The Bistro was nearly empty, except for two young witches, who were enjoying their sparkling lime-green energy drinks, chattering happily. The slender green-haired Amelinda was drying up glasses behind the counter.

"Shouldn't she be here waiting for Timothy?" Gwen asked Jonathan, under her breath, after returning Amelinda's salute.

He nodded. "Yes, that's what Timothy told me. Excuse me," he turned to Amelinda. "Have you seen Roberta Dunphy anywhere?"

Amelinda frowned. „Erm... let me think." She took up another glass. „She had been here for a while, but I suppose she went inside." She didn't look at Jonathan.

Jonathan shrugged and beckoned Gwen to follow him. They entered the central hall of the Magic Gym and looked around.

As it was mid-day, a lot of witches and wizards were exercising on the treadmills, bikes, and benches.

"Let's separate." Jonathan whispered. "It'll be easier to find her. And be careful!" He looked into her eyes, and pressed her hands.

"Don't worry." Gwen still hoped that Roberta was a friend. A real friend. They had been exercising in here so many times, they had been together at the Quidditch World Cup, they had even slept in the same tent! Gwen wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt until she knew. Yet she wasn't a fool. She had her wand ready, just in case.

She traversed the aisles between the machines, looking around at the sportswizards. A muscular wizard was lifting weights, but he did it so easily, and obviously in order to impress some young giggling witches nearby, that she assumed he was secretly using a Levitation spell.

She turned around and found Eleanor on a treadmill.

"Hi there!" Gwen was happy to see a familiar face at last.

"Hi Gwen," Eleanor smiled. "Why aren't you wearing your workout gear?"

"I'm looking for Roberta. Have you seen her?"

"Yes, I saw her in the Bistro earlier. But I think she still hasn't come in to exercise. What's up with you girls today?" Then she seemed to remember. "Is it because of that World Cup incident? You were there, weren't you?" she whispered.

"Erm… yes." Gwen shuffled her feet uneasily. "So she's been in the Bistro, but hasn't come in here. Are you sure?"

Eleanor stopped treading. "Well, I don't know for sure, of course. I haven't been looking at the door the entire time. But I would have noticed her, or she would have said hello, wouldn't she?" She alighted from the treadmill, and wiped her face with the towel she had over her shoulders. "If you like I'll help you with the search. This is important, isn't it?"

"Erm, yeah, … thanks." Gwen wasn't sure whether she wanted the victim's wife looking with her for a suspect.

"Perhaps she's gone into the changing rooms," Eleanor suggested. Gwen nodded silently, and took the lead, back to the Bistro. There they looked around again. Amelinda was talking to a tall black-haired wizard, the two young witches were still there, and three wizards with brooms over their shoulders were having a drink, but Roberta was nowhere to be seen.

They proceeded towards the ladies' changing rooms.

"Here you are!" Gwen looked relieved when she finally found Roberta, sitting on one of the wooden benches. "I've been looking for you." She turned towards Eleanor. "Eleanor, erm…, would you mind… I mean, could you do us a favour and order some energy drinks for the three of us, I mean, wait for us in the Bistro?"

Eleanor looked astonished, but not hurt, just nodded, turned around, and left them alone.

"That wasn't exactly polite," Roberta commented, getting up from the bench. "Why have you been looking for me?"

"Aren't you waiting for Timothy?"

Roberta's eyes narrowed: "How do you know?"

Gwen ignored her question, and continued stubbornly: "Shouldn't you be waiting for him in the Bistro? I mean he can't come in here…"

Roberta looked wary: "I saw that Auror coming in."

"Yeah, we've all been looking for you." She made a pause. "We know…," she added with emphasis.

"You know what?"

„We know that you were there – with Timothy."

„Where?"

Gwen took a deep breath. „At the Arch. Where Archibald was lying dead."

„I know what you think!" Roberta said, "but it wasn't me!" She took a sharp inward breath. „Really, it wasn't me!"

„I'd like to believe you," Gwen looked at her, searching her face. „I really do. Because for me you are a friend. I'd really love to know that you have got nothing to do with the murder, Rob." She felt horrible. "But I need a proof."

„I trusted you," Roberta replied, almost inaudibly. „I didn't know you were in league with the Aurors."

„I'm working with them," Gwen said dignified. „You know that. We have to find out who killed Archibald Dusk. We're not your enemies. If you've got nothing to do with the murder, you've got nothing to fear. You can trust me. I... I've always liked you."

„I know," Roberta said softly. „I like you, too."

„I'm worried. Timothy, too, is worried. If you've seen something that points to the murderer, you might be in danger. Come with me, we'll find Jonathan, and tell him what you know."

„But how will they believe me now?" Roberta started pacing to and fro. „We should have come forward much earlier. Damn Timothy and his holy family!" Roberta's grey eyes flashed. She suddenly looked straight at Gwen. „Pity I am not like you..."

„What do you mean?"

„Well, being... being able to love men and women..."

„So you know, don't you?" Gwen didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed.

„I saw you with the Veela," Rob smiled as she remembered. „At the World Cup. Do you remember?"

Gwen blushed a bit. „Erm... that's right. That was stupid."

„No, no, it wasn't your fault. That's their magic." She stopped smiling. „Listen, I'll tell you anyway. It was at the Quidditch World Cup where we talked about gemmology, do you remember? And who wears gems and who doesn't. It was then and there that I suddenly remembered that I had seen a glimmer, a glitter down there in the Death Chamber under the Dark Mark. I was so shocked at seeing the dead, and then finding myself and Tim in such an awkward situation that I completely forgot about it. Only our conversation about the gems reminded me that I had seen a glimmer down there and that I couldn't allocate it. I tried to grasp it, but it ... kind of floated away. At the Quidditch World Cup I suddenly realised that it could have been a gem reflecting the light emitted by the Dark Mark."

Gwen listened with rapt attention.

„I know it sounds absurd. And nobody will believe me now." She sounded defeated. „After all that time."

She couldn't act like this, could she? Gwen thought, uncertain. She's surely telling the truth.

„But how...? I mean, if you saw a gem, how come you didn't see the ... rest of the person?" Something stirred in the back of Gwen's mind.

Roberta shrugged. „I don't know. It's just an idea. It looked like a – gem."

„Let's sort this out later, Roberta, let's find the others." Gwen murmured, and took Rob's arm.

They left the changing room and entered the Bistro. Jonathan was nowhere to be seen, but Eleanor was just approaching one of the small round tables, balancing three frizzling pink drinks with the help of a Locomotor spell. Gwen had completely forgotten about her, and looked at Roberta for help. The latter understood.

„Oh thanks a lot, Eleanor! That is really nice," Rob cried enthusiastically. „But I'm afraid I must leave instantly. Erm... lots of work to do."

„Oh," Eleanor said, disappointed.

„Is Jonathan still inside the Gym?" Gwen asked her. „Have you seen him leaving?"

"Do you mean the Auror Hope? No, I haven't seen him. If he's gone in before, he'll have to come here sooner or later, don't you think? Let's take a sip while you wait for him." Eleanor shoved the glasses towards the two witches. Gwen looked at the pink liquid in front of her, and, all of a sudden, she saw crystal-clear why that glimmer Roberta had told her about sounded so familiar.

Gwen remembered that April morning in the Brain Room. She had had a terrible hangover. She had been dreadfully cold. She had been squinting her eyes and then – she had seen a pink glint.

Roberta had told her the truth. She had seen a glimmer in the Death Chamber, and she, Gwen, had seen a pink glint in the Brain Room. That was the way towards...

It happened within seconds. She looked at the glasses, at Eleanor, who usually worked in the Planet Room, at her rose-quartz pendant, and then at Roberta. She went cold inside, and took Rob's arm to prevent her from drinking.

"Was it a pink glimmer?" she murmured, hoping that Roberta would cotton on immediately.

Roberta put her glass down. "Maybe." She looked at Gwen, then at Eleanor. "The light of the Dark Mark was green, so it's difficult to say."

Eleanor looked at them, apparently bewildered.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Gwen asked the blonde widow, suddenly feeling audacious, and extracting her wand. "Putting poison into Archibald's tea, I mean." Her voice was menacingly quiet. "You used an invisibility cloak, but they aren't very reliable, are they? We saw you, part of you. And now you've poisoned our drinks, too, I assume? You've been listening at the door of the changing room. You just got us the drinks, but we have been talking for quite a while, why did it take you so long?"

"What…?" Eleanor gasped. She fumbled for her own wand, and looked around frantically.

"Incarcerous!" Gwen shouted. But her spell missed Eleanor, who had suddenly ducked, and started running towards the door.

"Stupefy!" Rob's spell, too, missed the target. Eleanor was in good shape and sprinted. They pushed back their chairs and ran after her.

"Amelinda, keep these drinks, but don't touch them, this is urgent! Understand?!" Gwen yelled. The green-haired sportswitch nodded with big round eyes. The young witches and the wizards with the broomsticks stared after Gwen and Roberta.

In the corner of her eye Gwen saw Jonathan entering the Bistro from the central hall. "It's Eleanor," she shouted. "She did it! Help us!"

Jonathan followed her at a run, even though he didn't comprehend the full meaning of all this.

~ooOOoo~