The Spook Who Spoke Again: A Flavia Albia Short Story Read Online Free PDF

interest in him now.
    Thalia helped me hunt for Ferret. She was very methodical. She said she had had to hunt for lost creatures before. I bet she meant Jason. Our searching made him agitated, so Thalia wound him up and fastened him in a huge basket. She didn’t think I noticed, but as she fed his coils into it, she ran her hands over his body, which I guessed was to check if she could feel Ferret inside him. After she tied down the lid of the basket, we could hear Jason thumping about and trying to break the container so he could escape and cause havoc.
    I had once thought a python would be an interesting pet to have, but now I just hated Jason. He was a killer. I hid my feelings, which I am very good at, but I was already deciding I would prove what had happened to Ferret. If I could find any bits of him, I would hold a proper funeral. And then I would make those responsible pay for his death.

5
    Thalia kept refusing to admit that Jason must have killed Ferret. We searched the whole tent and even went to those next door, asking if anyone had seen him. Nobody had.
    I didn’t want any dinner. I went to bed. I was pretending not to mind as much as I did. Thalia tried to soften me up but I stayed quiet and private. My father and sister say you should never consent to be drawn in by people you need to investigate. Trust nobody. People are all devious. Suspect them all. So I played the brave boy and agreed whatever was said to me. However, I was not talking. I kept my thoughts to myself.
    In the morning Thalia sat down with me saying, as if she cared, that we would keep searching when we had time. I was not to worry about it. He was bound to turn up again.
    She knew nothing. Well, she wouldn’t admit it. Classic, as Falco would say. She would be found out. I would do it.
    At least now Ferret was officially designated a missing person, so I was allowed to write up posters in order to describe him and to seek information.
    LOST: Sable ferret, guard hairs dark, mask white, tail dark, paws dark, eyes black, nose pink, expression sweet, character lively, answers to Ferret. Useful info to MDA Postumus care of Thalia, finder’s fee. No timewasters, please.
    Thalia had offered to pay a small reward for anything that led to his return. That was easy for her to say. She knew she would never have to cough up.
    I wanted to go to the vigiles and make a report, but Thalia would not let me. In the Transtiberina I didn’t know where the cohort lived so I couldn’t just go by myself. She claimed they had better things to do, saving peoples’ lives in fires, letting burglars run away and harassing innocent performers about their entertainment licenses.
    When someone goes missing you have to consider whether they have recently been anxious over anything. I supposed Ferret might be worried that he had come to a strange new place. I didn’t think so, because I was here with him. In the past he had visited the coast with me and came along if anybody ever took me on an outing. Albia took me with her to Nemi to bring me out of myself, though it didn’t. It never bothered Ferret. He just wriggled inside my tunic during the journey and became madly excited when he could explore a new place.
    Lysias said if Ferret was a dog or some other kind of animal he might run off and try to find his own way back to what he thought was his real home. I should send a message to Falco and Helena in case he turned up. I didn’t know who would carry a message for me, but if Ferret appeared at our house on the Aventine, they would know I needed to hear he was safe and to have him back immediately. My parents have thoughtful natures. But I couldn’t see how he would travel through the streets to their house without some other boy deciding to grab him to have as a pet of his own.
    Hermes and Sizon asked if Ferret had a girlfriend he might have eloped with. They were giggling about their suggestion, trying to annoy me. ‘Has he run off to have a fling, or is he