Chapter 15: Destination Now Known
Fabian, Amelia decided, was never going to be the navigator again. They had driven around for at least twenty minutes before he discovered that he was holding the map upside down. After back tracking several hundred metres, he then steered them into two dead ends. Finally Amelia slammed on the brakes.
"Give it to Gideon," she snapped, "Just give it to Gideon!"
Reluctantly, Fabian handed over the map to his brother (though it was less about following orders and more about the fact that Amelia was threatening to throw the keys out the window) and they started off again.
With Gideon in charge of directions, it didn't take them terribly long to find the right address; 146 Hardgrave Street was a house in a long strip of houses, each little section divided by a metal railing. It was a brick building, with a large, black door and concrete stairs leading up from the sidewalk. There was a small, square mail box perched on top of the gate and two windows with the curtains drawn. Amelia pulled up on a side street, on the corner so they could still see the structure but weren't too exposed to the enemy. Her eyes scanned the area; it didn't look suspicious in the least. On the surface it was your classic, Muggle suburb and that, Amelia thought, was what made it so dangerous.
"Someone has to get out of the car," she said quickly, "Otherwise it will look strange, our parking here."
She, Gideon and Fabian all looked at each other and then said in perfect unison, "Frank!"
Their target looked around at them, an incredulous look on his face, and then let out a groan.
"Really?" he said, "What am I supposed to do?"
"Just wander around for a bit, I don't know," Amelia shrugged, "Do some errands, get a snack."
"Don't have any money," Frank said matter-of-factly.
With a sigh, Amelia reached into her bag and pulled out a handful of sickles and a Muggle ten-pound note.
"Go crazy," she said flatly.
"Thanks," Frank replied with equal flatness, getting out of the car.
"When you come back, try and walk past the house," Gideon said, "Get a good view from the front."
"And could you buy me some of those Muggle Hula-Hoop crisps?" Fabian asked.
Frank rolled his eyes, but gave a smile.
"I'll see what I can do."
He shut the door quietly and, shoving his hands in his pockets, walked away from the car. His team watched him go and then the three remaining heads turned to look at the house.
It was a house. Amelia had made that observation several times in the last half-hour. She had done so because it seemed as if that was the only thing that could be ascertained from staring at it from a parked car. Nothing had visibly changed about the structure since Frank had left; the curtains were still pulled and there appeared to be no movement behind them. Not a soul had entered the building, hardly anyone even walking about on the street. It was quiet and stagnant and everyone, even the work orientated Gideon, was getting bored. Fabian had leaned back in the passenger seat next to Amelia. He had spent a while scribbling in his little note book but that too had become tiresome for him; one of the first things Amelia had learnt about her partner in Auror training was that he didn't like to sit still for too long.
"How long do we have to be here for?" he asked, clearly trying to keep the moan out of his voice.
Amelia checked her watch.
"When Frank gets back we'll go," she replied, "I'll see if there's anyone that needs to work overtime who can take this job."
Ten minutes later, Frank returned. He had circled around the block, past 146 and then slipped into the backseat.
"Nothing," he said with a shrug, "It's pretty much the same closer up."
Then he reached into his jacket and pulled out a packet of crisps, hurling them at Fabian, who grabbed them, looking excited. Fabian turned them around in his hands, frowned and then looked incredulously at Frank.
"Salt and Vinegar?" he said with a tone of disgust, "Salt and Vinegar! What were you thinking, man?"
"Fine," Frank said, trying to snatch them back, "I'll have them, you ungrateful so and so."
"No, no," Fabian said, "I've got them now, I might as well eat them."
"You're a martyr," Frank said, grinning.
"Just trying to make this world a better place," Fabian grinned back.
He pulled the packet open and offered it to Amelia, who just sighed and started the car.
As soon as they arrived back at the Ministry, Dolores popped up and handed her friend a stack of papers, clipped together. Amelia flicked over them while the secretary recounted all she had done in their absence.
"I wrote to Jim at the Met and he managed to get hold of these documents," she told her colleague, "The house has been owned for sixteen years by a Mr and Mrs Havisham. Both Muggles, with no magical relatives or connections as far as anyone is aware. But I did some digging and apparently Mr Havisham quit his job about a month ago, quite suddenly, and no one has seen him around since."
Amelia raised her eyebrows.
"Curious."
"Extremely!" Dolores agreed, "And there were whispers of some men turning up in the middle of the night, just before that. But the stories are all pretty shaky and nothing's been reported since then."
"What about the house itself?" Amelia asked, replacing the papers on the desk, "Does it have a history?"
"Not a recent one," Dolores said, "In the late eighteen hundreds, a Muggle family was killed there; mother, father, kids, even the servants. It was dreadful and the Muggle authorities couldn't work out how it was done, because there were no signs of injury or illness. Of course, local wizards attributed it to one of their own. Caused quite a stir at the time, apparently."
"But apart from that," Amelia sighed, "it's clean. Thanks, Jane."
Rowan's views on Amelia's eating habits were quickly becoming justified as the group ordered in Chinese food for dinner (with Dolores, true to form, choosing a salad instead). The girl herself had left just as they sat down to eat. Alice Longbottom had somehow found time to take her on a tour of the Ministry and, although she had enjoyed herself immensely, Rowan felt it was time to go.
"Now, if you need anything or find anything out," Amelia said seriously, "just send me an owl or-"
"Break into your flat at three in the morning," Rowan smiled, "Don't worry, I know how to get there."
"Be safe," Amelia said, the concern in her voice obvious.
"I will," the girl replied, "Thank you, all of you, for everything."
"I rather like that kid," Fabian said, as they watched her walk out, "I feel we should adopt her as a team mascot."
"We've already got a monkey," Amelia said, giving a firm wave as Rowan stepped onto the lift.
"Do we?" Fabian said in surprise.
"Yes. It's you."