Just a bit more… Albus Potter thought as he carefully placed the last card on top of his house of cards. His hands were shaking; it had taken him almost four hours and three unsuccessful attempts to finally get it right. He squinted at the cards through his wire-rimmed glasses, his brows furrowed in concentration. A bead of sweat was rolling down his forehead to his cheek. Careful now, Al… you can do it…
BAM.
The cards went flying as Scorpius Malfoy banged open the door of his office, his blond hair dishevelled, robes askew.
“What did you do that for?” Albus yelled, staring at his hard work lying in ruins in front of him. “Do you know how long “”
“Never mind that, Potter,” Scorpius said, waving his hand dismissively. “You can make your little trash anytime you want. Right now, we've got a new murder case.”
“Well, that’s something that never happened before,” Albus said sarcastically, gathering cards. He guessed that they would have to wait a while. “Who, where, and when?”
“Victim was Kenneth Lee,” Scorpius said grimly, sitting down in one of the chairs in front of Albus’ desk.
“Kenny?” Albus repeated, frowning, remembering the lean, bespectacled Ravenclaw in their year. “But “ but “ who would want to kill him? I mean, he was a genius. Top grades. No record of brawls with anyone, ever. Everyone loved him “ even Slytherins had nothing against him.”
“I know,” Scorpius said. “But the case gets even weirder. He was home alone, and the door was locked “ anti-Apparition wards,” he said quickly before Al could open his mouth, “so no one could Apparate out. And as you know, their apartment is at the heart of London, so there were plenty of people around the place.”
“So someone must have spotted the killer leaving,” Albus said, frowning.
Scorpius nodded. “Or if the place was so crowded, no one would have bothered looking. It was during the rush hour “ people were eager to get home. Anyone could have got in and killed him.”
“Let’s go and check it out,” Albus said, getting up. He grabbed his travelling cloak and along with Scorpius, left his office.
Half an hour later, the two Aurors were staring down at the body of their former classmate, which was lying face down on the wooden floor. Albus felt sorrowful as he looked at the wounds on Kenny's head. He was a good friend, and seeing him like this was the last thing Albus would have expected.
Just to avoid looking at him, Albus looked around. The apartment was spacious, with richly adorned walls and lavish carpets and sofas. The living room was full of famous Muggle paintings on the cream-coloured walls “ Lee’s father was a Muggle and loved to collect paintings like Da Vincis and Rembrandts. The curtains were made of purple velvet “ another sign of how rich they were. Lee, being so brainy, had managed to earn himself a job that paid millions of Galleons a year.
The room was also full of Aurors. A young female Auror, Tabitha Goldstein, was hunched over Kenny’s body, performing the autopsy. “Cause of death,” she was saying as she examined the body, “is a fatal blow to the head. Lots of blood loss. Looking at the condition of the wound and the temperature of his body, I’d say he died around twelve hours back “ ten-thirty last night.” She waved her wand around his head and muttered a few incantations. “No signs of any magical inflictions,” she added.
“Which means our killer is probably not a witch or wizard,” Albus said, his brows knitting into a frown.
Scorpius mulled it over. “Not necessarily. Maybe he didn’t want to use magic so that his wand wouldn’t give him away. ”
“In that case, he could have used another person’s wand. Or bought a new one.”
Scorpius couldn’t think of an answer to that. “Where is his wife?” he asked instead, conjuring parchment and quill with a wave of his wand. “We need to ask her a few questions.”
Another Auror led him and Albus to the dining room, which was as lavish as the living room before. A young woman was sitting on a dining chair. Her head rested on her hands which were folded on top of the wooden table. She had long jet-black hair and wore a rather elegant and exposing Muggle dress that Albus thought was inappropriate for a woman whose husband had just died.
“Mrs Lee?” Scorpius called to her. The woman looked up. She was Asian and had a pretty face, but her dark eyes were swollen and puffy; she had been crying. Black mascara trailed down her cheeks. Her name was Cheryl Chan “ now Cheryl Lee “ and the last time Albus had seen her was when he had been invited for Kenny’s wedding two years ago.
She dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief and said, “Yes?”
“We are the Aurors investigating your husband’s death,” Albus said. “Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?”
“Not at all.” She sniffed, and motioned for them to sit down. Albus and Scorpius took two seats at the dining table directly opposite her. The chairs were very comfortable.
“Mrs Lee, where were you last night?” Scorpius asked in an official tone.
“I “ I was at the Muggle ice-sculpture exhibition,” she said. “I had gone to see them; they were always so pretty. I wanted to see if I could buy one of them for our house.” That explained the dress, especially if she hadn’t changed since.
“Wouldn’t it have melted?” Albus whispered to Scorpius.
“What’s magic for, you git?” Scorpius hissed back.
“Oh yeah...”
“Can anyone verify your presence there?” Scorpius was asking Mrs Lee.
“Of course,” she sobbed silently, another tear leaking down her eye. She quickly dabbed at it. “Everyone saw me there. When I returned home, I opened the lock and saw “ and saw that -” She could not continue, for she broke into sobs.
It took a while to comfort her. When she was a bit more stable, Albus asked, “Did you find anything stolen from the house when you returned?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t check.”
“Would you please let us know if you find anything?”
“Yes, of course.”
Albus and Scorpius got up to leave, but the latter paused for a second. “Mrs Lee,” he said, frowning, “Did your husband have anything against anyone else? Any enemies or anyone threatening him?”
Cheryl seemed to think for a while. Then, with another sob, she replied, “I don’t think so. He was such a nice man; no one would have anything against him.”
“Anyone at work, or...?”
Cheryl shook her head. “No, everyone at work loved him. He was very intelligent, but he wouldn’t have hurt a fly. Why would anyone hurt him, then?”
“Thank you,” Scorpius said, for he didn't have a answer to her question yet.
With that, the two went out of the room, back to the crime scene.
“You guys found anything yet?” Scorpius asked one of the junior Aurors, Tom Thornbush. “Murder weapon?”
“No, nothing,” Thornbush replied. “There were a lot of heavy things, but none had traces of blood or cracks on them. If he was hit that hard, the thing was bound to shatter, but so far, nothing looks even remotely broken.”
“Although,” another spoke up, “we did find splashes of dried blood and water around the victim. Looks like it was mopped up. ”
Albus went over to the body. Sure enough, the floor looked damp and had reddish splotches.
“Look for a mop,” he said to the Auror. The thin man nodded and went over towards the kitchen.
“What’s wrong with Evanesco?” Albus asked.
“If he was a Muggle, he’d definitely use a mop, wouldn't he?” Scorpius replied, rolling his eyes at his partner.
The Auror returned back in a short while. “There’s no mop anywhere, sir,” he said.
“That’s strange,” Scorpius muttered. “The killer breaks into a rich guy’s house and he only takes a mop, leaving behind all these.” He motioned towards the ornate vases and paintings.
“And,” Albus continued, as if reading his mind, “he only took it because it linked to the murder weapon. Clearly he came here with the intention of murdering Kenny.”
“Bingo.”
And then suddenly, they heard a loud, piercing scream.
A Touch of Ice by majestic_ginny
Story Notes:
I had a lot of fun writing this! Thanks to Soraya/babewithbrains for suggesting that I take this on, and also to my loving sis Pooja/Ginny Weasley Potter for encouraging me even though I thought this was a bunch of crap. Also thanks to shows like Castle, Las Vegas and White Collar which inspire me to think of plots for Mystery fics!
Chapter Notes: Thanks a bunch to Soraya/babewithbrains for being such a wonderful beta!
I don't own Harry Potter or any of the other characters fron the book, but I do own my OCs!
Chapter Endnotes: Hope you liked it, and please review! They make me go like this: ^_^
--Nadia