Vera rushed to the newspaper office to write up her interview with Octavia Grey. Around her, dozens of creatures ran to and fro. Reporters barked out orders and requests to their assistants, or indeed any breathing creature who happened to be in range.
“Grab me that index on the Hollow’s property transfers!” an old hare called.
“Does someone here know if aubergine is darker than burgundy?” from the young otter who wrote the fashion column.
“If anyone uses the words sting or stung in articles about the spelling bee, BW says your pay will be docked! Remember, readers don’t deserve cliché.” That came from Barry Greenfield, one of the senior reporters, an older grey rabbit with a lot of white in his coat. “Detail, quote, punch, repeat! That’s how to do it!”
“Detail, quote, punch, repeat,” Vera’s neighbor muttered under his breath, sounding as if he’d heard this advice for years. “We know, Barry.”
Vera smiled to herself, enjoying the chaos. For her part, Vera loved the din and the chaos of the newspaper office. All the bustle meant that folk cared. And every day, a new edition of the Herald meant that the whole town and the surrounding countryside would know what was happening.
Some creatures carried files or notes from one desk to another. Several writers pounded on typewriter keys until a cacophony of clacking noises made everyone have to yell. Two rabbits tossed headline ideas at each other so fast that the words could scarcely be discerned. Vera just hoped the resulting headlines would make sense.
Vera typed up her own notes as quickly as possible, eager to hit the deadline. When she finished, she yanked the last paper from the typewriter and walked the article over to BW’s office. The skunk had told her he wanted to edit the piece personally, which was another hint that Grey was going to be a very important client, spending quite a bit of money on ads and such.
“Excellent!” BW cried out when he saw the papers in Vera’s grasp. He nearly spit out his cigar in his excitement. “I’ll just spruce it up a bit, fox. You can get on to your next piece, whatever it is.”
Vera was about to explain that she intended to write about the body in the orchard, now definitely identified as Julia, but then she saw that BW was already poring over the text of her article, completely oblivious to anything else.
“Okay, I’ll talk to you later, BW,” she said as she left the office. The skunk didn’t even reply.
When she stepped outside the newspaper office, Vera decided that she ought to see how Lenore was faring. The bookshop was only a few blocks away. A few customers browsed through the offerings. Lenore was keeping an eye on the whole place from her office perch on the top level. Vera waved from the ground, and Lenore glided down the open center of the store to land softly next to Vera.
“What’s going on?” she asked. “You look like you’ve got news.”
“A few odds and ends,” Vera said. She had meant to discuss the issue of the body, and the very likely conclusion that it belonged to Julia Elkin. But somehow, the first thing that she said was, “I talked to Ms. Grey this morning. The new mink.”
“So you’re the lucky one who got to do a hard-hitting piece on the new etiquette school?” Lenore’s humor was often drier than most folk were used to.
“It was an interview,” Vera said, feeling a little hurt. “The residents should have a chance to get to know her, right?”
“Then why didn’t anyone interview Sun Li when he arrived to open The Bamboo Patch? And I don’t remember the Herald interviewing me when I opened Nevermore Books!”
“Well, I wasn’t in town then, but I would have interviewed you for sure,” Vera said. “Though I think the fact that Ms. Grey is taking out a big ad might have something to do with it.”
“Hmpf.” Lenore ruffled her feathers. She was not the most cheerful of birds. “So what’s she like, then? This new mink?”
“She’s very classy,” Vera said. “But nice as well. She sounds like she’s had an interesting life. Born into a family of aristocrats and has all sorts of stories about meeting royalty and such.”
Lenore gave a skeptical-sounding squawk. “Oh, indeed? And she gave it all up for Shady Hollow?”
“There’s nothing wrong with Shady Hollow,” Vera said defensively.
“Course there is! No place is perfect, and we have bones out in the orchard, don’t we? But you’re missing my point. There’s no reason for a fancy mink to cross the sea and choose our little town for her tea party lessons. So why did she really choose us? Did she say?”
“She just said she liked it,” Vera replied with a shrug. “And why not? I liked Shady Hollow when I came here.”
“You first came here to research a story, Vera,” the raven reminded her. “And you stayed only after you were here for a while. You didn’t just put your paw on a map and pack your bags. I maintain that this slinky mink must have a reason for coming here. If only I knew a tough investigative reporter who could do a story on that!”
“Oh, please,” Vera said. “She’s opening an etiquette school, not building an army. And in any case, I’m already working on a story. Those bones have to belong to Julia Elkin. Joe confirmed that this locket”—Vera pulled out the heart-shaped bauble—“is Julia’s. It was found right where the bones were unearthed.”
Lenore stared at the necklace. She had an eye for shiny objects. “Oh, that’s bad news, Vera.”
“Why? At least we know for certain.”
“But this means there was definitely foul play! Julia was a healthy young moose. She disappears one night, and now we discover that she’s been lying dead since then. It’s murder, mark my words.”
“You’re jumping to conclusions,” Vera said. “I’ll go talk to Dr. Broadhead. He might have some more to say about the manner of death.”
“Ugh. Good luck. What are you doing with that locket? Are you going to give it to Orville?”
“Oh, I suppose I should,” Vera said, though she felt reluctant to do so. She thought Orville would also jump to conclusions, which would likely land Joe in a jail cell. “But not quite yet.”
“Withholding evidence is serious business, Vera. Not to mention that it’ll make Orville angry.” No one wanted to see an angry bear. Ever.
“He won’t get mad at me,” Vera replied, with more confidence than she felt. “And I’ll pass it along really soon. Just let me talk to Dr. Broadhead first.”
Lenore shrugged. “Okay. It’s your funeral.”
“Thanks for the support,” Vera muttered. “I’ve got to go.”
She sent a message to Dr. Broadhead’s office. The snake served as doctor and medical examiner to a huge part of the woodlands, and on any given day, he could very well be far away from Shady Hollow. So Vera was a little surprised when a message came back, saying that he was available.
She hurried to his office, which despite being quite warm and half-underground—just like her own home—still made her flesh crawl. There was just something about the snake that made her shiver. However, he was good at his job and he’d been around for years.
“Hello, Doctor,” Vera began. “I wanted to talk to you about that body found in the orchard.”
“Ah, yesss. The moo-ssss. What of it?”
“Well, you did more of an examination after that first discovery. I was wondering if you might know how she died.”
“Ssshe? How do you know it wasss a ssshe?” the snake asked.
“Orville said you told him the lack of antlers was a clue. Also, I think it was Julia Elkin,” Vera said. “This locket was found near the grave just about the time of Julia’s disappearance.”
“Ah. Yesss. Well, it wasss indeed a female moossse. Ssslightly sssmaller than the male of the ssspeciesss. It could very well be Julia that wasss the victim.”
“Victim?” Vera asked, steeling herself for the worst.
“Oh, yesss. Mossst certainly. The ssskull was sssmashed in with a rock or other hard object. Death mussst have come quickly. But it wasss murder. No quessstion about it.”
“Does Orville know this?” she asked.
“Cccertainly. I gave him my full report.”
She was annoyed that Orville hadn’t shared that particular detail with her earlier. It was hardly something so inconsequential that it would slip one’s mind! Still, that wasn’t Dr. Broadhead’s fault.
“Well.” Vera heaved a sigh. “I guess we should have known. I had hoped…”
“Nothing wrong with hope, Misss Vixen. But the truth isss truth no matter what. The victim has no more hope, but perhapsss ssshe can have jussstice. Will you find it for her, Misss Vixxxen?”
Vera nodded. “I’ll try.”