12/5/03: Ok, before I went to bed I thought about things for Harry to do for the next couple of days and came up with some stuff. I usually come up with ideas while trying to sleep; good in that I get ideas, bad in that I don't get my sleep! Anyways, this is a short chapter, really just a filler to finish up Harry's Wednesday night.
11. No Answers, More Questions
After Harry ensured that Tway would have a nice cell to spend the night in, he took the lift to the MLE level and entered the same conference room that he had been in only two days ago. Although the rest of the team was there, Captain Perry wasn't in the room, meaning that the meeting hadn't yet started. Harry found a seat by Robert, who was in a discussion with Tonks. Harry poured himself a glass of water and listened as the two talked about the case. Before Harry could voice his opinions, Captain Perry entered the room, bringing the meeting to a start.
"All right, settle down people," Perry said as he took the seat at the head of the table. He looked up at the assembled Aurors and smiled. "Looks like we all enjoyed the Toms and Potter show earlier, and we managed to get some information out of the little twit. Okay, so far, we know that Tway has been in contact with someone, we don't know whom, who regularly pays him off to ignore certain complaints. We also know he informed the mystery man or men about Mediate and Campbell, likely resulting in their deaths. So…what do we do about it?"
Robert shrugged. "Tway seems to confirm that there is a link between the Campbells and Mediate murders, but it's hard to say what happens next. As I see it, we have two questions to answer: who is paying off Tway, and why."
"What about Tway himself?" Brad Casey asked.
Robert turned to look at Casey. "Despite what we just heard, there's not a lot we can do there. Yes, he accepted money, and yes, he informed on Campbell and Mediate, but there's no proof that he did anything criminal."
"No proof? What about the dead bodies?" Casey asked, mystified.
Clarke piped up. "Right now we can't prove that whoever received Tway's owls actually killed the Campbells and Mediate, and even if we could, we can't prove that Tway knew that they would be killed. Anyways, from his interrogation, it looks like he didn't know. The only thing we can prove is that Tway took bribes to overlook certain problems. To be honest, right now it's more an issue for General Magics then for us."
As Harry listened to the discussion around him, his good feelings about the case began to disappear. Even though they broke Tway, he didn't really give them anything concrete – just more questions and theories to consider. "So what do we do now?" he asked.
Captain Perry spoke. "I think it goes back to what Robert said at the beginning. We have two questions that we need to answer: who is Tway talking to? And why is Tway being paid off? If we can answer those questions, then we'll probably learn why Mediate and the Campbells were killed."
Tonks leaned forward, accidentally knocking over her cup of tea. She quickly cleaned the mess with a wave of her wand. "I think I have a solution for the first question. It's a simple matter to trace an owl, no matter where it goes. All we have to do is have Tway send another owl to his mysterious benefactor, and we'll follow it back."
Captain Perry nodded thoughtfully. "Sounds good…but how do we make sure Tway sends an owl?"
Harry chuckled. "I don't think it'll be a problem. Robert and I can have a talk with him and convince him that it's in his best interest. We'll cut him a deal. We can even tell him to owl the truth: that he was taken into custody and questioned by Aurors. It's probably something he would have owled anyways."
"Okay, what about the second question? The Why? Is Tway keeping anything from us?"
Robert looked over at Harry, raising an eyebrow in an unasked question. Harry shook his head. "I don't believe that Tway knows anything beyond what he's already told us," Robert said. "He's a dead end. What we should do is take a look at all the components on the latest list that was sent to Tway. Have the boys in Forensics take a look at them to see if there are any problems. Although…"
"Although?"
Robert sighed. "I don't imagine General Magics will be too keen on the idea of a team of Forensics Aurors swarming over their plant, especially since we don't have any hard evidence that points to criminal activity."
"You do have a point about that," Perry said. "Perhaps we can just focus on the complaints he was to ignore. General Magics probably has a warehouse full of faulty appliance that we can take a look at. Clarke? Take a look into it." After Clarke acknowledged the order, Perry continued. "Along those lines, what do we do with Tway? Do we keep him?"
Harry shook his head. "We can offer him his freedom in exchange for the owl. He doesn't have to know that we don't have enough to hold him anyways."
"All right. Do we tell General Magics about what we found?"
"I don't think so," Clarke said. "If we tell General Magics, they'll probably fire him. Even if they don't, we don't know who else is involved and what might happen if they, whoever they are, find out that we're on to them."
"You don't think they'll be suspicious if we have a team of Aurors looking over their warehouses?" Casey asked.
"Argh. Good point Brad," Harry said. "Instead of the faulty appliances at General Magics, maybe we can take a look at the ones over at Magical Solutions. I mean, it's Campbell's complaints about them that lead to his death."
"Okay, we'll do it that way then," Perry said. "If we don't find anything at Magical Solutions, then we'll consider going to General Magics. Toms, go out there tomorrow with a forensics team to check it out." Toms nodded, and then a silence descended on the group. "Is that it? Do we have all our bases covered?"
"What about Tway?" Harry asked.
"I thought we covered that, Potter. You're going to convince him to send an owl-"
"No sir, I mean what happens to him afterwards? When he's free?"
"Ah okay, I see what you're getting at. Okay, Clarke, you and Casey work with Tonks and set up surveillance on him."
"Got it," Clarke said, exchanging a nod with Tonks.
"Now, is that it? Anything else?" When no one responded in the negative, Perry stood, causing the others to stand as well. "All right then. Toms, Potter, get Tway to send that owl tomorrow. Tonks, follow that owl. Toms, check out Magical Solutions. Clarke, watch Tway. Keep me updated."
*********************************
Harry and Robert made their way to the detention cells, where they found Tway sitting quietly on a bench. He stood up when he noticed them approaching. "No, not you two again! Get away from me, leave me alone!"
Harry chuckled while Robert looked apologetic. "Relax Mr. Tway. We're not here to hurt you – right Harry? – we're here to offer you a deal."
"A…a deal?" Tway asked, looking nervously between Robert and Harry.
"Yes, a deal. You do something for us, and we'll get you out of here."
Apparently, Tway found a new source of courage. "And what makes you think I'd do anything for you?" he demanded indignantly. His angry countenance disappeared when Harry made a sort of a growling noise.
Robert shot Harry a look of exasperation before addressing Tway. "Believe me, Adam," he said in friendly voice, "you'll like what we have to offer; you won't have to do much."
"A-All right," Tway said, clearly cowed again by Harry. "I'm listening."
"All you have to do to get out of here is send another owl like you did before."
"Just send an owl?" Tway asked, confused. Then he paled, and not from Harry's glares. "Wait a minute! If they find out that I sent an owl for you, they'll kill me like they killed Ernie!"
Robert shook his head. "They won't know a thing, Adam. We won't tamper with the owl at all. Just send an owl saying that Aurors questioned you, but that you didn't know anything and we had to let you go. You'd send that anyways, wouldn't you? I mean, you can't keep the fact that we picked you up a secret."
"But-"
"We can protect you, Adam." Robert said, very seriously.
"I don't know-"
"Listen Tway!" Harry said suddenly, causing Tway to emit a small squeak. "Either you-"
"Okay okay! I'll do it!" Tway said, interrupting Harry. A flicker of surprise and disappointment crossed Harry's face – he wouldn't get to play bad cop.
Robert smiled. "Good, very good. You made the right decision Adam, you won't regret it."
Harry understood that now was the time for him to leave and let Robert work a different kind of magic with Tway. Still in character, Harry turned away in disgust and left them. Although Harry wanted to be there as they discussed the details of the owl, he knew that Tway would be too frightened if Harry remained. He made his way back to the bullpen where he occupied himself with paperwork, accounts of the interview and such. After about an hour, Robert showed up. "It's all set up," he said with a grin as he took his seat opposite of Harry.
Harry looked up from his parchment. "He's going to send the letter?"
"Yup, first thing tomorrow. He'll spend the night in detention; looks more real that way. When he gets back into the office, he'll send the letter and Tonks and her crew will be on its tail, figuratively and literally."
"And protection?"
"Clarke, Price, and Casey will handle that. I talked to Tonks briefly, and it sounds like Verplank's murder is still cold – no new leads or clues. So, instead they're going to concentrate on the owl and on watching Tway."
Harry nodded and turned back to his paperwork. It took him only another five minutes to finish it up, whereupon he handed the stack of parchments to Robert. "You're turn," he said. Robert accepted the stack wordlessly; both Aurors hated paperwork, so no comment was necessary. Harry stood and stretched, stifling a yawn.
Robert looked up at him. "Why don't you knock off for the night? It's been a long day."
Harry gave him a half-smile and checked the clock on the wall. It was nearing 10pm. "No argument from me. I'll see you in the morning."
"G'night Harry," Robert said as he started scratching away with his quill.
Harry said his good byes to Robert and the other Aurors still at work (or waiting on the wheel) and floo'ed home for a good night's sleep.
A/N: Not much to say. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Next chapter will be longer: Harry goes to Magical Solutions, and then goes out with some new old friends (part of the whole "moving on" process). Still gratefully accepting any ideas on alumni careers.
Rocky235: Hehe, I can only imagine Draco as a Muggle priest. Don't worry, I have a small cameo ready for him.
Risty: You made me laugh when I read your suggestion on how I can fill the days 'til Saturday :)
HeeroTomoe: I'm glad you liked the chapter; I had fun writing a mean Harry. And thanks for the help on the alumni. Anymore ideas?
sethro72: Unfortunately the quote is true, but I'm not worried. It was in a chat about Book 4, and since nothing happened between Ron and Hermione in Book 5, it's no biggie. Besides, IMHO I think it's referring the Ron's one-sided feelings for Hermione. There isn't an "e" at the end of Voldemort; it would make the name feminine, if I remember my French from high school correctly. I'll put in a half-serious showdown/memory between them while Harry's at the service; I say half-serious because the way I think it will end is in my first story, so I've used up my final battle scene already. You can find Betrayed on my profile under favorite stories (right now at #25 since it hasn't been updated in a while. Author ID is 9744)
szelij: wow, lots of reviews in a row! I definitely don't mind it - I love it! But if Harry dies at the end, how could there be a sequel ;)
