Murder is a Monkey's Game

by Ruby Loren

  After the surprise success, I found I was more motivated to record these webcasts. I popped to the bathroom to briefly repair my make up and attempt to do something with my hair, before I returned to the laptop and set up my camera. I brought the list of interview questions up on screen, gritted my teeth, and promised myself I could do hundreds of takes, until I didn't feel quite to ridiculous talking to a camera.

  “I hope no one I know ever sees this…” I muttered and pressed record.

  * * *

  The nights were getting cooler as autumn finally got a grip on southern France. That still didn’t stop me from being unable to sleep that night.

  I woke up at four in the morning and found that the first light of dawn was already beginning to lighten the horizon. I knew I wouldn’t be getting anymore sleep, so I decided to get up and go for an early morning walk.

  The village was quiet apart from the few tweets of some early rising birds. The tourists had been steadily declining over the past week. The village wasn’t incredibly busy at the best of times, but now it was completely deserted. I walked through the houses, feeling like a ghost, whilst inside everyone continued to sleep.

  I decided to take a circuitous route back and walked down the lane where Luna and Adele lived. My eyes struggled to see clearly in the gloom of the early morning, but I spotted something up ahead. I squinted and kept walking, wondering what the lump in the middle of the road was.

  Two steps later, I realised it was a person.

  I broke into a run and then dropped to my knees by the body. I recognised the brown hair as I felt for a pulse.

  It was Justin.

  A wave of relief crashed over me when I found a pulse - albeit a faint one. I daren’t roll him over, so I couldn't tell if he had any hidden injuries, but blood was still sticky on the side of his face. His hair was also matted with the stuff. I thought he’d probably been hit on the head with something.

  “What were you doing out here, Justin?” I said, before realising I needed to do something. I should call the ambulance and the police, but my French just wasn’t good enough. It would only waste valuable time.

  I did the only thing I could and ran to the nearest house, which happened to be Luna’s.

  I banged on the door and was relieved when she answered a few seconds later, wearing a dressing gown.

  “What’s happening?” she said, blearily.

  “You’ve got to call an ambulance. Justin’s out in the street. He’s been hurt,” I said and then rushed back out to Justin without waiting for an answer. I knew Luna would do her part.

  Justin was still breathing when I returned and he also seemed aware that I was there. He started to mutter something unintelligible.

  “What happened, Justin?” I asked.

  “Don't remember,” was all I could make out. At least he’d understood me.

  Luna rushed by a couple of seconds later, giving me a thumbs up. She’d called the ambulance and now she was heading to wake Adele up.

  “Don’t worry. The ambulance is on its way. It's all going to be okay,” I reassured Justin, who had worryingly become silent again.

  I hoped the paramedics weren’t too far away.

  * * *

  I’d just finished dragging a fresh carcass in for the paired tigers and opened the panel to allow them access, when I saw Adele walk past.

  “Adele!” I called, surprised to see her back at the zoo so soon. She saw me and blinked a couple of times before walking over.

  “Sorry, my head is on a different planet today,” she explained.

  “What are you doing back at the zoo? I thought you’d still be at the hospital.”

  I hadn’t had a chance to speak to Adele about finding Justin early that the morning. The ambulance had pulled up just as Luna had managed to rouse Adele and she’d jumped inside the ambulance straight after they’d loaded him in.

  It was Saturday, and technically my day off, but I’d known it was more important to step into the breach to help a friend.

  “Justin is actually doing okay and we've both missed so much work recently. I can't really afford another day off," she said with a wan smile. “He’s fully conscious now, although he says he doesn’t remember what happened.” She sighed. “Matti’s been playing up since the puppies were born. We think he may be feeling ignored because the puppies need so much attention at the moment. I went to bed pretty early yesterday evening, so I have no idea what happened. We think that Matti might have managed to slip out of the house and run away. Luna found him in her back garden this morning, so at least he’s safe. We just have no idea how he got there.” She ran a hand through her dark hair. “Justin probably went out to look late at night and someone attacked him. I’m just so glad you found him. Thank you.”

  “I couldn't sleep, so I went for an early morning walk,” I explained, knowing Adele would probably be wondering just what I’d been doing strolling down her road in the early hours, but was too polite to ask.

  “I thought it must be something like that. We’re lucky you found him,” she repeated.

  “I just hope he gets better soon and remembers what happened.”

  “I just can’t imagine why anyone would want to attack Justin,” Adele said.

  I nodded in agreement, but inside I thought I had a pretty good idea. If someone was running a strange campaign against Adele, attacking her husband would be a pretty good fit. Who’s obsessed with her and what is their goal? I wondered.

  “If you’re okay to work, I’d be happy to go back to doing my review,” I said, unsure how much Adele would be able to handle today. Now I was at the zoo, I may as well stay for the day.

  “I think I’ll be fine. Thanks though, Madi,” she said.

  “Oh, have you seen Luna around?” I asked her. We’d agreed to do the same rounds we’d done when I’d covered last time, but that had been right after Justin had been taken away in the ambulance. I hadn’t seen her since.

  She shook her head. “No, I haven’t. I’ll let you know you’re looking for her.”

  I nodded and left her to finish off the morning rounds. It was only when I paused to think about it that I realised I didn’t have much left to do before my review was complete. There'd been so much going on, I hadn’t noticed that my time at L’airelle was coming to an end.

  All I had to do now was finish my observations and suggestions for some of the large herbivores and a few of the smaller animals here and there and I'd be ready to hand it all in. In spite of everything that had happened, I would be very sorry to leave the quaint village and the firm friends I’d made. I hoped that this trip wouldn’t be the last I made to L’airelle.

  I went back to the hut to pick up my review worksheets and then made my way across the zoo to the macaws.

  I’d been putting off visiting this particular enclosure, because I already suspected it would be a problem.

  It turned out I was right.

  When I approached, I found a keeper with a macaw on their arm. They were encouraging visitors to come up and stroke the large bird and also allowing some of them to hold the parrot and have a photo taken with it.

  My lips set in a thin line at what I was seeing. It wasn’t that it was a bad thing to regularly handle birds - especially macaws - but I got the impression that this went on all day. Education was one thing, but continual exploitation for the sake of a photo opportunity I wouldn’t stand for, and I just knew my observations were correct. The macaw should have had a bright and colourful plumage, but instead he seemed drab. I also noticed some bald patches on his chest, where he’d been pulling out his own feathers. All in all, it wasn’t a happy sight.

  The macaw’s fellows weren’t much better off. Their enclosure was bare and covered with sand. The only interest being the large, dead tree, where a couple of other macaws and an African grey parrot perched. I noticed they all had leather thongs around their legs that kept them from flying.

  I shook my head. How could a zoo who had such a laissez-faire a
ttitude to monkeys running around loose treat their birds like prisoners? Even if they weren’t confined, the enclosure was inappropriately sized, designed for viewing rather than animal happiness.

  I filled out the sheet with every criticism I noticed and then placed it firmly at the top of the pile. I made a promise to myself that I would not be leaving the zoo until these poor parrots were guaranteed a proper aviary, with space to fly around. Any educational up close viewing should only be during a specific time slot daily, and the birds should always be rotated and rewarded. Animals were not our slaves.

  When I looked up at the parrot enclosure again, the keeper holding the bird met my gaze. No words passed between us, but I thought he knew my judgement all the same.

  I walked away to move on to the next animal on my list. None of this was personal. I had a job to do.

  A strange sound distracted me on my way to see the hippos. I backed up and looked down the small side alley, blocked off by a staff access only gate. The noise sounded like giggling. I wondered if a child had somehow managed to crawl under the gate.

  Any normal sized person would probably have been able to climb up on something and peer over the top to satisfy their curiosity. I was reduced to lying flat on my face and peering underneath the gap.

  All I could see were two pairs of shoes. It took me a moment, but I realised I recognised them both. The giggling continued and despite my face being pressed against damp concrete, I smiled.

  Luna had obviously sought comfort and found it in the arms of Alcide, the primate keeper. I pushed myself back to my feet and walked back the way I'd come, silently wishing Luna a better relationship than the one she’d gone through with Enzo Argent. She deserved someone nice.

  I walked on with a spring in my step, pleased that something good had come out of today.

  My good mood evaporated when I heard a loud chorus of ‘Eeeeeew!’.

  Concerned, I hurried towards the source of the noise and discovered that a large group of children had gathered outside the Pallas’s cats enclosure. Some of their faces were pressed up against the glass. I spared a thought for the poor caretakers who'd have to polish it later.

  I got closer and stood on tiptoe to see what was causing the children so much disgust. The few adults around had similar expressions of distaste on their faces.

  My first impression was one of surprise. The Pallas’s cats were up and about in the open. They were even looking pretty active. They kept jumping about and patting the ground with their paws. Then they’d bite at the floor and… oh.

  I’d forgotten about the spiders.

  Another delighted ‘Eeeeew!’ went up, as one of the cats caught a many legged creature and crunched down, clearly enjoying it immensely.

  I looked at the crowd again and noted that the children’s disgust was definitely the fascinated kind. The adults just looked like they wanted to be sick. I grinned.

  Perhaps conventional wisdom was that it was the adults who paid for the entry and their opinions should always be considered, but I knew that kids held a lot of sway, and they loved gross things like cats munching on spiders. I decided I would be sharing the spider experiment with Monsieur Quebec when I handed in my final review. Despite the somewhat unappealing spectacle, it was great to see the normally reclusive cats getting active. I was glad we'd bought the ‘right flavour’ spiders.

  * * *

  I was surprised when my phone rang on my way to lunch break. I checked the screen and discovered Lowell was calling me.

  “Hi, is everything okay?” I asked. Perhaps it was paranoia, but I couldn’t help but wonder when the next dreadful thing would happen. Constantine had been attacked in Angoux, but Justin’s attack had taken place practically down the road from us. I wasn’t sure who was next on the madman’s list.

  “Yeah, everything’s fine. I’m at the hospital with Justin. I thought I’d check in on him and make sure he’s in good hands,” Lowell said.

  I frowned at the handset. Lowell was a great guy and had shown me he could be caring at times, but visiting hospitals to check a man he barely knew was okay? It was definitely unusual.

  “He’s lucky he’s got so many visitors. Mr Flannigan’s just dropped by and we’re all having a nice chat,” Lowell said.

  I snorted into the phone and hoped it wouldn’t make Lowell grin. So that was why he was at the hospital. He wanted to find out if the agents were on to something.

  “Talking about anything interesting?” I asked.

  “Yeah, we’re having a great time. I’ll see you later,” he said and hung up.

  I smiled, knowing that Lowell would be sure to dish the dirt when I saw him that evening.

  I’d just entered the restaurant and was browsing sandwiches (I hadn’t expected to need lunch) when Luna came up behind me and tickled my ribs. I laughed and my arms reflexively shot up, unfortunately launching the brie and ham baguette I’d been holding, halfway across the room.

  We both turned away as it landed on the head of a parent, who already looked like he was having a hard time controlling his brood. I contemplated the blank wall in front of me and heard a child shout ‘food fight!’. A few wet splunches followed, encouraging me to look round.

  “How about we walk down to the village and grab something?” Luna said, dragging me out of the restaurant before the whole place went into melt down. I hoped they wouldn’t look back at the CCTV.

  We walked down the tree-lined road that led down to the village. Orange leaves fluttered by every time the breeze blew. I smiled as I watched them fall. Autumn was my favourite season.

  “Did you spend some time with Alcide this morning?” I asked, casually.

  Luna turned scarlet. “We, um…”

  “Had a moment?” I suggested with a smile.

  Luna nodded happily. “He’s going to take me out for dinner tonight. Isn’t that great? I was feeling so down after that horrible trip to the police station and Enzo being Enzo,” she said, disgustedly. “I was just talking about it all to Alcide. I also said how what had happened to Justin was so terrible. I got pretty upset, to be honest, but he was really great. He just let me talk and then said some really good things and we kissed.” She blushed again. “I just can’t believe he's interested in me.”

  I frowned at her. “Luna, you’re great! Don’t you dare think you aren’t just because of the way Enzo treated you. You are more than worthy of a wonderful partner,” I told her.

  “Thanks Madi,” Luna said, all happiness and light.

  A cloud crossed her face. “Before all the good stuff happened, I was hoping to find you to ask your thoughts on something. I had a weird call yesterday evening. I answered it and this voice on the other end whispered ‘are you alone?’. It really freaked me out, so I hung up and went out for a walk.”

  “You didn't recognise the voice?” I asked.

  Luna shook her head. “It just sounded husky. It's hard enough recognising people on the phone without them whispering.”

  “Hmm,” I said, thinking about the strange answer machine message we’d had yesterday. I wondered if these odd calls were unrelated to everything else that was going on, or did they somehow tie in? I felt like I was caught up in a storm that was throwing everything left right and centre without a clue as to where it had all come from.

  We walked into the boulangerie and snagged the last two cheese and ham puff pastries.

  “These are my favourite,” Luna confessed, as we walked across the square and sat on the edge of the fountain.

  “I’m glad Justin is okay,” I said, referring back to the morning’s events. It felt like they’d happened on a different day.

  “Me too,” Luna agreed. “It’s so weird how Matti managed to get into my back garden. The gate was shut, so he must have jumped it. Maybe he’s only athletic when no one’s looking, the big lump,” she said, fondly.

  “Do you know how Jolie and the puppies are?” I asked, anxious to hear how they were doing. I hadn't wanted to bother Adele when w
e’d bumped into each other by the tiger enclosure. I was sure she already had a lot on her mind.

  “They’re doing great. The little one’s being bottle fed, as Adele and Justin don’t think he’s getting quite enough from Jolie, but the others are behaving just like puppies. Matti got a bit too close and was nipped for his curiosity. That’s why Adele thinks he ran away. He was in a bit of a sulk,” Luna explained.

  I giggled. Dogs could be such drama queens. I hoped one day I’d be able to have a dog of my own. At the moment, I simply didn’t have the time to spend with them. Cats were more independent and also liked to spend most of the day sleeping. I had high hopes that Lucky would love life on the road with me.

  “Hey, are you busy tomorrow?” Luna asked.

  “You mean for the village party?” I wasn’t even sure why the village was having a party. In France, there always seemed to be a celebration going on. However, I wasn’t complaining. I thought it was charming that the village had events which brought its residents closer together.

  “No, before then," Luna said.

  “I haven’t made plans," I replied, thinking of the lack of time spent with Lowell and feeling a bit guilty.

  “There's an errand I need to run and I could really do with some help. Could you meet me by the bridge out of the village first thing tomorrow?”

  “Sure,” I said.

  “Great! Thanks.”

  I thought about asking what we were going to be doing but I had my suspicions it wasn't entirely above board. Otherwise Luna would have surely already told me. I’d just have to hope that she wasn’t trying to trick me into coming to the edge of the village alone so she could kill me.

  A couple of weeks ago, that would have been funny. Now I wasn’t so sure.

  * * *

  The sun was shining the next morning when I set off for my rendezvous with Luna. Preparations for the village dinner and party that night were already underway, and I walked beneath several strings of bunting that were being put up. The square itself was a sea of activity with long tables being brought in and a bonfire set up right in the middle of it all. I couldn’t help but be reminded of the scene at the end of every Asterix and Obelix comic, where the whole village gathers for a feast of roast boar. Tonight’s menu was more of a potluck affair, but I had no doubt it would be wonderful. After all, Lowell and I had already sampled the culinary talents of one of the village’s homespun chefs.