Deadly Animals

Detective Sergeant Seth Delahaye feels restless on his day off. Delahaye worked in London before transferring to Birmingham. His apartment building was constructed on the site of a gruesome murder, and he ruminates on his profession as a detective. A phone call interrupts his musing.

In the morning, Colleen Bonney tells her daughters, Ava and Veronica, about Mickey’s discovery. Colleen answers the door for Detective Delahaye, who is questioning people in the neighborhood about Mickey’s disappearance. Colleen asks who found the body, but the police don’t know. Ava and Veronica eavesdrop on the conversation. Delahaye asks the girls what they know about Mickey, and Ava tells him that Mickey was a bully. Colleen scolds them for speaking ill of the dead, but Delahaye pushes them to continue.

Colleen feels relieved that the killer is only targeting boys, but Ava recalls the Moors murderers, who targeted both boys and girls. The statement annoys Colleen but interests Delahaye, who commends Ava for the observation. The detective leaves, and Ava and Veronica watch TV.

Mike Bonney, Colleen’s ex-husband, arrives to take Ava and Veronica to a museum. On the drive, they pass the crime scene, which is now crawling with police. Ava chats with her dad, avoiding talking about the news. Ava thinks about how her parents’ divorce forced her to grow up quickly, since she had to help her mom look after the family. Ava became good at keeping secrets to avoid her mother’s violent temper. Colleen is sometimes verbally and physically abusive toward her daughters.

At the museum, Ava studies different animals, and Mike quizzes her about their bones. For Ava, bones tell an animal or person’s life story. The skeletons remind her of the fox, and she wonders what happened to it.

In the morgue, Delahaye views Mickey Grant’s body, which is recognizable despite its decomposition. The pathologist, Professor Angela Simmons, begins the autopsy. Mickey was killed shortly after he went missing, but his body was preserved in a cool place before being dumped. The cause of death is a stab wound to the heart, and Simmons points out other injuries. She identifies a plethora of human bite marks—as if the killer mauled Mickey—which investigators can compare against dental records. Simmons believes neither cannibalism nor sexual assault was the motive. On another table, she uncovers the fox that was found on the scene. Delahaye laments both Mickey and the fox, whose lives were cut short.

Paul Ballow and his girlfriend Lucy walk home at night. The couple discuss Mickey’s murder, and Lucy worries that the killer is a patient at her workplace, a psychiatric hospital. Passing cars illuminate a pair of glowing eyes near the Quarry, startling Lucy. The eyes are high enough above the ground that they must belong to a large animal. The couple laughs off their fear but walks away quickly.

Ava and her friend Maya walk to school, making a stop under the Flyover bridge to talk with Paul’s punk band, War Dance. Ava notices graffiti she has seen around the village, signed by a Harry Ca Nab. Ava and Paul wonder who the vandal is as Delahaye pulls up in his car. Delahaye and Detective Constable Steve Lines approach the band, and Delahaye silently acknowledges Ava as she leaves.

Delahaye and Lines ask the youths about Mickey. The teens are too old to have been close to the boy, but Paul was friends with Mickey’s brother. Paul and his bandmates wonder if Bob Aster, nicknamed Bob the Nonce, or the ice cream man, Pete Ancona, killed Mickey because both had altercations with the boy before he went missing. Mickey has a secret den, but no one knows where it is. Lucy and Paul share their story about the glowing eyes, and the couple take Delahaye and Lines to the Quarry. Human and animal footprints cover the muddy hill.

Ava and Maya attend a school assembly, strategically sitting away from their bully, Brett Arbello. As the headmaster discusses Mickey, Ava thinks about her upcoming plans with her best friend, John. Brett pushes Maya at lunch, and Ava frightens him off with her sharpened blue pencil. At the end of the day, Ava goes to meet John in the yard, but Brett ambushes her. He punches her in the neck, and she stabs his hand and thigh with her pencil.

John fights Brett before Nathaniel Marlowe, a school prefect, throws Brett across the yard. Nathaniel towers over Brett and throws him again until the boy runs away. Nathaniel and John tend to Ava, who cries. Nathaniel offers Ava and John candy to cheer them up. Ava watches the handsome older boy, noticing his heterochromatic (different colored) eyes and large facial scar.

Delahaye gathers information about Mickey’s last movements. Detective Constable Olivia Gibson can’t find a match to the fibers found under Mickey’s fingernails, and Mickey’s friends don’t know where his secret den is. Lines questions Karl Jones, another school prefect, who denies being friends with the younger boy. The detectives don’t find any clues at Mickey’s friends’ den.

Delahaye and Lines visit Bob Aster, a sex offender, because of his previous crimes and inconsistencies in his alibi. Aster is a loner who avoids the Rubery locals, who often attack him and vandalize his house. The detectives think Aster could have committed the crime in the unaccounted-for hour in his alibi. They wonder if Aster has an accomplice.

Aster claims he was hiding from a group of men in the missing hour of his alibi, and he denies having anything to do with Mickey’s death. Delahaye asks Aster to visit a dentist so they can compare his teeth to the marks found on Mickey. Aster reluctantly agrees and retreats into his house.

Ava and Veronica clean Colleen’s boyfriend Trevor Bax’s apartment. Trevor acts creepy toward them, and Ava is thankful he doesn’t live with them. They worry they can’t bring up their concerns to their mother because she would accuse them of lying.

Trevor is a mechanic who works odd hours in and out of town, and he frequently sneaks out of the house in the middle of the night. Trevor snuck out on the night Mickey disappeared and lied to the police about his whereabouts. Trevor didn’t like Mickey because the boy always stole his tools. Veronica finds love letters from a woman and wants to tell their mother, but Ava convinces Veronica to keep the discovery a secret because Colleen will believe Trevor over them.

Delahaye and Lines visit Pete Ancona’s house, and the gruff man invites them inside. Ancona explains that, despite being an ice cream man, he doesn’t like kids and slapped Mickey once. He and other local men were all tired of Mickey’s bad behavior, but not enough to kill him. He gives his alibi for the night of Mickey’s disappearance, which he spent watching TV with his wife. He allows the detectives to check his dental records against the bite mark impressions.

On Saturday, Ava visits her grandmother, Nanny Ash, in West Heath with her family. Ava sees photos of the footprints at the Quarry, and she deduces that the footprints were all made by a human. The animal footprints were likely made by a person walking on all fours like a dog. Ava feels compelled to tell Detective Delahaye, so she takes some coins and goes out to a telephone booth.

Lines answers the phone, and Ava tells the police her theory with a disguised voice. She explains how the person curled their fingers to mimic an animal paw so they could walk on four legs. The detectives try to get her to visit the station, but Ava avoids their requests, mentioning the rarity of female killers in case they suspect her. Delahaye asks about humans having glowing eyes, and Ava dismisses this possibility.

Delahaye and Lines discuss the strange call and nickname their mystery caller Miss Misty. They marvel at her knowledge of anatomy and historical crimes, like her mention of Mary Bell. The men discuss Mary Bell’s motives, like her childhood of neglect and her intense jealousy. They consider whether the Rubery killer could be a child or a female, even though both types of perpetrators are rare.

Ava and John find a dead cat outside Ava’s apartment building. Ava describes a cat’s unique skeletal features and uses makeshift gloves to feel the cat’s injuries. As Ava investigates, John thinks back to when they first met. John’s mother and grandparents loved Ava instantly, and John’s friends all liked Ava’s strange knowledge. John thinks Ava gets picked on at school because other people are afraid of her.

Ava determines that the cat was thrown from the roof as a morbid experiment. They bury the cat, and Ava says the Rabbit’s Prayer. Ava reveals that she found Mickey’s body, and John begs her to tell an adult. Ava refuses because she thinks grown-ups would focus on her body farm instead of investigating Mickey’s death. Ava and John aren’t upset that Mickey, a bully, died, but they worry that other kids are in danger. Nathaniel whizzes past on his huge bike—which Ava nicknamed War Horse—but doesn’t see them.

Ava is staring out the window when someone suddenly knocks on the door, causing a commotion. Trevor reluctantly invites Detective Delahaye and Lines in. Delahaye asks to speak with Ava, and Colleen instantly believes Ava has caused trouble. Delahaye clarifies that he wants to ask Ava more about Mickey, and Trevor continues to call Ava a liar. Delahaye takes Ava and Luke, Trevor’s 16-year-old son, out to his car so Ava can speak more freely.

Delahaye and Lines ask Ava to identify the children’s dens in the area. Ava knows where some are because of a game she and the neighborhood kids play called “Wolf.” She also knows Mickey had a secret den because she followed him there once, and she offers to show them where it is. Ava assumes the den might be the kill site, but she wants to see for herself. Delahaye came to Ava because of her keen observational skills, and Ava relishes her now official involvement in the investigation. Luke asks about the caller who found the body, but the police haven’t identified her yet. The group starts to drive, and Ava directs them to Banlock Farm.

The car pulls up to the farm’s complex of long-abandoned buildings, where bird feathers billow in the air. The detectives go to the main farmhouse, and Ava sneaks off toward the real site of the den. As she walks through the stables, Ava notices the lack of small creatures, which makes the place eerily silent. Ava sees the remnants of a bed and teddy bear, as well as dog restraints. Ava exits the stables and walks toward the garage, and a strong smell of fire and decay hits her nose. The ground is covered with small animal bones that crunch under her feet. A huge spot of blood pools at the base of the garage, which has a bloody handprint on the door. Ava heaves the garage door open.

The open door reveals Mickey’s den, which has been torched. Burnt remnants of Mickey’s possessions litter the space, and blood covers everything. Ava imagines how the murder occurred and how the killer tried to clean up. She pockets a photo from a stack of Polaroids as Delahaye calls her name. The detectives and Luke walk across the path of bones, recoiling at the smell.

While the men are mesmerized by the crime scene, Ava continues to follow the path of bones up a hill. At the top, she sees a display of broomsticks with dog skulls balanced on them. She enters a corridor of hedges lined with smaller skulls. The path leads toward a cracked granite slab. Ava imagines Mickey finding the macabre scene, confronting its maker, and fighting for his life. Ava considers how she and the killer are both “custodian[s] of the dead” (85), but where she respects the lives she studies, the killer violates life. This connection overwhelms her, and as Luke runs toward her, she faints.

Delahaye drives Ava back to her apartment and suggests taking the day off from school. Delahaye returns the next day to thank Ava for her help with a gift. Ava is home alone and invites Delahaye in for tea. Ava assures Delahaye that she’s fine and that neither she nor Luke told their parents what they saw. Delahaye asks about Trevor, whom Ava hasn’t seen since the day before. Delahaye looks through Ava’s illustrated stories and compliments her drawings and penmanship. He gives her his card in case she has other information to share.

In the morning, Ava brings Colleen a cup of tea in bed, since Colleen and Trevor fought. Colleen sends Ava and Veronica to the store, and on the way, the girls see Mickey’s dog tied to a post. They pet the dog and talk to Mickey’s grief-stricken father. In the shop, the girls laugh and sing about the items they are buying, and Ava senses someone listening to them. She sees Nathaniel and feels relieved. Nathaniel and Ava chat while waiting in the checkout line. Ava buys a few sweets with her change, but Nathaniel buys her the licorice treats she really wanted. Nathaniel asks about a scar on Ava’s lips, and she asks about his heterochromia. Nathaniel leaves to make grocery deliveries on his bike.

Delahaye and Lines investigate a new Harry Ca Nab graffiti. Police processed Banlock Farm and determined that it was the kill site, but they can’t explain the bone garden. Detective Gibson found the owner of the land, Neville Coleman, who lives in Joseph Sheldon Hospital with Alzheimer’s syndrome. The farm has been abandoned for 10 years, but Coleman refuses to sell. He used the farm to breed rare German Shepherds.

Delahaye and Lines travel to the hospital. Lines teases Delahaye about not having a girlfriend and pushes him to go to Gibson’s birthday gathering. At the hospital, the men learn that Coleman has good days and bad days and that he sometimes mumbles at his window in the middle of the night. Coleman has no living family since his daughter died in an accident. They enter the hospital room and greet Coleman, who wears sunglasses to protect a sensitive eye. The detectives tell Coleman about the murder at his farm, but Coleman is more concerned with his land than the crime. Coleman speaks agitatedly about a nighttime visitor, but he won’t reveal who the person is.

At John’s grandfather’s house, John and Ava make a War Room for their investigation. Ava stores her notebooks and crime magazines, and John sets up a board. Ava drew and annotated everything she saw at Banlock Farm, and she redrew her illustration of Mickey’s body. The photo Ava took from the farm shows three graves, but neither Ava nor John can make out the names. John worries that Ava is getting in over her head, but Ava doesn’t think the photo is connected to the murder. She wants the murder investigation to be their new project.

Colleen informs her daughters they’ve been approved for a house. Ava, elated, goes for a walk to think. She walks past where she found Mickey’s body and toward a psychiatric hospital. As she passes the hospital, she sees a woman nicknamed the Wraith—a hospital resident who often escapes. The woman follows Ava and copies her movements. Nathaniel arrives on his bike and lures the woman toward the hospital attendants. Nathaniel offers Ava a ride home, and she tucks herself into his bike’s trailer. Nathaniel pedals toward Ava’s apartment, and she laughs with exhilaration. When they arrive, Ava thanks Nathaniel and offers to sew his torn mittens. He says goodbye curtly and leaves.