Penguins and Mortal Peril: Mystery (Madigan Amos Zoo Mysteries Book 1)

by Ruby Loren

  “Hey!” I said, calling to the largest group of workers, who were slinging pieces of shattered concrete into wheelbarrows with spades. They stopped working as I walked, or rather stomped, over to them. “You see this…” I pointed to the plans. “Is this all that’s going to be added? A few ornamental trees? These animals need cover and variety to keep them happy and healthy, not a designer garden!”

  Two builders, Jack and Todd, exchanged a glance and then looked to their boss, Rich - a man I’d never managed to see eye-to-eye with. My ever so slightly raised voice had attracted attention. Two zookeepers I hadn’t even noticed strolled over to join our little group.

  “What’s up, Madi?” Tom, the keeper in charge of the zoo’s primate collection said, walking over and nodding his sandy head towards me. Colin, an older keeper who looked after the equine and hoofed animals, merely grunted - but that was pretty good going for Colin.

  “I was looking at these plans and noticed that there’s hardly any planting and hardly any cover for Doris and Louis. I know they need more plants and, quite frankly, more interest. While this may make them easier to spot for the visitors, I know it’s not the best that can be done for them,” I said, feeling sure that I was right. It was that sensation in my gut - the one I always got which whispered to me in an inner voice, you can make this better.

  Tom barely glanced at the plans and shrugged. “What can you do? The board hired an expert. I’m sure they know what they’re talking about, far more than we mere mortals,” he said, but I didn’t get major ‘we’re all in this together’ vibes from him.

  “But it could be so much better! I could even draw in the changes myself. It wouldn’t be that hard and I doubt it would even cost much more. We could just add a few levels to stop the monotony and then put in shrubs and other plants here, and a grazing plateau here…” I pointed as each idea occurred to me but when I raised my head, I was surrounded by glazed expressions everywhere except…

  My gaze collided with a pair of dark eyes that looked curiously back into my own. There was something steady in that look, something that spoke of authority. I didn’t recognise the man those eyes belonged to.

  “It is what it is,” Tom was saying, while the builders mindlessly parroted back the same sentiments.

  “New guy?” I said, tilting my head in the direction of the man who’d just picked up the handles of a fully-laden wheelbarrow. His hair was dark, short at the sides and longer on top in a fashionable but smart cut. His arms were perfectly bronzed and I could see the thick knots of muscles that contracted when he started to push the heavy load. A generic, dark, tribal tattoo peeked out below his sleeve, midway up his bicep. Somehow it didn’t seem to fit with everything else.

  “Yeah, we needed a couple of extra guys to fill in on this job. That’s Lowell, he’s just joined the company.” Rich, my least favourite builder, smiled indulgently. “He’s picking things up okay. I’m sure he’ll be up to speed with us all in no time.” The men around him chuckled.

  I tried not to raise my eyebrows. I’d gotten one look at Lowell before he’d walked away to dump the rubble, but even in that small window of time I’d noticed there was something different about him. I snapped out of my thoughts only to realise that the men were doing some eyebrow raising of their own.

  “You’re not the first one to ask about him. I really don’t know why everyone’s got their knickers in a twist,” Rich said, and the others sniggered behind their hands. I felt my cheeks turn pink and cursed my treacherous skin for this obvious display. Why couldn’t I be Tiffany’s gorgeous shade of gold and never ever blush? Instead, I was stuck with pale skin that simply gained more freckles in lieu of a tan, when exposed to the sun. People that were interested in being nice to me, like a few close relatives, would say my colouring was that of an English rose. I’d often done all I could to get rid of it, up to and including a disastrous spray tan. Pale gold was just another unreachable goal.

  “I guess I’ll put my thoughts to the directors,” I said, in a half-hearted attempt to show that I wasn’t willing to back down and go away. The builders just shrugged and went back to their business.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tom and Colin exchange a knowing smirk and I wished that my height was just a little more imposing. Just sometime, it would be nice to not be considered cute when I was at my angriest. Part of me wanted to do something to wipe the smirks from their faces, but I’d been working with Colin for years, and Tom for several months. I knew it was a lost cause. The only way to win would be to sneak the changes I wanted through by tactical manoeuvring. I chewed my lip and resolved to think of a cunning plan later.

  The sun was still beating down when I walked back through the zoo, my mind firmly fixed on lunch break. I was still doing most of Ray’s job, but fortunately Morgan, our manager, had stepped in and divvied up the duties a little more fairly. He wasn’t going to win the ‘Mr Popularity’ award from the other keepers, but I was grateful.

  “Hey Madi!” A slightly strained voice called. I looked to my right and noticed Leah struggling beneath the weight of a potted, box plant. I rushed over to help lift the terracotta pot, following the relieved instructions of the other zookeeper, as we manoeuvred the plant pot into place next to a solid fence, that came up to my stomach. The other keeper wiped a hand across her dark skin and fluffed out her wild curls, which had a hint of red to them.

  “Thanks a million. I really thought I was going to drop it,” she said. I looked pointedly at her well-defined arm muscles, feeling that I hadn’t exactly been the deciding factor.

  “Are you decorating for the summer?” I asked, looking properly at the box plant, which had been clipped into a spiral shape.

  Leah shook her head and leant on the fence. “Nope, I’m hoping that placing plants here will discourage parents from dropping their kids over the other side of the fence. I mean, there’s a double fence here for a reason.” She gestured over the top of the solid wooden barrier to the second fence that ran around the perimeter of the enclosure. “It’s a couple metres away from the other fence for a good reason, but no, they always drop their little ones down for a closer look and then complain when they get bitten.” Drawn by her voice, an enquiring neck poked out from behind a bush, followed by a pair of long legs as the emu approached.

  “Don’t give me that look, I know you pretend to be all friendly and interesting until some parent drops their little darling close enough for you to peck.” The emu blinked and Leah frowned. “Count yourself lucky there’s no legislation that says birds need to be put down after biting someone! Although, that’s probably because there’d be no birds left, if someone decided to pass that law.” She waggled her eyebrows and I threw a sideways look at the emu in question.

  I knew his sneaky ways all too well. I’d agreed to cover for Leah when she’d gone on holiday. Boris (so called due to the blonde feathers that stuck up all over his head) liked to wait until your back was turned then sneak up and bite you from behind, before running away when you tried to swat him. He was also a shameless thief and had managed to steal my dinosaur purse before beating another hasty retreat. I’d made quite the spectacle of myself chasing him around the enclosure, until he’d abandoned my purse in favour of the small child who’d just been dropped over the outer fence.

  “You do have a point,” I admitted, looking at the various plants and noting how some possessed thorns. “I hope it works out and Boris’ biting days are over.”

  Leah pulled a sympathetic face at Boris who stared back with his beady eyes. “Just look at that face though. I know he’s going to be miserable if it works,” she sighed. “Oh well, at least it looks like the zoo is trying to keep people safe, even if this plan changes nothing at all.”

  She definitely looked happier at the thought of it all failing. I kind of understood. While it wasn’t an affinity I myself possessed, Leah loved birds of all kinds. No matter how many times she was bitten, scratched, or smacked in the face by a wing, she never stopped
loving them. I suspected she was another zookeeper who possessed the same animal intuition I knew I had. That was why all of the avian members of the zoo had generally thrived ever since she’d been in charge. The only exception had been when they’d all been cooped up inside and miserable, due to the threat of bird flu.

  I made a point of walking past the echidna enclosure to cheer myself up. The puggles were all grown up now and most had been sent to other zoos, but a family of two adults and two babies remained and I was pleased to see them rustling through the undergrowth, as the day began to fade.

  A warm hand touched my shoulder and I turned and found myself looking straight into the face of Auryn Avery, the zoo’s apprentice keeper. Auryn was occasionally given a bit of a ribbing by other members of staff who, due to a case of sour grapes, thought he was being given a free ride. Auryn’s father was the head of the board of directors and his grandfather owned the zoo itself. I knew it was hardly a coincidence that Auryn had got the apprenticeship, but I refused to think any less of him, or treat him any differently because of his heritage. I figured Auryn appreciated that, as we’d become friends, despite him being in his very late teens and me clinging to the second half of my twenties.

  “Hey, I heard you were the one who found Ray. I’m sorry about that,” he said by way of a greeting. I looked into his solemn grey eyes and reflected that despite his youth, he often displayed a maturity way beyond some of our more ‘grown up’ colleagues.

  “It’s okay. Someone had to find him,” I said, rather nonsensically.

  Auryn tilted his head, his light blonde, straight hair, slipping sideways over his forehead. Hours in the sun had turned him golden, like the majority of the keepers at the zoo, but he always seemed to glow. His face was fast losing the roundness of youth and his angular jaw was now covered with closely shaved stubble.

  “It wasn’t exactly fun finding him. He wasn’t in good shape and it’s not what you expect, first thing on a Saturday morning,” I admitted for the first time.

  Auryn nodded. “I just hope the police will find whoever it is that’s responsible. My father demanded that they interview every one of the activists who’ve been hanging around, but he said they didn’t seem keen on the idea. I think they reckon it was someone who knew him, or maybe even an accident,” he said hopefully.

  I shook my head, slowly. “I know it’s possible that something went wrong when he was fixing up the side of the pool and that hammer fell on him in some freak accident, but there was definitely someone else there with him.” I bit my lip, not wanting to add any fuel to the already burning fires around the zoo but failing to hold the thought in. “Did the police interview the animal rights people in the end? I heard rumours of extremists coming here. People who may have a reputation for violence where animals are concerned.”

  Auryn sighed and looked ten years older for a second. Privileged or not, home life must be challenging when the two generations above you had total control of the zoo’s future. It meant it was likely he’d been privy to all of the behind-the-scenes action that had gone on due to the investigation.

  “Yeah, I think the police said they’d ask around, but how is that going to help? No one’s going to say anything. I thought they’d be, you know, investigating… doing some real detective work. Not asking a few questions and hoping the killer will be thick enough to hand themselves in.” He blushed, realising he’d spoken too passionately. “I mean, not that there’s necessarily a killer at all, but, you know…”

  I nodded. I did know. With all of the bad feeling that still dogged the zoo in the wake the poisoning accident, it did seem like a stretch to believe that Ray’s death was merely a tragic coincidence.

  “Hopefully they’ll find something soon,” I offered, feeling just as helpless as I knew Auryn did.

  He shrugged. “That or we’ll just all wait around until someone else dies,” he said, so bitterly it stunned me.

  “You think that might happen?” I said carefully.

  He blinked, coming out of his daze. “I don’t know. I hope not! It’s just… we know so little,” he explained before we lapsed into silence.

  “It’ll all get sorted in the end and things will go back to normal,” I said, but the words sounded hollow to my ears.

  “I guess so. Well, I’ve got, you know, stuff to do, so I’ll go do that,” he said.

  I watched him go, wondering if there was something better that I could have said. The apprentice keeper was clearly taking the death hard, and I could understand why he was frustrated. All of us were. The animal rights activists had previously just been a thorn in our sides, but with the police classing the death as ‘suspicious’, they were more despised than ever.

  “If they’re smart, they won’t stick around here for long,” I murmured, as I watched Auryn walk into the bat enclosure. I could feel the tension bubbling as well as anyone. I wondered how long it would be before the elephant in the room burst free and transformed into someone taking matters into their own hands.

  “Madi!” Tiff skipped towards me with a smile on her face. “Did I just see you chatting to Auryn? He looked upset. What did you do, turn him down for a date?” She teased and I blushed (as usual) before swatting her.

  “Shhh Tiff. He makes me feel like I’m twice his age.”

  She raised an eyebrow at me. “He’s changed a lot this past year. Everyone in the shop can’t get over it. You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed the way the girls here spend most of their time trying to get him alone?”

  I shrugged. I really hadn’t spent that much time observing Auryn and the attention he was apparently attracting. I left the nuances of the human drama in the zoo to Tiff, who would always fill me in. Just like she was doing now.

  “He doesn’t seem interested in any of them though. He’s polite, but he never talks long with anyone. You’re the only person he seems to open up to,” she said, pointedly.

  “I just treat him like I’d want to be treated, if I was in his situation. He probably thinks they’re trying to suck up to him because of his legacy.”

  Tiff tilted her head from side to side. “I’m sure some of the girls imagine there would be perks to dating him because of that, but mostly, I’m pretty sure they’re more impressed by those guns he’s been working on all winter.” She flexed her bicep to show me.

  I pulled a face. “I cannot believe you just used the word ‘guns’ in casual conversation.”

  Tiff snorted. “But, just so you know, people do notice that you guys talk a lot and not everyone knows, like I do, that you’re just friends,” she warned.

  “You mean people really think that…?” I was completely surprised. I’d never noticed anyone watching our exchanges, but it was a fact of life that nothing was private at the zoo. I just hadn’t thought anyone cared.

  “People think you’ve got something going on and they aren’t all happy about it either,” Tiff continued.

  I laughed before I could help myself. Petite, with glasses and permanently wavy hair that refused to cooperate no matter how much I begged, I was hardly the zoo babe. I wasn’t unhappy with the way I looked. I liked my green eyes and the way my nose perked up at the end. Sometimes I even liked the way the pale scattering of freckles across my nose looked. That was, until the sun made them multiply beyond all reason. I was happy as pie in my own skin, but I would never have expected to become the focus of any jealousy.

  “You just be careful how you go. I don’t like to speak badly of anyone, but some of those girls can be pretty spiteful,” Tiff said, inclining her beautiful, strawberry blonde head.

  I wondered if Tiff had found herself on the receiving end of any of that spite but somehow I doubted it. Tiff attracted the attention of pretty much every male to ever walk the earth, but she was so kind and sweet, other girls always saw her as an ally, not an enemy. She’d even been voted the zoo’s ‘unsung hero’ at this year’s Christmas staff party.

  I was far more used to flying under the radar.

&n
bsp; “Hey, how’s the comic coming?” Tiff abruptly changed the conversation topic as we walked through the bat walkway and came out in the midst of visitors and other members of staff, AKA ‘listening ears’.

  I looked around, hoping that no one would be at all interested in what Tiff had just said. “Tiff, someone could hear,” I quietly complained but she just shrugged.

  “No one will be able to make any sense of it, chill out.”

  “I just don’t want anyone to find out that my comic even exists,” I said, and then realised how dumb that sounded.

  Tiff gave me a look that confirmed it. “Come on, your work is great. I’m your biggest fan and not just ‘cos we’re friends. You’re a great artist and you know it. You told me last week that people were starting to send you emails, so you must be doing well. You have fans!”

  “Well, none of them were rude at least,” I mumbled, feeling faintly embarrassed by her praise. I shook myself. “It’s just, we both know it’s mostly fictitious, names changed and all that, but I’d be so, so dead if anyone here figured out I was writing and drawing a comic about life at the zoo.”

  “I’m sure you’ll keep it a secret just fine. It’s not as if you’ve got a picture of yourself on your website, right?” Tiff said.

  I tried to nod convincingly, pushing away thoughts of the ‘about’ page on my site, which mostly consisted of a giant picture of my face. Come to think of it, I was probably wearing my uniform in the photo. I should really reevaluate my strategy for remaining anonymous.

  “How are your maps going?” I asked Tiff and now it was her turn to be shy.