Disclaimer: I own no part of Harry Potter or its associated canon nor, any other already copyrighted material.
(A/N):
Chapter 8
The Hunt Begins
It was only a few days later when an exhausted courier crashed into Harry and Ron's office nearly collapsing on the floor. He looked as if he had run all the way up from the mail room as he shoved the letter marked 'urgent' into Harry's hands. Slicing it open he quickly glanced over the note from the head of the Auror's office.
Mr. Potter,
We have a report of another potential victim in the case you
are investigating. The muggle police have previously arrived
and taken charge of the scene. Several of our people are
already in place stalling them until you can get there. Remember
to take all appropriate Secrecy measures. Take your time, this
one is dead.
Kingsley Shacklebolt,
Head Auror
The address of the scene was scrawled across the bottom. Passing the letter to Ron he pulled out one of his desk drawers and began digging through the clutter for something very specific. Ron also reached into his drawer and both came up with a folded leather case. Flipping it open Harry made sure the badge was still clean. Slipping it in his pocket he finally glanced up to his partner. "You get Hermione, I'll write Keystone." Ron nodded and pulled the framed mirror closer from the corner of his desk.
"Hermione. Hermione, you there?" While Ron quickly spoke with his wife Harry scratched out a swift message, copied the address and stuffed it in another envelope marked 'urgent'.
"Take this to the mail room immediately." Scratching out the delivery address he handed it to the courier who set out at once. The Ministry Mail Room maintained a small number of specially bred and charmed fast owls for emergencies. The letter would be sent with one of them and delivered almost by the time Harry left the building. Scratching out a hurried note to the transportation department he tapped it and waited as it shot off out the door.
"Okay…I'll meet you there." Hermione's voice drifted off as Ron set the mirror back among his pictures and stood. As both stripped off their official robes Harry hung them both from the rack and led the way out. Stopping by the wardrobe room off to one side of the floor they each grabbed a suit jacket that would help them fit in as a couple inspectors from Scotland Yard as their badges proclaimed. Slipping on the jackets they rode down to the lobby. Taking the main entrance out they emerged from the men's room and quickly climbed to street level. The grey day seemed in accordance with the mission they were on.
"Good morning sirs. Your car." The man held out the keys to the official looking vehicle behind him. Harry took them with a nod and slipped into the driver's seat. As Ron slid in beside him Harry started the engine and set off through the streets of London.
Several minutes of silence later he pulled over and parked several paces from a small crowd being held back by patrol officers. Stepping out they joined three people waiting someway back. "I see you got the message." Keystone nodded in response. He had also conjured a suit jacket and the five of them looked very official as they headed toward the line of officers. Patinkin was carrying a cup of coffee in a cardboard cup and muttering about the 'damn Brits never brewed it strong enough.' Reaching a sergeant who seemed to be in charge Ron and Harry flashed their badges. They were enchanted to make sure the man saw whatever it was he wanted and he waved them past. "These three are with us." At the questioning glance Ron muttered something about 'colleagues from America' and 'exchange program' that seemed to satisfy him.
As they approached a figure covered with a white sheet and several uniformed people floating around it Harry looked around at the buildings. A solid row of office buildings were backed up to the street off to the left and the right was divided into two large and rather recent car parking ramps. Between them, where the body lay, there was a walkway just over fifteen yards wide with a row of rectangular cement planters right down the center. A few benches had been placed along either side though Harry was at a loss for who would want to rest in such a place.
The white sheet covered form was lying near one of planters, spots of red soaking into the fabric. The acrid smell of blood found his nostrils turning his head for just a moment. The area all around was clear of any signs of a struggle, much like the previous report. He glanced over as Keystone seemed to notice the same thing. "We're going to take a look around." Harry nodded as the pair broke away and headed for the concrete structure to the right. He and Ron kneeled down at either end of the sheet as the other people moved away.
Pulling it back Harry could hear the hard swallow in Hermione's throat. The young witch was half on her side and almost looked as if she was sleeping. Except for the large pool of congealed blood that had spread from the back of her head and the visible coldness of her flesh. Harry choked back a gag reflex and leaned close to her face. This job, and his battles before it, had given him a painful amount of first hand experience with the dead. This one however, shook him right to the core. Instead of the vaguely fearful look most bodies had, her face was blank. The eyes were wide and unfocused; the lips hadn't even quivered in the last moments of life.
His eyes traced over the rest of her form from the jumper down to the long skirt. His eyes caught something sticking out of a pocket. Using a closer look at the bright yellow streak on her skirt as cover he covertly removed her wand and slid it up his sleeve. Shaking his head at the senseless death he leaned back and helped Ron replace the sheet. Hermione had turned away and was swallowing hard. As they stepped away from the body a young man approached, the label on his jump suit indicating he was part of the Forensics Team. Harry had dealt with the muggle police enough to get a good grasp of the different sections within the outfit though after a couple years it was slow coming back. He made a mental note to see about adding more information on muggle law enforcement agencies to the Auror training curriculum.
"Inspector." Harry nodded to the man and noticed Hermione speaking a few words to Ron before stepping away. His attention returned to the man who was stripping off a pair of plastic gloves and pulling out a notebook.
"What do you think?" The man flipped through a few pages of the book before responding.
"Well Inspector…we're going with accident for now. There's no indication of a struggle or a fall from more than a few feet. It looks as if she simply slipped, you'll notice the broken heel on her left shoe. Seems she fell and landed just wrong on the planter. There's a small bit of blood on the edge and the break in her neck corresponds to the mark." Harry followed the man as he pointed to the various places.
"Anything…unusual?"
"Not really. Her body temperature was rather low but it was a cool night last night." Harry glanced back to the exposed foot and noted it had turned a light shade of blue from the cold.
"Okay. Thanks." The man nodded and turned away. After taking a couple steps he turned back and hesitated. "What?"
"Sir…I know it's not my place but…" Harry gestured for the man to continue. "Her face. I've seen a lot of these but…never one that calm. She had time to realize what was happening and still… It just feels all wrong." Harry nodded slowly and waved the man off. He seemed glad to be away from the body as he rapidly packed up his kit. Ron glanced at him as he approached and spoke under his breath.
"One of ours says they have a witness over there we need to talk to." Ron jerked his head over to a pair of men standing near the circle of onlookers.
"Okay…let's hear what he has to say." Striding over to them Harry was surprised to see Martin, the Junior Auror he had been training several weeks ago standing beside the witness. Apparently he had moved up a bit in the ranks.
"Sir? Mr. Hooper here wanted to speak to you." Harry nodded and waved Martin to the side.
"So…what did you see?" Hopper hesitated for a moment before turning to point toward the other car ramp.
"Well…I was just getting to work early this morning and leaving from the car, my wife's a muggle and she insisted I learn to drive you see…" Harry nodded quickly and gestured for the man to move on. "Right, right. It was about half past six and when I felt a bit of chill. Not like a cool breeze but something unnatural. Then I remembered that warning in the paper about them Dementors. A few moments later I heard a thud and a crack. I broke my arm once s a boy and it was the same terrible wet sound. So I ran over to the ledge…there." He pointed up near the fourth floor. "I looked down and saw her lying there. I thought she just hit her head or I would have moved faster. By the time I got down here it was too late. So I called the police straight away and then the Ministry." His eyes traced back to the sheet lying over the victim.
"Poor girl. I wonder who she was?" Harry glanced at Ron before turning back to him.
"We'll find out. This man is going to keep an eye on you and walk you through the muggle interview." He gestured for Martin to return but closed on him for a second and surreptitiously passed over the victim's wand. "Get this back to the Ministry for me. Tell them who it belongs to."
"Yes sir." He nodded sharply before returning to Hooper's side. Harry and Ron continued on past the body to stand at a distance and take in the scene. Ron was glancing around rapidly, looking for someone. Harry leaned a little closer.
"Where did she go?"
"She said she was going to look for something and then disappeared. Haven't seen her since."
"Huh. I wonder where…" Harry flinched as something small hit him in the shoulder. Glancing down he found a small pebble had landed near his feet. A moment later another hit Ron drawing both of their attention's upward. Slowly their gaze was pulled nearly straight up to a familiar head of brown hair staring over the side from the top level of the parking ramp and waving for them to come up. It disappeared a moment later once Hermione was sure they had gotten the message.
"We didn't find anything nearby. How goes the scene?" They both turned as Keystone and Patinkin walked up.
"Nothing conclusive yet. Consensus seems to be that it was an accident. But Hermione apparently found something. Come on." Breaking away from the scene the four found a way into the structure and past several dozen parked cars to the elevator. Piling in it was a short ride to the relatively empty roof. Hermione was waiting for them near the edge and glancing over occasionally. Keystone paused for a moment and carefully examined a patch of ground. "What?"
"Spell damage." He pointed out several spots and kicked a loose chunk of concrete with his foot.
"You saw that too huh?" Keystone nodded as he caught up to them. "Did you find any other possible battle scenes?" Hermione's gaze again swept the skyline as he answered.
"Nope. Not so much as a magical burn mark. But here…"
"Exactly." She stepped away from the thick concrete railing and began pointing at and through the floor. "There are signs of a wizard's duel, or at least an attacking wizard, starting near a car on the second floor and trailing all the way up the stairs. They stop right over there." She pointed to the piece of concrete Keystone had kicked. Ron glanced down as if able to see the battle in his head.
"So…she was chased up here?"
"It looks that way."
"But…why up? If she had gone down she could have run to another building for help. Up here she'd be trapped." Hermione could only shrug.
"She probably panicked. And once she started up she couldn't turn around. So he tracked her all the way up to the room, finally caught up and…did whatever it is he does to these people." They all considered the situation for several minutes, each tracing though the events that seemed to have occurred. Agent Patinkin slowly headed over to the ledge and looked down. After a moment she turned back.
"Okay…assuming you're right…why kill her? If he was trying to convince people this was a Dementor attack then killing her would be the last thing he would want." Harry found himself nodding along. It did seem to go against what had already been done.
"I don't think he did. Not intentionally anyway. Now, assume for a moment that after he finished with her, her body was still able to stumble a little ways. Walking is mostly automatic so it's possible." Hermione imitated the shambling gait. And approached the railing. "Remember that bit of paint on her skirt? Yellow wasn't it?" Harry nodded as his eyes followed her finger to a thin yellow warning line that had been painted around the rim of the railing. The section where Hermione was standing seemed to be newer than the rest. "Was it…about here?" She set her hand at about mid thigh and leaned against the edge. The two matched up perfectly. A moment later all of them had moved closer. Patinkin had leaned close to examine the paint and Harry could make out the slight pattern where the newer coating had been partially wiped that might indicate fabric. The agent glanced back up.
"But…a fall from this height would have done much more that break her neck." Harry glanced over the concrete to where the body was being moved away. "It would have shattered half the bones in her body." Ron seemed to have leaped ahead of his wife and rushed to the edge.
"Ah…but you're not thinking like a witch. There are a dozen ways to stop someone falling, half of which could have saved her." Ron pulled back a moment and searched the paint strip. After a moment he found another wiped out section. "Let's see…this is pretty wide…" Leaning over as far as he could his free hand gripped the edge to keep himself from falling…and exactly matched several marks on the stripe. Pulling back once more his pant legs matched up with another set of patterned marks. "And so he stopped her fall." He glanced over at Hermione who was nodding approvingly. "Right?"
"Exactly what I was going to say." It took several moments for Harry to process the information.
"Okay…assuming you're correct…why is she dead?" Hermione was caught at a loss at this point and furrowed her brow. She apparently hadn't quite got that part figured out yet. After several moments of consideration Patinkin raised a finger.
"These methods to stop someone from falling…could the target land on their feet?" Ron nodded a moment later. "Then…what if that's what happened? She landed just fine, but stumbled and hit her head. Whoever attacked her would have assumed she was just going to lie down and wait to be found. So…they just left her to die." Harry glanced once more over the railing where the body had now been driven away and onlookers were dispersing. Turning around to the rest of his group he leaned back against the railing and visually traced the battle back from the center of the roof to the stairs.
It had been dark in the predawn hour. She had just arrived, or maybe just gotten off of work. The attacker approached, likely drew a wand, she panicked. She was fit enough to run and had scrambled up three flights of stairs. Somewhere along the way her heel had given out and she had tripped. Likely right by that broken piece of concrete. They had caught up and assaulted her. Afterward she had stumbled the fifteen or twenty feet and gone right over the edge. The attacker had rushed to the railing, leaned over and saved her. Harry's and caught at that point. What sort of person causes massive psychological trauma to the point of shutting down a mind, but saves the victim from a fall to the death?
That strange combination of actions rolled violently in his mind attempting to connect to something else. Involuntarily a memory of the end of sixth year swan before his eyes. Snape had killed Dumbledore, granted on the latter's orders, but then had spared Harry and several others on his way out. It was the same kind of disconnected results he had here. Could whoever had done this also be serving two masters as Severus had been? Take whatever you want but leave them alive? It was a twisted set of ideas Harry couldn't find a link between.
Frustration set in several moments later and he turned to catch a biting gust of the North wind as it tore over the building. Taking another deep breath he was silently thankful when his partner's voice sounded behind him.
"So…uh…" Ron was glancing around, clearly trying to find somewhere to direct them from here. "Lunch?"
"Yes!"
"Good idea!"
"I'll drive!" Dropping back down in the elevator they made a wide circle around the far side of the block to avoid any of the actual detectives still interviewing witnesses. As Ron and Harry slipped into the front seat Patinkin found herself between Keystone and Hermione. In order to make sure the car would pass as a Scotland Yard vehicle the Ministry had avoided putting any charms at all on it. Unfortunately it made the back seat a little tight for three adults.
They were more than happy to get out when Harry pulled up outside the Leaky Cauldron. Requesting a private room they were quickly seated and enjoying a variety of meals. Harry though was picking through his, moving things around as the bits and pieces of the case bounced around between his ears. "Okay…" he finally said, "what do we know about these people that link them together?" They each glanced at the others, none being able to come up with anything. "Come on, come on. There has to be something." Hermione was the first to throw he hands up.
"There isn't Harry. In fact if they weren't all witches and wizards we wouldn't even think there was a connection." Her eyes suddenly popped open at that. "Or…I could be wrong." Harry grinned a little at the words that were rarer coming from Hermione than wit from Filch.
"Okay…they're all magical. So obviously that's a requirement. Now…what else is happening to them?" Ron thought it over a moment.
"Well…when we find them they all act as if they've been kissed by a Dementor."
"And by all accounts that's exactly what seems to be happening. Right down to the silver flash indicating a patronus." Harry nodded at Keystone's addition.
"Okay…let's run with that a moment. If this is in fact being done by one or more Dementors then someone has to be controlling them. So…what can control a Dementor?" Again there was silence as they pondered the question. Keystone glanced up.
"Voldemort could."
"Who?"
"I'll explain later." He turned from Patinkin and refocused on the others. "Voldemort sent an entire legion to attack the school; obviously he had some way to make them do his bidding." Harry had already begun shaking his head.
"I don't think so. Voldemort promised to increase fear and darkness so the Dementors could multiply, just like he promised increased rights to werewolves. This feels different. They wouldn't have anything to gain from the little bits of fear being generated around the country. The attacks are far too precise and have had basically no impact on the muggles." Keystone was forced to agree.
"You're right. But it still leaves us with what could control them. A patronus can keep them away but it can't really force them anywhere. Or to do anything specifically." More minutes of silence fell as each again attempted to come up with something that could control a Dementor with precision. Finally Harry shook his head in frustration.
"It's not a Dementor. Or even someone controlling a Dementor. It just doesn't make sense no matter how you look at it. No…we're dealing with something else completely." Harry could feel the tension in the room rise at that realization. After several minutes Keystone tossed several coins onto the table and rose.
"We're going to head down to Scotland Yard and see what we can dig up. Let us know if you come up with any thing else." With a nod he and the agent headed out and back into the muggle world. The trio sat there several minutes more, strangely content to simply spend time in each other's company despite the horrible problem they had to tackle. Finally though Ron slowly rose.
"We'd better get the car back to the Ministry. You want to come along?"
"Tempting…but as long as I'm here there's a few things I've been meaning to pick up in the Alley. I'll see you at home."
"Okay." With a farewell kiss Hermione headed out through the back while Ron and Harry paid and went to retrieve the car. As they cruised back to the Ministry Harry's mind kept trying to make sense of the situation. In some ways things had been easier in school. There he had a definite goal and a well defined enemy. Hunt down objects of pure evil, destroy them and kill the darkest wizard of all time. Here he wasn't even sure what he was hunting.
(A/N): If you feel it is warranted go ahead and review. I welcome any and all opinions.
