Chapter 25

Nine years later ...

The three most important persons from the Criminal Search Department were gathered in the meeting room. The Minister of Magic, Mr Tuyandis, had something very important to tell them.

"As you all know, I'm very proud for the effort you have all put in your work," Mr Tuyandis said smiling at the three persons in front of him. The head of the Department, Mrs Wilford, was a very strong woman. She had prevented over twenty crimes in the past month. Then there was Mr Abbots, a young clever man, who could always tell when a suspect was lying. Mr Casacovitch, the Russian detective, was very useful for the Department as well. He could smell danger better than anyone else in the Department.

Mr Tuyandis was very proud of his three favourite employees.

"Oh come on, Bob, Mrs Wilford said smiling in her most charming way, tell us why you have called us!"

"Is there a new criminal you want us to catch?" Mr Abbots asked frowning. He had just been about to ask for a few days off so he could go to the beach with his girlfriend.

"Oh no, not at all! I just wanted to warn you that a new man will join our Department."

Mr Casacovitch didn't look satisfied.

"This is what you wanted to tell us? Why did you make it look so important? We have had new men in our team before and you didn't make such a big deal about it."

Mr Tuyandis shrugged.

"This one is different. He's not like us."

"What do you mean?" Mrs Wilford asked.

Mr Tuyandis turned to look at her. He liked Anastasia Wilford a lot. She was a young clever woman and he felt she would be the perfect replacement for his dead wife. Anastasia always put her blond hair into a tight chignon and she hid her lovely green eyes behind her stern glasses. She always came to the office with a suit but Mr Tuyandis was sure she would look good if only she wore skirts from time to time. He knew Anastasia could be pretty if she let her hair in peace and got ride of her scary glasses. He wished Anastasia would stop seeing him as her boss and start taking an interest in him.

"Well, this guy isn't a wizard. He's a muggle." Mr Tuyandis said sighing.

"What?" Mr Casacovitch cried. In general he had nothing against muggles but he didn't want to mix his work with them.

"That's impossible!" Mr Abbots looked as shocked as his friend.

Mrs Wilford didn't say anything. She was looking at her own hands as if they had suddenly become very interesting.

"What do you think of all this?" Mr Tuyandis asked her quietly.

Mrs Wilford shrugged.

"If he's any good, I don't see why we should not accept him in our team. After all everyone deserves a chance. But, I'm wondering, does he even know we're not like him?"

"Mr Jones knows everything about the magical world and even more importantly he knows everything there is to know about the Ministry of Magic." Mr Tuyandis said. He was relieved Mrs Wilford was so calm about this. When she was upset, she kind of scared him.

"How exactly will this Jones person help us?" Mr Casacovitch asked. He really wasn't pleased about this new situation.

"He will help find you all the criminals from the magical world," Mr Tuyandis answered simply.

"But we don't need his help!" Mr Abbots cried indignantly.

"Enough!" Mrs Wilford stood up. Everyone fell silent and looked up at her. Anastasia looked suddenly very tired. She sighed and began to speak again:

"If Bob says we need the guy, then we need him. I don't see why we're still wasting on the subject. We have a lot of work to do. So if you will excuse me, I have to go back to my office and sort out a few things."

There was silence when Mrs Wilford left the room. Mr Casacovitch followed her. He didn't want to speak about the muggle anymore.

Mr Abbots and Mr Tuyandis were left alone in the room.

"How can you be so sure that Mr Jones will really help us?"

Mr Tuyandis smiled.

"Don't underestimate muggles. They can be very clever. Cleverer than some of us."

"Did you meet him?" Mr Abbots asked.

"Oh yes, I have. And he kind of reminds me of Anastasia."

Mr Abbots burst out laughing. He didn't think a muggle could have a single thing in common with Anastasia. She was not the kind of woman you met often.

"What do they have in common?"

"The confidence."

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Anastasia was just reading about the newest case when she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" she cried.

A man entered the room. He was wearing a black suit and black sunglasses. It looked as if he had just stepped out of a James Bond film.

"Yes, how can I help you?" Anastasia asked impatiently. She wanted to be left alone with her work.

"We have just found Janice Brown's body."

"Oh my god!" Anastasia was horrified. It was the fourth woman this month. There was a serial killer out there and he had to be stopped.

"Don't worry, we've found the assassin. His name is Paul Mackenzie and he escaped from a muggle prison a few months ago."

Anastasia covered her face with her hands and sighed in relief.

"Thank god," she whispered. She had worked in the Department for over two years and she still wasn't used to hear about the crimes from all over the world. The only reason why Anastasia was head of the Department was because she had managed to seduce the Minister of Magic so easily.

"Are you all right?" the man asked.

"Yes, of course I am." Anastasia said although she could feel her legs shaking.

"You look sick," the man insisted.

"I'm fine, Anastasia snapped, I just haven't eaten lunch today."

The man grinned. He didn't seem to believe her.

"Right." He said. There was silence. Anastasia didn't know what to do. She wanted to get rid of the man but there was something about him that stopped her. He was looking straight into her eyes as if he knew something she didn't.

"Hum, how did you catch Paul Mackenzie?" she asked trying to turn the conversation back to its original subject.

"Well, after a lot of research, I kind of suspected it was him. So I send a bunch of guys to check his house and they found Brown's body. He was just about to bury her in his garden."

Anastasia smiled at the man. It was a long time since she had done that. She wasn't the kind of woman who was used to having fun.

"Well, then, as the head of the Department, it's my job to reward you. You're new here, aren't you? What's your name?"

"Jones." The man answered.

Anastasia's smile faded.

"Oh, you're the muggle." She sounded disappointed.

"Yeah, Mr Jones shrugged, that's what they call me here. But I would really prefer it if you called me William."

"Okay, well, William, welcome in the team! The Minister of Magic, Robert Tuyandis, has already informed everyone of your arrival."

They talked for a while about all the different cases he had to work on. Anastasia was surprised how normal William seemed to be. It didn't bother him that he was a muggle. He seemed perfectly calm.

When William called Anastasia 'Mrs Wilford' she couldn't help blushing.

"I'm your boss, but you don't have to call me that. My name is Ana."

"Right." William nodded.

After Ana had explained how things worked in the Department, William turned to leave. But before closing the door, he looked at Anastasia one last time.

"You were talking about rewarding me before. Well, a date with you a Friday night would be the perfect reward."

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The days past quickly and Ana was so busy she hardly got out of her office. She didn't get a chance to get to know her new muggle employee. She didn't care; she had other things to think about. Anastasia Wilford was not the kind of woman who had a social life outside work. She dedicated her life to her work.

Sometimes, she even ate in her office. She didn't like the company of others. She told everyone she had to work, but the truth was that Anastasia was a miserable person.

Anastasia was just about to take a huge bite from her hamburger when there was a knock on her door.

"Come in." she said a little crossed. She didn't like to be disturbed, especially when she was enjoying a quiet lunch all by herself.

William Jones entered the room.

"Oh, hello, William!" Anastasia tried to pretend like she was pleased to see him.

William laughed.

"So they were telling the truth! Do you always eat all by yourself?"

"There's a matter of fact I do," Ana sniffed indignantly.

"Mind if I join you?" William asked. Ana did mind but somehow she couldn't tell William that. If it had been someone else, she would have been yelling her head off.

"No, not at all," she lied, sit down."

William sat on the chair in front of Ana's desk. He got a sandwich out from his bag. There was silence whilst they both ate their lunch.

When he was finished, he got up and started to read all the pages of mysterious cases on the wall.

"Why do you keep these papers?" William asked gesturing towards the wall nearest him.

"These are the crimes we have never solved." She answered.

"Oh, I see." William said and looked back at the wall.

Again, no one spoke. Ana was starting to feel uncomfortable. She didn't like the way William stared at the walls. There was something so mysterious about him, she just couldn't explain it.

"Alan Smith." William said all of a sudden. Ana jumped.

"What?" she asked confused.

"I'm just reading about Alan Smith." William said pointing at the photograph of a young teenager.

"I don't know much about this case, Ana explained, I only arrived here a few years ago. The only thing I can tell you is that he was found dead near the castle from Hogwarts and it was his Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, Collins, who found him."

William nodded.

"It says here his girlfriend, Alicia Potter, disappeared the night he was killed. She's the prime suspect. Why hasn't anyone heard from her? Hasn't she tried to contact her family?"

Anastasia shook her head.

"No, she completely vanished. Nobody heard from her ever again."

"That's weird. Why has she killed her own boyfriend?"

Ana started to get seriously annoyed

"Why do people keep saying that, she snapped, I don't think it's odd at all! A murderer creeps into Hogwarts and he kills the first student he spots. Then he takes the poor kid's girlfriend with him and god knows what he does to her!"

"You don't think Alicia Potter killed Smith?" William asked. He found this conversation very interesting.

Ana sighed.

"No, I don't. And believe me I have the instinct for this kind of things."

"But if Alicia Potter was innocent, why didn't she come back?"

Ana shrugged.

"Maybe she was killed. Or maybe she prefers to forget the past and take a new identity."

"But-"

"Oh, come on, give me a break." Anastasia cried. She was tired of this conversation.

William was surprised by her outburst.

"What's the matter?" he asked frowning.

"Just leave my office, please." Ana ordered.

William looked puzzled.

"Why are you acting so strangely all of a sudden?" he asked. It was clear she had hurt him.

"Please get out." Anastasia said with gritted teeth.

William left the room without a word. Anastasia found herself all by herself once again.

She rubbed her face in a tired way. It had been a very long time since she had a proper sleep. Anastasia wondered if she had overreacted with William. After all, he was a nice guy. He couldn't have known how much it hurt to talk about the Alan Smith case.

Ana finished her lunch and then she went back to work. She pasted the whole day all by herself. No doubt William had warned everyone she was in one of her moods again. Nobody dared disturb her when she was in this state.

Ana decided maybe it would be time to quit. She wasn't strong enough for this job.

That night, when she went back to her empty apartment, Anastasia realised something for the first time. Maybe it didn't do her any good to stay alone. Maybe she needn't a friend after all.

Ana had liked William. He had been the closest to a friend she had had for a very long time. Of course, there was Bob Tuyandis who visited Ana from time to time, but he only liked her because he was attracted to her.

Ana wanted people to like her for who she was, but unfortunately she wasn't the kind of woman easy to like. She was stubborn and self-centred.

Ana let her hair loose and took off her fake glasses. She looked at herself in the mirror. She had changed her hair colour eight years ago. Ana had gotten used to her blond hair although she missed her usual red hair.

Ana felt like crying as she looked at herself in the mirror. She wished she didn't have to hide. She wished she didn't have to lie to every single person she met.

Ana was dying to tell someone the truth. Instead, she spoke to her own reflection.

"My name is Alicia Potter." she whispered.