Tuesday, 12 July 1994
It was still early in the morning. The sky was light blue, and some clouds were passing by lazily. The sounds of the breaking waves and the screams of the seagulls could be heard in the distance. Gwen's window stood wide open, a smell of salty air filled her bedroom. She moaned softly in her sleep.
She twirled around, frightened, when a tall broad-shouldered man got up from his knees behind her, gave a shrill laugh, and turned on his heel in a whirl of robes. He pointed his wand upwards and cast the Dark Mark above him, yet she could not recognise his face. Suddenly he disapparated in a whirl. The Chamber was dim and cold.
She moved forward and saw Archibald Dusk lying on the floor on his back, his eyes wide open, looking at her accusingly. She knelt down, hurting her knees, and held his cold hands firmly. "I'm not alone!" he exclaimed. "Do you hear me? You'll see that in my memories!" She felt a pang of guilt.
The scene suddenly changed. She was standing in a huge garden, the sun was shining brightly and she smelled at a big red rose. Vivi Gregorius, in a cloud of perfume, and Mabel Tancock passed by, and bowed to her. Then she noticed that there were many other people, dancing and chatting on a green lawn. Mabel Tancock asked her: "You are Eleanor's friend, aren't you?"
Vivi smiled, without a word, and took off her high-heeled shoes to dance with the blond Timothy Oakden, while Roberta danced with Manisha, whose big round earrings glittered in the sunlight. "She's just a colleague, and I'm sorry for her loss," Gwen explained to Mabel, "as I'm sorry for yours, too." Mabel Tancock started weaping. Timothy came forward to console her, and looked at Gwen with his sympathetic green eyes. Suddenly the face changed, only the green eyes remained nearly the same – those of a young woman with long red hair, a pale freckled face and a small snub nose.
"Norma," Gwen woke up with a start, rubbing her eyes. She looked at her round red alarm-clock, but couldn't read the time without her glasses.
„It's half past six," the clock informed her, guessing at her short-sightedness. „Have you had a bad dream?"
Gwen groped for her glasses and put them on. "Yeah, I think so," she answered the clock's question. It is becoming rather nosy, she thought.
Suddenly she heard a knock on her front door. Still thinking of Norma's memory in her dream, she froze on the spot.
Without making any noise she took up her wand and her cardigan, wrapped the latter around her shoulders, and tiptoed out of the bedroom into the small hallway. There was a second, now somewhat louder knock. She heard someone harrumphing outside and recognised a man's voice.
"Who's there?"
"It's me, Jonathan," came the answer, "I'm sorry to wake you up that early, but I thought better now than never." Gwen could almost see his bright smile. She opened the door and was engulfed in a big hug, whereafter followed a long kiss. The trilby fell to the ground.
"Fancy a nice breakfast?" He held a paper bag in front of her nose, wherefrom a seducing smell of fresh-baked rolls emanated.
"Yum-yum," Gwen laughed merrily, her bad dream almost forgotten. "All right, let me dress and call Wookey to lay the table."
He pouted: "I don't mind you wearing this… what is it?" He looked her up and down.
"Erm…," she folded her arms across her chest and hurried to her bedroom, "just a …erm.. leisure suit, I hate nightshirts, or pyjamas, you see."
He chuckled. He had obviously noted that it wasn't a very new suit, and that the trousers and jacket didn't exactly match neither in style nor in colours.
When they were sitting at Gwen's kitchen table, the sun cast its bright rays on the sumptuously laid table. The tea was steaming in their cups, and Wookey served ham, beans, and scrambled eggs. Jonathan buttered a roll.
"Have you found out anything new?" Gwen asked him, when Wookey had left the kitchen.
He nodded, his mouth full. "Y'won'b'lieve'it," he mumbled, then swallowed. "Yummy, this is delicious." He took up the napkin and wiped his mouth.
"Well…," Gwen drummed her fingers on the table, "don't keep me on tenterhooks."
Jonathan grinned, wagging his index finger at her. "Don't you push me. I've been working hard these days, and deserve a treat."
He reached for some fried mushrooms. Gwen dug into her eggs and waited, trying to conceal her curiosity.
"Have you got any news for me," Jonathan asked innocently.
"Well, I wanted to ask you whether you've asked Eleanor about that mug. Was it really a present she gave to her husband, or is that just a statement by Mayfield with the aim to draw our attention to her?"
He looked at her, startled. "Now that's an idea. But why should he tell a lie, if Mrs Dusk could easily prove it false?"
"It would be her word against his." Gwen took a sip of orange juice.
"Ah," he replied slowly, picking absentmindedly at his food. "Which means, if she says it wasn't her present, Mayfield might be trying to confuse us, or the widow might be lying at us, both for whatever reason. All right, my dear, I'll ask her. Perhaps she says it's true, and it was really a present from her." He cocked his head. "Apart from that it might, of course, be completely irrelevant who gave him the mug. Archibald Dusk might have owned it for a long time, it was just there standing on the table, and the murderer knew that it was his, and inserted the poison."
Gwen nodded. "Of course. But one never knows. Anything might be an important detail. Do you know that I extracted another memory from the … brain? Have you already had the opportunity to examine it?"
He nodded, and took a sip of his tea.
"And?"
"I think I'm going to ask Vivi Gregorius whether she remembers having met the Dusk couple on the occasion of that event, or concert, or whatever it was."
They continued some minutes silently with their breakfast.
"What did you want to tell me about your research with the apothecaries? What have you found out?" Isn't that a sly way to pump him for information? Gwen looked hopefully at Jonathan. And he fell for it.
"I found an apothecary who sold daisies, sopophorous beans, and ginger to a wizard he recognised on one of the photos I showed him."
Gwen put down her fork and knife, staring at him.
"But no runespoor fang venom." Jonathan added, lifting his index finger, then took another sip of tea.
"Well – we agree that the venom had been stolen from us, from the Brain Room. Who was it?" Gwen tapped her foot impatiently.
Jonathan extracted a photo from his jacket and put it down on the table. It showed a black-clad wizard with long black hair, a crooked nose, black eyes and a pallid face. He threw them a sullen look and tried to walk out of the photograph.
"Suplinius Crow?" Gwen whispered. A cold shiver ran down her spine.
~ooOOooOOooOOooOOoo~
Thursday, 14 July 1994
After having taken a shower in the Magic Gym, Gwen, Roberta and Eleanor were dressing.
Gwen put on her violet-coloured tunic, while Roberta brushed her short black hair vigorously. Eleanor, in pale-pink robes, was rummaging in the depth of her big round bag to find her rose-quartz pendant.
When they entered the Bistro Roberta told them with apparent cheerfulness: "Sorry, dears, but I must leave immediately today. I have a lot of work on my desk, and Roxanne is still … erm… hard on us…" She didn't explain any further, but Gwen thought she knew what her meaning was.
"Do you fancy one of those frizzling energy drinks?" Gwen asked Eleanor, who nodded happily.
"I'd love to."
They ordered their drinks with Amelinda, the slim green-haired sportswitch, who filled two glasses for them, which they took with them to one of the small tables.
"Where's Isabelle?" Eleanor asked. "I think I haven't seen her since ... Monday?"
"She's gone on a holiday for three weeks," Gwen sighed, "I really envy her. She went with her children to the Côte d'Azur."
"Oh, that's lovely," Eleanor took a sip from the straw, "and you, aren't you going on a holiday?"
Gwen took an inward breath and looked straight into Eleanor's blue eyes. "No, I can't. The investigation is top priority."
Eleanor looked down on her small white hands. "Are there any … new developments?"
Gwen didn't answer, and took a sip from her pink drink. She really loved the energy drinks by now. When drinking the pink one, a tingling sensation seemed to flow through her limbs, and refreshen her body from inside.
"Well, I suppose you are not allowed to tell me," Eleanor laughed mirthlessly. "Time's going by. You know, I sometimes feel like being caught in a bad dream." Gwen shifted uneasily on her seat. "I get up, and I'm lonely. I have breakfast, and I'm lonely. I work, and I feel lonely. And angry."
Gwen raised her brows.
"Not at you, of course," Eleanor whispered hastily, putting her glass down. "At the murderer. At the Aurors. I… I feel so," she stretched out her palms, "helpless."
"Have you been threatened?" Gwen looked shocked, nearly choking on her pink drink.
"No, really now, don't you worry." Eleanor shook her fair long hair. "It's just that I can't do anything. And I want him to be punished."
"Him? Do you think the murderer is a man?"
"Oh, I don't know," Eleanor blushed. "Of course, a woman, too, could perform the Killing Curse."
"It wasn't…," Gwen stopped herself. Obviously, no-one had told Eleanor that Archibald Dusk had been poisoned, and not cursed to 't they tell her on purpose?
Amazing, she thought, usually the rumour of our searching Evelyn's lab should have flown throughout the Department by now. Well, perhaps it had, but some people hadn't realised the connection.
"It wasn't a woman?" Eleanor asked, looking at her curiously.
"I can't tell you," Gwen shrugged. "I am really sorry because I think you should know first. Could you tell me something, Eleanor?"
"Yes, of course," she replied eagerly, "I want to be of help. You know, I think the Aurors don't trust me, they don't tell me anything."
"They trust no-one." Gwen explained. "That's their job."
Eleanor nodded. "Yes, of course. I see. What do you want to know?"
"That blue mug in Archibald's office. Do you know it?"
Eleanor looked at her, obviously uncomprehending.
"Don't you know it?"
"Yes, of course, I gave it to him as a birthday present. What about it?"
"N…nothing. You already answered my question, thank you," Gwen took a sip from her energy drink, thinking that Mayfield had told the truth, after all. The mug that had held the poison was a present from Eleanor. All of a sudden, an idea shot through her head: Perhaps the murderer, too, knew that?
~ooOOooOOooOOooOOoo~