The Peacock's Poison

by Ruby Loren

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. Maybe it was done after she died. I still don’t even know why anyone would kill her. Did someone poison her and then have their fun with her, too? Or is that just what we’re supposed to think? That she was killed because she liked men too much, and finally picked the wrong one…”

  Tiff echoed my head shake with one of her own. “Poor Jenna. She was never as confident as she liked to pretend. Gossip was her way of making sure she stayed relevant and that people found her interesting. Gaining the admiration of men was another way to further validate that she was attractive.” Tiff sighed. “It’s such a shame that she steeped so much of her self-worth in the opinions of others.”

  “And one of them used it against her,” I finished.

  16

  Nightmare Before Christmas

  Claudia glared at me whilst managing to smile and laugh at Barnaby in the next second. Whilst I admired her ability to multi-task so efficiently, I still found it tiresome that she seemed to think we were permanently in competition. I smiled to myself, remembering that if I chose to, I could be out of the race.

  This time, I had a feeling it might be for good…

  I was forced to stuff the happy thoughts deep inside, lest my dreamy expression was misinterpreted when Barnaby walked towards me with a fuming Claudia in tow.

  “Well done for yesterday. I didn’t get a chance to thank you for all the hard work you put in,” he said.

  “It was a team effort,” I said, nodding to Claudia in turn. The dark-haired woman turned away in disgust. Well, it had been worth a shot.

  “Madi, I heard you might be clearing Jenna’s house out soon?” Barnaby said, and I confirmed it. “It’s a bit of a strange request, but I think you may find a video with me on it.”

  He must have seen my sudden change of expression because he laughed. “Not that kind of video, although, I did hear…” He cleared his throat.

  “Rumours spread around here,” I said, letting him off.

  “I sent Jenna a promo video for the events company because she was getting her interns to post about White Trees on social media, and I wanted her to get the wording, and so on, right. It’s silly, but my computer at home crashed a few days ago, and I’ve suddenly realised I don’t have a copy of it.” He sighed and shrugged. “I’ve resigned myself to the probability that I’ll have to record it again, but you never know. Perhaps it will still be in her emails, or something.”

  I assured him I’d keep an eye out, if, and when, we were asked to sort out her apartment. I knew that Auryn had offered, but all had been quiet from her parents for a few days. I wasn’t even sure if they were still staying locally, or had gone back to their retirement home.

  “Thanks Madi, you’ll be saving me if you do find it. Sara will kill me if it’s gone.” He pulled a panicked face and I smiled.

  “Is Sara still around?”

  “Yes, that’s actually why I have Claudia here with me. We were going to go over all of the projected and current finances, before she moves on to bother the other events teams.” He raised his dark eyebrows.

  “I’d better let you two get on then,” I said, politely backing away.

  Claudia’s gaze had got to the point where I worried I might be about to spontaneously combust at any moment. I thought Barnaby looked a little disappointed that I was leaving him with Claudia, but I was not going to get between anyone else.

  I walked back through the zoo, instinctively sticking to the fences when I passed the patrolling peacocks. It was second nature these days. I was on my way to check on Lucky. I’d brought the little cat with me to the zoo today. Earlier this morning, I’d walked him out the back to see the cat barn. I’d undone his leash and let him loose, backing off to a safe distance, ready to dive back in if he needed help. I knew feral cats operated on a scent basis and there was every chance they might reject him as not fitting in. However, I also knew new cats joined the group of cats at the zoo all the time, and part of me had wondered…

  I sighed as I walked further into the zoo.

  Part of me had wondered if Lucky might be happier as a quasi-feral cat, just as his mother was. From my safe distance away, I’d seen the cats cautiously come out to meet the new arrival and had watched as Lucky had behaved even more cautiously. Even more fascinating was when his brothers and sisters had appeared. A second later, they’d sniffed each other out and were playing together! I’d taken it as my cue to leave but had resolved to return later to see what Lucky’s feelings were. If he decided that this was where he wanted to stay, I would respect that.

  If you love something let it go, I reminded myself as I walked around the corner of the staff area and continued until I was out the back of the zoo. I quickened my pace a little, suddenly fearing that the cats had turned on him when I’d gone, although that wouldn’t have been logical. Lucky had been neutered, and I’d watched him get accepted. He wasn’t a threat to anyone.

  I rounded the corner of the cat barn and there was the same old rush of movement as the cats scattered and hid. I’d hoped to see Lucky sitting there waiting, but he was nowhere to be seen.

  So that was his decision.

  I bit my lip, remembering I’d left his harness on. I would have to find him again, but I was sure it could wait a little longer. I’d just have to come back at the end of the day.

  I turned to walk back to the zoo and heard a familiar meowing sound. Lucky was trotting through the long grass towards me. He sped up and in a flying leap, was on my shoulder, rubbing his head against my face.

  “Oh, Lucky. I would never leave you if you didn’t want me to,” I said, feeling overcome with emotion.

  Until I smelled it.

  “Have you been getting too close to cows again?” I said, taking a tentative sniff. The smell only got stronger. I realised that Lucky was caked in cowpat, and he’d just done his best to wipe most of it off onto my cheek.

  “You little horror!” I told him, pushing him off my shoulder. It was too late, the damage was already done.

  Lucky swirled around my ankles, deliberately making it worse. “What did I ever do to deserve you?” I complained and walked back towards the zoo. Lucky trotted along by my side, firmly establishing himself as my partner for life. If he could have spoken, I was certain he’d be saying something like ‘you couldn’t get rid of me if you tried!’.

  In spite of my cowpat-caked cheek, I smiled.

  I’d only just cleaned my face up and pulled out my last set of emergency clothing from my locker when Harry steamed across the room towards me. I turned around to look behind me, but was forced to conclude that his war path was leading him straight to me.

  “You ruined my relationship!”

  I looked around. No, he was definitely talking to me.

  “I’m… sorry?” I said.

  “You! You were the one who told the police that I’d been seeing Jenna and Julia at the same time. We were engaged. It was perfect! Auryn had given me his blessing to propose at the celebration of life party. He thought it would cheer everyone up and now… ruined.” He shook his head. “All because you couldn’t keep your lying mouth shut.”

  I did a bit of rapid blinking. I didn’t even know Harry other than by name and sight! “I didn’t tell the police anything of the sort. If you were seeing both women at the same time, then you probably should have been honest about it a long time ago.” I bit my tongue as soon as I said it. Great idea, antagonise the man who was still my prime suspect for Jenna’s murder!

  “You must have been the one. I’ve seen you talking to the police all the time. You’re great pals, aren’t you?” he hissed, taking a threatening step forwards.

  I held my ground. “Actually, they like to accuse me of things I haven’t done,” I told him. “Perhaps they’re that way with you, too?”

  He nodded. “They’re telling lies, but I know someone told them.”

  “Well, it wasn’t me,” I said, not knowing what else to say. “I don’t want to suggest anyt
hing, but Jenna wasn’t known for keeping quiet if she thought someone had done something bad to her. She may have told quite a few people. I doubt the police would take one person’s word as anything significant.” Hopefully that would get Tiff off the hook. I knew she’d told the police about what Harry had done. I wasn’t sure if anyone else had known, or even suspected.

  Harry nodded. “It’s a conspiracy against me.”

  I looked around, but no help appeared. I was stuck sorting this out on my own.

  “Harry, you must love Julia a lot. I think the best thing to do is to be nice to her. Show her that you love her, and do everything you can to let her know you care. If you’re supposed to be together, then I’m sure everything will come right in the end.” I tried for an encouraging smile. “It’s Christmas! A little romance goes a long way.”

  Harry looked less than impressed. “She should just trust me,” he complained, but then his expression softened a little. “Maybe I’ll try that. The police don’t know what they’re talking about,” he finished before finally sloping back off in the direction he’d come from.

  I tried not to collapse against my locker with relief. Harry had shown he deserved his reputation for having a hot temper.

  I shook my head. He was so impulsive and full of rage.

  He was the polar opposite of everything I suspected Jenna’s killer to be.

  I sighed and closed my locker up. It was back to the drawing board as far as finding the murderer went.

  Claudia walked into the staffroom right after I’d managed to finish changing my clothes. She was clearly looking for someone.

  To my surprise, it turned out to be me.

  “I’m glad I found you. I just thought you should know… Lawrence died in hospital this morning,” she said.

  “I’m sorry,” I said and then wondered if that was the right thing to say to Claudia.

  She nodded. “I know he was mean, and could be a fool, but I’ll still miss him.”

  “Auryn and the zoo will be sorry to see him go, too. I’m sure something will be done to commemorate his work.”

  Claudia managed a small smile. “Yes, Auryn said that he’s already thinking of something to do.” She shook her head. “Poor Auryn. Everything always seems to happen at once here. It may sound callous, but at least the zoo is a roaring success right now. Otherwise it would all be doom and gloom, wouldn’t it?”

  I nodded, unsure what to say to that.

  “Well, I’d better get back to work. Lots to do,” she said, looking a little unhappier all of a sudden. “Lawrence’s funeral isn’t going to happen until after the New Year. I know he wouldn’t have wanted the zoo to be disrupted in any way. Also, Auryn is the one who’s been saddled with organising it now everyone knows about the will.” She had the decency to look a little guilty. “At least it’s been paid for by the old man.”

  “I’d better offer to help him if he needs it,” I said, reflecting that Auryn really did have a lot on his plate, even if this funeral was being pushed back. Much like my consultancy career, I noted.

  “Cute cat,” Claudia said, reaching up to touch Lucky, who was sitting on top of the lockers watching everything.

  “No!” I said, right before she touched him.

  Claudia looked at me in surprise.

  “Trust me. You’ll be scrubbing your hand for a long time if you do that. He’s normally a black cat with white paws. Now he’s just black and stinky.”

  Claudia wrinkled her nose. “You have a point. I wasn’t going to say anything when I smelled it earlier.” She gave me a slightly apologetic look. “Anyway, back to work,” she repeated and walked off in the direction of the new offices.

  I walked Lucky through the zoo to the dependant animal unit, where I knew there was a sink big enough for a cat-sized bath. It was only now that I reflected I probably should have waited to change my clothes, but I could hardly have walked through the zoo smelling to high heaven.

  Hopefully, Lucky wouldn’t cause too much of a fuss. If he was going to continue his strange affection for cows, he would either have to learn to be more careful, or get used to a lot of baths.

  Whilst I ran the water with Lucky curiously sticking his paw into the stream, I reflected on Lawrence’s death. All I’d done when I rescued him was buy him some more time, and it was time that hadn’t seemed to count for anything. Should I have left him in the office after all and given him a faster, easier death? I shook my head, knowing I would do it all again in a heartbeat. I’d hoped I was giving him a second chance and I had, even if it hadn’t been for long. It wasn’t my choice what he’d been able to do, or not do, with that opportunity.

  “We can only try our best, can’t we, Lucky?” I said before scooping him straight into the lukewarm cat bath.

  Then the real battle began.

  I woke up in a cold sweat. A glance at my phone screen informed me that it was three in the morning.

  “It always is,” I muttered to myself.

  I sat up a little and stroked Lucky, who slept in a tight ball beside me. He made a small cat sound of happiness when I ruffled his fur, but slept on.

  My mind was already drifting back to the dream I’d just had.

  It had been a nightmare.

  I’d been in Jenna’s office, looking over her shoulder.

  Her laptop had been open and there was a TV show flickering on the screen. Her hand stretched out and pointed towards the laptop and I could see the grave dirt underneath her fingernails. Then she’d turned her face. I’d looked at Jenna, Jenna the way I remembered finding her, but in an even worse condition now she’d been beneath ground for a while.

  “I never got to send off my novel,” she’d said and had reached out towards me with her horrible hand.

  Then I’d woken up.

  I rubbed my eyes and wondered if I’d be able to sleep again after that horrible dream.

  “It was just a nightmare,” I whispered to myself and curled up closer to Lucky, hoping his fur would protect me from the monsters who lurked in the dark.

  17

  Digging up the Past

  The nightmare was still in my head the next morning. It was as if Jenna was unhappy that I hadn’t done more to find her killer. She thought I’d given up.

  Yesterday, the police had publicly confirmed that the poison used to kill Jenna was the same as the poison in the bag in the shed, but they’d found no fingerprints or any other signs that might point to a particular person visiting the store room. The case was at a dead end and now Jenna was haunting me.

  I caught sight of my reflection in the servals’ glass and pulled a face. I looked dreadful. My lack of sleep had meant I’d overslept and hadn’t even been able to cover the damage of a sleepless night with makeup. I was hoping to drop in to see Tiff at coffee time. She never used much makeup herself, but what she did use was always perfect. I was hoping she might be able to work a small miracle.

  To everyone’s surprise, more snow had been forecast, and the sky was certainly threatening. I’d just finished making and stuffing one of my favourite big cat amusers - rubber balls filled with various bits of meat, and had dropped it into the servals’ enclosure. The elusive pair were already sniffing around and starting to get the hang of it. I wondered if they’d be as enthusiastic if they were caught in another snow drift.

  “Hopefully it won’t be too bad,” I said, repeating the mantra I’d heard so many times already that morning. No one wanted the zoo to have to close and miss out on the wild success of the Winter Wonderland. Even as I said it, I saw a small flake drift down from the sky. With not long left until Christmas, it would appear we were due another dose of snow.

  “I’d better get some more bedding put out,” I said to myself, starting for the barn. The zoo animals who were less impressed by the snow liked to be able to hide from it until it was all over. There were days when I wished I could do the same.

  As I walked towards the hay barn, I kept hearing Jenna’s voice in my head. I never got
to send off my novel…

  I sighed and shook my head. What could I do about that? From what I’d found, she’d only written a few hundred words. I didn’t know if my mind was suggesting that I morph from comic book artist into crime writer and write the whole thing in memory of her? What she’d written hadn’t even made sense! There’d been no plan, and I still thought it had been copied from a book, rather than penned herself.

  Unless what I’d found hadn’t been the novel after all.

  The file had been called a crime-type name, and I’d just made the assumption. I pulled my phone out, googling the name as I remembered it. A novel by David Baldacci came up.

  I shut my eyes. It hadn’t been Jenna’s novel. I definitely didn’t really believe Jenna was actually in my head, telling me to find her crime novel, but it did raise a few questions. She’d always claimed she was writing a novel - not going to write, but writing - as if it were in progress.

  If that truly were the case, where was the file?

  It wasn’t the only file missing from her laptop either, I reflected. Officer Ernesto had mentioned that there may be a hard drive. He hadn’t sounded at all convinced and when the police had searched Jenna’s office and her house again, they still hadn’t found it.

  But I knew Jenna was quite good at hiding things in places that no one expected. Especially if she thought hiding an item would be the way to keep it safe and ensure she got the leverage she was looking for.

  I remembered back to a time when she’d hidden some rather personal hard copies of photos and had nearly driven a successful crime writer mad. Had Jenna been up to her old tricks?

  I hesitated outside of the hay barn and then set off to check if my theory would pan out.

  “Madi, I got your text. I’ve brought my makeup bag with me,” Tiff came out of the gift shop when I walked past.

  “Thanks Tiff. Can we go to the staffroom? There’s something I need to check,” I said, not wanting to be more specific until I knew for sure. There were so many crazy theories flying around at the moment, I didn’t want to contribute another one. I also didn’t want Tiff to think I was nuts, if I had to explain about the nightmare and turned out to be completely wrong.