the path of least resistance.

  When the news had broken at the zoo, I’d briefly become a celebrity. Everyone wanted to know exactly what had happened that stormy night when the squirrel monkeys had mysteriously escaped again. I hadn’t helped to further the gossip and was always careful to avoid mentioning Auryn whenever I was forced to talk about it.

  Auryn Avery had been let off with a caution. The police had concluded that he’d been forced to join the group and had no knowledge or involvement of the depths that his colleagues and father were willing to sink to. Since then, I’d noticed him spending a lot more time with his grandfather and I was pleased that instead of tearing the family apart, the traumatic events had brought them closer together.

  Now almost four weeks old, Lucky’s eyes were open and he was starting to explore the world a little more. I’d also noticed a couple of tiny white teeth poking through soft pink gums. My little kitten was still wholly dependent on me but he now spent every day in the dependent animal unit until home time. I popped in for regular feeding and cleaning, but I had helpers in the form of multiple zoo employees who’d cottoned on to Lucky’s existence. I’d managed to keep Lucky’s brothers and sisters (who were doing just fine) a secret, but in truth, I was glad that so many people were involved with Lucky’s care. It was just another thing that brought those of us who worked at the zoo closer together. I hoped it would serve as a reminder that we were supposed to be like a big family. We’d all seen firsthand what happened when people forgot that.

  Lowell had turned up at my house bearing flowers a week after he’d been rescued from near-certain death. The fact that it had taken him a week to come to terms with needing to be rescued, and that there was someone he needed to express gratitude to, didn’t surprise me one bit. I just told myself that at least he’d acknowledged it in the end. Perhaps he wouldn’t be so willing to dismiss help when it was offered in future cases.

  The most challenging thing that had happened after the night when Erin Avery et al. had been arrested, was having to round up the squirrel monkeys the next morning. The rain had passed on and after a night of freedom, the monkeys had not been keen to return to their home. Catching them was made especially hard due to them being pretty sick and tired of even the juiciest summer fruits. I only had myself to blame for their overindulgence but with Tom under arrest, it had once more fallen to me to try and persuade them to come back home.

  To my surprise, after the news of the night’s events had spread, half the staff had turned out to herd the monkeys back into their enclosure. We’d managed it in record time with only one person getting bitten (me).

  A new group of builders had hastily been hired to complete the capybara enclosure and due to their lack of a track record with the zoo, it wasn’t too much of a challenge for me to shoehorn in the changes I’d lobbied for all along. Doris and Louis were now back in residence and I was pretty certain they’d never looked happier.

  Another group of new additions were the four zookeepers brought in to replace Ray, Colin, Tom and Lucy. Lucy had left after news of Tom’s involvement broke and she must have worked out how she unwittingly aided in the demise of one of the animals she was so dedicated to looking after. After having your trust broken like that, I couldn’t blame her for not wanting to hang around a place where you’d constantly be reminded of your mistake. It was a big personnel change and had taken some getting use to. Things had calmed down when the rota had been drawn up, although I still found myself pleasantly surprised to find I now had time for a lunch break.

  With the summer just starting to fade, the only dramas now were the ones which unfolded daily when working with animals that made such hilarious fodder for my webcomic. I smiled and remembered my surprise on Monday morning when I’d woken up to no less than ten fan emails. My comic’s views were doubling every week and it just made me happy to know that there were people out there sharing the moments I found funny.

  “God, you need a boyfriend,” Tiff had said when I’d told her all that. Perhaps in the past I’d have agreed with her, but after my recent experiences, I was willing to wait a little longer.

  I sat down on a rock and watched the two echidnas bustling about in their enclosure. It was a year since they’d had their new arrivals and while litters remained rare in captivity, I had everything crossed that they would surprise us all again with some brand new puggles.

  A flash of blonde caught my eye. I looked up and saw Auryn leaning over the side of the enclosure. I smiled at him and hoped it didn’t look forced.

 
After he’d been released by the police, we’d had a long discussion about everything that had happened. He was incredibly broken up inside about it and I was so angry at his father for forcing him to be a part of the scheme. No part of me blamed Auryn (a young man who felt like he had so much to lose and even more to prove) for being coerced. The problem was, I knew that he still blamed himself and that was something I couldn’t change. I could tell him I forgave him a thousand times, but until he forgave himself, things would be different between us.

  It was probably for the best, I reflected, as I exited the enclosure and walked around towards the front to meet Auryn. His feelings for me had made me question my own for him and left me with a lot of doubt over what it meant to do the right thing. Now all we had to focus on was rebuilding our friendship.

  “How are things?” I said once I was next to him.

  He looked over the enclosure for another second and I did the same, both of us watching the echidnas squabbling over a pine cone.

  “Things are okay. Grandad’s asked me to sit in on the board meetings. I think he’s serious about training me up to take over the zoo some day,” he said.

  I looked at his face carefully but could read no signs. “That’s a good thing, isn’t it? You’ve always wanted to work at the zoo.”

  “I did. I do,” he hastily corrected and a rueful smile appeared on his lips. “Yeah, it is good. It’s just… unexpected. I always thought I’d have years of dossing around and training to be a zookeeper and then one day, in the super distant future, I’d run this place. You know, after I knew, like, everything about everything. The way adults do,” he added.

  I choked noisily. I was glad when it made him smile.

  “Believe me, that illusion is well and truly shattered,” he admitted. “Anyway, now it’s like, all rushed. I think I could be in charge of a lot of things in just a few years’ time. Grandad was meant to be retired from all of this stuff and now he’s had to come back in and promote Lawrence too. I don’t mean to be morbid, but they’re not exactly young and I’m scared that…” He paused. “Well, I’m just scared, I guess.”

  I tilted my head at him, feeling an unexpected sense of pride wash over me. “That’s exactly the attitude you should have, so don’t worry about it. If you thought it was going to be an easy ride where you can do whatever you like without consequences, well, that’s when things go wrong.” We exchanged a look, both of us thinking about Auryn’s severely misguided father.

  “The most important thing for you to remember is that you aren’t alone. Even when you do take over running the zoo, you have so many friends. If you ever find yourself struggling, or in need of anything, all you need to do is ask and I guarantee you’ll discover that so many people want to help you,” I said.

  I was pleased to see the worry lines fading from his forehead. I wasn’t here to sugarcoat anything for him. He was going to have some tough times ahead, if the zoo fell to him before he was ready - which it undoubtedly would. But he was already so much more of a man than his father had been. With the attitude he was displaying, I sensed that Auryn Avery would be the kind of man who shone instead of crumbling under pressure. I was looking forward to seeing where he took the zoo.

  “Oh, I can’t believe I forgot to say. I actually came here to let you know that Grandad wants to see you.”

  “Do you know what it’s about?” I asked, immediately curious.

  “No, but he’s been singing praises to your heroism since the day it all happened, so I don’t think it’ll be anything bad. Maybe you’re getting a medal or something.” He smirked and I felt a brief return to the easy friendship we’d once had.

  “Great. I’ve always thought that what this uniform really needs to set it off is a medal.”

  Despite my joking around, I was actually very curious as to why Mr Avery wanted to see me.

  Along with Alison, I had been instrumental in ending the black-market animal trafficking at the zoo, but considering that the ring leader was Mr Avery’s son, I hadn’t really expected much thanks.

  I told myself it was paranoia, but I did wonder if I was about to get fired. I couldn’t exactly think of a good reason, but what if old Mr Avery wanted to start completely fresh and my face was the one that reminded him of the bad times?

  I mentally shook myself when I approached the main office. Speculating wasn’t going to help. I hesitated with my hand poised in front of the heavy oak door. Then I knocked.

  “Thanks for dropping by Madigan. Please have a seat. I’ve been wanting to catch you for a while,” Mr Avery said. I perched nervously on the edge of a black leather armchair, feeling like I was attending an interview.

  Still rifling through papers on top of his desk, Mr Avery seemed completely unaware of my discomfort.

  “Yes, I was going through all the records and so on after…” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I found quite a few letters regarding you.”

  He looked at me over the rims of his glasses and I knew surprise was written all over my face.

  “So this is the first you’ve heard of it, eh? I thought as much.” He nodded to himself. “These letters are from various zoos and and institutions of animal care.” He fanned out a bunch of them. “Some quite impressive places too. They all wrote to commend you for the work they say you’ve done with various breeding programmes. Specifically highlighted, is your success with understanding echidna breeding habits, although other achievements were also noted.”

  “That’s… really nice of them to say so,” I said, pleased but baffled as to why this warranted a trip to the office.

  “Yes it is, isn’t it? They didn’t write to merely sing your praises though, as charming a habit as that would be. They’re actually all enquiring if you’re available for habitat redesign and breeding consultancy. That sounds pretty fancy to me.” He raised a bushy white eyebrow. “I think what it means is they all want you to do some work for them, and seeing as the word ‘consultant’ is batted around, I’d say there’s some good money in it too! Now what do you say to that?”

  I sat there stunned for a few seconds, wondering if I was being encouraged, or accused.

  “That would really interest me. Making sure the animals I look after at Avery Zoo are in the best possible environment we can give them is what I love most about my job,” I cautiously ventured.

  “Now you have a chance to do the same thing for zoos all over the country.” He flicked through the letters again. “Actually, even outside of the country. So, would you like to do it?”

  “But I love working here,” I said, feeling torn by the choice I’d had thrown in my lap.

  “I know you do, believe me. I can tell. You’ve done more than enough to show that.” He let it sink in for a moment. “You wouldn’t be leaving your job here. You could come and work whenever you don’t have consultancy clients. We’d have to get another zookeeper in to cover you permanently of course, but what I’m saying is, you could be our consultant too.” He put both hands on the desk and leant forwards. “Now, I have no doubt my accountants would say I’m crazy for offering opportunities like this and letting irreplaceable staff walk away, but I think this is what is best for both you and the zoo. You’ll get to make a difference doing what you love and are best at, and Avery Zoo will benefit from having a reputation for excellent animal care and knowledge. In my books, that means everyone is a winner.” He sat back again. “I think that is far more important than hiding things like these letters away and hoping that we can cling onto you forever. What do you say?”

  “I’d love to,” I said, feeling excitement dashing through my veins. It was like being offered my dream job as a zookeeper all over again - only even better.

  Mr Avery smiled over the rims of his bifocals.

  “Excellent. Well, there’s a zoo in Little Edging, Shropshire, who seem to think their meerkats are clinically depressed and their emus hell bent on homicide. I recommend you start there. Always start with the hardest tasks first. They’re the ones whe
re you’ll find out what you’re really made of.”

  I nodded, hardly able to think over the fizzing in my brain. A group of animals who needed my help beckoned and I couldn’t wait to get started!

  END

  Read on for an exciting preview of the second book in the Madigan Amos series, The Silence of the Snakes!

  The Silence of the Snakes

  PROLOGUE

  Darkness was an old friend to the man dressed in black. He slid between shadows, blending seamlessly with the exotic shrubbery which bordered the manicured lawns. On the brow of the hill, Dracondia Manor looked down on its domain. A few lonely lights still twinkled at windows, but it didn’t concern the man in black. He knew that the lights probably belonged to those long since travelled to dreamland. People who feared the dark.

  He nearly pitied them.

  A peacock cried out as he was crossing the paving slabs, but he didn’t flinch. No one had their eyes on the man using the servant’s entrance to get in. He reached the simple oak door and pressed down on the latch. It swung open without so much as a squeak and beneath his moustache he smiled. The one element he had left to chance had worked out and had it ever really been a question of chance when he’d offered that kitchen lad a whole Crown for his trouble?

  The man wet his lips with his tongue as he silently stalked the empty corridors. The kitchen boy had also been kind enough to advise him on the best route, but he wasn’t fool enough to take too much for granted. Instead, the man had found the original building plans and meticulously plotted his route from there. Only when he was sure he knew the inside of Dracondia Manor as well as any servant did he make his move. And it would be this patience that yielded the prize of a lifetime.

  He walked through corridors so silent he could hear his own heartbeat in his ears and climbed up narrow staircases that any person of breeding wouldn’t countenance setting foot on. Darkness and silence had always been his companions but even he was beginning to feel it turn oppressive. The shadows were starting to move in front of his eyes and his muscles were tensed to jump up and run. The man took a couple of deep breaths and realigned himself before pushing open the heavy, carved double doors.