PART TWO
"Mullens, got a job for you." Elena looked up from the stack of old paperwork she'd been sorting and took the file from the portly wizard. "You'll need to leave the office for this. And you'll definitely want to wear a robe."
She frowned. "Going somewhere a bit traditional?"
"Going somewhere showing any skin is not advisable," Edgar responded. "Knockturn Alley. You need to go to Borgin and Burkes and ask to see their customer files. Anything related to the people or items in these files is something we need copies of."
Elena skimmed the pages within. There were pictures of some of the items, date ranges, descriptions, names and aliases. She nodded. "I'll see what I can do."
"Atta gal, Elle. I'd have given this to Prewitt, big strapping lad he is, but he's a bit confrontational, and the gents who own the shop can be touchy. This is a top priority. This information could help exonerate Regulus Black."
She nodded. "I'll get right on it, sir."
"I knew I could count on you, doll," he said, beaming down at her.
Elena stiffened at the pet name but returned his smile best she could. The man didn't mean anything by it; he was just overly affectionate. Still, she hated hearing that word. She took a deep breath and went back to the documents.
The Black case was high profile and they'd had to fight to get it. That meant they also had to fight to keep it. Regulus Black had been spending the evening with Evander Gamp, one of his older second cousins, when the other man was found dead by a house elf. Aurors determined Gamp had died under suspicious circumstances and detained Black. Black proclaimed his innocence, said that Gamp had been showing him an assortment of dark items the evening before, but the DMLE had decided there was no way the curse causing the death could have come from a magical item; none of the objects present seemed to fit the cause of death. When they found a lovely cursed broach known to belong to Gamp (having come from an ancestor the two cousins shared) among Black's things, motive was set. Black insisted it was a gift, nothing more.
Thus, the search to find any information about dark items that could mummify a corpse overnight.
She stood from her desk, stretching to awaken the body that had been behind the desk for three hours already. It was an unusually warm April and she did not appreciate having to throw her robe back on. She typically only wore it from the apparition point to the office, as she rarely left. She smoothed her hands over the charcoal pencil skirt and neatened the ruffles at the collar of her blouse before throwing the black fabric over it all. She fastened it up to hide the muggle friendly attire and, after a moment of hesitation, charmed a hood over it and strode out the door toward the apparition point.
She apparated to Diagon Alley, which was far safer than the adjacent alley where she was headed. Elena pulled up her hood as she neared the darker region and stretched for every millimeter of height her leather kitten heels would allow. She hated the things, but they were surprisingly comfortable and practical for the office.
The shop that was her destination was at 13B, easy enough to find. Even had she not know what sign to look for, the assortment of dark and strange objects on display would have clued her in. Elena was fairly certain that was a Hand of Glory in the window, a rather controversial item outside of Knockturn's shadows.
She steeled herself and opened the door, the bell above dinging that someone had entered.
The shop was surprisingly clean considering how dusty and obviously long untouched the window display was. One wall was lined with masks that seemed to stare down at her with their empty eyeholes. There were disturbing rusted implements hanging from the ceiling and the hair on the back of her neck stood as she lowered her hood, opened the robe, and turned in a circle around herself.
No one was at the counter, but she was sure whoever manned the store was aware of her entrance thanks to the bell, so she took the time to study a display of what she was sure were human bones.
Elena had studied the human body for certain projects at Hogwarts and was curious how many bones she could identify by site. The long, thick one was clearly the femur of someone far taller than herself. There were carpals from the hands, delicately curved rib bones, long and almost straight clavicles. She was fairly certain the tiny, sharp looking pieces were distal phalanxes. Spread among, between, under, around them all were teeth, some too pointed and long to be merely human.
"My, this is a surprise."
Elena sprang upright at the sound, having not heard anyone approach as she'd studied the bones. She turned slowly, heart pounding against her ribcage as she faced a tall man's chest. The man tipped her chin up toward him and she pulled away, staring firmly toward the door as she backed up. Her back hit the shelf and the bones thumped and rocked, and she began to sidle toward the exit.
"I don't think so, pet." Even as her hand darted toward the pocket of her robe, her wand flew into his hand. As she passed the shelves, his hands gripped her shoulders and he slammed her into the wall. "I'm hardly going to let you apparate away when you've only now returned to your proper place."
Her fingernails dug into the file in her left arm— the file. "I— I'm here on business, Tom."
"Are you, now? What business is that?"
She lifted the file. "I need to speak to Mr. Borgin or Mr. Burke."
"No."
"Tom." She ground her teeth slightly and finally looked up at him, surprised not to see murder written there. "I have a job to do."
His lips twitched. "Fine. Stay right here." He stepped away from her, eyeing her with interest before stalking into the back. A few moments later, an older and disgruntled looking man followed him back out. "I do apologize for this, Mr. Burke, but she insisted upon seeing you."
"Well, what is it?" he groused.
Elena cleared her throat and pasted on her best professional expression. "Good afternoon, Mr. Burke. I'm Elle Mullens," she began, gaze darting to Tom, who was staring back with one brow raised and his arms crossed as he watched, "an apprentice with Bones, Bones and Trelawney. I've been sent to confer with you about gaining access to your client records for—"
"No," Burke said.
"It would be of great help in the case for Regulus Black's—"
He snarled at her as he said again, "No."
"Mr. Burke—"
"I said—"
"Excuse me, sir," Tom's cultured tones cut in. "Perhaps we should hear out Miss… Mullens. If this is to help the Blacks, well, they have been loyal customers, have they not?"
Burke frowned, mulling over his words, then nodded. "Get on with it then."
Her eyes narrowed toward the young man, but she began again. "I'm an apprentice with the firm Bones, Bones and Trelawney. We are representing Regulus Black as his defense council in the murder trial of one Evander Gamp. Mr. Black maintains that Mr. Gamp owned several cursed objects and had not kept them properly secured, and that that was the cause of his demise. If we could locate a cursed object that might have caused a death in the manner of Mr. Gamp's, we may be able to demonstrate reasonable doubt in favor of Mr. Black's innocence. As your shop is a highly esteemed purveyor of such goods, we thought it best to enlist your assistance." She took a breath, wetting her lips before continuing. "We would like copies of your customer and inventory records to—"
"No copies. Our discretion is one of the main reasons we are so highly esteemed."
"If—"
"Could I suggest a compromise?" Both turned to him. "I know Miss Mullens from Hogwarts. I've known her to keep the confidences of others. Perhaps she may come here to personally look over the ledgers herself and only take back pertinent information?" Burke frowned. "Under my supervision, of course."
"How's that, girl?" asked the cantankerous old man.
She worried at the corner of the file nervously, chewing on her lip before she could remember herself and let it loose. "I, er, would have to speak to Mr. Bones about that."
"Floo call 'im. We haven't got all day."
She nodded at the shopkeeper but didn't move.
"Thank you, Mr. Burke. I'll take care of Miss Mullens from here," Tom said, taking her by the arm toward the fireplace. "Floo your bosses and we will work out a schedule. I'll expect you no less than three times a week, for four hours. You may research for the majority of the time, but we will need time to … catch up as well."
"I don't belong to you, Tom."
He wrenched her arm behind her back and fisted the bun at the back of her head. She grunted, leaning back to try and relieve the pain. "You seem to have forgotten who I am, sweetheart," he hissed against her ear, pulling her to her knees on the stone. "If you think anything has changed, you're mistaken. And I'll be too happy to correct you." He released her and she had to catch herself on her palms, skin jarring against the rough, cold stone. "Call your bosses."
Edgar Bones smiled questioningly at her from his desk. "Elle, is there a problem?"
"Erm, no, sir. Not exactly," she rectified. At his frown, she barreled ahead. "I've just spoken with Mr. Burke and he is willing to give us access to the records—"
"Excellent!"
"—but will only allow us to see them here, under the supervision of his, er, shop boy." Elena could practically feel Tom bracing angrily behind her. "We could come and take notes and bring pertinent information."
"Well," Edgar considered. "That is better than nothing. I suppose we'll have to do that. Are there any other terms?"
"Just discussing when would be agreeable for us all, sir," she said promptly.
"We need this information as quickly as possible, Elle. As much time as we can get," Edgar intoned. "I trust you to work out the details. If you're able to start today, that would be tremendous. Owl me or floo again with anything else."
She withheld a groan, having hoped the man would want her to come through and discuss everything first. And everything he'd said, Tom could hear behind her. "Of course, sir."
"That's our girl. I'll see you tomorrow morning, Mullens."
She ended the floo call and knelt back on her heels, eyes closed as she tried to process the situation. Chills spread over her skin as cold fingers gripped the back of her neck, pulling her toward him. Elena swallowed and opened her eyes to meet his own.
"How fortuitous," he drawled. "We will be able to catch up after all."