Case 3.4: Little Pet Shop of Horrors
Back in Brogan’s car, the Orc asked why everyone was really at the bar the other night. Blaine tried to keep up the cover of the stag do, but Jericho interrupted, saying that their cover was blown and that they were there on police business, but wouldn’t go into more detail until Brooke had been recovered. Jericho also claimed that once they had the girl, the debt with Tulgan would be square. Brogan wasn’t so sure it would be that easy, making a quip about how Jericho might be just as bad as Tulgan for using a child as a bargaining chip. The drive became silent after.
The car pulled up outside Howlistix, the pet shop Mama had suggested they investigate. To see that it was in an awful state, the windows were broken and the doors were knocked off the hinges.
The officers asked what Brogan was going to do while they investigated, only to find her dropping her hat into the car and pulling out a pair of brass knuckles.
Entering the shop, they found the inside matched the outside. Broken and dirty, empty cages lined the walls, the counter was smashed, cash till missing and shelving units were knocked over.
Thinking there may be more to this place, the officers started looking around for any hidden doors or hatches. Eddie searched the animal cages and found a skeleton of a parrot. When Fingle poked the parrot with his staff, it squawked!
Taken aback by the undead bird, Eddie levelled his crossbow, ready to fire at it. Blaine stopped him, thinking maybe the parrot could be of help. Blaine started talking to the parrot, asking it some simple questions to gauge its intelligence. The parrot seemed quite talkative, responding to some questions with a mixture of the officers’ voices, using words they had all used in the store. Blaine then asked if the bird knew of a secret door or passage in the building. The bird flew over to a set of broken fridges, landed on top, and repeated ‘secret passage’ in Blaine’s voice.
The fridge opened up, revealing a long dark stairway with a solid metal door at the bottom. Jericho led the group down, leaving the bird behind.
The door was thankfully unlocked, but Jericho could hear the sounds of scrapping and whining on the other side. Preparing to encounter an enemy, he kicked the door open, only to find cages upon cages of various animals. Dogs, cats, birds, snakes. The room was full of them. All locked in small cages, all looking like they had been deprived of food and water for days. Fingle, being the animal lover that they are, immediately started looking for food to give the creatures. Finding a stack of dog food bags, Fingle grabbed a bag, but a rotten hand reached out of the pile and grabbed him instead! Four previously hidden zombies shamble out of the corners of the room and attack the officers.
The zombies weren’t a cause for much concern, as they were dealt with rather quickly. Fingle returned to feeding the animals, finding one to be a basilisk, but the poor creature had had its eyes removed. Jericho hurried the gnome, stating that this wasn’t what they were here for.
