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"Where else could he be?" Jonathan asked Gwen when nobody answered their knocking.
Mrs Beresford had sent Pete and Gasparus after Walden Macnair. She would go searching for Manisha, while Jon and Gwen were ordered to find Timothy and Roberta. Timothy was not in his office, nor near the Arch where Gwen had seen him pretty often.
Alex Campbell had provided Mrs Beresford with the keys for several smaller offices in the Death Chamber, so they could interrogate everyone separately. He would even prepare them for interrogation purposes, he had promised.
"I don't know," Gwen answered. "Timothy researches ghosts. If he's not in here, he might be in the Spirit Division on Level Four. Or perhaps he's in field service."
"Then let's try to find him upstairs," Jonathan suggested, heading toward the Death Chamber exit.
When Gwen and Jonathan left the Death Chamber, Gwen got a last glimpse of Mrs Beresford entering an office with Manisha Cullen, who looked around uneasily with her round black eyes.
They headed towards the lift, and pressed the button. When the lift stopped at the Atrium level, Timothy entered and said hello rather absent-mindedly. The golden grilles shut clattering behind him.
"What a coincidence!" Jonathan cried, when the lift went further up. "We've been looking for you, you know."
Timothy looked at them, now warily. "What's the matter?"
"We don't want to talk about this in public," Jonathan gave him a meaningful glance. "Please follow us to the Department of Mysteries." He pressed the button to stop the lift.
Gwen felt suddenly miserable. She wasn't an Auror after all, and could have slapped herself for not thinking about what would happen if her colleagues saw her investigating together with the Aurors against them. So she didn't utter a word, and just looked apologetically down at her toecaps.
"What's up, eh?" Timothy enquired. "I'm in rather a hurry, you know." He pressed the button to get up again.
"We can't consider this right now," Jonathan put his hand on Timothy's arm.
"But…no!" Timothy withdrew abruptly, alert and on guard. "I must get out here!" They had arrived at Level Seven. The female voice made its usual announcement, and the grilles opened. Jonathan pressed the button to close the door and go down again.
"Please, Timothy," Gwen tried to help. "It's just some more questions they want to ask you."
"I'm really in a hurry." He looked up, as if he was trying to find a way to return to Level Seven.
„What is so urgent that you can't come with us?" Jonathan asked sternly. Gwen, too, wondered what Timothy wanted in the Department of Magical Games and Sports.
„That's none of your business." Gwen had never seen Timothy in such a nervous state.
„Listen," he tried to convince Jonathan. „Could I come down to you in ... let's say a quarter of an hour? I really will come and answer your questions, I've got nothing to hide. It's just ... not possible right now."
Jonathan moved his head slowly from one side to the other.
„Five minutes?" He was pleading now.
Jonathan sighed. „No," he said gravely. „And if you don't come I'll have to arrest you."
„Oh," was all Timothy could say to that. „Well, then..." He shrugged resignedly, looking in a somewhat desperate way at Gwen.
„Gwen," Jonathan whispered into her ear, „could you please go on searching for you know who while I start interrogating this guy."
Gwen nodded, and accompanied them a little farther. The first place to look for Roberta was, after all, the Time Room, where the witch worked.
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"Now, what further questions do you have?" the blond Timothy asked light-heartedly.
"Sit down," Jon told him. He looked stern.
Timothy sat down without a word. If he was surprised he didn't let it on. The office the two wizards had been assigned to was nearly empty. It was one of those small offices at the far end of the Death Chamber, which none of the Death Chamber staff ever used. Someone had brought in a rickety table and two uncomfortable chairs. A black torch at the wall illuminated the room. A small flask containing a clear colourless liquid was standing on the table. The air was chilly.
"On the morning you reported the murder you weren't alone in the Death Chamber. Who was with you?" It's a test, Jonathan thought, let's see whether he answers that one truthfully…
Timothy looked up, his eyes widened. "Who told you that?"
He tries to stall for time. "I am the one who asks the questions," Jonathan said sharply. He and Timothy had been on good terms up to now, but Jonathan knew that now he had to be rigorous.
"I… I really can't tell you. I would have done so when I reported the murder. Please, believe me…" He ruffled his blond hair.
"I can't. And I won't. Don't you realise what situation you are in right now? You didn't tell me the entire truth when it happened. Now I must assume that everything you told me then is a lie."
"But no, no…" Timothy wrang his hands. "How can I make you understand? I…"
"I don't want to understand." Jonathan started to get angry. "I want to know." He got up and paced the cold office. "Do you know what that is?" He pointed at the flask.
Timothy gulped. "I hope it's not Veritaserum," he mumbled.
"It is."
"But… it's not permitted. Do you know what happens when you use a potion, which forces the drinker to speak, on an Unspeakable?"
"A number of different adverse effects have been reported," Jonathan replied coolly.
"Did Agatha Hill give permission for the use of Veritaserum?" Timothy asked.
"Listen, man," Jonathan slammed his fist on the wobbly table, "just tell me who was with you that morning, and we can try to find out what really happened, and who murdered Archibald Dusk. Because now it seems to me that you and your… your partner did it, or that your partner did it, and you're trying to protect him or her…"
"It is a witch, all right," Timothy wanted to get up, too, but Jon signalled him to remain seated. So the blond wizard sat down again. He was very agitated. "I can't tell you who she is, don't you see. I am a married man and have two kids."
"Now then, you're married. I can hold my tongue if this doesn't concern the murder case. You were there with a witch. You thought you were alone in the morning. Is the witch married, too?"
"No, but…"
"Then you can tell me her name!" He bent forward and looked into Timothy's eyes.
"She does not belong to the Death Chamber staff, that's why…"
"If you two aren't the ones who murdered Archie, it might even be dangerous for both of you if we don't find the culprit soon."
Timothy blinked. "You are right." He took a deep breath. It looked as if he were taking a run and jump. "There is, in fact, something she wanted to tell me. That's why I wanted to meet her. She asked me to come urgently. I've never seen her so nervous. She told me that she'd remembered something…"
"Who's she?"
"Roberta. Roberta Dunphy."
Jonathan sighed. At long last, he thought. Now we can go on.
"What else do you have to tell me which up to now you have withheld from us?"
"The time we found the victim wasn't correct. We found the victim earlier than I told you."
"What time did you find him?"
"Well… it was really Roberta who found the body. She left my office after… well, she… she suddenly called me. She looked horrified. Said there was a dead wizard lying on his face, and the Dark Mark hovering high above him. I left my office and ran to the Arch, and I was… shocked. We didn't know what to do. There was Archie, lying on the dais, stone-dead…"
"How did you know?"
"I… think I bent down and felt his pulse. There was none. And he didn't breathe. It was horrible." Timothy shuddered. "I mean, he had been my colleague, I had seen him nearly every day. Had worked with him in this same Chamber for many years… I think I was under a shock."
Jonathan frowned. "What time was that?"
"About half past seven. Bit earlier perhaps."
"And you didn't report the murder until a quarter past eight!" Jon exclaimed, angrily.
"We… we didn't know what to deliberated… and decided that Roberta should return to the Time Room without anyone being the wiser. I wanted to give her a head-start. She was to try to establish an alibi with the help of her time-turners. She works with time-turners, you know. But she usually doesn't use one when we meet, I mean…" He stopped, obviously realising what further offences he was about to reveal.
"Anything else you would like to tell me now?" Jonathan growled.
"No, but, please, Jonathan, couldn't we try to find her? I mean, perhaps she really remembers something important? She wanted me to come to the Bistro in the Magic Gym."
"I will go and look for her. You will stay here." He pointed his wand at Timothy and bound him on the chair.
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