by Ruby Loren
“How about ‘don’t get caught’. I don’t even know why I’m doing this,” Katya muttered, swishing her dark plait back and forth.
I handed her a tape measure and a clipboard with a sheet of paper and a pen attached to it, so she could write down her findings. “Probably because you’re just as curious as I am about whatever happened to the Abraham family. Who knows? It might even help with your business at the zoo,” I said, although I’d been thinking some more on that theory. Surely if the secret service were interested in the family’s disappearance, they would have torn the place apart already, just to double check that there were no bodies in the walls? Katya’s blank expression, although guarded, further helped me to figure out that whatever the reason they were present at the zoo, it wasn’t directly related to the disappearance. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t somehow connected.
For the briefest of moments, my mind jumped to aliens - probably because there were several inflatable ones propped up around the dinner table. I slammed the lid firmly shut on that theory. MI5 was not on the hunt for extraterrestrials in rural South East England.
“Wouldn’t the police have done this when they originally investigated?” Katya said an hour later when we were both beginning to get fed up with measuring.
I thought back to the newspaper reports and the other snippets I’d searched for and read online. “They may have done when they started to take the case seriously, but who knows if they measured the walls? There were no signs of violence or a struggle. We don’t know what happened, so an open mind is important at this stage. You never know what you might find.” Upon reflection, I probably shouldn’t have sounded so cheery at the prospect of potentially finding a family of skeletons stuffed in a cavity wall.
“All right, Nancy Drew, let me know when you’ve cracked the case,” Katya said.
Behind the wall I was measuring (which turned out to be too narrow to hide anything inside) I smiled. In spite of our differences, I thought Katya was starting to like me.
“What makes you think they’re bricked up in the walls, anyway?” Katya asked.
“Well… this place was just a barn when the Abrahams first got here. I think the family themselves made it into the house it is now. With that kind of skill, I’m sure it wouldn’t have been much of a stretch for one of them to brick up the others. Or perhaps someone came in and did it to them. You never know what some people will do,” I said, suddenly feeling depressed about the world as a whole. I shook myself. You had to maintain the belief that people were basically good, or your thoughts would swallow you whole.
“They might just be buried out on the farmland somewhere,” Katya mused.
“And someone just built a zoo on it all,” I observed with a sigh. However, I wasn’t sure I believed that the Abrahams were out on the land. The police would have definitely looked that far, and I was sure any recent signs of digging - even within the planned zoo itself - would have been thoroughly investigated. After all, what better way to execute a crime than to have the whole county searching for a family who had really never left their home at all?
I stared at the wall I was measuring and said some rude words under my breath. There was nothing here. Katya was up in the attic, but judging by the lack of noise from her, she was either not finding anything, or was currently catching up on some shut eye whilst pretending to be appeasing the crazy lady she’d been set to keep an eye on. Ha! I knew there was a silver-lining to them all having to keep a close eye on me.
I was about to measure the wall behind the bath, whilst wondering if this was a bad place or a good place to hide bodies, when I heard Katya call out.
“Have you found something?” I asked, stepping out of the bathroom. I blinked a little as thoughts of handy nooks to hide bodies assailed my brain. Well, if I ever needed to hide a corpse, I’d have plenty of inspiration to draw on.
“No, nothing really,” Katya said, walking down the wooden steps which led up into the not-yet-converted attic space. I supposed it would always remain in its state of stasis. “I got a communication saying someone’s pulled up outside the zoo and they’re heading this way. I think it’s your friend who was here the other day?”
“Tiff?” I said in some surprise, wondering if they could be right. “She does know I’m working here today, but…” I frowned. It was pretty unlike Tiff to pop in on my work uninvited. The only other time I’d seen her unexpectedly had been when I was working on a job at Snidely Safari. She’d arrived out of the blue and had told me I was being selfish and neglecting my friends. It hadn’t been a fun wake up call, but I thought it had done the job. At any rate, I hoped this wasn’t another intervention.
It was something though, I knew that much. Tiff was the head of commerce at Avery Zoo. She knew that she couldn’t just interrupt a day of work without a good reason.
I looked around the barn, feeling a little guilty. To be fair, it was a day of work… just not the work I was supposed to be doing. I mentally reminded myself that I had plans to stay late at the zoo and I would then work late into the night compiling the beginnings of my final review.
Katya and I exited the barn just as Tiff rounded the corner.
“Hi Madi. Hello,” she said, nodding to the security guard. I noticed Tiff’s normally warm expression was cool. I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring wink that everything was in hand. From the concerned look Tiff gave me, it probably looked like I had something wrong with my face.
“What are you up to?” Tiff said, looking down at the tape measures we were still carrying. “You’re hunting for bodies, aren’t you?” My best friend was not slow on the uptake. “And you look like that’s not what you’re supposed to be doing,” she continued.
Well, well… if the people hanging around at the zoo really were MI5, they should be recruiting Tiff any day for her brilliant powers of observation.
“I’m just trying to be as thorough as possible with my review,” I said, shooting her a sideways smile.
Tiff rolled her eyes upwards. “No bodies in the walls so far, I suppose? Have you checked the garage?”
“Ooo not yet,” I said, remembering that the garage had been a key part of the original story.
“And what about the concrete parking space?” she continued.
I shot her a sharp look. She pretended to be examining her fingernails.
“You won’t believe the gossip that’s going around Avery Zoo at the moment,” she said mildly.
I snorted. That made sense. With Mellon Zoo opening, of course the old rumours about the Abraham family disappearance and all of the wild theories that accompanied it would have resurfaced. Heck, Tiff probably knew more about the disappearance than I did.
“Someone must have ruled the concrete out. Otherwise that would be the first place to look,” Katya jumped in.
“Noted. Although, I do think it’s strange that no one dug it up just on the off-chance,” I admitted.
We all looked down at the patch of concrete just to the side of the barn.
“Wouldn’t it be weird if they were all under there?” Tiff said after a moment.
“I’m pretty sure they’re not, but keeping an open mind is important at this stage of our investigation,” I concluded.
Katya looked away - probably to roll her eyes - and Tiff smirked. I was getting way too into this.
“Actually, I came here to tell you something, Madi,” Tiff said, managing to make my stomach drop and then wobble around as it tried to decide whether it was something good or bad. Had something terrible happened at the zoo? Had Auryn finally been bewitched by Claudia, the zoo’s financial advisor? I banished the thought from my head. For once, it might not be something about me. But waiting and wondering was not going to get me an answer and Tiff’s pointed looks in Katya’s direction let me know she wanted this to be a private conversation.
Well - as private as things got at the heavily surveilled Mellon Zoo.
“I’ll start measuring the garage,” Katya said, clearly taking the hint and
walking off.
“How about we take a walk around the elephant enclosure? You wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity to check on Donald Trunk, would you?” I said, unable to keep from grinning at the silly name - despite hearing it on a daily basis.
“Sounds good,” Tiff said, obviously thinking along the same lines as I was.
It was tricky to have a conversation you could guarantee wouldn’t be overheard at Mellon Zoo, but at least when you were out doing the long walk around the elephant enclosure, you could see exactly where the security team had been stationed and could also see anyone else approaching you.
We walked in a thoughtful silence until we were a good distance away from the main zoo, which sat higher up the hill.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her, unable to keep the worry from my voice.
“Oh, nothing’s wrong!” Tiff said looking surprised before grinning. “It’s not always doom and gloom, you know. I’m sorry for interrupting the hard work you were clearly putting in today…” she raised her eyebrows “…but you’re never around Avery these days, and I wanted to tell you in person so I can see what you think.”
I waited.
“I have a new boyfriend and he’s amazing!” she announced.
“That’s… great!” I said, unfortunately hesitating right in the middle as something occurred to me.
Tiff shot me a look. “Is it?”
“It is, Tiff. Of course it is. Just with everything going on right now… I think I’m getting paranoid.” I shook my head. “Tell me about the lucky guy. How did you meet him?”
“Funny story, actually… He’s part of your publisher’s team. He’s some kind of manager. We met because Auryn is in talks with the publishers about becoming a stockist of your books. Oh, and apparently you have merchandise now?” Tiff opened her eyes wide at me.
“Auryn’s doing what?! He never told me any of that! I could have sorted it for him. The merchandise is a bit silly, isn’t it? I said yes just to make them happy. Everyone’s making such a big deal over it all. It actually scares me a bit,” I admitted, my blushes giving way to sincerity.
“I know… it’s something huge. But you’ll always be the same old Madi, won’t you? You’re not going to quit working at Avery?”
“I’ll never quit working with animals, but you know I go where the work takes me. I’ll always come back to Avery,” I allowed.
Something about Tiff’s expression let me know that hadn’t been the perfect answer, but she didn’t let me dwell on it.
“So, this guy, Darius, he’s in charge of all of this stuff. After the meetings about possible events and endorsement deals, we got talking about the stock for the shop. One thing led to another and he took me out on a date and now we’re officially together. He’s so nice! I can’t wait for you to meet him.”
“He sounds good so far,” I said with a smile I hoped looked genuine.
“Here’s a pic,” Tiff said, pulling up his Facebook profile.
“Okay, he looks good, too,” I said, staring at the man who could only be described as an Italian dreamboat. Wowser! “He doesn’t own the yacht that’s in that picture, does he?” I joked.
Tiff shook her head. “If he’s on anything like my manager’s salary, he might own the rope that ties it to the dock.”
“How’s the other business?” I asked, eager to let her know I wasn’t totally focused on myself.
“Really good, actually. I’ve had to close my Etsy store down.”
“What?!” I said, horrified. Tiff had put so much work into making her store a success.
She grinned. “It’s because I signed an exclusive deal with a firm. You know the one… they advertise relentlessly in peoples’ inboxes, but apparently it works. I applied on a whim and did some research when I got accepted. People are making full-time livings from their site, even though they take a ridiculously huge cut. I’m going to have to put my prices up, which makes me sad,” she admitted.
“I’m sure your loyal customers will understand.”
Tiff nodded and looked from side to side.
“You’re secretly going to sell them their maps at the old price, aren’t you?” I said, unsurprised. Tiff was sometimes too nice for her own good, in my opinion. But hey, I needed someone like her to remind me of my own shortcomings.
“Anyway, I really didn’t mean to bother you. I just wanted to see what you thought of Darius,” she said. “By the way…”
I’d known there was going to be a ‘by the way’.
“Have you found anything out about the suspicious number of security guards who do nothing but watch us around here?”
“I’m doing everything I can,” I told her honestly.
That seemed to be good enough for Tiff. We walked back around the elephant enclosure, through the zoo, and up over the hill that led back to the car park. She hesitated outside her car. “Come back to Avery soon. I know we all miss you being around.”
“I will, Tiff. I love Avery, but they do have a full staff of zookeepers. I can’t let Auryn pay me for a job he doesn’t need doing.”
Tiff raised an eyebrow at me.
“Okay, fine… I may not exactly need a whole lot of paying these days with the way things seem to be going.”
“I know. I saw your Etsy sales,” she cut in.
“But he still doesn’t need me to do anything. I’ll just get in the way. If I were to hang around the zoo doing nothing that would really get me down.”
“Just remember, even if you don’t think there’s anything for you to do at the zoo, Auryn needs you. He misses you. I know it,” she told me.
I had a sudden flashback to the strange way he’d behaved before I’d given him my Valentine’s Day present. “Do you really think so?” I asked, suddenly having doubts.
“Madi, he is crazy about you with a capital C. He always has been, but you just never gave him a chance to show it until now.” She shook her head. “I should have known better than to get involved once you were free of Lowell. Speaking of Lowell…”
“I haven’t seen him around here for a while.”
“Good.”
While I outwardly agreed with Tiff’s sentiment, his disappearance did raise more questions. If he wasn’t here, where was he? Still posing as a marketing assistant? I had no idea what his game was right now.
“Tell Darius I say hi and want to come for a visit on his yacht,” I said, determined to finish the visit on a positive note.
Tiff grinned. “Let me know if you find any bodies in the wall!”
As she drove away I wondered what I’d ever done to deserve having those words said as a cheerful parting phrase.
Looking back, I’d done quite a lot.
“Perhaps I will find some bodies in the wall,” I said to myself before walking back towards the barn to find out if Katya had managed to measure up the garage.
As I walked along the winding paths, which were designed to blend and compliment the landscape, I thought about Tiff’s new boyfriend and I wondered if he was what he appeared to be. Tiff was beautiful and kind and everything that anyone could ever want in a potential partner. However, I still couldn't shake the doubts caused by a mixture of paranoia and some genuine grounds for concern. What if it wasn’t an innocent, coincidental romance? After all… what better way to keep an eye on someone who asks the wrong kind of questions than becoming their boyfriend? Tiff’s observational skills may not have gone unnoticed.
Katya looked a lot more dishevelled than she had when I’d left her by the barn. She was sitting outside the garage on the concrete when I walked around the back. When she saw me, she wordlessly handed up a sheet of measurements.
“Nothing?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Nothing apart from the central dividing wall which is a bit thick at half a metre, but I knocked on it and it felt like solid brick, so I guess the void is only twenty or thirty centimetres, which seems pretty small. She noticed my curious expression and sighed. “I looked more carefully and
realised that the garage roof has a strange angle in the middle where it meets the other side of the roof. I think they might have only intended the garage to have one parking space and then changed their minds halfway through. The central wall was probably originally the outer one. If you look, you can tell the tiles are different.”
“It’s strange seeing tiles on a roof,” I commented.
Katya nodded. “This place is so eco-friendly you think everything’s going to be green but there are exceptions. Couldn’t help but notice the plastic glowing aliens and the tacky sign in front of the barn don’t seem to fit the program.”
“Who knows? Maybe they’ve all got seeds embedded in them. An eco-friendly ghost tour, whatever next?” I joked.
Part of the zoo’s ability to blend in with the landscape was due to the amount of plants that had been inserted wherever there was a space. Living walls and living roofs were everywhere, and a plethora of plants were all around us. There were so many that Amanda had discovered she needed to employ someone to take care of them all. For the most part, they were self-sufficient and hardy, which was why they’d been picked to become part of the enclosures. However, hot summers and cold winters, not to mention disease, could affect the health and quality of the plants and there was always the question of over growth. None of the plants were too rampant to my knowledge, but with all of the rain we had in England it wouldn’t be long before things started to look untidy. The growing exasperation I’d seen on Amanda’s face over the past few weeks had let me know exactly what she thought about the concept of an ‘eco-zoo’ these days. I think the conclusion was that friendly to the environment meant a lot more expensive to run.
As much as I hated to acknowledge it, there was a good reason why humans used plastic, metal, and other manmade materials. They were cheap and they were enduring without the need for much maintenance. That meant more money going into our pockets, and at some point in time, we’d decided that money mattered more than the state of the world we lived in.
“So, negative on the skeletons in the walls theory. Did we definitely check all of the closets?” It was a weak attempt at a joke.
