Chapter One - The Mermaid
It was a chilly morning and the clock had just struck five when Ron had been called to the south side of the river banks, just below London Bridge. The area wasn't busy yet but the city was slowly waking up and soon the place would be crowded with people of all sorts. The scene would have to be cleaned up by six latest.
"Now that's disgusting" Fittlebart noticed dryly as they were both standing and looking down at the massacre in front of them. Sprawled out lay a mermaid, its lower body diagonally cut into half, upper body jammed into the rough pebble ground. Next to it were three tiny hands, one of them missing a couple of fingers, and one little foot. Ron tried to ignore that the body parts had obviously belonged to children, and instead knelt down beside the mermaid in order to have a closer look. It seemed to be missing an eye.
"Obliviators and the committee?" Ron muttered absent-mindedly as he was inspecting the creature. He hadn't seen merfolks in years for they had become rather rare and were now an endangered species. After all, marine pollution was a threat to their natural environment, too. "They have already been informed. They are awaiting clearance," Fittlebart responded firmly. "Excellent," Ron said and stood up again. With his wand he levitated the hand that was missing the fingers. The two men silently looked at it for a while. "This doesn't look like an accident to me," Fittlebart said, calmly scratching his skin through a full, long beard. Ron considered his word's for a moment and then dropped the hand. "I agree. I want Irons, Budger and you to search for the missing parts. Send note to Gribbard. I need him to have a look at the mermaid. Also -" He was interrupted by a familiar voice shouting his name.
"Merlin, please no," Ron sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. He had recognised the voice in an instant. It was shrill, loud, pesky and belonged to no one else but Brandon Fox. Brandon Fox was a Muggle and working for the MI5 and apparently, most informed. Before Ron could say a thing, Fittlebart gave him an understanding nod and disapparated with the sound of a tiny blop.
Ron turned to see a well seasoned Fox, holding two cups of coffee in his hands. "Here, Weasley, brought you something," he said cockily as he handed Ron a cup. Bastard knew him too well. "Cheers," Ron answered brusquely and nodded towards the fishy leftovers. The Muggle's eyes grew large when he saw the dead creature and the scattered body parts around it. "Now that's a big fish!" he exclaimed and drew nearer in order to take a closer look. "Didn't know we had fish like this in the swamp," he scoffed, though face slightly marked by disgust.
"That's a mermaid you idiot." Ron noted dryly and took a sip from the fresh coffee. Ah, bliss. Fox stared at him for a moment, seemingly in disbelief, and then looked back at the corpse. "Never thought they'd look like fish after all." There was a note of revulsion in his voice but Ron decided to ignore it. "So, tell me, is it common for, erm, mermaids to live in our rivers then?" Fox asked curiously, also taking a sip from his coffee. Ron shook his head although the truth was that he didn't have any clue. Though it seemed rather odd to him that they would roam the dirty waters of London.
"My suspicion is that this one might have gotten lost," Ron began, carefully listening to his own words, "that it might have been scared," he continued while looking at the tiny hands and that one little innocent foot that were so arbitrarily spread around the mermaid, "and maybe...it was just hungry." Ron himself didn't believe what he was saying (though he knew for a fact that mermaids were cruel creatures and not averse to human flesh) but really didn't feel like discussing the matter with the muggle agent.
"Weasley, are you listening to what you're saying? We've known each other for long enough. No need to hide relevant trains of thought from me." He grinned and slightly shook his head. "As long as you tell me that there's no need to fear a massive invasion of those...mermaids, I'll be fine, my employer will be fine, her majesty will be fine."
Ron darted an annoyed look at him and growled: "We'll sort it out."
Fox seemed satisfied. "Also I take it your people will take care of, you know, that any witnesses will forget about this, yes?"
"Yes, Obliviators and a team of the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee have already been informed," Ron said and was slightly annoyed by Fox's disrespectful demeanour.
"Wonderful!" Fox said and turned to leave. "Keep in touch!"