Every day, a 70-year-old pensioner bought 40 kilos of meat from her usual butcher: one day, the butcher decided to follow her, and when he discovered where all this meat was going, he called the police.

Every day, the old woman entered the same butcher’s shop. She was small, stooped, wearing an old coat, and pulling a worn cart on wheels.

—As usual, forty kilos of beef, — she said softly, holding out her hand with neatly folded bills.

The butcher—a young man—was amazed every time. Forty kilos! It was almost half a carcass. The first time, he had thought the woman must be feeding a large family. But week after week, everything repeated itself.

The woman hardly spoke, didn’t look anyone in the eye; she took the packages and left. A strange, acrid smell emanated from her—a mixture of iron, rotten meat, and something else the butcher couldn’t quite place.

Rumors spread quickly through the market. Vendors whispered,
“They say she feeds her son’s family.
” “Or maybe she feeds dogs.
” “Or maybe she runs an underground restaurant…”

The butcher didn’t believe in gossip, but his curiosity grew every day. One evening, he decided to follow her: he waited for her to leave the shop, then followed her from a distance.

The woman walked slowly but surely, pulling her heavy cart full of meat along the snowy road. She crossed the suburbs, past abandoned garages, and headed toward an old factory—the very one that had been closed for ten years.

The butcher stopped dead in his tracks. She went inside and disappeared with her packages.

Twenty minutes later, the old lady came out—empty-handed. No trace of the meat.

The next day, the scene repeated itself. By the third day, the butcher could take no more. He waited for her to disappear into the building, then discreetly followed her.

Inside, a strange smell hung in the air. He heard dull, ominous noises. When he looked through a crack in the wall, his heart almost stopped. Inside, there was…  Continued in the first comment

Behind large cages stood four enormous lions. Their eyes shone in the dim light of a light bulb. On the floor lay bones and pieces of still-fresh beef.

And in a corner, sitting on an old armchair, stood the same grandmother, murmuring tenderly:
— Calm down, my darlings… soon you will have your fight… people will come to watch you…

The butcher stepped back in disbelief, but then one of the lions suddenly roared, echoing throughout the empty shed. The woman turned her head and saw it.

— What are you doing here?! — she hissed.

The young man ran away and immediately called the police.

When the officers arrived, they were shocked: the old woman was a former zoologist. After the zoo closed, she had brought several animals to “save” them, but she quickly realized she could profit from them.

Deep inside the factory, they found an arena and claw marks on the walls. The woman organized clandestine lion fights, which were secretly watched by wealthy spectators.