Deconstruction

Chapter Six: Penelope's Last Day

Bright and early the following morning, Tonks woke up early and prepared to venture off into the Muggle world. As an Auror, Tonks had the appropriate identification she needed to go off to see the Muggle authorities. She carefully dressed in Muggle clothes and donned a regular coat rather than a cloak. She had taken the liberty of getting the information regarding the murder of Penelope Clearwater. Tonks had to send for the information from a source within the police department and it took almost overnight before an owl came with the package. She didn't bother to tell her source her real reason for looking into Penelope's death, so nothing was noted or highlight.

The local metropolitan police were the ones who had investigate the murder. Her autopsy was preformed in the London morgue. Tonks didn't have as much time to read it all, so she opted to read it over the morning paper. The person who had put together the report had obviously done it in the order of how the paperwork was received. Right away the first piece of paper leaped at her.

It was the death certificate. There was the signature of the coroner who had done the autopsy and declared the cause of death. The Muggles require that someone identify the body before it could be released. There was a very familiar signature on the form. One that Tonks had seen time and time again. It was Percy's. He had been the one called in to identify the Penelope's body and he had signed the form for the death certificate.

Tonks pulled out the letter of resignation from Percy's file and placed it side by side with the Muggle document. The signatures matched. There were some differences, but that was normal because no person ever signed his or her signature the same way every single time. Tonks put those down and started looking through the rest of the paperwork. The only way a person could be contacted in the event of another's death is if the person who dies has the former listed as a contact. She knew that Penelope had identification papers in the Muggle world because she was a Muggle-born witch.

It was at the bottom of the pile of papers. She read it and saw who was listed. It was very odd indeed. Penelope hadn't listed any member of her family, but rather she had listed two names: Percy Weasley and Alistair Xavier. Tonks rubbed her temples at that moment. Who was Alistair Xavier? She was going to have to find out who he was, too.

Another set of questions was already rearing its ugly head. Tonks had her notebook out and wrote in to it. She added to the questions she was going to ask the Clearwater family and the police. Now, she added questions for the coroner because he or she had to have meet with Percy in order to get the signature. She decided that it was the best place to start at.

Tonks read the coroner's report. Penelope had fallen out of her sister's flat, which she was staying at time. She had fallen five stories and hit the sidewalk. It was the middle of the day just after lunch. So many witnesses had seen her hit the ground. There was broken glass everywhere along with blood. The strangest thing was that no one had seen who had done it.

The coroner didn't rule it as suicide, but as a homicide. Penelope showed signs of defensive wounds and there were marks of a struggle as noticed in the police report. The fact of the matter was Penelope had been forcefully pushed out of a window. The way she landed was not typical of a suicide. There was no note and no indications of depression or otherwise. Those were written in the police report.

There were pictures from the murder. Tonks gazed at them. Penelope was frozen in time and that was what she hated about Muggle photographs. But it didn't matter if the pictures moved or not. Penelope would be dead and lying still. She looked so innocent and fragile. It was almost like a painting.

Tonks was already dressed and ready to go. She had decided it was best to go and interview the coroner first, then the police, and finally the Clearwaters. The families were always hard to deal with. Tonks couldn't possibly even imagine what it was like for the Clearwaters to lose a daughter under such circumstances. With one last swig of coffee, Tonks was out the door.

Tonks arrived at the morgue shortly after eight. It didn't matter what kind of morgue it was. She could feel a tremor of fear run through her as she squared her shoulders and went up to the reception desk. She cleared her throat before she spoke, "My name is Tonks. I'm from a special division of Scotland Yard. I'm looking into some of the old cold cases." She flashed her identification for only a second.

The person didn't really read it. He was wearing a pair of glasses that were sliding down the ridge of his nose. He barely looked up from his paperwork. Tonks had taken the liberty of changing her appearance to match the photograph. Currently, she was a blond bombshell with sparkling green-blue eyes with the smile to match. His glasses seem to fog up as he looked at her. "How many—I mean may—I help you?" he managed to squeak.

"I would like to talk to Dr. Prescott about a murder that happened about a year ago," replied Tonks. "He did the autopsy. It was the murder of a young woman. Early twenties, fell out of a five story apartment in broad daylight."

"I remember that case," said a voice of an elderly gently man some light blue scrubs. He had face mask around his neck. "Hello, I'm Drew Prescott. It's been a while since someone has come here asking about her."

"I know. I'm looking into some of the old case files. I wanted to ask you a few questions regarding the autopsy."

"I'd be more than happy to help as soon as I see some I.D."

Tonks flashed her I.D. again, but this time the doctor looked more cautiously at it. He nodded after a moment. "What do you want to know?" he asked.

"I read the autopsy report and I know that it was ruled a homicide. Now, there's a lot of medical jargon in this report. I wanted to clarify a few things," answered Tonks as she handed the copy of her report. "If you don't mind, I'd like to see the original. There's something I need to check out."

"I was going to go to my office and look for it anyway. I hate looking at copies," said Dr. Prescott as he gestured for her to walk with him to his office. "What is it that you need to check?"

"I don't know until I see it," replied Tonks. When they came to the office, Tonks took a seat while he went through some filing cabinets. The coroner used a different sorting system than normal, so Tonks paid attention in case she had to returned to look for some files later.

"Here you go," said Dr. Prescott. "Penelope Clearwater."

"Where's the copy of her death certificate?" asked Tonks noticing that the paper wasn't there.

Dr. Prescott answered, "City Hall. Those get turn in for public record. Why?" He handed her the report with the folder open.

There was another piece of paper with Percy's signature on it. "I was wondering about this person. The one who came to identify body. Did you notice anything about him?"

Dr. Prescott was in deep thought for a moment. "I was the one who place the call to him. It was a cell phone number, so I left a message in the voicemail. He got back to me within six hours and I told him the news. He came less than an hour later to identify the body. I don't normally ask how people are attached to each other unless it was listed."

"What about the other name on the list? Did you get a hold of him?"

"That was the odd thing," said Dr. Prescott as he sighed. "There was no contact number for the other."

"Oh," said Tonks. She should have known it wasn't going to be that easy for her to find out who Alistair Xavier was. "What can you tell me about the one who identified the body?"

"He came in. I think it was the first time he had ever seen anyone he knew dead before," replied Dr. Prescott. He looked weary at the moment. "If you've been in my line of work for as long as I have been, you can tell by just looking at them. When he came in, he asked to see her immediately. I had a white cloth over the body and he was the one who pulled it down. He stopped at just the neck. He was so careful not to touch her."

"Did he give verbal confirmation that it was her? Did he show any emotion?"

"Hardly any. But, he did verbally confirm and nodded that it was her. People react to death differently. I believe he was in shock. He took of his glasses at one point after he gave his confirmation. I think he was trying not to cry."

Tonks didn't write that part down in her notebook. She had a regular pen and wrote some notes as the interview went along. "Did he look like this?" she asked as she offered the photograph from Percy's file that she had frozen.

Dr. Prescott nodded as he looked at it. "That's him."

"Did he ask how she died?" asked Tonks as she took the picture back and put it away. "I mean was he interested in the details of her murder."

Dr. Prescott decided to ask her a question instead, "I thought that you were asking about Penelope Clearwater. Why are you asking about the person who identified her?"

Tonks stared at him for a second as she decided whether or not it was best to answer the question and level with him or tell him nothing at all and lie. "Because he went missing more than three months ago."

"Do you think he killed her?" asked Dr. Prescott.

"I don't know what to think," answered Tonks truthfully as she looked him in the eye. "Dr. Prescott, what was your personal opinion of him? I'm not talking a professional assessment, but I would like to know how you really felt about him."

Dr. Prescott sighed. He gave his opinion, "Considering the circumstances that I met him under, I can't begin to judge what kind of person he was. But I saw the way he looked at her. He cared about her, but I don't think he was the one who killed her."

"Thank you, Dr. Prescott," said Tonks as she got to her feet. "I have to get going."

"Have a nice day, Inspector," he said to her.

"You, too," she said as she concluded the meeting and left the coroner's office. She now had to turn her attention to the police to find out what they knew. It was time for her to change her identification once again along with her appearance. She went to the ladies room of a department store and changed her appearance accordingly. She now had light brown hair and light blue eyes. Tonks was now a private investigator for the Clearwater family.

She walked into the police station and was able to quickly use the contact in there to get an interview with the lead investigator of the murder. The lead investigator was a short, strawberry blonde woman with blue eyes. She was small, but powerful as she ordered some of the younger officers off.

"You're the private investigator that the Clearwaters hired?" asked the woman. Tonks took an immediate liking to her no nonsense approach. "I'm Inspector Deirdre Lawson. Who might you be?"

"Tonks," replied Tonks as she offered her identification. "I was hoping that you could answer some questions for me."

"I don't really like private investigators. If they were any good, they would be real police officers. Some of your kind tends to prey on the grief of others," pointed out Inspector Lawson quite cynical.

Tonks nodded and licked her lip as she went on, "That might be true. But at least my kind doesn't give up so easily. You tend to quit when the answers don't come fast enough. When all the leads become cold or when new case come in, the families have nothing left, but their grief. My job is to give people piece of mind. It's all they have left."

Inspector Lawson regarded Tonks coolly. She nostrils flared as she glared at Tonks. "What are your questions?"

"I want to know how she died," replied Tonks simply.

Inspector Lawson didn't bother to pull the file. "It was one of the messiest crime scenes I've ever seen. You don't forget a thing like that. It looked like she had been thrown around the room. Things were knocked off shelves. Someone wanted her dead. Someone hated her."

"According to the autopsy report, she wasn't sexually assaulted," pointed out Tonks. "So, you concluded that someone hated her based on the brutality of the attack."

"Our forensic team measured the amount of force it would have taken for Penelope Clearwater to be pushed out of the window with it closed and we also looked at the impact of her body made on the sidewalk. There were cracks on it."

"And it wasn't gravity alone?"

"No. She wasn't just simply pushed out the window. She was thrown out at a great speed and force. It's a horrible way to die."

"Did you have any suspects?"

Inspector Lawson stared Tonks down for a good second before she replied, "No. That was the odd thing. The Clearwaters just want to bury their daughter. That's why I think it's strange that they'd get a private investigator."

"You think they were withholding information regarding their daughter?"

"Perhaps. Maybe, they knew something about her that they didn't want exposed about her. They wanted to protect her privacy, even if it meant her killer would remain at large, to kill again."

Tonks thought about it and knew that it was because Penelope was a witch. Her parents didn't want the world that her daughter was a part of exposed to the rest of the Muggle world. Yet, they didn't know what resources in the wizarding world would help them. Tonks had to get out of the police station and see the Clearwaters as soon as possible, but she wanted to make a stop at the site where Penelope was found.

"Was there anything else peculiar?"

"Yes, there were a lot of peculiar things other than her parents. I knew it was personal because nothing was taken from the apartment. It was her sister's flat and she was only staying there because her sister was in Paris studying abroad at the time. She had no defensive wounds, but at the same time her body had lots of bruising on it. That's why things were knocked off shelves. The neighbors below said that they heard all the slamming around before she was out the window. There was no physical evidence left behind. Not a trace of it. No footprints either. And no one saw anyone go and out the building. There were so many witnesses and there was only one way in and out the building. I mean other than out the window."

Tonks jotted down some of the facts that she could gather, then she asked, "Why wasn't think nothing was taken? Or do you think that attack was specifically against her?"

"For one thing, she hadn't been there that long. A couple of days tops," answered Inspector Lawson. "I got the feeling that there was a cover up going on in her family and that her move to her sister's apartment was because something was out to get her. I'd say that Clearwater is pretty peculiar herself. She has almost nothing on her except a birth certificate and a bank account opened by her parents when she was born. According to her file, she had attended the same elementary school as her sister, but when she turned eleven she went to some kind of exclusive prep school."

Tonks knew what school the Inspector was referring to. "What was so strange about that?"

"There were no records of the school," answered Inspector Lawson.

"What about the person who signed the papers to identify her body?"

Inspector Lawson shrugged. "There wasn't much to say. I didn't even get a chance to really talk to him. Never even met him. You know most people put a member of their family in case they have to be notified, but she listed two people who weren't even family. I guess it spared her family from having to go down to I.D. the body."

"Are you sure?" asked Tonks as she showed Percy's picture. Inspector Lawson shook her head at it. "You've never seen him before?"

"Never," replied Inspector Lawson. "Why?"

"I was thinking the same thing that you were. He wasn't a blood relative and he wasn't her husband either, so why was he listed as the person to notify along with someone else," stated Tonks. She looked pensive for a moment.

The telephone ringing snapped Tonks back to attention. Inspector Lawson held up a finger to signal her to be quiet as she answered it. It was a very brief call. "I have to go," she said as she got to her feet. Tonks followed suit and was ready to leave just before Inspector Lawson said to her, "If you're just preying on some poor family's grief, there will no end of the grief that I'll give you." She soundly stared down Tonks.

"I'm not," whispered Tonks. "Thank you for you time and good luck."

Inspector Lawson only nodded. Tonks said in a louder voice, "I can show myself out."

Before going to see the Clearwaters, she stopped at a restaurant to grab a bite to eat and to call the Clearwaters to ask if she could drop by. The phone was answered by a younger woman who said that she was Penelope's sister, Helena. The sister sounded a bit startled at the call and was going to hang up, but Tonks said something that gave away partly who she really was. Helena said that she'd be happy to meet with Tonks, but she wanted to keep her parents out of the way.

Tonks agreed to it. Even though she was an only child, she knew that siblings kept secrets together. Sometimes parents just didn't know what was going on, but there was a good chance that the sibling did. So, she decided that she would settle to meet with Penelope's sister. They agreed to meet at a public park during Helena's lunch time.

Glancing at the clock in the restaurant, Tonks didn't have much time to get there on time, if she didn't Apparate. She went out into an alleyway and consulted a map of London to find the park that Helena told her about. She had to find place to safely Apparate to, so that no one could see her.

When she finally arrived at the park, she went looking for Helena. She was supposed to be somewhere on a park bench waiting for her. Tonks walked around in her natural appearance. Taking a deep breath, she walked around the park until she found someone sitting by herself. She resembled Penelope to a degree. Tonks took another deep breath as she walked up to her.

"Hello. I'm Tonks. I called you on the phone, Miss Clearwater," said Tonks as she took a seat next to her.

The young woman looked at her. Her hair color was lighter than Penelope's and more wavy. The curls weren't as tight as Penelope. Her eyes were also lighter in color as she turned her heads to look at Tonks. "You're the investigator from there? Call me, Helena," she whispered.

"I know this is hard, but I was wondering why no one told us about happened," said Tonks.

Helena glanced at her. Her eyes looked like they were filling with tears. "I thought you people would have known. Percy was one of you, wasn't he? He came to us after she died. He was the one who signed the papers and told us. No one called us when she died. He came."

"I'm sorry but he never got the chance to inform us of your sister's death," said Tonks calmly. "He's gone missing. No one has seen him in months."

Helena had a startled look on her face as she shook her head. "What is it that you need to know?"

"I need to know what you think happened to her."

"Isn't obvious?" whispered Helena. "Someone from your neck of the woods killed her. We didn't want to let the police continue looking. We didn't want to answer all the questions that would come up about her. We had to keep everything covered up. My parents wanted to contact the lot of you, but we didn't know who to contact."

"I'm going to look into your sister's death. I promise."

Helena glared at her for a moment. "None of you bothered to look for a year? You just ignored her. And now you care because someone else is gone?" she spat her words out angrily. Tears slid down her cheeks. "I was away in Paris, studying literature. I came home to my flat and found it in ruins. The police didn't even look through everything. Do you know where I found her wand?"

Tonks shook her head as Helena answered, "I found it tucked away in her purse. It was never taken out. The police had look through it to find out who she was, but they left the wand there. They must have thought it was a strange pencil or something." She wiped the tears away from her cheek, forcefully.

"Did you see him at all?"

"I never met him. I heard about Percy from my sister, but after her schooling was over there was nothing more. I didn't hear of him again until he dropped by to see my parents to give them the news about her," answered Helena. She shook her head. Tonks could tell that she was furious at herself for losing her composure. "I came home immediately after by crossing the channel. I had to. And now he's gone? What happened to him?"

"No one knows. I'm looking into it," replied Tonks. "It might be tied to your sister's murder, but I can't be sure." She paused for a moment to allow Helena to catch her bearings and to put her own thoughts in order. "By the way, did you know that no member of your family was listed as the party to contact in case of an accident or death? Why is that?"

Helena shook her head. "I didn't know that Penny did that. She never really talked about her life on the other side because she didn't think we'd understand. I think that she was partly right, so she put Percy down."

"But she put someone else down, too," corrected Tonks. "Someone by the name of Alistair Xavier. Have you ever even heard of him?"

Helena shook her head again, "No, I haven't heard of him. I didn't even know he was also listed. He must be one you though." There was something ominous about the way that she was reacting to the news. There was a hint that she might have known that something was wrong with her sister, but she was too afraid to admit there might have been a problem.

"Did you know that your sister was in any danger? Did she have any enemies that you knew of?" pressed Tonks as gently as possible.

"Like I told you, I didn't know much about my sister's life. That is something I will regret for the rest of my life," whispered Helena as she turned her head to face Tonks. "But I knew that she was spooked. She called me before she went to my place asking me where the spare key was. She said she needed to have a place to stay for a few days. The last time I heard from her was two days before she died. Penny asked if I was coming back any time soon, and when I said I wasn't, she sounded almost relieved."

"Did you ask her what was wrong?"

"I didn't think there was anything wrong, but now when I think of it that's all I can think of. There was something or someone after her. It has to be from your end of things. She barely kept a life with our family and with the rest of us," answered Helena. She dug through her pockets for a tissue and found one. "Please find out who killed her."

"Yes," murmured Tonks, getting the feeling that was Helena's way of concluding the meeting, "Is there anything else?"

"Don't let anyone lead or fool you down the wrong way," she warned. "Maybe, something did happen to him. For the sake of his family, I hope not." Her voice was gone by the last word.

Tonks nodded as she got to her feet. Before she left, she sincerely said, "You have no idea how sorry I am." Helena didn't even turn to look at her with that Tonks departed.

Dr. White had arrived a little later than normal on purpose the following morning. She had given notice that her patient was to do some art therapy that morning after breakfast. She was interested in seeing some more pictures of his. It was the best way for him to express himself and it was something tangible, giving her a window into his psyche.

When she had arrived, she found out from one of the nurses that he was still in the art room. Apparently, he started sketching a picture that he just had to watercolor. He was busy with it. That was exactly how Dr. White found him when she walked in. Everyone had cleared the room already and were outside or in their rooms. Others were having their sessions with their doctors.

"Don't you want to go outside today?" she asked quietly from the doorway.

"Not today," he murmured without turning to greet her. He was carefully painting the picture. She walked up behind him and saw what he was painting with delicate strokes.

It was a painting of a girl, lying in a pool of water, surrounded by flowers. It was reminiscent of the painting of Ophelia from Shakespeare's Hamlet, but it wasn't an exact replica of that painting. The girl looked like she was sleeping or dead. The dress that he had painted on her was covering her body, but it was unraveling. The threads of the dress were laced into her right hand as if she had pulled the threads.

"Who is she?" whispered Dr. White.

He paused for a moment in mid stroke. Then, he started painting again. Dr. White looked for a chair and took it. She sat down next to him. She watched him as he painted the girl's face with short strokes. "Was she someone you knew?" asked Dr. White.

"Yes," he whispered. "She was someone I knew." His voice sounded harsh and sad. There was pain in it.

"She's gone, isn't she?" asked Dr. White quietly.

He put the paint palette down and the brush. Staring at the picture, he whispered, "Long gone. She's in a safer place than me right now. A place where no one could hurt her." He lifted his left hand for a moment. It was trembling. He swallowed hard as he gazed. "That is the way I wish to remember her."

Dr. White placed her hand over his to calm him. "I'm sorry," she whispered in a soothing tone. "I'm very sorry." And for the first time in weeks, they had lapsed into a silence. There was nothing worth discussing that day.

AN: I moved the last hunk down. It was right after the section about Tonks finishing breakfast and before going off to see the coroner. I thought it looked better, but I'm not so sure of it.

kirikarin. I do not own Harry Potter. This story belongs to me and cannot be posted anywhere else without my permission.