Chapter 1

Questions Raised

The Lyell Centre was quiet, it was early, and Nikki was at her desk, pondering over a newspaper when Harry strode in. He raised an eyebrow at her feet resting on the tabletop, but settled on rolling his eyes and slumping down in his chair across from her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked absently, not moving her eyes from the page.

Harry looked around with confused amusement, as if it was obvious. "I do work here, don't I?"

"Not usually this early," she snickered, finally glancing up to watch his reaction.

As he opened his mouth to let out a cheeky retort, Leo appeared in the doorway of his office. "Harry, I've got a case for you," he called before disappearing once more.

With a sigh that accidentally turned into a yawn, Harry rose and headed after him, narrowing his eyes at Nikki as he passed. She'd won that time, and she knew he wouldn't forget.

"So," Harry said as he entered his boss's office. "Car accident? Bank robbery? Crazed mob of pitchfork wielding peasants? What is it this time?"

Leo ignored his questions, accustomed to those sorts of comments from Harry, and said, "A woman's body was found outside the gates of a privately owned zoo." When Harry smirked and opened his mouth, Leo held up a finger to silence him. "Save the animal jokes. The son of the zoo's owner found her early this morning when he went to open up."

Outside the office, Nikki turned in her chair to listen in on the conversation, her mind no longer interested in the story she was reading. She put down the paper as Harry came striding back out to grab some things from his desk.

"Sounds like an interesting case," she commented, a sly smile sneaking across her face. "It's a pity really."

Harry paused and looked up. "What's a pity?"

"Oh, you know," she said with an exaggerated sigh. "You'll be out there, having fun, and I'll be owl by myself."

"Ha ha," he rolled his eyes before heading to the door. "Animal puns? Toucan play at that game."

"I'd say that was a good one, but I'd be lion," Nikki smiled.

Standing with the door open, Harry sighed. "Whale, would you like to come? Alpaca you're things."

"I can't," Nikki shook her head. "But let minnow how it goes."

"Okay. See you later, alligator," Harry called as the door swung shut behind him.

Nikki giggled and yelled, "Take care, polar bear," as he walked past the window and disappeared down the hall. Leo rolled his eyes in his office and settled down to work as silence fell over the lab.

As Harry pulled up to the scene, he glanced up at the tall fences surrounding the zoo. A big sign hung above the gates and read 'The Little Family Zoo.' Ironic, as 'Little' was the surname of the family who owned it.

Climbing from his car, he headed past a couple of vehicles and approached the police tape. As he showed his identification card to an officer and ducked under, a man already dressed in a bright white suit approached and held out his hand. "You must be Dr. Harry Cunningham. I'm Detective Inspector Jeff Curtis," he greeted in a strong Irish accent as Harry shook it. "The body was found at around half past six this morning," Curtis continued, leading Harry to where a bloodied shape lay face down on the ground.

"Hmm," Harry mumbled, his eyes glancing over the body before rising to the gates. "Are there any security cameras out here?"

"None," Curtis shook his head as someone came over and handed Harry a suit. "It was the son, Charlie, who found her. The family lives inside the park, and he'd come out to open up for the day."

After Harry had pulled on the suit and gloves, he kneeled down to take a closer look. Whoever she was, it looked as if she had a couple of deep wounds to the back from the rips in her jacket. "Looks as if she's been stabbed," he commented, carefully checking out one of her hands. It was so mangled and disfigured that he knew there would be no way to get a fingerprint. "Do we have a name yet?"

Curtis shook his head. "She didn't have any ID on her, but we're already looking for any missing persons reported recently."

"Right," Harry nodded. "Let's turn her over."

As the woman's head turned and came into view, Harry had to close his eyes for a moment. Curtis stood from his position beside the body and took a step back, running a hand through his hair. "Oh… wow…" The entire face was nearly unrecognizable as human.

Harry nodded silently and bent down to turn the head, getting a better look at the injuries. "This does not look like the work of a knife," he said slowly, questions flying through his mind. "We should get her back to the lab. I'll do the post-mortem this afternoon."

"You busy?" Harry asked, dashing past Nikki and throwing his coat over her head to land on his chair.

"Yes, but you probably don't care," she said, glancing up from her work for only a second before dropping her eyes again.

"Good, then scrub up," he called back.

It was a while later before she finally pushed open the door to the cutting room, pulling on some gloves as she made her way to Harry's side. Looking down at the body, her face twisted.

Harry glanced over and caught her expression. "Does that look like the work of a knife to you?"

She shook her head and walked to the other side of the slab. "Looks more like the work of an animal if you ask me." When Harry sent her a curious look, she said, "She was found outside a zoo, wasn't she?"

"Yes, but she was also stabbed. And how would one of the animals have gotten out anyway?" Harry continued, moving down to one of the hands. "That would, however, explain the fact that her fingers appear to have been bitten off."

Nikki bent down to get a better look at the woman's other hand. "Harry?" Moving over to her side, he looked to where she was pointing at the palm. "This bite mark looks strange."

"Does it?" he asked.

"There appears to be puncture wounds from the upper canines, but hardly any sign of the teeth in between, as if they were flat," Nikki explained, turning the hand over. "Here is where the lower canines entered, and there are still no signs of the other teeth."

Harry let his eyes wander around as his face scrunched up with confusion. "So?"

"So," Nikki continued, "Whatever bit her fingers off had long sharp canines, but flat incisors."

"So… what kinds of animals have teeth like that?" he asked, straightening as Nikki moved her gaze up the arm.

"Hold on," she mumbled, halting for a moment.

Harry bent down again for another look. "What is it?"

"Look," she pointed. "The bruises here look like she was held down."

Moving her aside, Harry took the arm and slowly rotated it as he examined the bruise. "Let's check this for fingerprints."