Chapter 4: The Plot Thickens
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A half an hour later, Kate Todd came back with the frown on her face, reading a report. "Gibbs, I don't think you're going to like this," she said, waving the folder in front of her. She took off her jacket and draped it on her chair and started reading the papers again. The frown deepened with each word she read.
"What have you got for me, Todd?" he asked, taking a drink of his coffee to fortify himself. He hated bad news, but if it helped solve the case…
"I just got the medical exam back from the Potter kid and there is a lot on here that just doesn't make sense," she said, going to her desk. Her brow was puckered as she read. Her eyes roamed the pages like she just couldn't believe what she was reading.
"Oh really? Like what?" Gibbs asked, wondering what had his agent so befuddled.
"Well, he's malnourished for one, which means he was starved for a very long time," she said, starting with the least weird one.
"Well, I knew he was emotionally abused, but I didn't think they'd starved him. We're going to have to do something about that. What else is on there?" the head cop said, making note of that. He'd hand that off to Jen and see if she could get the equivalent of CPS involved.
"There's some dark magic on his forehead. They're not sure what it is, and they want to examine it further," Kate said, going to the next item on the list. The whole team of doctors were up in arms about that one. They wanted the boy back right now over that issue.
"Does it pertain to this case?" Gibbs asked, reluctantly. He knew it was bullshit, but it was the rules.
"Probably not, but they said it's really dark magic and it could be harmful to him," Todd stated, just as reluctantly.
"Get it to Bones and see what she says. Unless it pertains to this case, I can't authorize the expense to have him come back," Jethro stated, taking another sip of his coffee. He hated that he couldn't authorize it, but it was out of his hands.
"That sucks, boss," said DiNozzo, balling up some paper and throwing it in the trash bin.
"That's the way the cookie crumbles. I'll see what I can do, but I can't have it involved in this case," Gibbs stated, thinking of ways he could get the kid to a doctor. He might pay for the expenses himself. He liked the kid, and didn't want him to die because of bureaucracy.
"OK, Gibbs, I'll get this to Amelia and see what she says. Do you think I should get Jen involved?" Kate asked, thumbing through the report and making notes of what to give to the lawyer. Which should be the entire report. Though some of it was just too bizarre.
"Yeah, throw it her way and see what she says. Maybe she can somehow finagle it so it's legally binding," Gibbs said, hoping Jen could make it so the kid could be seen on the government dime.
"All right, Gibbs." Kate said, then picked up the report again and added, "There's also basilisk venom and phoenix tears in his blood. Which is really weird." How did one get those fluids in their blood system? What could the kid possibly have been doing at that school? Where were the adults? What happened to the basilisk and why hadn't they heard about it?
"There's still nothing we can do about that either," Gibbs stated, though the same questions were going through his head.
"Still, something to note," said Todd, putting down the folder and going to her computer and looking up Harry Potter. She wanted to know more about this kid. Anyone who went through the shit that he did and lived needed to be investigated more thoroughly.
"I'll make note of it," said Gibbs. "DiNozzo, do you have anything on Dolores Umbridge?" he asked.
"Yeah, boss, I've got everything I can get on her," Tony said, pushing a button and showing his slide show of information on the screen above the desks. "Dolores Umbridge was born to Orford Umbridge and a muggle named Ellen Cracknell. She started her political career as an intern in the Improper Use of Magic Office. She was known to take credit for other people's work, while flattering her equals and her superiors. Get this, she didn't like that her father was a low-level worker in the Department of Magical Maintenance and pressured him into retiring early by promising him a monthly allowance. She then lied about her family, claiming that she was a pureblood rather than a half-blood. She eventually became Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic and earned a place in the Wizengamot. Her hatred towards "half-breeds" led her to draft a piece of anti-werewolf legislation in '93. In '94, she also encouraged that the Merpeople be rounded up and tagged. Which is ridiculous. I mean how are you even going to do that? Anyway, this year, Umbridge was placed at Hogwarts as the newDefenseprofessor, by order of the Ministry of Magic, under the terms ofEducational Decree Number Twenty-Two. She was there for three months, until her untimely demise. She was known as the worst teacher they ever had. The book she had them learn from was useless and they weren't learning any defensive spells."
"Wow, Gibbs, she certainly sounds like a piece of work," said Todd, looking up from her own work to see the picture of the woman dressed all in pink and shuddering.
"That's what I heard about her," said Gibbs, drinking his now lukewarm coffee.
"That kind of puts our suspect pool rather large. I mean, every half-breed in town was out for this woman. If I were a werewolf, I would want a gun her down," Tony said, hoping to take the pressure off the kids that were suspects. "Not to mention all the careers she halted by taking credit for their work."
"She doesn't seem very well liked, that's for sure," Gibbs agreed, looking thoughtful. He was going over scenarios as to how anyone could get in and kill the woman on school grounds. He wasn't successful. "Unfortunately, we are limited to whoever was in the castle at the time. It's said to have some of the better wards of the UK. Not just anybody can sneak onto Hogwarts grounds."
"There is that. Still, I don't like that kids are being blamed for what could possibly be anybody's crime," DiNozzo stated, hitting the button and making the picture of Dolores Umbridge fade.
"Tell me what you found out about Sirius Black," the head of the WCIS ordered.
"Sirius Black III born 3 November 1959," began Tony, as he brought of a picture of a distinguished looking man with a goatee slashed with a picture of the same man looking like a deranged killer just escaped from Azkaban. "An English pureblood wizard, the older son of Orion and Walburga Black. He was best friend with James Potter in school and was named the godfather of Harry. He fought in the last war under Dumbledore's Order of the Pheonix. He was arrested in '81 for thirteen counts of murder and giving information about the Potters' whereabouts which led to their deaths and being in service to escaped in '93 and was thought to be going after Harry Potter. He was last seen on the grounds of Hogwarts about to be Kissed but escaped before they could. Sorry, boss but there's not much else about him. I know there's no trial record about him. Heck, there isn't even an arrest warrant. It was as if the man just appeared in the worst prison in the UK." He flicked the button, and the pictures faded off the screen.
"See if you can find more about him. I know he's from a pureblood family, so there's got to be some record about him," Gibbs ordered, he didn't like this one bit. "Find out if he is in any way connected to our victim. If not, throw what you have to Bones." He didn't think the man had anything to do with his case. He thought Fudge was just blowing hot air. But the man sounded innocent, like Potter said.
"You got it, boss."
"Todd, what have you got about Harry Potter?"
"Harry James Potter was born on 31 July 1980," started Kate, bringing up a picture of Harry from his primary days, "at Godric's Hollow in the West Country, England, to James and Lily Potter. On Halloween in '81, Voldemort arrived at Godric's Hollow and killed his parents. Somehow Harry wound up with his maternal aunt, Petunia Dursley. From what we gathered, by her actions and his physical report, she didn't want him. His school records show he was a lackluster student at best. There were school nurse reports of abuse, but they were overlooked or ignored. He disappeared from the muggle system at age eleven and appeared at Hogwarts, where his lackluster grades continued. There are rumors of near death experiences every year he's been there, but none proven. You'll have to ask him about them. I mean, basilisks, trolls, deranged teachers, werewolves, dementors, and Dark Lords. His blood work substantiated the basilisks, but there was no body. It's all there, but the headmaster seems to have hushed it all up,"
"How is he connected to our victim?" Gibbs asked, writing down the pertinent things. He'd get together with Jen and see what can be done to help Harry.
"It seems she was sent to school particularly to get him to shut up about the return of Voldemort," Kate said, going through her notes on what the students told her at the scene of the crime. They all seemed to think that Harry had done it. "According to some of the witnesses, she seemed to harass him, especially calling him an attention-seeking brat and a liar. Every time he would say Voldemort was back, she would call him a liar and put him in detention. He was hardheaded though. He would never back down. He swears that the Dark Lord is back." She clicked the remote and showed a picture of the Dark Lord. It was a sinister picture, of a snake faced man.
"Those two butted heads all the time?" Gibbs asked, hating to ask, but he needed all the facts. He waved the picture away. It didn't pertain to his case.
"That's what witnesses say," she said, sighing in frustration.
"So that's still puts him as our prime suspect, but everything else tells me he's not," he said, noting the facts down. He might have to use Veritaserum on the boy in front of witnesses to get the public to see the truth.
"That's what it looks like, boss," said DiNozzo, running his hand through his hair.
"Alright, what have you got on the Creevey kid?"
"Not much," Kate said, going over what little she had. "Colin Creevey, born on 2 February, 1981, to Michael and Joan Creevey. He's muggleborn and seems to worship Harry Potter. That's why he was getting so much detention. He would stick up for his hero and she would put him in punishment. He wouldn't back down though. He seems scared to death of the woman, but still didn't let his hero down. The kid is a bit of a shutterbug, he likes to take pictures of everything. It was another thing that got him in trouble." She put up a picture of a very happy Colin with a camera around his neck. It was an older camera, the only kind that would work at Hogwarts.
"Did his father get a lawyer yet?" Gibbs asked, throwing his now cold coffee away.
"Yeah, boss, they're waiting for us," DiNozzo stated, grabbing his coat and getting ready to go and question the kid.
"Well, let's get the show on the road."
With that, the three of them grabbed Jen Gleason, their attorney, went to the interrogation rooms and got Colin and his father and the lawyer in there and settled down for a bit of questioning. After administering the three drops of Veritaserum, Gibbs started asking his questions.
"OK, Colin, I'm gonna ask you again, where did you get the gun?" he asked, poising his pen to write the answer. He really hoped the kid was innocent. He hated putting children in jail.
"I took it from my father's collection," was the monotone answer. The boy was under the influence of the potion alright.
"Why did you bring it to school?" was the next question.
"I was scared of Voldemort."
"How did it wind up in the classroom with Umbridge?" That was an important question. They needed to place it on the crime scene.
"I brought it to detention because I was scared of her. She was going to make me write with that quill again," Colin said, still in monotone.
"Did you pull the gun on Professor Umbridge?"
"Yes, sir."
"Did you pull the trigger?"
"No, sir."
"Why not?"
"She hit me with the knockback jinx before I could," the boy stated as if that were just a fact of life. Gibbs was sure if he were not under Veritaserum then he'd be shaking in his shoes.
"What happened after that?"
"I dropped the gun, got scared and ran out of the room."
"Did you see anybody else in the hallway after you ran out of the room?"
"I saw Professor Snape and Professor Trelawney."
"Do you have any idea what they were doing in the hallway?"
"No, sir. I was too scared. I just ran for my life."
"Do you know where the gun is now?"
"No, sir."
Gibbs gave the antidote and nodded to the lawyer. Jen and the solicitor exchanged paperwork to get the child out of headquarters. Everyone was happy the kid was innocent of the crime of murder.
"All right, we've got the truth out of you," Gibbs said, looking down on the boy sternly. The kid had brought a gun to school after all. That wasn't something that should be coddled. "You can go back to Hogwarts where you're not allowed to go anywhere outside of school. And you're not allowed to talk to anybody about the crime. Not even Harry Potter."
"Yes, sir," Colin said, looking quite chastised.
"When can I get my gun back?" Micheal Creevey asked, putting his hand on his son's shoulder.
"We don't know where it is yet," Gibbs answered. "It's a murder weapon, so until the crime is solved, it will remain in police custody," he added, shuffling some paperwork around on the desk.
"It was my grandfather's," the milkman protested.
"I am sorry, but that's the law," Gibbs stated, standing and leaving the room. His agents went with him to the elevators.
"Thank goodness for Veritaserum, hey, boss?" DiNozzo stated, pushing the button to get them back to the bullpen.
"Yes, DiNozzo. It's a very good thing that we had that. It does make life so much simpler," he said. He was glad of the outcome, but it did put them back at square one.
"Now that we know the kids didn't do it, who do we have that's the likely suspect?" Kate asked, tapping her hand to her leg. She was thinking over who they knew who knew the victim and was in the castle at the time.
"I'm not sure," Gibbs said, thinking hard on what they knew. He was missing something. "We need to go back to the school and find out what Dolores was doing there besides harassing Harry Potter." The woman had to have pushed more buttons than the kids'. Everyone the woman met seemed to hate her, except the Minister.
"Well, we've got the teachers, Snape and Trelawney," Tony said, moving out of the lifts when the doors opened. "We haven't interviewed them yet."
"Has anybody even found our evasive Trelawney yet?" Gibbs asked, going to his desk and picking up a fresh cup of coffee that someone had left for him. Probably Abs. He'd have to go and get her some CafPow.
"Yes, sir," Kate said, looking up from the messages on her desk. "She was up in her tower, drunk as a skunk."
"Has she been brought in for questioning?" he asked, hating to interrogate drunks. They never gave straight answers and were always in their own world.
"She's in detox now," was the answer.
"How long till she's able to be questioned?" he asked.
"I'd give it a good day or two."
"Let me know when I can question her. What about Snape?" Gibbs wanted to know. He wasn't looking forward to that interrogation either. That man looked like a tough nut to crack.
"He's lawyered up, and he says he's available for questioning tomorrow," DiNozzo stated, picking up his phone to make a call to Jen about the things they talked about earlier.
"Alright, schedule him for tomorrow and we'll talk to him then. I'm going to go back to Hogwarts and talk to Dumbledore and McGonagall," Gibbs said, grabbing his coat and going to the elevators. "Todd, you're with me. DiNozzo, hold the fort," he said, making Kate scramble to get her jacket and firearm.
"You got it, boss," Tony said, listening to the phone.
Gibbs stood in the elevators and thought over what he was going to ask the staff of Hogwarts. There had to be something there. Someone killed that woman, and it wasn't the kids. Why though? What was she doing that made someone so mad that they put a bullet in her brain?
He was going to find out.