Draco frowned at the closed door in front of him. He just got back with the blood samples result. Weasley had gotten a led on their first victim's identity; Abigail Bennett, before the weekend. So they went to the house to investigate ... turned out the girl had just been reported missing ... flatmate had been away on a business trip, parents arranged to see her the weekend before. Spending the day with Weasley at the Bennett house had not been easy - breaking the news that, their victim, could be their daughter ... well, news like that was never easy. They had to get samples though ... so they could find out ... and give the family an answer - so they could grieve.
Laughter erupted from inside the office he shared with Weasley. Draco looked at his watch ... he'd been gone - thirty minutes and Weasley was already losing the plot? He opened the door, his remark faltered as soon as he stepped through the door. Someone was sitting at Weasley's desk - face flushed, from what looked like embarrassment. Though the look suited her rather well.
' ... so let me get this straight ...' Weasley laughed. ' ... you made his partner dive right off a cliff?'
'OK, OK,' Potter said defensively. 'It was slightly dramatic ... and not one of my better ideas,' she sighed heavily, shaking her head. 'But I had to do something ...'
Weasley was roaring with laughter now. Draco could not see how this was funny ... how was diving off a cliff funny? And why had he not been told about it? Was this something to do with what Potter was doing now? Before anything more was said, Weasley had spotted his arrival.
'Oh, Malfoy - your back.'
'So it would appear,' Draco replied, sitting down at his own desk. He didn't fail to notice that Potter now looked slightly pale. He looked between them, for a moment he wondered why Potter was even here, then he remembered Bentley's briefing this morning - Potter had come back, she had come to help. Draco wondered if she had been requested for the case, or tasked with it. 'I have the results,' he held out the brown envelope in his hands. 'If you're interested.'
Weasley took it from him. 'I know you were waiting until you got back here - there's no need to be a git.' he tore it open, reading the parchment, his face ashen, and he said slowly. 'It's a match.' He then looked at Potter. 'Once we've told the parents ... what's our next move.'
'Well ...' Potter said thoughtfully. 'I'd like to go over what you've got so far - see what's been covered ... you know, the areas the bodies were found in -'
'Potter you can't think that our killer was local! He struck in two different areas,' Draco sneered.
Green eyes pierced fiercely into his own. 'That's not what I think at all, Malfoy.'
Draco did not miss the way she sneered his name - it was very much like how she used to, whilst they had been at Hogwarts. She was basically telling him to shut the hell up.
He watched her pull out two maps and gestured him over.
'The bodies were found here ... and here ...' she indicated them out. 'What does that tell you?'
Draco scanned the maps. 'That the only thing they have in common was that the buildings were isolated -'
'And that doesn't tell you anything?' Potter said staring at him pointedly.
'Fine what am I missing?' Draco asked frustrated.
Potter frowned. 'Well, don't you think that it's a little odd ... I mean ... why there? Why those places? How would a person know that they were there ... unless -'
'They knew the areas ...' Draco said in realisation, understanding the meaning of Potters thoughts.
'Or scoped the areas, and that's what I think our killer has done... which makes this premeditated ... which was pretty obvious, considering they've been using scenes out of a book ... so our killer has thought this all out ...'
Draco glanced in Weasley's direction, who was wearing a really smug expression on his face. Draco had to hand it to him, he was right, Potter sure was something. She had been there less an hour and she had seen something they had not seen. The word premeditated swirled around his mind ... the killer - if Potter was right - had gone to the areas, had learned how to use them to his advantage. He wasn't just putting his knowledge of the James Evans books to use ... the bastard had actually thought it all out - how he could put that knowledge to use ... this was not good - the killer clearly thought they were smart ... the question now was ... who was smarter ... the killer or as Weasley once told him - the person who could get into their mind?