No leads. Jason sighed in resignation. He didn't want to resort to using the tracer he'd placed on Maria Martinez, but it looked like he had no choice. Jason opened up the laptop he'd gotten for his birthday and opened the folder he'd set up for the tracer's records. Looking at all the audio and locations, he started to realize just how daunting this task would be, even if he skipped over the long stretches of silence when Maria would be sleeping.
"You don't have to do that, you know," May said from over his shoulder.
Jason looked at her questioningly.
"If you open the files like this you can see when things get particularly loud or quiet, then just listen to the suspicious ones first," she explained.
Following her instructions, Jason grinned. "What did I ever do to deserve you?"
May just smiled in response.
Jason looked at the graph, which had the frequency and amplitudes of every sound the tracer had picked up since he activated it. There was one part in particular, just a few days ago, that was much louder than the rest. Expecting to hear a music concert, Jason started there.
What he heard instead was Maria Martinez shrieking in agony. Jason quickly rewinded to an hour before the amplitude spiked. The timestamp said it was 2 in the morning local time. Maria seemed to be sleeping peacefully; Jason could just make out the sounds of her lightly snoring. Jason skipped ahead 5 minutes. More snoring. 5 more minutes. More snoring. Another 5. More snoring.
Another 5. The slight creak of a door being opened. A spell, barely more than a whisper, preventing the sound within the room from leaving it. Then… "Rennervate!" Jason could practically see the scenario playing out. Maria's eyes fluttering open, the stunned silence as she saw the shadowy figure standing in front of her, then… there it was. A slight clatter as Maria made a grab for her wand. A snapping sound and a woosh of air as the wand flew through the air towards the man.
"Who are you?" Maria asked.
"The reckoning," said a voice, the voice of the man Jason had dueled with the night of the murders. It wasn't unexpected, but Jason still felt a shiver go up his spine.
"Urk!" Jason heard something thud on the floor. A few seconds later, Maria was gasping for breath. The assailant must have used a spell to start suffocating her before letting it go.
"I will not kill you. That privilege belongs to another. But I can still hurt you. Crucio!"
And then came the shrieks. Jason knew it had all happened days ago, and there was nothing he could do to help. That didn't make listening easier. But he had to do it anyway.
"Who was he?" the man demanded.
"Who was who?!" Maria shouted, the hysteria in her voice clear.
"Crucio!" More shrieks of agony. "The man! The man you spoke with in Miami! Who was he?!"
"I don't know! Someone from MACUSA, I don't know!" Maria was sobbing now.
"Why was someone from MACUSA talking to you? What did you tell him?!"
"Nothing! He was just asking about Sally! Sally Tilbert!"
An eerie silence fell. Then the man shouted with a fierceness Jason hadn't ever heard from him before.
"Crucio!" Maria shrieked louder than ever. When the screams finally stopped, Jason could hear her sobbing.
"What. Was. His. Name?" the deadly softness in the man's voice was even more terrifying than when he was screaming. Jason felt himself boiling with anger. He found himself hoping Maria would tell the man his name. Then he'd come looking for him. And Jason would be ready.
"I don't remember," Maria cried. "Jacob, I think. Jacob something."
"Hmph." The sound of several spells being broken came through the computer. Then a sound like a gunshot, and Maria's continued sobs. The man must have disapparated.
Jason turned to May. Her eyes were filled with horror. Jason got up and hugged his wife. They stood there for several moments. Jason opened his eyes and spoke softly.
"I'm going to kill him."