Page 6 of Dead and Gone

"The last lot of kids who visited and thieved from the museum. Bunch of yobs," says the curator. "They visited on a high school excursion a couple of months ago, and if I didn't need the funding, I'd never allow kids from that place in here again." He gestures at the corner of the ceiling, where a red lightblinks on a small white security camera. "The hooligans stuck gum overthatso I don't have any record of the theft."

"No finesse—definitely local kids. And quite primitive methods compared to your technological expertise, Rowan."

"Violet!" Rowan looks especially annoyed this time.

"Why? Is he a master thief?" asks the curator suspiciously.

"No," he puts in sharply.

"What did the delightful teenagers steal?" He scowls in the direction of his macabre tableau, and I flourish a hand at the dead animal collection. "One of these?"

If this man's face gets any tighter, his features will disappear. The curator points at a small space at the edge of the taxidermy display. A circular indent on the green velvet setting indicates a missing item. "They took a mole."

"A mole?" I ask.

"Yes. That one." He jabs a finger at the mole's photo and description, which are still attached to the wall. Awhitemole? How curious.

Behind me, Leif laughs. "Oh,the mole. I saw the pictures."

"I saw the pictures too. That is not the way to treat a hundred-year-old, valuable item," snaps the curator.

"Valuable?" scoffs Grayson. "A scruffy dead thing?"

"What photos?" I ask.

"Oh!" Holly's mouth parts. "Do you mean Marvin Mole?"

We have nothing in common, but at this moment, the curator and I synchronize our responses. "What?"

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Holly's ickinessaround the display leaves as her cheeks dimple with a smile. "Marvin Mole. He created an Instagram account a week ago to share his adventures, and he posts about all the places he visits."

"Yes! Bloody hilarious." Leif pulls out his phone, swiping a few times before turning the screen to me.

What manner of ludicrousness is this? I take hold and scroll. The white mole with red eyes has indeed visited locations of interest, often dressed to suit the occasion. Wearing sunglasses on the beach. A trip to the swings at the local playground. He even has his snout in a beer glass at a pub.

"Give me that!"

"Hey," says Leif when the curator snatches his phone.

The man’s face reddens. "I'm lucky the family donated new items to the museum and the specimen is an exquisite example of taxidermy—an albino, and extremely rare."

"Extremely realistic," says Holly, fighting a giggle. "Nobody could tell Marvin isn't a real mole at first, even if he is a weird color."

I close my eyes in despair. What's the betting that Kai and his little gang from the local school were involved? Gum and stolen moles?Highodds.

"I can assure you thatwe'veno intention of stealing any of your manikins," I inform him.

"You know something about taxidermy?" he asks.

"Not much, but I know that's what you call the monstrosities."

"Violet has a different way of dealing with dead animals than taxidermy," says Grayson, and I flash him a look.

"I have not reanimated anything since my failed, hysteria-inducing attempt in that human school's biology class," I retort.

"Ah. The half-dissected mice that fought back." Leif chuckles.

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