Thursday, August 27, 2009

Koala Killer Twenty-First Installment


"Did you miss the action? About a half hour or so ago, Carl made a run for it, after being called into Jorge's office for more questioning about Stan.

"What do you mean, 'made a run for it'?"

"I watched the chase scene in the parking lot myself," Cass put in.

"Oh, shit. Sorry, Mari. Damn. Sorry. An inferior keeper who knows the diet and routine is better than no keeper at all. Hello overtime. Goodbye vacation. Well, I'd better see if the girls are ready for their feeding. Come along."

When they came around to the area where they kept the elephant's supplies, Mari looked around the little yard area. It had occurred to her back at Aviary, that if this Carl was the villain, he might be the only one in the zoo who knew about the mysterious Koala that no one but Mari had seen. She noticed the ground was littered with the Eucalyptus wind trimmings. "This is what Koala's eat," she muttered to herself.

There was a small crate in one corner. With some effort, she wheeled over to it.

"What's this Manny?"

"Got no idea."

She lifted the box carefully by one corner and noticed that the dirt under it had been dug up.

"Looks like something's buried here, doesn't it?"

"Here's the girls' shovel, let's take a look."

Manny took two shovels full of dirt and the body was visible. In his third shovel full was the dead body of a Koala.

"Oh God," Mari whimpered.

"What the hell? Sorry Mari."

He lowered the body back into the shallow little grave.

"Better not touch it. We'll get the police here right away," Cass said, "If you're okay here with Manny, I'll go get them now?"
"I'm fine, Cass. Go ahead," she said to his retreating back.
Manny said, "No wonder the girls have been restless. They're sensitive around death. Do you suppose Carl killed the Koala? And what the... What's a Koala doing here in the first place?"
"Remember the night Stan was shot, when you came to look after the gibbon? I saw the Koala too. I told you about it that night, didn't I?"
"I think you did, but there was no Koala there when I got there, so I let it go, thinking I misunderstood what you said, or that maybe you were babbling from being upset."
"Jorge thought I was seeing thins too. I wish I had been. That'd be better than finding the little guy like this."