Rain fell upon the ground; the world around the two was quiet. Neither said a word as they walked towards the decrepit house. The lawn was unkept, and weeds were growing up around the dying flowers. Large green vines grew up along the cracked grey brick walls. Dark drapes were pulled across dirty windows. From the front of the house, the two detectives could see a slightly opened window, and light shining through behind the drapes.
For three and a half years, the two friends had worked together at the Ministry of Magic, in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. However, it wasn't until recently that the two had come to believe they were dealing with a new type of heinous crime.
Months of research had led them down a stray path: nowhere near the several missing children. This lone house, set upon a sordid hill, was the latest lead in the missing children case. They were there on retainer for the London Regional Police. How it was that the Muggle Police had found out that there was a world unknown to them, neither of the two asked; they just did as they were told.
Stepping up to the police tape that kept the neighbours out of the yard. Stepping up to the police tape, Blaise Zabini and Tanith Thornburgh stood waiting for the police officer, who was standing only three metres away, to stop paying attention to the bystanders and to start paying attention to them. They were there as guests, nothing more.
"Mr. Zabini, Ms. Thornburgh, we've been waiting for you," a balding man with a moustache said to the two.
"Constable Cordele," Tanith said politely, but inwardly cringed. She wasn't too fond of muggles and working so closely with them was making her ill. If she had her way, every law enforcement agent working for the Muggles would have had their mind erased so the Aurors could take over the case. Instead, Minister Amelia Bones had insisted that the two rookie Aurors work closely with the Muggle Police in order to improve Muggle/Wizard relations.
"This way," Cordele said calmly as he led the two away from the questioning crowd and toward the house. Once inside, he continued, "Two children, one fifteen, the other seven, were left home while their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Arnett, went out for dinner and a show. Tabitha Arnett was in her room finishing up some summer homework. She thought her younger brother, Josh, was in the family room watching television. However, when Tabitha went to look for him, he was nowhere to be found. After searching the house, she notified the police."
"May we take a look around?" Blaise questioned the Constable.
"Of course," Constable Cordele responded as the two walked off together. "Witches," he mumbled under his breath and proceeded to wait in the kitchen.
Slowly, the two walked through the house. Plush carpet covered every floor except for the kitchen and bathrooms, which were both linoleum-clad. The walls were painted to match the carpet in each room. Pictures hung on the walls. A family portrait sat perched on the living room mantel over the fireplace. The television was still on and playing the local news. A picture of the victim's house flashed across the screen before Tanith turned it off. A couch and two armchairs were placed nearly against the far wall in front of the TV. In the corner, a large bookcase stood floor to ceiling, filled with what Blaise and Tanith presumed to be Muggle novels.
The two wizards continued their search of the house. Inside the young Arnett's room, the two found a message written on the wall in what both presumed was blood.
'Can you find us?' the message read. Puzzled, the two looked at each other.
The bed was messy, as if the young boy had just woken from his sleep when he was taken from the house. Toys were scattered across the green floor, and posters had been slashed, half hanging off the green walls. The window was open and a cool breeze, mixed with a small amount of rainwater, was blowing inside. Unlike the other victims, neither Tabitha nor Josh had shown any sign of magical inclination.
"You think he's alive?" Tanith questioned softly, not wanting anyone else to hear her comment.
"No. I don't think any of them are," Blaise replied. "It's been three weeks since Victim One went missing. According to Muggle Police, the first twenty four hours are crucial. If you can't find them during that time, then your vic's more than likely dead. We might not have the bodies yet, but he'll start leaving them sooner or later."
Tanith watched her partner closely. Though he was older by a year, they had been in the same house at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had helped her understand fourth year Transfiguration, while she had helped him with his ever-so-boring History of Magic homework. The two had their strengths and weaknesses, but what his strength was her weakness and vice versa; that was why they made one heck of a team, or so they were told.
Blaise's sandy-brown hair fell in front of his eyes as he moved towards the window, his long leather jacket swaying behind him. He wasn't a large or bulky man, but when push came to shove, he did pack a punch.
Turning away from her partner, Tanith turned her attention to the closed closet. If the kidnapper was caring, as he had been with the other missing children, he would have taken clothing for the child. However, the closet looked undisturbed. Slowly, she reached out her gloved hand and opened the door. Inside were a few play clothes, a standard-issue school uniform, and shoes. The smell of copper caught her attention.
"Zabini," she whispered as she moved the clothing away from the back of the closet, revealing a doorway to what she presumed would be the attic. "Zabini!" she said a little louder.
"What is it, Tanith?" Blaise replied a little harshly, turning to see her face pale slightly.
She pulled out her wand as she moved out of the way to show Blaise the bloody handprint on the white door.
"I don't think Josh ever left the house. I think he was killed here."
The two opened the door leading to the attic and made their way up a set of dusty rickety old stairs. "Lumos," Zabini said. The two followed a bloody trail that led up the stairs and to the right. Both Aurors had dealt with the death of children during the war with Voldemort. But this time it wasn't an evil dark lord trying to kill off all muggle-born children. It was a muggle or wizard just attacking innocent children for reasons they had yet to uncover.
The two found the body of seven-year-old Josh Arnett, placed in a sitting position against the back wall. Another message had been written above the boy's head, reading, 'Congratulations!' Tanith gasped at the sight of the poor boy, turning away from the scene.
She didn't understand what was going on with the Muggle and Wizarding communities. She had known there were people who kidnapped children in her world, but never did they strip them down into nothing and shred their clothing. She was having difficulty comprehending what was going on. Instead of staying with Blaise, she moved off towards the boy's bedroom where she planned to get the London Police involved.
Moving down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Constable Cordele was speaking with who Tanith believed was fifteen-year-old Tabitha Arnett and her parents. As soon as she walked into the room, the group quieted down and looked at her. Blinking, she turned to look at Cordele. She said nothing at first; she couldn't. She had never had to inform a family that their child had not, in fact, been kidnapped, but had been murdered and hidden in the attic.
"Constable, may I have a word with you, please?" Tanith said calmly, though she didn't feel calm at all. She felt panicked and confused.
"If you'll excuse me, Mrs. and Mr. Arnett," Cordele replied, his voice as neutral as the young witch's.
They moved off into the hallway, out the door, and out onto the front lawn, where the media was shouting questions at their direction. Breathing in the deep air, Tanith turned to look at the lead detective of the missing children's case.
"We found the young boy's body in the attic," she whispered, her back towards the crowd.
"Excuse me?" Cordele said out of shock and disbelief. "We went over every inch of this house, there was no sign of the boy."
"Did you check the attic? There was a blood trail leading from the boy's closet up towards the attic. I believe the killer subdued the victim on the stairs to the attic, where he fought back until he was killed and placed there," Tanith said quietly but firmly. "The boy was stripped, his clothing shredded and left in a pile next to his body. I'll have you know, neither Zabini nor myself have worked a case like this before. It's not common in our world. In fact, I believe this is the first case in which we've seen such violence. It is not taught to us in our training."
"I'll call in the coroner and send him up. You and your partner might want to learn a thing or two about child abductions and paedophilia," the Constable replied before returning to the house.
Sitting down on the front step, Tanith began to think over everything that had happened over the last three weeks. Anna Michaelson was the first victim, taken from her home while her parents had been at work. The eight-year-old girl had been left in the company of her older brother, Jason, who, like Tabitha, was finishing up some summer school work. Jason, however, attended Hogwarts, and the wards around the Michaelson house had not alerted either child to an intruder. This had led Police and Aurors to believe that the kidnapper had known what wards the family were using. At the scene of Anna's abduction, they had found a similar child's bedroom with toys and books scattered across the room. The only difference was that Anna's closet had been emptied of her clothing while Josh's closet had led to his murder scene. But why take Anna? Why the younger children? Tanith couldn't understand any of this. Not many wizards would know about this paedophilia that Constable Cordele had talked about, but no muggle would have known about the wards.
'Unless...' Tanith thought, 'the wizard was muggle-born.'