Busy as a Beaver Read online

  “Well, I’m afraid I can’t help you there.”

  “You don’t know of any shady happenings in Gloria’s past, do you?”

  “Goodness, no. I actually barely know the woman at all. She comes in here every so often, but not that much, and she’s only lived in town for a couple of years.”

  “Hm, ok, thanks,” I said. The next day was Monday, which meant the vet clinic was closed, save for any emergencies. That would give Sophie and me time to go up to Portland, since it looked like that was where we were most likely to find our answers.

  After spending the day taking care of the local injured animals, I packed up my things, said goodbye to Sophie and Karen, and made my way out to the local beavers’ lodge that had been vandalized. After all, I had promised them I would come by, and I wanted to have a look before the sun set, which in the winter was pretty early.

  I worried slightly that I wasn’t dressed quite warmly enough for an outdoor escapade, but my worries were soon put to rest when I realized just how hard it was to wander through the thick forest to try and find the beavers’ lodge.

  After scrambling through some bushes, swearing more than just a few times, and coming out looking like I’d just lost a fight to Bee—when really I had lost a fight to a number of branches and twigs—I found what I was after. The beavers’ lodge was on the larger side compared to others I had seen, about ten feet long and four, maybe five feet wide, spanning the entire width of the creek. All around the lodge were the remains of trees, the marks on them making it obvious that they had been cut down by the local beaver family.

  Around the lodge was an elaborate dam setup to deepen the water level; the stream was naturally only about a foot deep here, which I was well aware wasn’t deep enough for a proper beavers’ lodge. The extra wood, mud, and rocks had been put in place to deepen the water, and past the dam, only a small trickle continued onwards toward the ocean.

  While the lodge looked like it had been rebuilt, there were signs that what the beavers had told me the night before about it being wrecked was true. The mud near the creek was covered with footprints, and there were bits of logs scattered haphazardly about, like someone had grabbed them from the lodge and thrown them around.

  Making my way carefully to the water’s edge, I looked at the footprints. They were definitely made by a man’s boot, and they were large. Maybe a size ten? Possibly eleven? I took pictures with my phone; the tread marks were fairly distinctive. In fact, the star shape on the soles looked familiar. I made a mental note to check at home and see if I could narrow down the brand at all.

  “Hey, beavers, it’s me. Are you guys ok out there?”

  The main beaver that spoke to me yesterday popped his head out and waddled over towards me. I had to admit, it was pretty cute the way the beavers stumbled along on land.

  “We are alright. Thank you for speaking; we were worried that you might have been the bad human come back.”

  “So, tell me what it is he wrecked,” I said. “I saw his footprints on the ground by the lodge.”

  “Yes, he did wreck some of the lodge, but he also tore down some of our dam. That was where most of the damage took place, which meant that the entrance to our lodge was no longer underwater, and it became an untenable situation for us.”

  “Right, because without the lodge being underwater you’re more susceptible to attacks.” I nodded.

  “Exactly. There are coyotes in these woods, after all. We have to be careful, and we have to protect ourselves.”

  “Do any of you remember exactly what the man looked like? Or where he came from?”

  The beaver shook his head. “No. He came during the day, and we were all asleep. We woke up from the ruckus he was making, but only Naba dared to poke her head out and see what was happening until he left. That was why she saw him, but she didn’t get a good look at him.”

  “Did you hear anything?” I asked. Beavers had terrible eyesight, but their other senses were heightened compared to human ones to make up for it.

  “There was some muttering of some sort. It referred to the dam a lot, and there were some other words that the humans call curses.”

  Alright, that was definitely something. It was possible that the person was actually saying “damn” rather than referring to the beavers’ dam, which I found more likely, especially if they were cursing as well.

  “Good, that’s good to know. So it sounds like he was angry?”

  “Oh, definitely. He was mad about something.”

  That ruled out teenagers who were bored and creating random mischief just because they could. It sounded like whoever had come over here to destroy the beavers’ habitat had done it with purpose.

  “Have you rebuilt completely, then?” I asked, looking around. While it was obvious that this place had come under attack, at the same time, it did look like the beavers had put most of it back together.

  “Yes, we spent almost the whole night downing new trees and putting what we could back in place. However, it is hard work. Only three of us are fit to do it; the other two kits are too young.”

  “Of course.” There was a reason ‘busy as a beaver’ was a saying, and these guys were proof of it.

  “So do you know who did this to us?”

  “I don’t,” I replied slowly. “However, I have an idea.”

  “Yes?”

  “I want to come by tomorrow, or whenever I get a chance, and put some security cameras in here. That way, if whoever it was comes back, I’ll have his face on video, hopefully, and I’ll be able to track him down.”

  “That’s too bad. I was hoping you would be able to tell us straightaway who it was. We heard from the other animals that you are quite skilled as an investigator; it’s why we came to you first.”

  “Was the other part of that reason the fact that I’m the only human in the area who can talk to animals?” I asked with a smile.

  “That factored in as well,” the beaver said. “However, we expected your work to be faster.”

  “Unfortunately, detective work isn’t entirely about working hard; it’s also about getting lucky,” I replied.

  “Well, here in the beaver world, it’s all about working hard. Luck doesn’t factor in; if you’re diligent in building your dams and lodges in time, then everything gets done.”

  “Finding a vandal is a little bit more complex than building a lodge.”

  “Please, like you could build anything remotely as complicated as this series of dams.”

  “Ok, fine, complex was the wrong word. But it’s not a guarantee.”

  “These sound like someone making excuses for failing to find the person who did this to us.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “You know, seeing as I’m doing you a favor here, you could show just a little bit of gratitude.” I had no idea that beavers were so blunt.

  “We do appreciate what you’re doing. We would just appreciate it more if your plan didn’t involve our lodge being attacked again at some point in the future.”

  I thought about a solution for a minute. “Alright. Well, why don’t I put a protection spell on your lodge? That way, as long as your family stays in the lodge, nothing from the outside will be able to hurt you. It won’t protect the dam, but if he comes back he won’t be able to wreck your lodge, and he won’t be able to reach those of you who are inside. I can leave the spell on for as long as it takes, so if he comes back in a few days, you’ll be safe. Would that help?”

  “You humans have that power?” the beaver asked, obviously impressed.

  “Not all of us. Only those of us with magical powers, like me. The same magical powers that allow me to speak to you.”

  “So with this spell, no matter what, so long as we are inside our lodge, we will be safe?”

  “Yes,” I nodded. “I’m going to the city tomorrow, so I can buy some security equipment then. I will come back tomorrow night and set it up, and then if he comes by and attacks your place again, I will be able to find him.”

&n
bsp; “Good,” the beaver said, nodding. “That is acceptable to us.” His formal tone combined with his slight lisp from the size of his front teeth was kind of funny, but pretty adorable at the same time.

  “I’ll come by tomorrow, then,” I said. “Now, let me cast the spell.”

  I thought for a second about the proper spell to use, thinking that maybe it would be slightly different for a beavers’ lodge than for a normal human house, then settled on the words.

  “Praesidioroa domum,” I said, pointing my finger towards the lodge. “There. It’s protected.”

  “Are you sure?” the beaver said, giving me a skeptical look. “I didn’t see anything change.”

  “I am sure.” I nodded, making my way to the lodge. “Watch.”

  I went to grab a piece of wood from the pile, but it wouldn’t budge, no matter how hard I pulled. It was like it had been embedded in concrete.

  “Wow. That is impressive,” the beaver said as he waddled back towards the creek. “Maybe you do know what you’re doing after all.”

  I hid a smile as I said goodbye to the beaver and struggled through the brush on my way back to the park. Who on earth would destroy a beautiful beavers’ dam and lodge like that? I knew they could be a little annoying sometimes, sure, but the beavers had just as much of a right to be there as we did.

  Now I had two mysteries to solve. At least now the beavers would be safe, so long as they stayed in their lodge when the attacker came back. If it had been simple vandals, I wouldn’t have expected the attack to be repeated, but the fact that whoever had done this seemed to be in a rage made me think that maybe this wasn’t going to be a one-time thing.

  I hoped I was wrong, but the way things were going, I had a feeling I wasn’t. At least the next time someone tried to attack the beavers, we would be prepared. I wasn’t going to let someone get away with hurting these animals and making them more at risk to predators.

  Chapter 9

  First thing the next morning, Sophie and I piled into my car and drove to Portland—I decided I was driving, since Sophie being behind the wheel always increased our risk of dying in a fiery crash hundreds of percentage points.

  When I texted Jason if he wanted to come, he replied that he had a bunch of work to do on his article and was going to pass this time, but asked me if I’d send him along any pertinent information before his deadline later that afternoon.

  “Please, tell him to do his own legwork,” Sophie said with a smile as she read out the text while I drove.

  “Well, seeing as we didn’t even know Michael Carlton’s name before he gave it to us, I think we can give him a pass this time around,” I laughed.

  “I was thinking last night about this trip. I think we need to investigate Michael Carlton’s murder separately from Gloria’s home invasion.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah,” Sophie said. “After all, think about it. We’re having so much trouble finding a link between the two of them, but really, right now, who cares? Let’s look for the person who did it, and from there we can find a motive. I think we need to really see the forest through the trees, and right now, we’re definitely focused on the trees.”

  “Ok,” I said slowly, mulling over Sophie’s words. I had to admit, they did make sense in a way.

  “I mean, we’re accepting that the person who killed Michael is probably the same person who broke into Gloria’s place. I don’t think that’s stretching it, especially since the cops obviously think the same way, otherwise we wouldn’t have seen Chief Gary at their crime scene yesterday.”

  “I’m with you.”

  “And we were both at Gloria’s place the other night. There’s, like, literally zero evidence there. If there was anything worth looking at, the cops would have taken it away already.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed.

  “So let’s look into Michael’s death, and only Michael’s, and once we find out who killed him, since hopefully there might be a bit more evidence there, we can link that person to Gloria’s house.”

  “Alright, I’m in,” I said. “What do you think we should do first?”

  “You’re going to love me,” Sophie replied with a grin. “I think we should check out the crime scene.”

  “Oh, good, it’s not even nine in the morning and we’re already committing a felony.”

  “Hey, at the speed you drive, by the time we get to Portland it’s going to be at least eleven.”

  “It will be ten o’clock, tops, and we’re not going to be stopped by the cops for speeding or die in a ditch at the side of the road because we lost control of the car,” I replied. Charlotte’s and my parents had died in a car crash when we were quite young, and while the crash hadn’t been their fault, I had always been a rather defensive driver.

  But then, compared to Sophie, Lewis Hamilton was a defensive driver.

  Sure enough, at five minutes to ten, we found ourselves a few blocks away from Michael Carlton’s home—and in one piece, I might add.

  “Alright,” I said. “Invisibility spell?”

  Sophie nodded. “Absolutely.”

  I cast the spell on her first, and then on me. The car looked completely empty now.

  “Make sure there’s no one coming before you get out,” I told Sophie. “I don’t want my car impounded for being haunted.”

  Sophie laughed, the sound coming from the passenger seat despite me not being able to see her body. Even though we had used this particular spell quite a few times in recent memory, it was still kind of strange to hear her without seeing her, despite knowing she was less than a foot away from me.

  I had a look around, and as far as I could tell there was no one nearby—the advantage of being in a residential neighborhood in the middle of a weekday was the lack of snooping neighbors—so I slipped out of the car and closed the door quickly behind me.

  “Ready?” Sophie’s voice asked a second later, and I nodded before realizing she couldn’t see me.

  “Yup. Let’s go.”

  We approached the house quietly, holding hands so as to know where the other person was at all times.

  “I don’t see any cops,” Sophie whispered. “You?”

  “None,” I replied, my eyes moving from the lawn to the windows. The whole yard was still roped off with yellow police tape and a couple idly curious neighbors were taking a suspiciously long time walking past the place, but as far as I could tell, all the cops were gone.

  Sophie and I made our way towards the front door, but as soon as we reached it, I stopped.

  “What’s wrong?” Sophie asked.

  “The seal on the door,” I replied. “How are we going to get past it without it breaking?”

  “Can’t you put it back together?” Sophie asked. “What’s the point of being able to use magic if you can’t break in to a crime scene?”

  “I can,” I replied. “The problem is, I can’t use magic to put it back together if I can’t see it. So once we’re inside with the door closed, we’d have to wait until we’re done to put it back.”

  “And you’re worried a cop might come by in that time.”

  “I mean, it’s a murder investigation, and it happened less than forty-eight hours ago. Yeah, I’m a bit worried.”

  “Ok,” Sophie said. “Let’s go around the side and see if we can make our way in through a window or something.”

  We walked around the side of the house, but unfortunately, we very quickly realized that the windows weren’t going to work. It wasn’t that we couldn’t unlock them—my magic took care of that really quickly. It was that we simply wouldn’t fit.

  “I’m starting to really regret eating all that pizza over the last twenty-some years,” Sophie said despondently as the reality of our situation began to sink in.

  “I’m not,” I replied. “If I had to choose between solving crimes and pizza, I’d choose pizza every day of the week.”

  “This is why you’re a vet and not a detective,” Sophie muttered.

 
“Hey, you’re a vet tech and not a detective,” I replied. “Anyway, I have an idea.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “We’re too big to get through the window, but what if we were smaller? And what if, as smaller creatures, we actually had better senses?”

  “What are you thinking?”

  “We’re going to turn into animals.”

  “Ooh, do I get to be an eagle again?”

  I thought about it for a second, then nodded. “That’s probably a good idea, actually. Eagles have insanely good eyesight, so you might be able to pick up on something that I can’t see.”

  “What are you going to change into?”

  “I’m thinking a squirrel,” I said, after a minute of consideration. “That way I’ll be able to reach the little corners, and it’ll be easy for me to open the window.”

  “Right,” Sophie said. “I’ll stand right where I am now, if you want to do the spell.”

  “Ok. I’ll make it last an hour,” I replied, pointing to where I knew my friend stood. “Reformaroa avem una horoa.”

  There was a flash of white light where Sophie had been standing, and a second later a cawing sound indicated to me that the spell had worked. Perfect. For the next hour, Sophie was going to be a bald eagle.

  “Reformaroa sciurus una horoa,” I said, pointing to myself. My body lurched forward involuntarily; it was like my insides were being turned inside and out. It was as though I was on a roller coaster, but the feeling was a hundred times stronger. Then, just as quickly as it had started, the feeling dissipated, and I looked around as I found myself standing in the middle of grass so long it almost reached my nose.

  No, the grass hadn’t changed length at all. I was just four inches tall, now.

  Alright. Sophie and I had an hour to look inside this place before we turned back into humans; we had to make the most of it.

  Scrambling up the side cladding of the house like it was the most natural thing in the world, I reached the window, which I had unlocked earlier using a spell, and pushed it open. A squawk behind me let me know that Sophie was coming through, and I waited for the whoosh of wind from her wings to wash over me before I followed her inside.