Sunday, 19 June 1994
"I'd like to make a guess that this mug contains, among other substances, venom from runespoor fangs," said Miss Carthew, seemingly unsurprised at what Gwen had told her. She didn't even look up from her needlework.
They were sitting in Miss Carthew's parlour. Outside the sun was shining brilliantly, the sky was forget-me-not-blue, and birds were twittering in the apple tree near the wide open window.
Gwen gaped: "What? Why do you think it's runespoor venom? And why would Archie and Mayfield use it?"
"Did you know that this venom together with some other ingredients makes a nearly undetectable deadly poison called Invisibiliserum? You can look it up in there." Miss Carthew got to her feet, took a book from a stack of books and magazines beside the fireplace and held it out to Gwen. "Got it from an old friend of mine, she's a healer at St. Mungo's."
Gwen looked at the title and stared at her. "How come you've been researching 'Deadly Poisons and How to Identify them'?" She was completely perplexed.
"Well, you told me that Mayfield's wand was used to cast the Dark Mark, but not the Killing Curse, which I found rather remarkable. I assumed that perhaps it hadn't been that Unforgivable Curse, after all. I considered what other possibilities there were to murder a person. And then I remembered that you told me two months ago that you had had a problem with the concentration of the preservation solution in the Brain Room tank."
"But… you told me it could be an error by the manufacturer of the runespoor venom," Gwen protested.
"Yes, of course, that was one option. Another option would have been that someone had stolen part of the venom and filled the vials up with water, or something else."
Gwen put down the book, sank into an armchair and fumbled in her pocket. She would have loved to smoke a cigarette. As Jonathan was a non-smoker, she had, indeed, considered quitting smoking (Roberta didn't like it either, for that matter), but now her head started whirling, and she felt she needed to relax and concentrate.
"Do you mean that the liquid in the mug in Archie's office might have been the murder weapon, so to speak?"
"It might be. Let's see what the Aurors' poison expert finds out."
"What would the other ingredients be?"
"Armadillo bile, daisies, sopophorous beans, and ginger to neutralise the taste, smell and look. And coffee or tea. It's very complicated to brew, but nearly undetectable and its effect is instant."
"I'll ask Jonathan. I'll tell him what you told me. And I'll keep you up to date."
Gwen hadn't told Miss Carthew about the new developments between her and Jonathan. She didn't know how to phrase them.
"Thank you, Gwen." She took the book and placed it back on the pile. "But please don't tell the Aurors that it was my idea. They wouldn't like you to share your knowledge with an outsider."
~ooOOooOOooOOooOOoo~
Wednesday, 22 June 1994
Gwen exited the Magic Gym after an exhausting session with Roberta, Timothy, and Eleanor.
Everyone except her looked refreshed, rosy and bright. She kept quiet. As usual Roberta had secretly used her time-turner to do even more exercises. Timothy, too, was an athletic type and had no problems to keep up with Roberta, and even Eleanor was slender and sporty.
Gwen's self-confidence was at an all time low. Even though she now joined the "gang", which usually included Isabelle, too, (who today had a meeting with Ademarus and Agatha Hill), once a week, she was out of breath and felt clumsy. The others were nice and didn't tease her, but she would have liked to look better at the Gym.
"I have to go upstairs to Level Four, to the Spirit Division," Timothy informed them cheerily and left them in somewhat of a hurry.
"Gwen, I nearly forgot – can I give you the tickets for the Quidditch Worldcup final?"
"Oh, you've got them?"
"Yep, here they are," Roberta handed her the tickets. "I've got Isabelle's, too. Will you give them to her?"
Eleanor looked at them a bit sad.
Gwen nodded. "I think, I'll see her later in the Brain Room. How much is it?"
"If you've got the money with you – it's one hundred galleons for your ticket. I'll settle up with Isabelle later."
Gwen gulped. "No, I haven't so much money on me."
Roberta waved her hand. "Well, give me the money as soon as you can, no problem. It's my fault I haven't told you before that I got the tickets at last."
They parted in the Circular Room, Roberta went to the Time Room, Eleanor opened the door, which led to the anteroom of the Planet Room, and Gwen went directly to the Death Chamber, as she didn't think that Isabelle would be already back in the Brain Room.
When she opened the door she collided with the well-rounded Evelyn Anderson, whose face was red and angry.
"What's the matter?" Gwen looked at her in astonishment.
"They must be mad," Evelyn exclaimed. "Turning everything topsy-turvy. I'm going to complain to Agatha Hill!"
"I don't understand…"
"The Aurors and their helpers. They say they're looking for something. But they don't tell me what it is. I could have helped them if they had asked. They must be absolutely crazy. Wreaking havoc in my office. I really can't work like this," she protested.
"But … they did let you go?" Gwen blurted out, suddenly suspicious.
Evelyn took a sharp inward breath and gave her an unfathomable look. "What do you mean?" she asked slowly.
"N…nothing." Gwen could have slapped herself.
Evelyn threw her a dark and even angrier look, and rushed out of the Death Chamber, slamming the door behind her.
Gwen pondered for a moment, then headed for Evelyn's office. At that moment Manisha opened the door next to it, and peered out of it, her big round eyes glittering.
"What's the matter?" she whispered, when she caught sight of Gwen. "What are they doing? It's pandemonium next door."
"Shhh," said Gwen, "I'm trying to find out myself." Manisha nodded, and held the door slightly ajar, following Gwen with her gaze.
Gwendolyn tiptoed to Evelyn's office. She listened outside with baited breath.
"Armadillo bile," she heard Mrs Beresford's deep voice booming triumphantly. Gwen's eyes widened.
"But isn't that a common potion ingredient?" Gwen assumed that that was Alex Campbell's voice. "Dear me, what are you looking for? If you told me…"
"Don't worry, Mr Campbell, let's just do our work, and please try to reason with Mrs Anderson. She wants to complain to Agatha Hill, who has already given her approval to our searching this laboratory."
"I think I'll stay here with you," she heard Alex Campbell's calm voice again.
Suddenly the door flew open. Gwen had no time to retreat, and quickly raised her hand as if she had wanted to knock on Evelyn's door. It was Jonathan.
When he saw her, he hastened to shut the door behind him, and drew her away by her arm, whispering furiously: "What in Merlin's name are you doing here, listening at the door?"
"I didn't listen, I wanted to enter…"
"I don't believe you. I used a Detecting charm some minutes ago, and noticed that someone was standing outside." He looked annoyed, but also worried.
"Are you looking for armadillo bile, daisies, sopophorous beans, ginger, and, above all, runespoor fang venom?" she whispered, and was glad that she had such a good memory for names. Offence is the best defence, she thought.
He grabbed her arm even firmer, his eyes opening wide. "How do you know?"
She gave him a disarming smile. "If you let go of my arm, I could tell you – in private."
He released her arm. "Sorry, but I can't leave now. Let's meet tonight… no, can't either, … tomorrow night then. Ok?"
She nodded. He put his hand on the doorknob. "Where?" he asked, his whisper barely audible.
"There's a place near Tinworth, name's Dew Drop Inn. Joshua Kendall, the landlord, is Hugh's brother. Hugh's my neighbour, you know."
"All right, I'll find it, see you there." He blowed her a kiss and hurried back to the laboratory.
~ooOOooOOooOOooOOoo~
Thursday, 23 June 1994
The evening air outside was mild and soft, the sun still shining without a cloud in the sky, but inside the Dew Drop Inn it was dim and dusty. On the small tables several wizarding people were drinking butterbeer and enjoying Joshua's excellent Cornish pasties. A worn-out red carpet absorbed some of the noise and a magic jukebox was playing songs by the Weird Sisters.
Gwen was sitting at the broad wooden counter, flicking through the Tinworth Daily Hugh had handed her along with the big tankard of fresh cool butterbeer. Another wizard was sitting at the counter, curiously eyeing her once in a while. The room was, however, not engulfed in smoke like the Three Broomsticks, as Joshua had banned cigarettes in his inn. So Gwen had left hers at home, trying to be brave.
"I'm doing well," said Hugh, answering Gwen's question of how he was doing. "Lots of work, but that's all right with me. My brother and I want to go on a trip to Italy in September, so we'll need the galleons."
Joshua, who had just cleaned some tankards with a Tergeo spell and was putting them back on the shelves, just nodded. If Hugh was the quiet type, Joshua was even more silent still. He closely resembled his brother, but wore no beard and was a bit younger and paler. Gwen continued flipping through the newspaper. The headlines about Sirius Black's second flight were no longer predominant, she noticed. It obviously was much more important that in a Quidditch Worldcup play England had been defeated by Liechtenstein.
Jonathan entered the inn. He wore a grey tweed coat and a trilby of the same colour, which he had pulled down over his eyes. He looked around, caught sight of Gwen and joined her at the counter.
When he kissed Gwen on the cheek, she noticed that Hugh gave the newcomer a piercing look. Behaving like a big brother again, she grinned inwardly.
As Hugh didn't attend Jonathan immediately, his brother Joshua came forward. Jonathan took off his trilby and ordered his favourite drink, a butterbeer. Gwen introduced them.
When Joshua turned to get the butterbeer, Jonathan came to the point directly.
"Now, Gwen, how come you know the exact ingredients of that mug?" He looked worried.
"How come you found them out. I thought the serum was invisible…"
"Gwen! You sometimes make me wonder whether Mrs Beresford is right to suspect even you!"
"But then I wouldn't talk to you so openly, would I?" Gwen took a sip from her tankard, trying to remain calm.
"That could be part of your tactics," he grinned, then got solemn again. "Do you remember Pluto Beckford from the morturary? He was devastated when I asked him to analyse the liquid in the mug. It was Invisibiliserum and tea. The potion is nearly untraceable in a body, but if you know what to look for, it is possible to identify traces of it."
"But there is no more body." Gwen remembered the funeral, and the urn, with a pang.
"But there is! We've still got the brain. In spite of all measures taken to preserve it and to detect what memories it contains Pete managed to verify that Invisibiliserum was used to kill Archibald Dusk."
"You analysed the brain? How? When? It's me who's working on it... I didn't notice…"
Jonathan grinned, shaking his head. "We, too, have our secret ways. I gave it to him in the evenings, after you and Crow had left. We didn't want to alert anyone, if you know what I mean."
"Do you suspect Crow? I thought you were still after Macnair?"
Jonathan sipped his butterbeer. "We can't exclude no one. Macnair's probably a dark wizard, even though he denies it. He might have been interested in the horcrux business, if your hint in this respect is true. I suppose he has a partner in crime in the Department."
Gwen pondered: "But if the poison was in the office and its effects are instant, why was the victim lying on the dais?"
Jonathan sighed: "Death Eaters love dramatic effects. They want to show their power. Putting the victim in the centre of the Death Chamber with the Dark Mark overhead is exactly their style. Now, please Gwen, you must tell me why you know so much about the serum. How come you know about its ingredients and its instant effect?" He squeezed her hand, looking so desperate, that Gwen had to suppress a laugh.
"I've been… thinking." She occluded her mind, remembering Miss Carthew asking her not to mention her involvement. "You told me that Mayfield's wand wasn't used for an AK, and then I remembered that our tank manager had a problem with the preservation solution just a few days before the murder occurred. The concentration of runespoor fang venom was too low. The rest was…er… a bit of guesswork, research and combination."
Jonathan looked at her with trust and even admiration. She felt like adorning herself with borrowed plumes, and hoped she didn't blush.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I'm telling you now. I didn't recognise earlier that there is a link between the venom and the murder."
"Your tank manager is Bob Warnock, right?"
Gwen nodded. "But he certainly has nothing to do with…" She liked Bob, and didn't want to get him into trouble.
"Nobody has, apparently." He emptied his tankard. "Anyhow, I'll have to interrogate him. And Manisha Cullen, of course, as she seems to know Macnair. But they are all such good Occlumens…" He looked desperate.
Gwen sighed and wiped a bit of foam from her lips. "There's one thing I still don't understand."
Jonathan looked at her expectantly.
"How come the murderer, or their accomplice, left the mug with the residual poison in the office?"
"Now that's a good question." Jonathan frowned. "Yeah – why should they be so careless?"
~ooOOooOOooOOooOOoo~