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A Touch of Ice by majestic_ginny

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Chapter Notes: Erm, this chapter contains a lot of profanity. You have been warned.

I'm not JKR. Her mysteries are much more awesome.
The interrogation room at the Auror Headquarters was a small stone chamber with harsh fluorescent lighting emanating from two balls of light floating near the roof. The only pieces of furniture in there were a rectangular wooden table, around which were three chairs, one for the suspect and two across the table for two Aurors. One of the walls of the room was actually not a wall; it was a one-way see-through screen which allowed other Aurors to view the room from a smaller chamber and take notes without the knowledge of the suspect. The room was fortified by various spells, including Imperturbable charms to prevent any unwanted eavesdropping.

Once they were back at the Auror Headquarters at the Ministry, Albus and Scorpius took Rufflesius straight to the interrogation room. Shoving him into one of the chairs, Albus quickly activated the charms around the room. He and Scorpius then took their seats in the chairs across the table.

–Mr Rufflesius, why did you kill Kenny Lee?” Scorpius asked calmly, leaning forwards.

–I didn’t, though that son of a bitch deserved what he got,” Rufflesius said, sneering. His black eyes had a gaunt look in them.

–You threatened to break his head open. He was killed with a blow to the head. We can add two and two together.”

Rufflesius shrugged. –Mighta been luck. We had a tiff; I threatened him. I had nothin’ to do with it.”

–Why did you escape, then?” Albus asked this time.

–Oh, please,” Rufflesius rolled his eyes. –If a bunch of Aurors suddenly jumped at you and said you were wanted for killin’ someone as well as drug peddling and that you were gonna be locked up in Azkaban fer good, would you go along with them quietly?”

–If I had nothing to fear, then yes,” Scorpius said, looking straight into his eyes.

Rufflesius snorted, shaking his head. –We have a lotta practice dealing with you lot. All of us in the drugs business know what you Aurors are like. Most of you don’t really give a shit whether we did anything or not; all you do is just bring us in and lock us up in Azkaban. You don’t know what it’s like, living in poverty, how we survive, and what we’ve gotta do for quick cash. You’ll never give a -”

–You had a job, Rufflesius!” Albus yelled, slamming his fist on the table. The loud thud resonated around the room, amplifying it. –You weren’t in bloody poverty! You managed to go on a holiday in Egypt with your wife!”

–I was a bloody caretaker!” Rufflesius bellowed, standing up and thumping his fist on the table. He looked tormented, his eyes wild. –No one told you that, eh? My job was to cast Cleaning Spells on the floors and tables while everyone else had their own rooms with Cooling Charms in ’em! It took me years of savings to get a house! And when my wife wanted to go on a trip to Egypt, what could I do? I had no money. Then a friend told me about the drugs business, and it showed me a way out. I could rake in galleons. I took my wife on our first holiday.”

–What does this have to do with Kenny’s murder?” Scorpius asked, looking confused.

Rufflesius paused. And then he smirked, his lips curling upwards in a menacing way, as though this was what he’d been dying to say for a long time.

–I now know why my wife had been so darn eager to visit Egypt.”

Albus was puzzled, wondering how all of it was related. He was wondering if Rufflesius was unhinged after all.

–My wife is having an affair with Kenny Lee.”

Albus’ eyes widened. He couldn’t believe Kenny could do something like that. He had a wife who he loved, he had everything; why would he waste it all for another woman? And then something Rufflesius just said clicked in his head.

–Is having? I thought your wife was -”

–Dead?” Rufflesius laughed in a deranged way. –Oh, she fooled me too. What a clever plan; I feel like hitting myself for not realizing it sooner. That bitch faked her death so she could go and live with that scumbag without me in the picture. She’d have kept me grieving all my life had a friend not seen them together and come straight to me. And that’s why I attacked Rufflesius in the office that day,” he said, jerking his head towards Scorpius.

Albus was thinking about the absurdity of it all when a piece of parchment appeared in a puff of blue smoke above their heads and drifted slowly down on the table. Scorpius picked it up and scanned through it, his eyes moving over the paper like darts. Once he was done, he looked up, his lips pursed, his brows knitted into a frown. He looked at Rufflesius and said, –Your fingerprints match those of the crime scene. Your DNA matches the saliva found on the small cigarette stub. What do you make of that?”

Albus looked closely at Rufflesius, looking at any signs of discomfort or worry. However, instead of looking like someone whose house of lies was falling apart, Ruffesius actually nodded.

–It should. I went over to his house the day he was murdered.”

–So is that a confession?” Albus asked loudly, hoping that it was.

Rufflesius scowled at Albus before replying, –No, I went over to ask him to give me back my wife. But of course, he said nothing. He denied it. He said he didn’t know about Gwen, that bastard!” Rufflesius’ voice rose with every syllabus until it became a yell.

–How do we believe you?” Scorpius asked, leaning forwards. –All the evidence is against you. How can we just believe that you’re not lying?”

–Use Legilimency; I don’t care. I don’t have anything to lose.”

Albus bit his lip. The use of Legilimency on suspects had been controlled over since his father had become the Head of Auror Office. He had considered it to be an invasion of privacy and had allowed it only under special circumstances, with prior consent from the suspects themselves. Albus considered this to be a dire situation.

Scorpius turned to him. –What do you think?”

Albus had made his decision. –We’ll do it.” Turning to Rufflesius, he asked, –Do you agree to us performing Legilimency on you?”

–Like I said, I’ve got nothing to lose,” he replied, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning backwards on his chair.

–Very well. I’ll go and get the consent forms.” He stood up and stretched his leg muscles, tired of sitting. Cursing the anti-Summoning and Imperturbable charms, he walked out of the room towards his office. He returned with a form, a quill and an ink-bottle minutes later.

Rufflesius signed it without hesitation and sat straight up, his hands by his sides. Scorpius, who was the only skilled Legilimens in the Auror department (asides from Harry himself), looked directly into his eyes. Finally, after about a minute, he broke the eye contact and blinked rapidly.

–Well?” Albus asked once Scorpius had regained himself. –What is it?”

–He’s telling the truth,” Scorpius said. –He didn’t kill him. He used Kenny’s wand to light the cigarette, that’s why we saw the smoke with Prior Incantato.”

Rufflesius leaned back against his chair, crossing his arms across his chest, smirking contentedly.

Albus’s mouth fell open. –What?” But- how? He had been so sure it was Rufflesius.

–Very well then,” Scorpius said. –You’ve been cleared of the murder charges. But that doesn’t nullify your charges against drug pedalling. You’ll be dealt with by the Office of the Control of Intoxicating Substances as well as the Improper Use of Magic Office, and questioned there considering your involvement with drugs, including their creation and distribution.”

–Three months in Azkaban,” Rufflesius said spitefully. –When I get out, I want my wife back.”

–We’ll try our best to get her back,” Scorpius assured him, standing up. He walked out of the room, followed closely by Albus, leaving Rufflesius inside.

When they reached Albus’ office, Scorpius quickly sent memos to the Office of the Control of Intoxicating Substances and the Improper Use of Magic Office to handle Rufflesius’ case. He then sat down on a chair and rubbed his temple, thinking hard.

Albus sat in his own chair, looking glumly at the ceiling. The plan had been a brilliant one. Gwen Rufflesius had taken her husband to the same tomb that Kenny was supposed to have worked on. By pretending to die in that tomb, they had made it look like Kenny hadn’t done his job properly, hence bringing about Kenny’s transfer back to England. After that, Kenny and Gwen had been able to continue their affair. Kenny could have easily made it look like he’d been working long nights; however, as it had been much harder for Gwen to slip out unnoticed, she had to be off the chart. –We’re back to square one,” he said. –Not a step closer to solving this.”

–On the bright side, we know that it’s not Rufflesius, and that Kenny was having an affair.”

Albus grunted. –Rufflesius’ wife is alive. It could have been her. Maybe she wanted to go back to her husband, and the only way to leave Kenny was by killing him.”

–That’s plausible,” Scorpius admitted. –We need to know where she is, though. And we have no idea where she could be.”

–Let’s try looking into Kenny’s vault,” Albus suggested. –His last withdrawal, any transactions, who has access to it, everything.”

Scorpius nodded. Pulling himself off the chair, he said, –Back to Gringotts again.”



Unfortunately, the Gringotts goblins proved to be very difficult to extract information from. They refused to let a wizard interfere in their monetary dealings, irrespective of the fact that it was related to a murder investigation. Only after they provided a warrant for the Ministry of Magic did they agree to help, though with much reluctance.

–The last time any money was withdrawn from the Lee vault was on the twentieth of this month,” the goblin at the reception, a portly goblin named Ragnus, growled. –Two hundred Galleons.”

–That’s the day before the murder,” Albus muttered.

Scorpius nodded. –Withdrawn by?”

–Kenneth Lee.”

Scorpius paused before saying to Albus, –That’s a lot. What do you think it was for?”

–I don’t know, maybe for Gwen Rufflesius?” Albus shrugged.

Scorpius turned back to Ragnus, who was watching them beadily. –How many people have access to the vault?”

–Two.”

Scorpius was getting annoyed at the goblin’s short answers. –Who?”

–Cheryl Lee and Kenneth Lee,” Ragnus grunted.

–So if only Cheryl and Kenny had access to the vault...” Albus muttered, frowning. Something ticked. –Who last accessed the vault? To know the balance?”

The goblin ruffled through his papers before replying, –Cheryl Lee.”

–Thank you,” Albus said. Turning to Scorpius, he said, –Let’s go. We’ve got everything we need.”

Scorpius frowned. –You sure?”

Albus nodded. –Come on.”

Confused, Scorpius followed Albus towards the fireplace, ignoring the piercing look the goblin was shooting at them. One by one, the two Aurors disappeared in swirls of green flames.

Back in his office, Albus began pacing, thinking hard. The only thing found near Kenny’s body was the cigarette stub. What else had been there? On the floor there was blood and water ... water -

–Malfoy?” Albus said aloud.

–Huh?”

–What did Cheryl say she had been doing at the exhibition?”

Scorpius looked at his notes before replying, –She went to see the sculptures to buy one for the house.”

–And guess what the in-charge at the exhibition told me.”

Albus told him. Scorpius’ eyes widened. –She lied!”

–Yep. Our vic’s wife didn’t go there to buy anything. She went there to participate.”

–Then why didn’t she tell us that? Where was her sculpture?”

–It was near Kenny.”

Scorpius frowned. –There was no ice.”

–Think, Malfoy, think.”

In a second, it hit him. –The water!” he gasped.

–Bingo.”
Chapter Endnotes: Reviews? Please? They make me happy! :D Only one more chapter left! --Nadia

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