“Guess so.” He sounded dejected.
“Get some rest. Eat. Shower. But I’d advise staying inside, or you will draw attention.”
Nosy neighbors would wonder about the stranger. Word would get around, and the person who wanted the tiger dead might find out.
“What about clothes?”
“I’ll grab some for you before I return home.”
“Be careful,” Phoenix said as she left to go to the zoo. A nice change from Nenek barking, “Don’t be late for dinner.”
Nadirah arrived at the zoo and found her boss by the main gate talking to the police. She placed her helmet on the seat of her moped before heading over to ask, “What’s going on? Did something happen overnight?”
“About time you got here,” Ahmad barked. “The tigers are all dead.”
“What?” she blurted in surprise.
“You heard me. Every single one of them was found dead in its cage this morning.”
“No,” she whispered, tears pricking her eyes. Her furry babies couldn’t be gone.
“The only one whose body we’ve yet to find is the one you retrieved from the freighter.”
“So, it’s alive?” she asked, despite knowing that tiger currently hid at her house.
“We don’t know where it is. We’ve yet to locate its body, although, looks like it put up a fight. There’s blood outside its cage.”
“Oh no.” She blinked and tried to appear as innocent as possible. Hopefully no one noticed her racing heart.
A police officer held a pad of paper and a pen. “When did you last see the tiger?”
“Just after the zoo closed. I gave it some cow femurs since it refused to eat the ground beef.”
“Notice anyone suspicious?”
She shook her head. “No. No one. This is horrible.” She didn’t have to feign sadness. “Who would kill all the tigers? And why?”
“Don’t know, but I’m thinking the one that’s missing might have handled the killer,” was Ahmad’s grim reply.
“What makes you say that?” she asked.
“Because a body was found in the croc enclosure. Although, how it got there is still to be determined,” Ahmad stated.
“Most likely the killer had a partner and tried to dispose of the body before leaving with the tiger,” the officer stated.
“Or it’s on the loose,” Ahmad stated, looking worried. It wouldn’t be good optics if an escaped animal went on a rampage. Nadirah knew the truth, but couldn’t exactly explain why they had nothing to worry about.
She did, though, because obviously last night’s thug hadn’t been the only one hired, and when they didn’t find Phoenix, they chose to murder every striped feline in the zoo. “This is horrible.”
“Indeed.” Ahmad glanced at her. “I know this must be upsetting, given how much you cared for the tigers. You should go home. Take a few days’ vacation.”
It sounded like a kind gesture, but Nadirah understood it was more because Ahmad had no idea what to do with her. A tiger keeper with no tigers to care for didn’t really serve any use. She didn’t mind, though, seeing as how the zoo had been closed to the public and teemed with police officers.
“Are you sure I can’t help?” she offered.
“No. You can go.” The police officer waved Nadirah away, and she didn’t quibble. She hopped right back on her moped, but before going home, she hit the market and went shopping. When she did return to her house, it was to find Nenek in the kitchen cooking for their guest.
“You early,” Nenek stated in English, brandishing a spoon.
