The Peacock's Poison

by Ruby Loren

  “Thanks… I think,” Auryn said, narrowing his eyes at me.

  “That’s what friends are for,” I told him with a smile that bordered on a smirk.

  It’s going to be frosty tonight, I thought when I finished feeding the last animals. One of the zookeepers, Vanessa, had contracted a nasty winter cold and had generously decided to stay away, rather than bringing us all down with her. While I was grateful for that, I’d been less thrilled by the prospect of having to care for the insect collection. I’d mastered snakes whilst working at Snidely Safari, but insects were still out of my comfort zone. They were unlike any other animal at the zoo, and I felt completely at sea. Fortunately, there’d been cheat sheets left in case of this very eventuality. I was very hopeful that there would be no fatalities caused directly by me.

  I wrapped my scarf around my neck and walked out through the zoo’s quiet reception area. Decorations had been strung up by the events team, but I’d noticed the little personal festive touches, which often appeared around this time of year in the reception booths, weren’t present. Everyone was still in mourning over the loss of the reception manager.

  Someone poisoned her, I remembered with a bump. Auryn had said that it could have been the shouting lady, or one of his grandad’s non-zoo related friends and extended family, but I was sure he knew as well as I did that either of those were fairly unlikely choices, when it came to looking for a suspect. It was almost certain that someone who worked at Avery Zoo had killed Jenna.

  I chewed on my lip as I walked towards the car park. All of a sudden, Avery didn’t feel like the safe and homely place it once had. A killer was loose in the zoo, and I had no idea why they’d wanted Jenna dead. For all I knew, she might not be the only person they were out to get. We were all in danger and somewhere in our midst, a murderer walked unseen.

  I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard something squawk. I’d been creeping myself out, thinking about what had happened to Jenna and not looking where I was going. If the box had been any smaller, I would have tripped over it. Instead, I nearly collided with it. If it hadn't been for the warning squawk, I could well have ended up in the box, myself.

  I looked at the closed cardboard box, warily. Any animal institution has to deal with their fair share of abandoned animals. People who found they couldn’t cope with their pets’ needs would sometimes leave cages or boxes on the doorstep, hoping that the zoo would take the ill-advised animal in. To be honest, the animals left behind were usually more exotic than the cats and dogs the rescue centres received. Perhaps people thought that the centres wouldn’t know what to do with their often illegal exotic pet, or perhaps they were scared of the repercussions of the investigation a reputable rescue centre would surely run. Whatever the reason, Avery Zoo had seen its fair share of unusual deliveries over the years.

  This, however, was my first one.

  I had no idea what to expect.

  I nudged the box gently with my foot and the affronted squawking sound came again.

  Please, please don’t be another peacock! I silently prayed.

  Since there was nothing else for it - and if the animal were truly dangerous, they’d have already busted out of the cardboard box - I cautiously opened one of the flaps a little. Then I opened the rest and stared in bemusement at what someone had chosen to abandon at the zoo.

  It was a turkey.

  “Is this some kind of joke?” I muttered, looking around to see if anyone was filming this. Had someone thought it would be funny to deliver a live turkey to the zoo at Christmas? Was this some strange animal welfare protest?

  I waited for a whole minute before concluding that no one else was around.

  “I suppose I’d better take you inside. I can’t leave you out in the frost,” I said, reaching forwards to push the flaps back down for ease of transport. The turkey’s crest rose up and it tried to bite me.

  I glared at it. “Okay, I think I’m getting the picture,” I said to my newest charge. “You are going to get on just fine with the peacocks.”

  After many quick hand movements, I was able to get the lid shut again. Then came the task of moving the box into the zoo. I stood tall at five foot nothing, and the cardboard box hadn’t exactly been little. I hefted it into my arms and then put it back down again. This wasn’t going to end in some ridiculous comedy situation better suited to my comics. I was going to be a sensible adult and get the wheeled cart we used for transporting big bags of animal feed around.

  Five minutes later, I returned and was relieved to find the turkey was still inside the box. I had no idea what I would have done if it had got loose! Lucky was at home recovering from his operation, so I couldn’t even get him out to use his bird scaring abilities to get the turkey to run the right way.

  It was with no little smugness that I lifted the box and popped it onto the wheeled cart, before carting the turkey through reception and into the zoo. I’d decided that the best place for it would be the dependant animal unit. There were a few eggs in the incubators, but that was the extent of the animals currently residing in the room. I would make a note to put on the door, warning anyone who might be checking on the eggs that there was a large and aggressive turkey inside the room. I’d need to tell Auryn about the new arrival as soon as I’d got the turkey settled with some food and water. I hoped it would be okay with the same grain that the peacocks chowed down on. Avery Zoo had never, to my knowledge, had a turkey before. I wondered what we’d do with it.

  “Well, it is nearly Christmas,” I said aloud. Inside the cardboard box, the turkey squawked.

  4

  The List of Names

  The turkey conundrum had to wait longer than I’d anticipated.

  The next morning I was grabbed by Auryn as soon as I walked through reception.

  “The police are here again. They want to go through Jenna’s office and catalogue everything. They took pictures when they were first here. I promised we wouldn’t touch anything just in case, but now things have become more clear…” Auryn’s voice faded away for a moment, and he shook his head. “They just want to go through and make sure there’s nothing they missed. I thought you would be the best person to help them to do that.” He slightly raised an eyebrow and I nodded. There had been an occasion when Jenna had successfully concealed something from someone she’d been practically blackmailing when she hadn’t wanted their engagement to go ahead. Perhaps there was something hidden in her office that might give the police a clue.

  To my relief, it was Officer Kelly Lane the police had sent to do the search. I’d been dreading seeing Treesden again after the less than warm reception I’d been given when I’d reported the body. A male police officer, who’d introduced himself as Miles, was also with her. It didn’t escape my notice that her partner wasn’t Ernesto, the police officer who’d been so upset when Jenna had been found.

  I led the way through reception up to the offices above, where the zoo’s office staff worked. Auryn’s office was also in this building. To my surprise, I found a lot of new faces and was confused for a moment, before I remembered that the Christmas events team would be here in full force. Today was opening day for the Winter Wonderland. I only hoped that the excitement of the grand opening would overshadow any news about Jenna’s murder that might have spread.

  “Hi, Madi,” Barnaby said, stepping out of the chatting crowd, his warm eyes already bright with a smile. “Is there something I can help you with?” His eyes skated across to the uniformed officers, questioningly. I wondered if he thought I was in trouble.

  “Don’t worry, it’s nothing to do with your team. We’re about to go through Jenna’s office to see if there’s anything that was missed,” I explained. “I don’t think we’ll be in your way.”

  Jenna’s office was in a small side room, separate from the main office.

  “Sorry I can’t help,” Barnaby said, looking truly apologetic. “I hope you find something useful.”

  “I hope so, too,” I confessed. />
  It was strange looking through someone’s stuff knowing that they would never be using it again. Jenna’s office had seemed pretty sparsely furnished, with not many visible belongings at first glance, but as soon as you delved into the desk drawers and the filing cabinet, there actually turned out to be quite a lot.

  The police officers were determined to be thorough, since this was a murder investigation. They started from the windows and gradually went over the room, inspecting every inch of carpet with their fingertips. I wasn’t too surprised when they lifted out the bottom of one of the desk drawers and found an envelope beneath it. Jenna had been a woman with secrets, although I wasn’t certain they were the kind that might point us in the direction of her killer.

  The male police officer’s face turned red and he quickly threw whatever he’d found beneath the drawer in an evidence bag. I thought I could hazard a guess at what the pieces of photographic paper he'd held in his hand showed. Jenna had loved her souvenirs. I only hoped she hadn't been foolish enough to use them to try to bend someone to her will recently…

  A sudden memory of Harry’s proposal on the night of the party popped into my head. I bit my lip. Should I tell the police about Jenna’s history and the bearing it might have? Theoretically, you should always pass on your suspicions, but it felt horrible to speak ill of the dead, especially when there hadn’t even been a motive established. Anyway, the contents of those photos would no doubt give the police a few potential suspects. From what I knew, Jenna had always liked her subjects to be recognisable.

  A further search through her desk drawers revealed little more of interest beyond the fact that Jenna was certainly bending a few of the normal office rules. Everything you might expect to find in a steamy novel was present in the bottom drawer with the flimsy lock on it. I’d have blushed, but honestly… I’d been expecting worse.

  “I don’t know if that’s her usual phone,” I confessed when Officer Kelly opened another drawer and pulled out a large, sleek handset. I was however willing to bet that the phone’s photographic capabilities were excellent.

  “We’ll be able to get into this. Her laptop, too,” she reassured me. “Hopefully we’ll find something that will help us to isolate the facts.”

  I could read between the lines. When she said ‘facts’ she really meant suspects. I thought about telling her to start with the male half of the zoo, but that would be flippant.

  To my relief, Tiff arrived at the door carrying some drinks, saying that Auryn had sent her up to check that everything was going okay. I made eye contact with Tiff, and she gave me the tiniest of smiles. At least Tiff and Auryn seemed to have sorted out their differences.

  “Were you close to the deceased?” Kelly asked, reaching for a tea.

  “As close as Madi was. Jenna was friendly to everyone. She liked to chat,” Tiff said, tactfully

  “We keep hearing that she was a lovely, friendly girl, but someone must have thought differently,” Police Officer Miles piped up, earning himself a stern look from Officer Kelly.

  “Is there anyone who might have felt some ill will towards Jenna?” she asked.

  I looked at Tiff and half shook my head before Tiff pulled a face.

  “There was that person who kept messaging her,” she said.

  I nodded, suddenly remembering.

  “Oh?” Officer Kelly prompted.

  “Jenna liked to use Tinder,” I said. “She told us that a guy she’d been chatting with had started to get aggressive. Unfortunately, she’d given him her number and he was still calling her quite a few times a day, in spite of her trying to block him.”

  “Do you know his name?” Officer Kelly asked.

  “She never said,” Tiff continued for me. “Even if she had, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have remembered.”

  Officer Kelly pretended to look like she genuinely needed more explanation out of politeness.

  “Jenna liked male company,” I said, deciding to take this one. “You’ve probably already realised that. Whoever killed her knew it too, but I’m afraid that won’t narrow the pool of suspects. Within the zoo, she’s always had a reputation for being friendly with any new male members of staff.”

  “Mostly because she’d worked her way through everyone else,” Tiff added, but not unkindly.

  “I see,” Officer Kelly said.

  “It wasn’t just the zoo, either. She lived in Gigglesfield, as many of us who work at the zoo do. I know she was friendly with quite a few of the locals, too.” Tiff looked significantly at Officer Kelly.

  She nodded. “I think I follow you.”

  All of us were thinking of Ernesto.

  “I’ve got her phone open,” the Officer Miles announced.

  I hadn’t even realised he’d been fiddling with it.

  “I don’t see Tinder,” he said after a moment.

  “I think she said she deleted it,” Tiff said. “But I’ve never seen her with that phone.”

  It was just as I’d suspected. The phone in the office had been used for other purposes.

  The officer shut the screen again, rather quickly, I noticed. “We’ll have to get someone at the lab to check for anything,” he muttered.

  “From what you’re both saying, I gather Jenna had quite a few partners?” Officer Kelly said.

  We both nodded, mutely.

  “I know this feels a bit like pointing fingers, but remember, we’re only looking for the person who committed this horrible crime. No one else is going to get in any trouble,” she assured us. I had a nasty feeling I knew what was coming next.

  “We’re going to need a list of names,” she completed.

  It took Tiff and I just as long as I’d expected for us to recount everyone Jenna had been with in recent memory. Once she’d been with someone, Jenna didn’t tend to revisit them, but we’d found it hard to remember her long list, unless we bounced the names off each other in something that felt like chronological order. By the time we finally ran out of steam, both police officers were looking startled.

  “You’re sure about these?” The male officer asked, sceptical that one woman could have had so many conquests. I glanced sideways at Tiff, somehow knowing that the same thing had just occurred to us.

  “One hundred percent sure about those men. Jenna was always pretty chatty, although, I think she did occasionally keep a secret if there was a reason to.” I realised what I’d just said. “She’d never intentionally go after anyone who was married, or anything like that! But there were incidents where she might have been with someone, only for them to get into a longterm relationship right afterwards. She’d keep quiet if they asked her to, I think.” I only knew that from what Jenna had hinted to me from time to time. From that, I’d inferred that she genuinely was as good as her word.

  “So, there might be others, too,” Officer Kelly concluded.

  “You’ll probably want to consider the ones who turned her down, too,” I added. “Jenna didn’t always take the first no to mean ‘no way’.”

  “It just meant a challenge,” Tiff recalled with a little smile.

  “Would you know the names of any of those men?” Officer Kelly asked, looking as though she wished she didn’t have to.

  I pulled a face. “That’s more tricky. Jenna wouldn’t gossip about that, unless she was really trying to pursue them. You’ll probably have to ask every local man of a reasonable age if you want to get the truth.” I thought about that for a second. “If it is one of them, they’re probably not going to tell the truth, are they?” Not unless they were the most inept murderer in the world. Something told me we weren’t due a lucky break.

  “You know, I think she even asked Detective Treesden if he wanted to go on a date,” I said, seeming to remember Jenna had been intrigued by the salt and pepper detective, with his icy gaze and horrible manners. Probably not the last bit.

  Officer Kelly looked like her eyes might pop out of her head.

  “I think we’re nearly done here. I’d better start pu
tting the things we’ve bagged into the car,” Officer Miles said, clearly fighting his own surprise and amusement. Their boss wasn’t above reproach in this case, either!

  “I don’t know that he said yes,” I felt I had to add, doubting that Detective Treesden had fallen for Jenna’s charms.

  Once Officer Miles was gone and Tiff had left to clear away the empty mugs, I turned to Officer Kelly. “Are you sure that your partner who was here today was never involved with Jenna?”

  Officer Kelly’s facial expressions went through a remarkable array of emotions. At first she looked deeply embarrassed and then on the verge of rage.

  “I’ll ask,” she practically growled.

  Too late, I realised I’d stepped on someone’s toes. Clearly, Avery Zoo wasn’t the only place where inadvisable office relationships took place.

  5

  Turkey vs Peacock

  It was with great trepidation that I opened the door to the animal dependancy unit. The police officers had left with their evidence and I’d had to face the reality of the large, aggressive bird I’d locked up in a small room. I’d left it with plenty of food and water, but a bird of that size needed space to roam around. Leaving it there any longer would be cruel.

  When I’d told Auryn about the unexpected arrival, he’d become nearly hysterical with laughter. Something about the idea of someone abandoning a turkey right before Christmas tickled him pink. he’d hypothesised that the bird had been stolen by a well-meaning animal conservationist, and somewhere, someone was without their Christmas dinner. He’d mused about putting up posters but had dismissed the idea. He’d then said if someone had really wanted to save the turkey’s life, we should honour that wish.

  The Winter Wonderland provided a convenient short term solution for the housing of the turkey. The enclosures were large, and I was hopeful that the donkeys would be able to put up with the potential prima-donna antics of the large bird. They were a pretty grumpy pair themselves, so I thought they could be made for each other. The problem was, getting the turkey there.