Chapter 2 #2
“Please do not speak of it to anyone outside this room. We don’t want the person behind this to realize that they’ve been caught, in case they try to hide the rest of the remains,” Matthew explains before turning to me.
“If you two don’t have anything more here that you’d like to look at, you could head to the zoo.
We’ll get this area finished up. The rest of the team is already on the way. ”
“Yeah… I want to make sure the transport truck is examined and have someone check all of the bags that were brought in on that truck,” Gabriel says. “While I don’t think someone broke into the truck and did it, we can’t ignore the possibility and accidentally miss something.”
“On it,” Matthew says. “We’ll check the truck. I think you two are going to have better luck at the zoo.”
“Alright, we’ll let you know what we find,” Gabriel tells them.
“But only if you’re worthy,” I add.
They ignore me for some odd reason. It really is annoying that I can’t bully them as easily as I did in the past. Something about Gabriel makes them think I’m joking all the time when I’m simply not.
We get into the car and touch base with the department and are told they have someone in contact with the zoo who will meet us at the gate.
“Is it weird that I’m kind of hoping we get to see behind the scenes with the cats?” Gabriel asks while I drive.
“I can bully them into letting you pet a cheetah. Better yet, would you like me to buy you a cheetah?”
“Absolutely not to all of that,” he declares.
“Why are you so picky?”
“Is it… Is it considered picky that I don’t want a wild animal that could eat me in my sleep?”
“That is true. That is true. I could tell them that you must feel the fur of a cheetah to understand how this man died,” I say.
“None of this is going to go well,” he realizes.
“You should be able to have anything you want, Gabriel. I will give it to you. Cheetah sanctuary, then?”
“I’m happy with Lucille Pawl and Butter, I promise.”
“How could you be happy with either of those things? One is Satan’s spawn and the other just… exists.”
“You love them both and you know it,” Gabriel says.
I grimace as I question how my one true love could possibly be so confused. Does he not know me at this point?
I glance over at him. “So… when are you moving in? Before Christmas, I assume. So far, all you’ve brought over are necessities. It feels no different from when you were just staying the night.”
“We could work on packing stuff this week, if you’d like. I think the issue is that I am not looking forward to going through all of my stuff. And I know you said you could hire a moving company, but I really want to go through everything before I just haul it over,” he says with a sigh.
“I don’t blame you. Ninety-seven percent of what you own are discarded cat toys that Lucy Fur took one look at, hacked a hairball on in pure disgust, and walked away.”
“You strangely seem to think she’d even look at them,” Gabriel says with a grin. “So what do you think of our head? Have you already figured the entire thing out and we’re just going for a romantic stroll through the zoo?”
I smirk at him. “I haven’t come to a conclusion yet, but I will. And then I will drag you to your old home and pack everything up. I have a better idea. What if I buy you all-new things and you sell the house with your clutter inside?”
The look on Gabriel’s face tells me that he’s not interested in that in the slightest.
“I can buy your cat a Gucci bed and a Tiffany bowl for her to look into with disgust before drinking from the sink as you snap countless pictures. Anything you or your cat wants, it will be yours.”
“I feel like you’re getting off track.”
“What is on track?”
“The head.”
“Ah. I forgot about the head.”
“I feel like… it’s kind of hard to forget about a head.”
“Right! Well, I can tell you that the person who severed it is quite talented with a knife. It took no sawing; the knife was sharp and likely meant for butchering meat. I have to assume that at least some meat butchering goes on at a zoo. I doubt all of the meat they receive is packaged to the perfect size.”
“That’s true. So they likely have multiple people who deal with the feedings.”
Since the zoo isn’t open this early on a weekday in the middle of December, we get a prime spot right up front. The two of us get out and head over to the gate where the promised person is awaiting us.
She hurries up to us, bundled in her winter coat and gloves. “I’m… I’m Pat Smith, I’m the director of the zoo and just…” She pauses and stares at us. “I’m sorry. I’m just struggling to comprehend any of this.”
“I understand,” Gabriel says, giving her a warm smile. “I’m Detective Gabriel Hyde, and this is Detective Liam Paige.”
“Let’s get in somewhere warm.”
“Preferably where the deceased animals are stored before the crematorium picks them up,” I suggest.
“Yes, of course,” she says as she leads us through the gate and then gets onto a golf cart. I give Gabriel the front seat. It might look like I do it because I’m a gentleman, but I mostly do it so I don’t have to sit close to a woman who looks quite distressed, and even worse… chatty.
I kick back and enjoy the show while I’m driven through the park filled with lanterns and lights for the holiday season. They’re not on right now since the light show doesn’t begin until four, a little less than four hours from now.
“Can you tell us about the animal that passed?” Gabriel asks.
“Of course. It was a male African wild dog who died unexpectedly. He was necropsied on site, and it was discovered that he had a flipped stomach. It’s something that isn’t extremely uncommon and can be fixed if caught on time, but the dog was a bit elusive on a good day, and the keepers didn’t notice it.
He died yesterday sometime between noon and two p.m.”
“How many workers do you have?”
“We employ around four hundred permanent staff, but we also have seasonal staff, so it fluctuates. For example, that windstorm we had last weekend blew down some of the lights, so the crew who do the lights were here throughout the week fixing issues,” she says.
“Would you be able to provide a list of all staff members who were on site between the time the dog died yesterday and the time the animal was picked up today?” Gabriel asks.
“I can do that. As soon as we’re inside, I’ll send a call out to Nadine, the lady who oversees the schedules.”
“And cameras? Do you have cameras in the zoo?” I ask. “And more importantly, do they work?”
“We do. All of our cameras are working. This is a large zoo, so not every section is covered, but we have cameras facing the animals and secure locations.”
She parks in front of a building and gets out before leading us over to the door. Pat pulls it open and sends us inside. Right inside are multiple people hard at work, but the first we come across is a young man pushing a utility cart with clean bowls on it.
“I’m assuming you prepare your own meat?” I ask her.
“Some. It really depends on our supplier and what type of animal we’re feeding.”
“I want to see where it’s prepared.”
The look on her face tells me that she’s realized that I’m implying that the body was chopped up where they process the meat.
“Do you have a camera on the area?”
“On parts of it,” she says.
“What’s going on?” the young man asks, staring at us warily.
She darts off without answering him, and we follow her while she rushes into a room with a pungent smell.
“Everyone stop, please. Put the knives down,” she calls as those preparing the meals for the animals pause what they’re doing.
Everyone looks around, probably assuming that someone got hurt or there was some kind of incident.
“We’ll collect the knives, so just set them down on the table,” I say.
“Why would you collect the knives?” a guy with a buzz cut asks. He seems to be the only one actively chopping things up and it’s into little pieces for an animal that’s likely small. “How am I supposed to finish this if I don’t have a knife?”
“Who has access to this area? Can anyone walk into it?” Gabriel asks Pat.
“I mean, it’s always busy. There are multiple people working in this area, so it’s not like someone could… do something alone in here without others noticing. The place is locked up when we leave for the night.”
“And who has the keys?”
“I do,” the guy still holding the knife says. “I’ve been the one who’s opened up the building every day this week.”
“Is he the only one with keys?”
“No, the cleaning crew can get in and out, and we have a spare set in my office in case Bill is sick,” Pat says.
“Are you going to explain what’s going on?” the man who I assume is Bill asks.
“Bill, please just work on feeding the animals you can feed without any equipment,” Pat says.
“Can I look at the meat that’s been prepared?” I ask.
She’s looking a little green at the thought but nods. “Bill, please walk Detective Paige through the building.”
Bill hesitates over the “detective” part but leads me over to the walk-in freezer. “Can I know what’s going on?”
“We’ll have a talk,” I say. “Is this also where the deceased African wild dog was kept until pickup?”
“No, the body was kept in a small freezer reserved for deceased zoo animals.”
“In your area?”
“Yes, but far from the food.”
“Were you the one who handled the body when it was picked up earlier today?”
Bill is growing more confused by the moment. “I was. Did someone steal the body? I knew someone should have gone with it.”
“No.”
I walk through the freezer, but there doesn’t seem to be anywhere someone could sneak a body part in among the beef and poultry.
Of course I’ll have the techs do a deeper dive, but my vote, for now, is that the body isn’t being stored here.
He walks me around, but unless he’s the killer, I have full confidence this man would recognize a strange piece of meat.
Would the others? I’m unsure, but I have a feeling nothing goes by unwatched by Bill.
“Are you preparing the second feeding of the day?”
“Yes.”
“I’m assuming you toss the meat out, bones and all?”
“Sometimes. Depends on the animal.”
“And then you collect the bones? Where do those go?”
“Your questions are quite strange,” he says.
“Let me ask this… were there any animals that weren’t as hungry as they usually are?”
He’s quiet for a long moment. “I think… Greta might have… said something along those lines. I work back here. I don’t feed them.”
“Can you get me a list of all of the people who know how to ready the meat?”
“I… can. Then can I know what’s going on?”
“Sure,” I say because there’s no way he’s not getting some questions with the clean way he butchers things.