Murder Most Horrid
Chapter 44: Crying Wolf
Despite being stuck in a more administrative function, Bellatrix still knew how to do her job; she had requisitioned the listings of all orders and deliveries of all known reagent suppliers for the previous month and put them next to Snape's list. Comparing the lists had taken the better part of three days of pouring over endless figures with the help of Jimmy and Petunia, but at long last, she had found a commonality; Creed had been smart enough to buy all the required reagents to make the potion from different suppliers, but the plucky Bellatrix had discovered that one 'Mister Church' from Whyteleafe had ordered all the needed reagents for the acidic potion within a single week and in reasonable bulk. Further investigation learned that this 'Mister Church' had also ordered quite a bit of potioneer equipment. This was more than a little suspicious.
Naturally, Bellatrix set out to investigate. She was to meet up with the local constable to canvas the area surrounding the delivery address.
The dark witch floo'ed to the Whyteleafe local Department post, where it turned out it wasn't so much a post as it was a small room inside someone's house. Dinky had informed her that the local wizarding community was so small that it only warranted a single constable to keep watch over the area and she hadn't been lying. All the amenities were there; a desk, a coatrack, a bulletin board and a filing cabinet. On the desk was a small bell and, since no one was there, Bellatrix decided to ring it.
That single constable came out to greet her soon afterward. He was a young man, barely nineteen years old. His uniform was an ill-fit and he didn't seem all that comfortable wearing it. Apparently forgoing the custodian helmet, something which Bellatrix could certainly understand, he held out his hand, only to waiver and deciding to salute instead.
"We're not in the army, constable," Bellatrix rolled her eyes. Honestly, she didn't really care much for this lad already.
"Right, uhm, pleased to meet you, ma'am," the brown-haired boy of a man stammered. "I am constable Green."
'That you are', Bellatrix thought to herself while shaking the boy's hand. "Can you take me to this address?"
Green took the piece or parchment and read it. "A-are you sure this is correct?"
"Quite so," said Bellatrix. "One mister Church had all his reagents delivered to this address via courier owl. Why?"
Green shrugged. "Perhaps I'd better show you."
That said, the young constable led her into the sleepy little Surrey town of Whyteleafe. It was pleasant enough, if a little stale of her liking. It was quiet, had a fair amount of greenery and houses in long rows. The occasional Muggle who passed them was friendly, and though it was well-hidden, there were signs of a small magical community which could be spotted by someone with insider knowledge.
"I grew up here," spoke Green as he pointed out a few houses on the hill. "Whyteleafe is a wonderful town with a rich history. The people here are really nice and... oh, if you have the time, you should visit Kenley Aerodrome. They have a wonderful collection of glider planes and there's always at least one in the air! It's so spectacular..."
'Merlin, why won't this pillock shut up?!'
"I'm sure your childhood was filled with happy little clouds and fluffy little teddybears, but I'm here strictly on business," Bellatrix spoke. Constable Green seemed a little deflated and stoically led the way to the address on the paper. They made their way through a series of winding roads until they arrived at the address. Upon arrival, at first, Bellatrix thought Green had made a mistake when they were standing at the edge of the Whyteleafe community gardens. After making sure nobody was looking, she scanned it with her wand only to find that the entire location was distinctively non-magical. The owls had delivered the reagents to a toolshed.
"This is why I wanted to show you the address," said Green. "Nobody lives here."
Bellatrix nodded and rubbed her chin. "Nobody might live here, but that doesn't mean it isn't used as a dead drop."
Immediately, Bellatrix turned around to spy her surroundings. They were standing in a relatively quiet street lined with Muggle houses on one side and corpses of trees and the community gardens on the other. Nothing looked particularly out of place, until she noticed an abandoned church nestled among a group of old trees.
"Mister 'Church'," Bellatrix muttered to herself. "Someone arrogant enough to consider himself the 'salvation' of the wizarding world would pick a church as a hide-out."
Constable Green gulped. "Oh, Merlin. Does that mean... he's really here? That killer from the papers?"
"I have strong reasons to believe so," Bellatrix replied. "But we need to make sure. Care to join me for the investigation?"
"Uhm, yeah, we only have a small Wizarding community here, so mostly I just deal with, well, small things in my patrol area," Green stammered. "Never, you know, a murderer."
Bellatrix turned around and narrowed her eyes. "That wasn't a request. You will join me."
Green gulped when the both of them made their way to the church. The doors and windows had not been boarded off, as was witnessed by the sheer amount of graffiti found on the inner walls. Some of the old pews had not been removed and several of them had been blacked by teen arsonists playing with fire. Light still poured in through the partially destroyed stain-glass window behind the altar. It appeared that whatever said this church glorified had gained numerous holes in his body from kids throwing rocks.
"Look at the state of it," constable Green spoke mournfully. "Tell me, have you ever heard of vicar Jonathan Bailey?"
Bellatrix took out her wand and started scanning the church with her wand, already finding faint residue of magical energy. "Can't say I have."
"He was a Muggle who knew about the wizarding world. During the worst years of the witch-hunts, he offered sanctuary to mostly muggle-borns and hid them in this very church until they could be smuggled to safety," said Green. "Most of the wizarding world doesn't remember or care about his efforts, but we locals do. We've been trying to scrape together the money to buy this church in order to preserve this piece of our history. Sadly, we're not many and the Ministry isn't interested in subsidizing the effort."
For the first time, Green had been actually useful. The church was relatively small and there were no facilities to hide muggle-borns. Which meant that were hidden rooms, most likely hidden by magical means.
Overtly, there was nothing to be seen, but Bellatrix's scan quickly revealed a transfigured trap door next to what remained of the altar. Another spell would reveal living creatures nearby, but detected none.
"You're kidding, right?" Green gulped. "He's been..."
"... making use of the same 'sanctuary' the medieval muggle-borns enjoyed," Bellatrix chuckled. "The irony of it all."
From the look on his face, she concluded that Green obviously did not approve of her flippancy, but Bellatrix couldn't care less.
"He's not at home?" asked Green, a slight tremble in his voice.
"The spell isn't full-proof," said Bellatrix. "So we should be on our toes. We're going to attempt a breach."
Green blinked rapidly. "A-are you serious?! We need back-up! There's just two of us!"
"That's enough to take on Creed," said Bellatrix. "He's only really dangerous in is wolf-form or when he's prepared. Trust me, he's a very mediocre spellcaster. The only thing we should fear are traps."
"Still," said Green. "It should be prudent if we'd..."
Bellatrix snarled, grabbed the kid by the shoulders and spun him into a pillar. "Look! This filth has threatened and hurt my family and is targeting me personally! I will not risk him fleeing again! This ends here and today, do you understand?! Between the two of us, we can take him!"
Green nodded. "If... if you say so, ma'am."
Bellatrix smirked. "Look on the bright side, kid. You'll be the hero who arrested the terrible murderer who eluded the Department for weeks. You'll be the talk of the town."
Green looked at her for a moment. "Yeah... Yeah! Constable Green, hero cop! I can live with that. Maybe Lily will finally go out with me."
Bellatrix rolled her eyes, but tapped him on the shoulder. "Alright, cover me," Bellatrix said while opening the hatch after checking it for traps. "I take it you have seen some action before?"
"Well, uh, I arrested old man Willard for drunken disorderly conduct last week," said Green. "That's action, right?"
The dark witch rolled her eyes in response. "Typical. Just keep your wand ready and at least try not to hit me."
After disarming two very nasty 'Bombarda' charms on either side of the bottom step, Bellatrix and Green found themselves in a medium-sized wine-cellar built underneath the church. However, whatever barrels had been there had long since removed. What they found was a nothing short of what could be described as a lair. It wasn't as sinister as Creed's previous lair and most of the equipment and sparse furniture was brand new. The room was dominated by potioneer equipment. Among the tables stood several empty flasks of the same type which had contained the acid. Some cauldrons were bubbling on the fire and in the ceiling Creed had placed a few charms to displace the smoke to the outside. A small cot stood to the side, as well as a small writing desk. There was very little dust and dirt, signifying that he only recently occupied this cellar. There was no way in or out other than the staircase leading up.
"He's been hiding here for weeks," shame apparent on Green's voice. "We never knew."
"Don't feel bad, kid. It's not as if he wanted to be found," said Bellatrix. "That's rather the point. Let's look around for a bit."
Bellatrix reflected for a moment. The Creed family had gone in full-on damage control mode the moment the Department had gone public with the evidence. They disavowed any ties with him, publicly stating to have disinherited him ages ago. However, a cursory inquiry with the Canadian branch of Gringotts revealed that he had had access to his family's fortune until a day after the story hit the newspapers. Judging from how quickly he had managed to set up a potioneer lab with professional equipment after his previous lair had been seized, Creed must have had quite of bit of money set aside to fund his sprees.
The most disturbing find was an expensive looking but empty oaken plaque with a bronze label lying on the table. It was the kind of plaques reserved for hanging hunting trophies above the fireplace. Engraved in the label was the name 'Bellatrix Black'. It made Bellatrix smirk a little; At least, in a twisted way, it was gratifying to know that Creed considered her as a potential centerpiece for his new collection.
Then Green found something which made Bellatrix's blood run cold. "Detective Black? Look, there's newspaper clippings here. Pictures of a girl. The same girl by the look of it."
Bellatrix closed her eyes and grit her teeth. Pictures of Hermione. Of course.
There were newspaper clippings of an old interview with Hermione when she had started work on her current project for the Department. Pius Thicknesse had been eager to show off his new protegee and the work she would be doing to limit Department corruption. She remembered how terribly nervous Hermione had been for the interview. On a small table underneath the interview, lay a number of research publications Hermione had written articles for, mostly on the subject of spellcrafting, history of magic or social pieces on what it was like to be a Muggle-born in the wizarding world. Indeed, her Hermione had been a prolific writer and it had been a nice source of extra income during their first year of mortgage hell.
What was more disturbing was the map of London pinned right next to the interview with sections of the city crossed out. Realization hit the dark witch like a brick to the face; the articles, the interview... They contained clues to Hermione's background. Creed was slowly and methodically eliminating areas of London where Hermione's childhood home could be.
Bellatrix took a few breaths to calm down. Creed had no way of knowing that she and Hermione were staying at the Grangers. More likely, he was planning to get to Hermione through her parents. Thankfully, his search was nowhere near Hampstead Heath and the house was secured against detection through magic with additional defenses against werewolves. They were still perfectly safe.
What was more disturbing was what was crudely written on the pictures. Each one had a different method of harming her beloved. 'Drown'. 'Break neck'. 'Maul'. One picture had the words 'Bless with Lycantrophy' written on it, only to have it crossed out with the words 'Not Worthy!'. Apparently, the method he currently favored was 'Slit throat and leave for Black to find'. The thought alone made her skin crawl.
"You know her?" Green asked.
"We're getting married this summer," Bellatrix replied with a snarl. "Creed's madness ends today!"
The dark witch tore the pictures off the wall, knocked over the table with the publications methodically and started to destroy every single piece of equipment in the room with wordless spells. Flask by flask, cauldron by cauldron. She then set about to set a trap for Creed. Once up the stairs, Bellatrix found a good perch behind a set of pillars near the opposite side of the altar where she and Green took up position.
"So, explain the plan to me again?" Green asked. "Just so I'm certain of the details."
'Merlin, what an imbecile!'
"Alright, I'll speak slowly so your peanut brain can follow this clearly," Bellatrix said. "There was no anti-apparition charm on the cellar, so it's a safe bet that he gets in by apparating. I've set up a charm which will allow someone to apparate in, but not out. The moment he sees the destroyed equipment, he'll try to escape but find that he can't. When he runs up the stairs, he will trigger an anti-apparition hex on himself so he can't flee. It's then when we subdue and take him in. Like I said, Creed is a mediocre spellcaster. This ends today."
"Right," said Green as he squatted down. "Now we play the waiting game. You didn't happen to have brought a deck of cards, did you?"
The very question made Bellatrix bristle. "Let me explain the concept of a stake-out to you. You don't chat, you don't make noise, you don't play games and you don't get distracted. Now sit down, shut up and try not to be noticed. We need to spring into action the very moment something happens."
And so it was done. Bellatrix waited in utter silence without moving a muscle; this wasn't her first stake-out, after all. In contrast, Green was having much more trouble. He kept fidgiting, coughing muttering and otherwise making noises which Bellatrix countered with a deathly glare.
The sun continued its stride through the heavens unabated while Bellatrix waited. And waited. And waited. Until her waiting finally paid off.
A sudden shout of anger sounded from below the trapdoor, starting Green and causing Bellatrix to spring into action. With wand in hand, she pressed her back into the pillar waiting for Creed to appear. She didn't have to wait long; the enraged Creed burst from the trapdoor, still glowing a bright pink from the anti-apparation trap taking effect. The dark witch grinned wickedly. She had him now.
Bellatrix her back along the pillar and appeared in sight, immediately firing a high-level stupify into his chest, sending him flying back into the wall. The dark witch was in her element; the last time she had dueled Creed, she had lost the vocal component of her spells. Not so this time; Bellatrix was the superior duelist, and she knew it.
"What's the matter?" Bellatrix mocked with a false pout. "Little bwaby can't get away? Awwww... are you going to cwy now?"
Every spell Creed clumsily threw at her, she deftly either dodged or countered. In contrast, every spell she threw at Creed hit. Green mostly just stood there limply, sometimes throwing a spell at Creed for good measure. She supposed that 'mister useless' tried, at least.
One expelliarmus and one accio later, Bellatrix was holding Creed's wand. "It's over," Bellatrix smirked. "You're under arrest."
Creed responded by grabbed one of the broken pews and throwing it at the two cops with gusto. Bellatrix threw up a magical shield to protect both herself and green, but it gave Creed time to jump through the window in an attempt to escape. Bits of glass Saint what's-his-name rained down upon the ground both in and outside of the church.
"After him!" Bellatrix shrieked at Green. However, before she could rush after him, Green grabbed her by the sleeve.
"Ma'am! The Muggles! They'll see!"
"Get off!" Bellatrix demanded. "So what if they'll see?! We'll have them obliviated later! Don't let him escape!"
By the time Bellatrix had flung herself through the window, making sure to avoid sharp shards of glass, she could see Creed rushing through the Muggle rear gardens. He flung his large body over the wooden fences and had gotten quite a head start.
The dark witch rushed forward, transforming herself into a billow of black smoke. Time, once again, slowed to a crawl as she shot forward. In slow motion, Muggles stepped out of their houses to see what the commotion was about. Bellatrix paid them no mind; Creed was her target, her only focus. The billow of smoke that was Bellatrix was catching up with him, so close now.
Creed flung himself over the last fence and was forced into a steep drop. His landing was less than spectacular, causing him to trip and fumble. Immediately, Bellatrix took the opportunity, reverted back into her human form and tossed a stupify right into his back after landing on both her feet. Creed shot forward and collided against a Muggle lamppost with a resounding 'clang'.
"INCARCEROUS!" Bellatrix shouted; spectral manacles shot from her wand and found their target. All four of Creeds limbs were firmly attached to the floor now. He wasn't going anywhere, and without the massive strength of the werewolf, there was no escape.
It was done.
"Salvation Creed," Bellatrix spoke smugly at the captured murderer who was now snarling at her. "It is my great pleasure to inform you that you are under arrest."
Upon seeing the roaring Creed struggling against his magical bonds, a cackle escaped from her. This wasn't a mocking cackle aimed at Creed's fate while he was fighting to free himself, but rather an outlet of all the frustration and anger she had felt the past couple of weeks.
It was over. It was finally over. Life could, at long last, return to normal. She and Hermione could go home. There'd be wedding plans to be made. And she'd see what she could do to find a home for Charlotte.
Green finally caught up with her. The constable crawled over the wooden fence and fall into a heap at the bottom. After picking himself up, the young wizard rushed over to stand next to Creed with his wand aimed at him.
"It's over Creed, it's over…" Bellatrix said calmly while falling into the routine to read him his rights. "You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defense if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evid..."
Suddenly, a loud noise was coming towards her, as well as a strange screeching sound. The dark witch snapped her head towards the source… just in time to see one of those steel Muggle death-machines barreling towards her with impossible speed.
'Sweet Merlin, I'm standing in the middle of the road.'
It was odd, really. That split-second when you realize death was about to catch up with you, knowing there was nothing you could do to prevent it. There was no time to cast a spell or duck out of the way, or even whisper a quick 'bollocks'. The car was coming and coming fast, collision unavoidable. All she was left with was an odd sense of quiet resignation. As it stood, she didn't even have enough time to close her eyes.
The impact was swift, merciless and painful. Her body was thrown in the air as if she was a ragdoll. She rolled over the hood, the roof and found herself airborne. The world seemed to spin before she came to a violent sudden stop on the asphalt.
There was waste of blood in her mouth. Her chest hurt, her back hurt, her head hurt. Blood was pouring from a cut above her brow. Her clothes torn and tattered. She had heard and felt break inside of her. Deafened and winded, Bellatrix tried to breathe and get a sense sense of her surroundings. Through blurry vision she saw that the Muggle death machine which had hit her had come to a sudden stop against a tree at the side of the road, and that the strange ringing in her ears was actually its claxon now on permanent duty.
"Detective Black!" Green shouted in disbelief, stunned when he saw her lying on the street. "Lay still, don't move!"
Because Bellatrix was drifting in and out of unconsciousness, the incarcerus charm was weakened considerably. Just like at Malfoy manor, Creed was starting to yank himself free. In desperation, Bellatrix tried to rasp a warning to Green but what came out of her mouth was nothing but a strangled croak.
Poor Green never stood a chance. Before the young man met his end, Creed pulled a knife from his robe, grabbed Green's hair and slashed his throat. Bellatrix wanted to curse and scream but could only watch silently when the young man gurgled, fell down and eventually spasmed in a pool of his own blood.
She could do nothing but watch him die - At that moment, Bellatrix wished she'd have been a bit less harsh to him today.
"Oh, god, are you alright, luv?" sounded from the direction of the crashed death-machine. An overweight Muggle was rushing towards her. By then, Creed had taken hold of Green's wand. Again, Bellatrix tried to rasp a warning to attempt to get the Muggle to keep away from them.
Again it was in vain. A sickeningly green color shot out from the wand and necromantic energies crackled through the air. The killing curse did its job and felled the Muggle on the spot. The overweight man flopped to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
Slowly, ever so slowly, his head turned towards her. Creed was grinning from ear to ear. A cold, wild, inhuman smile. And the look in his single eye... like that of a gleeful predator, realizing the moment of the kill was near. So very near.
That moment, as she lay helpless before him, Bellatrix realized with a touch of panic that she was completely at his non-existent mercy.
Determination gripped her when Creed slowly started to stride towards her, knife clenched in fist. Slow. Deliberately slow. He was going to play with his food.
She desperately tried to get her body to respond, to rise herself off the ground, but there was simply too much blinding pain. Her wand was firmly clenched in hand, but her arm was folded at the side of her body. She couldn't aim. Her stiff aching muscles simply wouldn't cooperate.
Creed held the knife in front of him now, giving Bellatrix a good look at it. Her chest started to hurt as her breathing became more irregular from the exertion.
'He is going to gut me like a pig!'
The was only one option left, no matter how much she loathed it.
Escape.
Her head was killing her and she was starting to drift in and out of consciousness, but being the powerful witch that she was, she knew could do it. Just before Creed reached her, Bellatrix apparated away.
The very act of apparating increased the pain in her body tenfold and after what seemed to be an eternity of agony, Bellatrix was roughly deposited in the Grangers' rear garden. She just hoped to Merlin that all her limbs had traveled along with her.
In the garden, Jack Granger had been enjoying a quiet afternoon in the evening sun piddling away on his laptop and it took him a few moments to realize just what had happened.
"Bella!" Jack exclaimed, tossed the laptop aside and rushed towards her.
Bellatrix could take no more and, almost to her relief, gave in to the pain. Around her, the world went dark and silent.
