The Impaler

Halloween Theft at Taxidermy Studio

By Jonathan Vaughn—Staff Writer

DURHAM—Somebody might have had their heart set on being a lion this year for Halloween, say Durham Police, who are currently investigating a break-in at Rowley’s Taxidermy Emporium.

According to Detective Charles Gray, chief investigator on the case, the robbery took place just after 3 a.m. this morning. “The thieves knew exactly what they were going for,” said Gray. “They entered at the rear of the establishment and used their vehicle to break down the door and tripped the silent alarm. Unfortunately, they made off with the lion’s head before we could get there.” Gray went on to say that no other items were reported missing, and that the owner’s safe, which was empty at the time of the robbery, remained untouched.

“That’s the worst part,” said Tom Rowley, owner of Rowley’s Taxidermy Emporium. “Of all the things in the store, what they could hope to gain by taking old Leo is beyond me.”

A family business owned and operated in the same location for over 50 years, Rowley’s Taxidermy Emporium is part taxidermy studio, part museum, and the animals inside have become old friends to both locals and curious tourists alike. Leo, a monstrous African lion’s head, had been a fixture on the wall behind Rowley’s counter since the early 1980s.

“It was one of my father’s most prized possessions,” Rowley said. “[Leo] had been in our house for years and was a gift from a friend who he served with in World War Two. It was shot on a safari back in the 1930s. These kinds of things are getting harder and harder to find, and to this day a lot of the kids used to come in here just to look at him.”

Durham Police Department spokeswoman Sh-eryl Parks said she does not believe the burglary to be related to the break-in at nearby Lynn’s Craft Store in mid-October, in which thieves made off with over $1,000 in cash. Parks, however, did advise business owners in the area to install loud alarms. “It is our experience that an audible alarm is a better deterrent than a silent alarm.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” said Tom Rowley. “It’s just sad that we live in a world where we have to worry about stuff like this.”

Markham was about to read the e-mail again when Michelle interrupted him.

No shadow-pieces in there now, she said. Everything so clear when you’re working; everything so alive. So what if your work defines who you are? You might be a shell of a man, Sam Markham, but I ’d still do you in a heartbeat.

Markham laughed, swallowed the tears that threatened to follow, and powered off his BlackBerry.

Then he took his wife’s hand and strolled with her down by the river.