After leaving the Magic Gym, Gwen looked frantically up and down the untidy-looking corridor, the walls of which were hung with various Quidditch posters, but she couldn't see the blonde witch anymore. Where is she?, she thought, squinting her eyes.
"There!" Roberta pointed in one direction, where the blonde sheet of hair was just visible within a group of wizarding people going down to the lifts. They hurried onwards.
"I suppose she's trying to get to the Atrium to disapparate from there," Roberta gasped, "and I think she's good at Apparition."
Gwen groaned, for she wasn't. "First she must get to the lifts, though."
They reached the lifts, panting, and saw Eleanor no more. Gwen cursed. Jonathan caught up with them and they all entered a lift.
Inside the lift Roberta remarked darkly: "She's a speedy runner, I've seen her in the Magic Gym, she's in good shape."
"I've sent a Patronus to all my colleagues, if any of them is in the Atrium, they'll keep their eyes open and get at her," Jonathan explained.
But it seemed hopeless, after all the Atrium was on the 8th level, just one level below.
They nearly jumped out of the lift, gasping and looking around wildly.
Then, all three suddenly relaxed, and a beaming smile stretched across their faces.
Mrs Beresford and Kingsley Shacklebolt were standing in the middle of the Atrium, detaining Eleanor, who struggled fiercely, between them. Bystanders and passersby goggled at the scene. Shacklebolt used an Incarcerous spell, while Mrs Beresford removed Eleanor's wand. Eleanor was close to tears.
"I'm innocent," she moaned. "It wasn't me. You're wrong. He was my husband. How dare you suggest…"
The three joined them. Mrs Beresford gave them a rare smile. "Here is your suspect, Jonathan, as requested. Luckily we happened to come up from the DoM, when we got your message. We just had to exit here and throw ourselves at the lady to catch her before she could disapparate. Now, could you please tell us why you think she is our murderer?"
Jonathan looked somewhat embarrassed, and pointed to Gwen and Rob. "I just followed them," he explained. "There was no time to discuss. They were running after her, and I followed them, trusting they had a good proof for their accusation." "They have not," Eleanor sobbed. "You are mistaken. Look at all the people – what will they think?"
"We'll see," Mrs Beresford said, and led her back to the lifts. "Let's go to level Two, Auror Headquarters, and sort this out. Jonathan, will you come with me?"
"Yes, madam, and we'll need Gwen, too, won't we?"
The Auror nodded.
Kingsley Shacklebolt announced that he'll take care of Manisha Cullen, Timothy Oakden, and Walden Macnair, who were still in the interrogation rooms they had established in the Death Chamber.
"What about me?" Roberta asked, looking hopefully in Gwen's and Jonathan's direction.
"You can join me, if you want," Shacklebolt replied. Then he turned again to Mrs Beresford, and said casually: "I'll bring you the Veritaserum as soon as I can."
Eleanor seemed to shrink in size.
Gwen said: "I'll join you later. First I'll go back to the Magic Gym Bistro and get those drinks Eleanor wanted to serve us. Amelinda is keeping them. I think we should have them examined for Invisibiliserum."
Gwen watched Eleanor's eyes widen in fear.
~ooOOooOOooOOooOOoo~
Thursday, 25 August 1994
Jonathan, Honoria, and Hugh had settled down on Gwen's comfortable sofa and Miss Carthew in one of the armchairs. Rain was slashing heavily against the window, and a merry fire crackled in the corner. Napoleon was lying on a sheep-skin, eyes closed, but ears twitching. He was obviously hoping to nick some titbit soonish.
"Incroyable, this weather is unbelievable," said Isabelle, who was standing beside the window, moving elegantly as always, a still empty glass in hand. „I mean it's August..."
Gwen entered the sitting-room with a bottle of champaign, which she opened with a flick of her wand. „Thanks for lighting the fire, Hugh," she nodded to her friend and neighbour, „it's rather chilly today."
Jonathan came forward, took the bottle from her, and poured the silvery-golden liquid in the glasses of those present, then raised his own glass.
"Let's drink a toast to Gwen," he said, „who had the right inspiration at the right time." He looked at her with pride.
The others joined him cheering.
"To you all," Gwen raised her glass, blushing, „without your help we wouldn't have caught the culprit."
"Well," said Honoria, clad in her usual flowing earthy-coloured robes, "I didn't contribute at all."
"You told us about the h… the things Archibald and Jacobus Mayfield worked with," Isabelle beamed.
"But these things have nothing to do with the murder," Miss Carthew remarked shrewdly. Gwen grinned.
"You did help us in a way, Honoria," Gwen said. "The gems, don't you remember?"
„The gems?"
"You told us about gemmology. And it was a glittering gem that ultimately betrayed the murderess." Gwen smiled.
Jonathan looked deeply contented. "It's good to know that you and Roberta are such good observers."
"Oh dear, not me, if Roberta hadn't told me about that glimmer in the Death Chamber…"
"Well, but two glimmers told you who the culprit was," Jonathan insisted.
Hugh took a handful of crisps. "How was that exactly?" he wanted to know.
"Well, if Roberta had seen the gem in the Death Chamber, and I suppose she's seen it after the murder had been committed, and I saw it shortly afterwards in the Brain Room, that meant that someone wearing that gem passed from the Death Chamber to a room adjoining the Brain Room, or else they would have gone directly to the Circular Room. It was just a hunch, but the room adjoining the Brain Room is the Planet Room. And as Eleanor works there… apart from that I had her in front of me, serving us the drinks, wearing her pink rose-quartz. It simply fitted."
"And Manisha? I understand you saw a memory where she had seen Roberta and Timothy in the Death Chamber with the victim. Why didn't she tell the Aurors?" Honoria looked somewhat indignant. "I mean, there is a strong solidarity amongst colleague Unspeakables, but there are nevertheless limits, and she is an outsider after all…"
"But not only that," Jonathan chuckled. "Manisha is quite a different story. She finally told us everything she had seen in the Death Chamber, since she was afraid we'd suspect her of having killed Archibald. Which she hasn't. But she has another ghoul in her closet, so to speak, and therefore wouldn't want to be detected. Manisha had," Jonathan coughed and made a dramatic pause, "repeatedly 'borrowed' Adalbert Waffling's brain from the Brain Room. Interestingly, her story is backed by evidence Gwen was able to provide," Jonathan pointed to Gwen, who turned pink again. "Anyway, that's why Manisha was in her Death Chamber office early in the morning. And in this business she worked together with Macnair, at least she says so."
Miss Carthew smiled knowingly, and Hugh and Isabelle got big round eyes.
"She wanted to steal knowledge from this brain, which she then passed over to Macnair, who is possibly a Death Eater, even though we certainly can't prove that. He, however, denies being involved with her, we've only got her word for it."
"She could have done it for her employer, that Hindi millionaire, Dr Rajesh Daryapurkar?", Isabelle suggested.
"No, we don't think so, we've looked into him, of course. Nothing there. But Manisha has been in contact with Macnair for a while, even before she took the job for that millionaire." Jonathan took a sip of champaign. "We suppose that one of Macnair's friends helped her to get the job with the millionaire, and the position in the Department of Mysteries."
"They are all well-connected," Miss Carthew interposed.
"Anyway, she used to nick the brain from the Brain Room very early in the morning, we think she had somehow obtained the key for James Croaker's office door, and brought it back before any of the staff appeared, she then left the Department of Mysteries, and came back to work later," Jonathan explained. Isabelle settled beside Napoleon on the sheep skin, and fondled his ears. He started purring.
"The morning of the murder, it is the same," Jonathan continued. "Yet when she brings the brain into the Death Chamber, she sees two lovers just entering Tim's office, and – since they haven't seen her – she rapidly withdraws into her own office. She supposes that she's got some time to get some new information from the brain. She doesn't notice the murder happening, since the offices are sound-proof, and anyway the murderess proceeds without making any noise. The first to detect the body is Roberta who gets out of the office where she has been…," he coughed again, "making love to Timothy."
Gwen took some crisps, and glowered.
"Roberta becomes frightened and calls Timothy. Manisha has finished her work and opens the door a bit to know whether the coast is clear, she hears that call. She sees the two in front of the Arch, under the Dark Mark, behind the victim, deliberating in nervous whispers what to do. She keeps waiting. Roberta disappears, Timothy waits for quite a long time to give her a headstart, then he leaves to call in the Aurors. That's when Manisha leaves, too, she can't bring the brain back to the Brain Room, it's far too late, later than usual, I mean, there could be people in the Brain Room. She is already lucky that nobody sees her in the Death Chamber. She leaves to come back to work later as if nothing had happened. She told us that she brought the brain back the day after the murder. She's got a glass tank with some of the green liquid in her closet. She was well prepared. James Croaker was on leave, and wouldn't notice the missing brain, but she usually brought it back every morning, just in case."
That was a rather long talk for Jonathan. He took another sip of champaign, and some crisps.
"And I trusted Manisha," Gwen shook her head. "Is she, too, a Death Eater?"
"She wears the mark on the inside of her arm," Jonathan nodded.
"Alors, that's why she didn't want to sleep with us in one tent," Isabelle squealed. "She usually wears long-sleeved robes, but she surely was afraid we could notice the mark on her arm when she was asleep or got changed."
"She said, of course," Jonathan continued, "that she wasn't a Death Eater anymore, that she had been under an Imperius curse before You-Know-Who was defeated, that she had renounced the old ways, as she put it, and that Macnair had forced her into cooperation."
"Hear, hear," Honoria mumbled. "Now that sounds very original."
"If Voldemort…" Everybody jumped at the mention of the name. "…ever comes back, she possibly would join him." Miss Carthew murmured. "I think Manisha Cullen shares the Death Eaters' views and beliefs."
No one doubted her words, but no one dared to ask how she knew.
"You are being very pessimistic." Jonathan remarked. "I mean, thinking that You-Know-Who's coming back one day…"
"Don't you think so?" Miss Carthew looked a bit sad.
They didn't say a word for a while, thinking of the frightening green skull hovering over the Quidditch World Cup campsite. Gwen shivered, and went forward to stir the fire.
"Now, tell us about Eleanor, will you? Why did she murder her husband?", Hugh asked. "What was her motive?"
"Perhaps Gwen can tell you that, she was there when we interrogated Eleanor after she'd been caught by Mrs Beresford and Shacklebolt." Jonathan leant back and stretched himself luxuriously.
All faces turned towards Gwen.