All the things in this room are dead. The walls are vertical graves, each inch holding grim paraphernalia. Antlers are mounted onto hooks and stuffed owls stare quizzically from the shelves. I try to ignore the workstation scattered with scalpels and fleshing knives. My wandering eyes land on the black cat reclining on the coffee table.
“A pet of yours?”
Even the woman in front of me looks like she has one foot in the grave, but that is to be expected. Constant exposure to formaldehyde does not do the skin any favours.
“Yes, of course. Nightshade was my very first cat.”
There’s a garbled choke from my left as the woman takes the thing and lays it on her lap. My intern’s eyes are bulging out of his head, and I can tell he’s minutes away from darting out of the room.
The woman is completely unfazed. She strokes the fur and a fond smile stretches her features.
“So, so precious. I simply had to keep her.”
Another muffled gag from my left. I resist the urge to roll my eyes. A taxidermist’s workshop is the last place I want to spend my evening. There is no limit to the things we do to make a living. I clear my throat and resume the interrogation.
“Ma’am, you need to disclose the records of all the stocks in your inventory. If you cannot provide this information the station will have to use a search warrant.”
The hand on the fur pauses. “I did disclose all of it a week ago, the first time you people came around.”
“We have reasons to believe that those numbers were not accurate. The orders for chemicals are disproportionately large, so large that they can produce more than twice your current..output.” I make a sweeping gesture across the workshop. “Of course, that raises the question of what happens to the extra chemicals.”
“I buy in bulk because business is unpredictable, dear. On some days I get many orders, pets and hunting trophies. The next day it could be none. It also saves money, you know. The suppliers trust me.”
“Please try to understand ma’am,’ the intern says with herculean effort. “These types of incidents are rare here. If you’ve done nothing wrong, there’s no reason for you to hide anything.”
“From what I have heard, the poisonings didn’t even take place in our town. They’ve been happening in the neighbouring towns, which are not even under your jurisdiction.”
The intern deflates. Our tea cups mark the time that we’ve wasted here. They are no longer steaming hot, but rapidly reaching room temperature. A single, frail tendril of smoke curls out of one brim, coils like a serpent and disappears. I take a gulp of my tea and collect the documents that are fanned across the coffee table. This interrogation is clearly leading nowhere.
“Ma’am, since you are unwilling to cooperate, I have no choice but to inform the precinct. We’ll leave now. Call us if you change your mind.”
The woman places her tea cup back on the table. A strange look of glee takes over her face, like she’s thought of some novel way to gut and stuff a bird. “Let me do a tea leaf reading for you.”
The intern gives me a sidelong glance. Poor fellow. If this case gets any more bizarre, he’ll definitely think twice about joining law enforcement permanently. I’ll have to do this on my own. I hand the documents over to him.
“I’ll stay. You can go ahead and wait in the car. Read through these and draft a request for a search warrant. Did you bring a laptop?”
He jumps up to his feet in a series of clumsy movements, genuine relief rolling off of him in waves. “Definitely, definitely. I’ll get it done”. He nods in the woman’s general direction and hurries out of the room. The heavy oak door thumps shut behind him. An eerie silence settles. The woman clicks her fingers and a girl emerges from the hallway, tea tray in tow. She wordlessly collects the teapot and whisks out of the room.
“My assistant. She has a natural talent for tea preparation. Quite the protégé.” She makes a scratching sound in the back of her neck. I belatedly realise that it was supposed to be a laugh. The woman holds out her hand. I give her my teacup and she swirls the shallow residue with a delicate rotation of her wrist. A saucer is placed over the teacup before she flips it over. The final sips of tea drain onto the saucer. I picture the tea leaves gathering on the walls of the teacup, forming the random shapes to which this woman is about to ascribe profound meaning. Her eyes close and she breathes heavily. Once, twice. Through the mouth.
“Think of a question, dear. Anything you want.”
I don’t believe in this sort of thing, obviously. But these psychic types are loose-lipped, usually because they are grasping at straws. Besides, offending her would make the rest of the investigation much harder than it needs to be. I lean forward from the sofa, pulling my eyebrows into a furrow of concentration. I even close my eyes, for good measure.
“Should I tell you the question?”
“No, no. Just think about it. Place your hands here.”
I do as I’m instructed, placing my palms atop hers. Her hands are strangely warm, clasped around the teacup. Decades of leather tanning and rough work have left their imprint in the form of sandpapery fingers and rough knuckles. She hums a low tune before opening her eyes and speaking. “You can remove your hands now.”
I do, and she turns the cup over, holding it so that the handle is on her left. The tea leaves are mainly concentrated near the bottom of the cup, and a few trail up toward the rim in amorphous shapes. Personally, I do not see any signs or symbols. The sheer absurdity of the situation catches up to me, and I am forced to swallow a laugh.
“In your past, I see confusion and loss. The shape here symbolizes the loss of a loved one.” Classic and predictable. Who hasn’t lost someone? “There was also great adversity, many challenges as you attempted to reach a goal.” She stares at me expectantly.
“Ah, yes. Back then, agents in training had to complete many difficult assignments. It was very challenging,” I say, playing along.
“Yet you have overcome them and risen through the ranks in your profession. Very impressive. The symbols for your present confirm this. The star conveys great success and brilliance.” I also wear a badge, so really, star symbols are far from necessary. She points to a vaguely star-shaped clump of tea leaves. I nod sagely. Pleased with my response, she goes on. “Best of all, there is a cat symbol as well. They signify good luck and good fortune.” The cup is tipped to the side to reveal an unintelligible clump of tea leaves. I nod sagely at this too. The woman squints at the cup, holding it under the light. She looks ready to launch into another explanation. It’s getting late and I decide to cut this short quickly.
“What about the future? Any symbols for that?”
She smiles this time. Again, it is laced with that disturbing look of glee. She props her chin on a roughened talon, placing the cup back on the table.
“Do you see the area close to the rim of the cup?”
“Yes.”
“Tea leaves that gather there are symbolic of the future.”
All the tea leaves in my tea cup are distributed at the base and midsection. The area surrounding the rim is completely bare. The porcelain gleams clean under the dying light.
**********
When I get back into the car, the intern eagerly shows me the draft for the request. I put on my seatbelt and twist the keys. “So, how did it go?” he inquires.
“It was fifteen minutes of rubbish. Not that I expected anything else. This was just to keep us in her good books so that she won’t impede the investigation,” I reply. I pull out of the parking space and get back on the main road back to the precinct. The sign bearing the words ‘Borgia’s Taxidermy’ disappears behind us.
“That lady gives me the creeps, boss. Something’s not right with her. The dead animal stuff is weird enough. But tea leaf readings? What kind of voodoo nonsense is that? Is she some kind of psychic? Something’s definitely not right.” The genuine look of terror on his face makes me laugh. “She’s a regular con artist and alleged illegal distributor of chemicals. No voodoo involved; the weirdness is all her,” I reply.
The intern looks far from convinced and is about to protest when the tyres screech to a halt. I didn’t even realise that I was pushing the breaks. My heart stills in my chest. The shadow darts across the road. In the growing darkness of the night, its bright emerald flashlights are blinding. A black cat. It disappears into the thicket of alleyways that flank the main road. I take a few moments to recover, but the blood is still pumping in my ears when I restart the engine and resume driving. The look of terror on the intern’s face has deepened. His voice shakes when he speaks.
“Boss, that looked so much like-“
“Stop it.”
And that was the end of that.
**********
The organized chaos of the precinct devolves into pure chaos on Monday. Another man with the symptoms of arsenic poisoning has been admitted to the hospital. Three senior constables relegate duties to underlings who can barely be seen over the piles of paperwork on their desks. Two other officers are on the phone with the hospital staff, shouting details to the team getting ready to visit the victim and his family. The air is heavy with the scent of coffee and the odour of sweat dampened air conditioning.
I added arsenic to the list of chemicals that are linked to the poisonings. “Trace amounts of arsenic, borax, soda ash, formaldehyde, Eulan, polyurethane foam-“
“Boss, there’s an informant here to see you,” the intern announces. He is accompanied by a girl. Dark hair frames her grim face, and she looks as though she hasn’t slept in days. Her hand grips a small handbag. The taxidermist’s assistant.
“Perfect. Please come this way, we can speak in my office.”
**********
The girl tells me everything.
From the warehouses used for storage to the routes used to smuggle the extra stock of chemicals to buyers, within thirty minutes, I know everything there is to know about the taxidermist’s illegal side business. I know that the buyers are usually food companies aiming to preserve stocks with whatever substances are necessary, and I know the exact amounts they are willing to pay for it. At this point in the conversation, our tea cups are almost over. The girl brings out another couple of teabags from her handbag and puts them into our cups. Blue label for her, green for me. I offer her an appreciative smile and refill the cups with hot water from the flask at my desk. There’s only one question left to ask.
“You have known about this for a few months now. Why didn’t you come forward before? Why are you reporting her now?”
“I knew that madam was on the verge of getting caught when you visited the workshop. Cops have come before, but I never considered them a real threat. If madam was going to get caught anyway, I have nothing to lose by giving you this information.” She pauses to take a long sip. “It was only a matter of time. And I’ve heard that immunity is granted if you provide information that leads to an arrest.”
She’s not wrong. “You will have to come back in a few hours to provide a formal statement. I’ll discuss the possibility of immunity with my superiors.” She nods and gets up to leave. I gulp down the rest of my tea. It tastes fresh and vibrant on my tongue.
The girl pauses near the door and looks back at me. Haltingly, she says, “Madam lied to you about the symbolism of the cat, by the way.”
“You heard that?”
She gives me a sheepish smile. “Yes, I stay in the hallway in case she calls me in for anything.”
“Well then, what is the real meaning of the cat symbol?”
She shakes her head playfully and opens the office door to leave. “It doesn’t really matter, officer. Thank you for your time, I’ll get going now.”
“Thank you, I’ll see you in the afternoon.”
As the door clicks behind her, I swivel around in my office chair. Forget the search warrant, I can confirm an arrest warrant with what I’ve just learnt. I rub my temples and revel in the feeling of a fading headache. Now I can finally rest.
In fact, I feel incredibly sleepy. Unusually sleepy. I think I’m going to lie down for a bit. That wouldn’t hurt. I can file for the warrant afterwards. The sunlight flooding through the windows starts to blur. My head barely hits the desk before everything around me turns into darkness.
