Disclaimer: Anything belongs to J.K. Rowling I do not own. Anything else, I do.

A/N: Weeeell ... Sorry for not updating lately, but i had some personal matters that need urgent attention. But why to talk ...Err ...write about this unneeded matter. This is the chapter you all waited ...Enjoy ...

Crime Scene Investigation

It was 6:00 AM, and Hermione woke up on the sound of phone ringing; she stretched lazily on her bed then walked to the phone grumbling.

"Hello" She answered sourly

"Detective Granger, this is Officer Greene. I …" The caller replied

"Paul, I think you have a watch on your wrist, and it will tell you that it is a bit early for banter" Hermione interrupted with irritation.

"I'm really sorry, but the Captain requested your present immediately" Greene answered rapidly then hung up.

"Prick" She said looking to the not-responding phone, and then she made her way to the bathroom and took a quick shower. She had a cup of tea in a hurry and made her way to the police precinct.

Fifteen minutes later, she was standing in front of the precinct. She shot directly to the elevator, and punched the third floor button hard.

"Ouch, thank goodness I'm not in place of this poor button" a voice said slyly behind her.

"Don't start Pierce, I'm not in the mood" Hermione Mumbled slowly.

"Not enough sleep … Herms" Pierce said innocently.

"I said, shut it. And what are you doing here early, have you been called too?" Hermione said

"Well … Unless I like to leave the cozy bed beside my wife to work early, yes. So, do you know what that all about?" he said comically.

"Not a clue" Hermione said dryly

They reached the third floor and paced through the desks to the Captain's office.

"Captain Maronski, sir" Hermione greeted.

"You are late you two. Anyway, one the boys in precinct three has discovered a dead body by an alley in the downtown this morning, they've transferred the case file to us" the Captain stated

"Why do they throw their workload on us, isn't it against the regulations to do so" Pierce stated in an annoyed voice.

"Well … That does mean our detectives are brighter than theirs, and this case is somehow connected to the case you're working on Granger" the Captain said and Hermione got alerted.

"What case?" Pierce asked in confusion.

"She will give you the details while you are on the way to the crime scene, you're both on this case from now on, take the lab car … what are you waiting, an invitation … Go, I've got to revise this profile of the new detective" the Captain dismissed them hastily and gone through some paperwork.

They made their way to the parking lot. And pierce said slyly "Wow … that was something, and I thought you were angry"

Hermione replied "With all the papers he has to fill for the case transfer I was surprised he even saw us … Poor fellow"

"He said new detective, is he another replacement for Joseph" Pierce said cautiously

"I not sure, but I hope he is better than that arse of a detective we got two weeks ago" Hermione said with an angry-sad face.

"Whoa, strong words missy, and I don't blame him noticing you having such curves"

"Pierce" Hermione exclaimed with a blush

"What? I didn't say something wrong princess, you're the dream girl of many boys out there" He said with innocent face.

"You …" she said with angry smile.

"Enough of the chitchat, what is the case he said you're on" Pierce demanded and Hermione shoved him a dossier, "A week ago we found a male dead body in an alley near the 5th street, the cause of death was the explosion of his chest cavity which caused an instant but painful death according to his face expressions …" Hermione said to Pierce, who was eyeing the picture with a disgust look on his face.

"Man, what a poor guy, he must've angered a mobster or somthin', 'cuz only them can do this with their illegal explosive bullet, I'd like to have one myself for my collection" Pierce stated bluntly, Hermione sighed hopelessly and continued "Two days later we found another male dead body with his head missing" Pierce was in a shock, for he saw the picture she is talking about "and we found bits of his brains all over the place"

"That … is disgusting" Pierce said looking at her, then resumed eyeing the pictures "But not abnormal many illegal explosives and explosive bullets can cause this situation, and with many gangs owning them I doubt we can catch the murderer"

"Can you tell me what infernal weapon can cause the head to explode without affecting the chest, or even causing this effect without leaving burning marks or …"

Hermione looked at him intently and continued "Without leaving gunpowder traces"

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Harry poured himself a cup of English tea while waiting for Ron finishing his shower; he began to recall their first meeting with Minister Malone and their mission briefing.

FLASHBACK

"Welcome to the United States of America" Minister Malone greeted both Ron and Harry in a warm manner; Harry returned the greetings and looked at the wizard who will become their direct superior for while they are here. He was a middle-aged wizard with light-dark complexion average height; he has a warm but tired look on his face, he has gray hair with light-gray goatee that suites his tired look.

"Since the fall of the Dark Lord and both of our ministries worked mutually to track down the remnants of his supporters, and they seem to regroup here at our soil. As you knew by now, I asked Minister Bones for expert Death Trackers to handle the situation here along side other aurors from different countries" Minister Malone stated while searching in his drawers, he then pulled a thick dossier and opened it then resumed "Now for your mission briefing, you will be located in Los Angeles in a newly-opened Field HQ, your primary objective will be the elimination of the new lead of the death eaters, Marcus Flint, he had caused enough commotion among our society for nearly two years before acclaiming to be the next Dark Lord. We all know that he is not even half powerful as You-Know-Who, but some disturbing news has just come from our moles.

He tossed a muggle photo in front of Harry "We believe that Flint has allied with a muggle Drug Lord who called himself 'Muerte', which means 'Death' in Spanish, he is your secondary objective to eliminate, this very Drug Lord has just escaped 'Mysteriously' from a muggle maximum security prison, our investigators who disguised as muggle investigators confirmed the involvement of the death eaters in the break-in by finding traces of magic in the prison and the appearance of the Dark Mark above the prison. With Muerte's money and influence along with the death eaters magical powers I fear the worst has yet to come from this unholy alliance"

Minister Malone took a deep breath before he continued "As I said before you will not work alone, there are some lists of candidates who either had volunteered, as I case of our Ministry, or were mentioned will good recommendation, as with other Ministries. I have to ask you, Harry Potter, to be the leader of the 'Death Tracker Squad' that you will choose from these lists. Now, any questions" He handled the list to Harry who took it with expressionless face.

"I have a favor to ask first, my colleague auror Weasely is appointed as my deputy" Malone nodded and said "It's yours"

Harry cracked a smile and said "Where do I start"

END FLASHBACK

"Harry, let's go mate" Ron said loudly drawing him from memories. He then stood up and left the apartment.

"Ya' know, I can't wait to check my new flat. Of course, I have nothing on you Harry, but if I'm gonna work with muggles then they mustn't know who we are or that we know each other" Ron said in sheer excitement

"Whatever you say mate" Harry said with a smile, he was happy that his best mate was over the fact that he is miles away from his family, and he had already made some friends among their auror team.

They reached an abandoned alley then apparated to the alley near the HQ. As soon as they entered the HQ they were greeted by Richard Howards, and Ron was greeted with the special 'American style' greeting.

"What was that all about Howards" Harry asked inquisitively. He was answered in a rush and cool manner "Good news, Harry Potter sir, auror Weasely has been accepted as the new detective in the muggle precinct, although he will work with a part-time schedule only"

"That's good news truly, and the part-time schedule too, he can return to the HQ and inform us with any progress in their side"

Harry they swirled his eyes around the HQ, It was a normal muggle flat but has been protected with Anti-Apparition, Anti-Muggle, and other defensive wards. There are computers and surveillance devices all over the place; there is also a tech-lab desk around the corner. Ron and Richard were the muggle experts, which explain their quick familiarity with each other. Harry couldn't contain his smile when he remembered the sheer joy on both Dick's and Ron's faces when they were given the right to enchant muggle artifacts.

He rolled his eyes back to his team members. Auror Richard Howards was the first to pass the test, his mischief personality along with his muggle artifact experience made Ron to accept him without second thought "He got the Weasleys' blood" Ron justified his choice. The second one was Vladimir Pavlov, Russian first-class auror and the field leader in the days of the Second War in the Russian fronts, most people said that he used to sympathize with the Dark Lord's cause, but stopped his sympathy when his wife and children were killed by the hands of the death eaters, he preferred to eliminate the death eaters on-site rather than capture them, and his knowledge with the Dark Arts along with his sheer power and control of the unforgivables makes him a great asset to any team acquires him. The third member is Sofia Blanc, French auror and metamorphmagus, and a professional healer, she can blend in without being detected, and this can be useful in pursuit of any suspect.

Along with Harry's and Ron's 'Death Trackers' experience, this team is almost perfect. All what they need is a think tank …

"We found the file, sir" Dick exclaimed "Granger, Hermione. 24 years old, Former Scotland Yard investigator, LAPD Detective, now resides in Xmas Night Hotel, Apartment 55" Dick took a breath and continued "IQ: 175, first of her class, graduated with honors, smart, and determined"

"175 … Bloody Hell, if she was a witch she'd be in Ravenclaw, ain't she Harry" Ron blurted, but Harry wasn't listening, he was looking deeply into the photo. Hazel eyes, curly hair, full lips. His heart gave a was racing, he never felt that except when Ginny hugged him in the Burrow, is it … No; he thought to himself, he doesn't have time for this; he is a leader for God's sake. But he can't deny the attraction he feels towards her … "No" he said it loudly this time. "What, don't you agree with me mate?" Ron said in confusion. "No, no, I agree with you, but …" Harry stopped "But what?" Ron incited him "Spill your beans", Harry was fighting a blush, and Ron was lost, then he followed Harry's gaze to the photo and grinned mischievously and whispered "Well, well, Casanova. Just remember who your are before dragging her up to … wherever" Harry now has lost his battle with the blush and jabbed Ron's shoulder with a smile on his face "Shut it, you wanker". Ron then looked to Dick and said "Xmas Night Hotel, isn't it the same hotel I will be in?" Dick answered joyfully "That's not all man, you are her new neighbor, this is the only way you can become friendly enough to gain her trust, ain't it Wes"

Harry regained his composure and directed the attention of the team towards him "Everybody listen, we have a situation here. Marcus Flint appears to be in an alliance with a muggle Drug Lord named 'Muerte', they are both our objectives, they are to be eliminated immediately; this cannot be done with improvising, but with a well structured plan, the death eaters are on a killing spree, three victims have fallen by their hands, and the muggle police are in a state of confusion because they can't detect magic usage, our goal for now is to discover the spell used on the victims and trace it back to its source, this can be done by plotting the area of the crimes and estimate the initial place of their appearance, which can be their HQ, a floo-outlet, or just another abandoned building. Now, Ron, you will be our contact in the muggle world, you will work with Detective Granger and her colleagues. Dick you will be our muggle artifact expert here in the HQ, you will exchange shifts with Ron on his days off, and you are our surveillance expert when 'bug' any encountered death eater with tracking charms and muggle surveillance devices. Sofia, you will be with the crime scene investigators, do not show your real face, always keep your metamorph up. Vlad, you will be guarding the HQ and my link to it, in the near future you will accompany me in the field action when I order to. Everything's clear" They all nodded, and Harry cracked a smile and stated "Now … We have a crime scene to investigate"

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Hermione and Pierce reached the crime scene and flashed their badges "Detectives Granger and McLaden, what do we got" Hermione said in a professional way.

A female investigator answered her immediately "Good morning to you detective, we've got a female victim this time, mid-thirties, average height, guts exploded with unknown weapons, no burns, no gunpowder traces. She appeared to be alive for three to five minutes after the weapon hit, because she had crawled out of this place" a blood stream was leading to a backdoor of a diner. The investigator continued "a blood sample was taken from her body and the blood stream", Hermione interrupted suddenly "Can I have the samples please", the investigator stated "This is against the regulations, police detectives shouldn't handle crime scene …", Hermione interrupted again "Well, my presence here is against the regulations, we can report you to the Ministry of Interiors for tossing your job to us. And what is your name missy", the investigator was shocked as if she was hit by a fast car "I'm … I'm Laura" Hermione stated "Well Laura, this is my rule, I will handle the crime scene investigation by my own equipment and I don't mind if you helped out a little, but I will not allow anyone to slow me down, OK" she looked intently to the young woman who nodded with the shock expression still on his face, then Hermione proceeded to the diner.

"Man that was priceless, she almost was gonna faint" Pierce exclaimed with excitement "I hope I don't cross swords with you darlin'"

Hermione snorted but didn't comment. They both entered the diner and saw the owner there.

"Detective Granger; and you are …" she said looking to a middle-aged Hispanic female witness who seemed to have just been out of a shock.

"Mercedes Lopez, call me Meche"

"Are you feeling alright Meche" Hermione said with true sympathy.

"I'm OK, considering the fact that I've just witnessed a murder"

"OK, Meche … would you be troubled if you answered a few questions"

"Not at all, Please detective have a seat. Do you want anything to drink?"

"No thank you" Hermione then began the questioning

"Now, what do you know about the victim"

"Her name is Tina, she was a regular customer, and quite friendly too, but in the last three days she was a bit jumpy, especially every time someone opens the door"

"Did she mention why she was jumpy?"

"No, but last night she said that he is coming for her and he will kill her"

"Can you describe what happen last night?"

"She was having her regular meal at that table, when someone entered, then I saw her face go pale very quick"

"Can you describe the person who entered?"

"He was a man, a tall one, and was wearing a long robe with a hood too, which was weird, it wasn't a cold night to wear something thick, all what I remember is that he has deformed front teeth"

"Nothing else"

"No, sorry his upper face was shaded with the hood"

"So, what was the woman's reaction when she saw him?"

"As I said, she went pale, the man sat down on the chair opposite to her and whispered something, and she then stumbled on her way to the toilets, he drank some of her coffee then followed her. The last thing I heard was an explosion and her screaming; I ran to the toilets and saw her walking then crawling through back door, I followed her and saw the hooded man by the corner and then he disappeared …"

"You mean left the scene"

"No I mean disappeared literally, as in 'Now you see me, Now you don't' as the magicians say" Meche was talking seriously

"Are you under the influence of drugs or something?"

"I am not and I do not do drugs, detective, I speak the truth. He's just disappeared"

"Well … Logic says no one can disappear just like that"

"I told you, this is what I saw. If you don't believe me it's your problem senorita" Meche said nervously, and Hermione didn't push too hard to that matter anymore, and tried to change the subject.

"No problem, I'll look into that matter personally. Have you seen anything else that grabbed your attention?"

"No, not really, but Tina said something, like 'Death hungers' or 'Death Eaters' or something"

"Death Eaters ..." Hermione said in confusion "I haven't heard of anything like that, maybe some satanic cult nonsense"

"I don't know, it is your job to know"

"Thank you for your time Meche"

"Always happy to help the law"

The questioning ended and Hermione looked around for Pierce, who just came out of the toilets with a sick look on his face.

"That … Was disgusting" He stated as always, Hermione asked him slyly "What Pierce, someone threw on you?"

"Worse, there is blood and guts everywhere …" He said sickly

"Well … What do you expect in a murder scene, ice-cream?" she said without changing her sneer, then said seriously "Doesn't matter, haven't you heard what the lady was saying"

"No, I was enjoying myself with the bloodbath"

"Well you behave seriously for once for God's sake … What I was saying that she saw the murderer then he just disappeared, in thin air"

"Whoa … She must've been doing drugs or somethin'"

"That what I said, but she denied fiercely. And she said that the victim said something, like 'Death Hungers' or 'Death Eaters'"

"Death Eaters" Pierce eyes twinkled for a second, then he said "Nah, Never heard of that"

"Same here, for that I want you to search for information about any satanic cult that is pertaining to this name"

"Roger, my favorite detective" Pierce said joyfully

"Honestly …" Hermione sighed hopelessly

They exiting the diner and Hermione just saw investigator Laura coming from a nearby alley.

"What were you doing there" Hermione exclaimed in annoyance.

"Nothing …" Laura said coolly, earning her a muck look from Hermione "You know missy that we aren't allowed to dawdle around aimlessly, and that alley is far from the crime scene"

"Sorry" Laura said blankly, earning her a burst from Hermione "You remember what I said early; I will not allow anyone to slow me down"

"If you looked around you, you will notice that we have already finished packing up" Laura said with not changing in her face. Hermione didn't say anything more and made her way to the lab car.

"Bloody woman …" she muttered, and Pierce tried to cool her down

"Easy, easy, she did nothing serious"

Hermione sighed heavily and said "Sorry, I think this case is getting into my head, I will go to my flat and rest a for a little bit"

"I'll fax any progress I get about this case" Pierce waved her goodbye and she headed for the hotel.

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Harry wasn't away from the crime scene, in fact, he was in the nearby alley were Laura was. Actually, Laura was Sofia in disguise; she played her role quite nicely and used her anatomy experience in the investigation. After she recorded everything she could on scene, she secretly made a copy and headed for the alley to handle it to Harry; who waited until the detectives left then headed for the crime scene by himself, he first raised a temporary anti-muggle ward then began his investigation. The blood trail seems to contain considerable amount of magic, but there are some traces which seems to be different from the major amount, that means that the victim was with magical heritage. Harry cannot seem to be able to determine the curse, it is hard without inspecting the body itself, but by the sheer volume of magic he found in the blood trail, he assumed it was a curse, and a strong one it is, he placed his assumption in a range from acid curse to bone exploding and organ decay curses. He then followed the blood trace to its origin, and was shocked when he saw the mess in the toilets, but after thorough investigation, he excluded the acid curse from the list, after all he couldn't pinpoint the exact curse until he get a clear look onto the body.

Harry then walked out of the toilets and toward the main counter where Mercedes was, she was turning her back, and when she felt the movements behind her she said without looking "We're close, as a matter of fact we won't open until the police remove their freakin' tape from around the diner"

"I'm a private investigator, and I have some questions to you please" Harry said the first thing came to his mind.

"I'm not answering anymore questions, now if you please, I need to lay down"

Harry took the liberty to pour some juice for both of them and sneakily slipped a few drops of Veritaserum in her glass and handed it to her "I only need a few questions and then I won't bother you anymore"

She took the glass and drank it shakily, he then asked her some questions and wasn't satisfied with the answers (A/N: The questions are the same of Hermione's, so it will be boring to rewrite them), he to an invasive approach to extract an answer that satisfies him, he used Legilimency. To his satisfaction, he saw everything happened with every minor detail. After he extracted the wanted information, he obliviated Mercades and left the scene.

He began to trace the magic that has emitted from the suspect's body beginning from the point where he apparated from until he reached an abandoned building with a ruined fireplace, he tested the fire place for floo-networking, and it was positive, he then traced the fireplace back to the starting point. Unfortunately, it was a fireplace in another abandoned building, and the magic trace here seems to be colder. He memorized the place and returned to the first fireplace after placing a delayed Reductor curse on the second one, and did the same to the first one too.

He then returned to the HQ, and hoped that Sofia and Ron were having better luck than him …

A/N: Hey, that is the end of the fourth (or was it fifth?) chapter, how did you feel when you were reading it. Now you can tell me your feeling by one known way …Yes, Review. So, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease