by Ruby Loren
“Sounds good. Thanks,” Marie replied.
“Great! I’ll get that for you right after you tell us what you and Jackie were selling,” I said. Despite Lowell’s view that Marie was on the whole, harmless, if anything really bad came up, I wanted her handed over to the police immediately.
Marie frowned for a second and looked down at her hands. “It was nothing really. We knew someone who, you know, produced some stuff and then we just sold it at the clubs. One day the police caught us doing it.”
I looked across at Lowell. Keeping her a secret was so not worth it for this sort of information. He waved a hand in a slow motion, which I took to mean ‘patience’. I walked past Marie into the office to feed Lucky, so he wouldn’t see my eye roll.
There was a knock on the door of my office, just as I finished feeding Lucky. All three of us froze. I pointed at the gap behind the settee, hoping that Marie would get the message. A cold sweat was already forming on my back. What if it was the police knocking?
“Madigan, are you in there?” A well-spoken voice came through the door and I recognised it as belonging to Trinity Snidely. I felt my heart sink even further - if that were possible.
“Good morning,” I said, opening the door with Lowell standing next to me.
She glanced at him for a few moments too long (in my opinion) before speaking again.
“I was just calling in to check that you’re all right after the events of yesterday,” she said.
I blinked. “Really?” I said and then bit my tongue. “I mean, thank you, that’s really considerate of you.”
She nodded and I wondered if she was agreeing with me. “You saved the life of one of our keepers in the morning, and in the evening you had to bear witness to something truly horrible. I only hope you're still willing to continue your work here?”
I was stunned. Yesterday I’d been nearly certain that I’d been about to lose my job and see my career go up in smoke. Now it was almost as though she were… thanking me.
“I’m fine to stay and do the work. I don’t like to leave a job unfinished,” I added and then winced at how lame that probably sounded.
I needn’t have worried. Trinity’s attention was already elsewhere.
“I don’t think we were properly introduced last night, Lowell. What brings you to our safari and wildlife park?” she asked.
Though she had every right to demand what he was doing here in a non-public area, and probably get me fired just for that, she was being nice.
Lowell smiled, showing his white teeth and I could have sworn a blush rose to Trinity Snidely’s cheeks.
“I came up to Hull for a bit of a break from the daily grind. You know, some good old fashioned R&R,” he said, and Trinity nodded along, as though coming to Hull for R&R wasn’t highly suspect.
Lowell made eye contact with me and I hastily rearranged my facial expression to one that didn’t hint exactly that.
“Anyway, I came to the dinner last night and I just thought I’d pop in this morning to check that Madi here was okay. We met when I was working on a case at Avery Zoo,” he added.
I struggled to conceal my surprise. What was Lowell playing at?
“A case?” Trinity was intrigued.
“Yes, I work as a private detective,” Lowell said, waving a hand like it was no big deal.
“Can anyone employ you?” she asked, her eyes lighting up.
“Well, sure. It’s supposed to go through the company but I do occasionally take on private clients.”
“And what sort of confidentiality do you offer?” Trinity asked. I pretended to not see when she slid her eyes my way.
“Absolute confidentiality, of course,” Lowell said and Trinity bared her teeth at him in what I assumed was meant to be a smile.
“Brilliant! Well, I’m very glad to have met you because there’s something I’ve wanted looked into for a while and for personal reasons, we’d rather it didn’t go any further…” She looked at me again and I folded my arms. They were in my office after all.
“Let’s go and discuss your case and I’ll see what I can do,” Lowell said, smoothly moving towards the door and holding it open. To my relief, Trinity walked out first. Lowell dropped me a wink behind her back. I only hoped it was a sign that he wasn’t about to repeat his actions of the last case and keep his cards so close to his chest that no one else knew what was really going on until it was too late.
I frowned around the room for a moment, silently wondering if having Lowell here was going to be a problem. I liked the private detective a lot, and there was undeniably some attraction between us, but I was already distracted by Trinity’s obvious play-making.
"Are they gone?” A voice came from behind the settee, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
Typical. Lowell had gone off to talk business and I’d been left looking after the fugitive.
5
The Rose's Revelation
The lions’ enclosure was my first stop that day, after giving Marie breakfast and telling her to stay in the room. She was also under strict instructions to make sure no one was around when she had to pop out to the loo. I didn’t know what I would come back to when I returned, but Lucky had let her stroke him without complaint and I tended to trust animals’ instincts when it came to people.
Even when their instincts were stupid.
I’d also called Snidely's favoured vet and he'd assured me that from the symptoms described, the snake wasn’t in immediate danger after all. The best thing to do was to let him sit in some lukewarm water. I was saving that joyous task for a little later.
This time around in the lions’ enclosure, no parents with a death wish interrupted my observations. It was a good thing too, as Kerry was still in hospital having tests done and I doubted that her replacement would come running to my rescue - given what had happened to the other keeper.
The staff at Snidely were definitely on edge. Everyone seemed to be watching and waiting for another person to show signs of the mysterious illness which seemed to strike randomly and without warning. I hoped that the doctors would be able to figure out what had happened to the victims so far and the news would provide reassurance. If not, the World Health Organisation would probably be turning up soon. After all, it wasn’t unheard of for animals to pass diseases to humans. There could be a new virus in town.
I watched the pride members sunning themselves. With the exception of yesterday’s fiasco, the lions didn’t seem to do much. I thought about what things would have been like in the wild, with the lionesses going on hunts, and I realised a sedentary lifestyle was not a good thing. The behaviours I’d witnessed yesterday had been animal instincts expressing themselves, and despite lions already breeding well in captivity, I knew there were things that could be done to make their lives even better. As a side benefit, my idea would also give visitors to Snidely an interesting spectacle.
“Great,” I said, once I was all finished up. I gave the lions one final look, glad I’d returned so quickly. Fears were quickly conquered that way, and I already understood why they’d acted that way. You couldn’t deny nature.
I met Lowell at lunch time in the food zone. He’d already bought himself a hot dog, so I got a jacket potato. I was about to join him, when he reminded me about the office visitor. I sighed and came back with a sandwich to take away.
“So, what’s the big case?” I asked, suddenly finding it hard to be polite. It had already been ‘one of those days’.
Lowell grinned before taking a bite of his hot dog. “That’s confidential information you’re asking about,” he said, in-between mouthfuls.
My face must have been a picture because he laughed. “However, all the best detectives have informants, or sidekicks, if you would. I think a sidekick deserves to know the details of any case the detective takes. Otherwise, how can they help out?”
“Sidekick!” I spluttered.
Lowell patronisingly patted me on top of my head. “You’re just the right height, too
. The action figures would be nearly life size.”
I filled my fork with potato and tuna mayo and toyed with trying out my new ‘sidekick’s catapult weapon’.
“Come on, this t-shirt is dry clean only,” Lowell begged and I relented before frowning at the top he was wearing. Was he serious?
“So, tell me,” I said.
He made a big show of looking over both of his shoulders before he began. I was glad I hadn’t called him out for being so melodramatic. When he got into his story, the reason for his paranoia became clear.
“Trinity Snidely wants me to investigate a string of robberies from Dracondia Manor. It’s actually taken the family a while to notice the thefts. The thieves have been taking some fairly low ticket items. It was only when they paid for an inventory that they discovered several items were missing.”
“Do they know how recently they disappeared? It could have been years ago if they hadn’t had an inventory done before,” I cut in and Lowell nodded.
“Right, but they already knew it was at least during the last five years. That’s how long the house has been open to the public and it was the last time they had an inventory taken. Obviously that’s not much to go on, but the Snidelys have been rather cunning. Instead of making the thefts public knowledge, they kept the inventory to themselves and kept watch. Lo and behold, more items have gone missing since. They’re things you might not notice, like solid silver candlesticks and so on, but piece for piece when you add it all up, it comes to a lot.”
“Why haven’t they told the police?” I asked.
Lowell sighed. “They think it’s staff members who are doing it and they’d rather sort it out internally.”
“Wouldn’t just adding something like CCTV be enough to deter them and also give them a hint as to whom is responsible?”
“Well, yes, but just between us, I think they already have their suspicions as to whom is responsible. That’s not really the reason I’ve been asked to take on the case. What they're really worried about is the fact that the stolen items aren't traceable. They just want their heritage back and were even willing to pay for it, but when they went looking, there was no trace of the missing stuff. That’s where I come in,” he said.
I frowned. “So this is another case where you’ll be keeping quiet about the criminals, while pursuing a separate agenda.”
“It’s hardly the same…” Lowell protested but my lips twitched up and he knew I was kidding.
I could see as plain as anyone that respecting the Snidely’s wishes to have their lost items returned, rather than slapping a few wrists, was a reasonable request. They were the only ones being harmed by the thefts and this seemed like a logical way for them to potentially recover their losses. I had a feeling that those responsible would be dealt with in a timely manner, too.
“So, have they given you any leads to follow?” I asked, thinking back to when he’d mentioned that he suspected the Snidelys had a clue or two as to whom was responsible.
Lowell gave me a wry grin. “Nope. Everything I told you is the grand sum of what Trinity passed on to me. She's the sort of employer who wants her money's worth - the kind who refuses to give you any help, as it’s ‘my job’ to do that.”
“You mean she didn’t make an exception? Even for you?” I mocked.
Lowell raised a dark eyebrow. “Jealous, are we?”
I knew my treacherous cheeks had turned pink. “You’re free to do what you want,” I said, mildly.
I pushed my favourite, yellow-rimmed glasses higher up on my nose and frowned as something occurred to me. “Did Trinity give you an update on how Lord Snidely’s doing after his ‘sudden illness’?”
Looking back now, his driving off in the middle of the event could even be construed as suspicious. Where had he been off to in such a hurry after claiming to be unwell? When you considered Jackie’s dreadful death and the vanishing act George Ashdown had seemingly pulled, Lord Snidely’s odd behaviour did raise some questions. Could he have had something to do with the murder?
I thought back to his Aston Martin and George Ashdown’s missing car. If Lord Snidely was somehow involved in George’s disappearance, I couldn’t explain how he’d managed to make both his car and George’s disappear. It still seemed probable that George had killed Jackie and done a bunk.
“Trin didn’t mention it, no,” Lowell said and my eyebrows shot up.
“Oh, it’s ‘Trin’ now, is it?”
He grinned and I realised I’d fallen for it. Curses.
“If you’ll excuse me, I have a highly venomous snake to bathe." I finished my jacket potato and walked off, carrying the sandwich for the potentially dangerous fugitive I was harbouring in my office.
After checking that she was still undiscovered, and feeding both her and Lucky, I turned my attention to the task I’d already put off for too long. When I took down Mr Limey’s vivarium and looked inside, he seemed the same as ever. His tongue still flicked out at regular intervals, but the bulge definitely hadn’t moved much. Neither had the mamba.
“The zoo will have anti-venom on hand, right?” I muttered to myself, as I fetched the snake hook. Before I dove in, I considered my options.
At the moment, Mr Limey was in a small vivarium, packed with plants and rocks. It didn’t really give me much scope for safely popping down a bowl of lukewarm water and then persuading the snake to hop in. In order to do this safely, I’d have to move him to a larger container. Fortunately, the critical care unit had an abundance.
“Hiya!”
I nearly jumped out of my skin when a roundish woman with shining brown hair, cropped above her chin, walked into the unit.
“Hi,” I replied, wishing my heart would stop hammering. I had no idea if I was feeling jumpy due to the lions, the murder, or because I’d been about to reach in and lift out Mr Limey.
The woman walked over to the baby meerkats - who all started jumping up and down and making squeaky noises.
“I’m Lauren. I’m one of the keepers who looks after the smaller animals we have around here and there.” She looked at me expectantly.
“I’m Madigan… Madi,” I amended. “I’m here to review all of the animals’ enclosures and make sure that everything is being done to give the animals at Snidely the best living conditions possible. I know the owners here are hoping it’ll improve their breeding programmes.” I smiled and she returned it.
“Of course! I’ve already heard all about you. I was on holiday until today and came back to find out I was in charge of these little munchkins. I heard you had a pretty eventful day yesterday, right?”
I hesitated for a moment, which turned out to be fortunate.
“Saving Kerry when she had that funny turn was so brave! Everyone’s still talking about it.” The smile on her face wobbled for a second and I just knew she’d heard comments both good and bad. I was under no illusions that everybody thought I’d made the right choice by putting my life in danger. Half the zoo probably thought I was dumb as a rock.
“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” I said with another little smile, before I turned back to the snake. My mind was racing. Sure, saving someone from a lion attack was a big deal, but murder definitely trumped that. How come no one was talking about that?
“Hey, uh, did you hear about the woman who died here last night?” I asked and then immediately wondered if I was putting my big foot in something.
Lauren shrugged. “Yeah, I heard there was an accident, or a fight, and someone died, but no one knows who they were. Did they break in here, or something?”
“Uh, maybe,” I said, thinking about how the room had been ransacked.
“We get attempted break-ins a lot,” Lauren confided. People seem to think we keep loads of drugs for the animals here.” She shook her head. “Usually, they turn the place over and then leave empty handed.”
Maybe that explains the underwhelming reaction, I thought to myself. If people at Snidely were used to drug addicts trying to break in, a
death sadly may not seem that out of the ordinary. After all, even I had good reason to suspect that drugs were a part of this mystery. The woman I was currently harbouring in my office had admitted that much herself.
I reluctantly returned my attention to Mr Limey, who seemed to look as dubious as I felt. I filled up a dish of lukewarm water and placed it in a vivarium that I’d hastily filled with soil and moss. Now came the tricky bit.
I raised the snake hook and gingerly reached it down towards the mamba. He didn’t make any sudden movements, or any movement at all, really. Instead, the green snake flopped limply over the plastic hook. The only sign he was still alive was a slight wiggle and his tongue flicking out every few moments. I gently let him down into the lukewarm pool, making sure the lumpy bit was inside.
I bit my lip and wished I’d had more of an opportunity to quiz George about the snake. I’d never thought I’d end up being responsible for Mr Limey’s well-being. I didn’t know where he had come from, how long they’d had him for, or even how long he’d had the lump stuck inside of him.
The vet had told me to give him a bath and see if there was any change after that. I looked hopefully at Mr Limey but he just looked forlornly back. Perhaps one of the reptile keepers would have an opinion. I needed to go and talk to them soon anyway. I was hoping they would be able to help with my review of all cold blooded residents at Snidely Safari and Wildlife Park. For now, I was keeping everything crossed that the lukewarm bath would do the trick. If only everything else that was happening at Snidely could be solved as simply…
By the end of the day, I wasn’t feeling any less stressed. Despite Lowell having a quiet word with Marie, she hadn’t coughed up any of the information he was sure that she was hiding.
I was not as convinced as he was about Marie. I thought she’d figured out she was on to a good thing and was milking it for all it was worth. Free food and board? I could see why that might be attractive. However, she had to know as well as we did that if the police found out the truth, we would all be in serious trouble. With her past record, she should be even more concerned than we were.