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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 23, 2008 22:48:57 GMT -5
Roland's mood didn't improve over the course of the morning. He had to finish up some reports on his last mission, which made him even more sour. He kept running things over in his mind as he wrote about what had happened, and the memories were not pleasant. He couldn't help but think that there were so many things he would have done differently if he had the chance to do the whole thing over again.
He had just finished writing up his detailed descriptions of the perpetrators (he refused to call them suspects when he knew what they had done) using a pensieve to go back to the whole event. Seeing it all over again and remembering the sick feeling in his stomach when the poor dog hit the floor with a thud had him feeling extremely edgy.
When Riley arrived, he had his head in his hands and a pained expression on his face. At the sound of her voice, he nearly jumped out of his skin, staring up at her blankly for a moment.
"Oh, it's you," he said after a moment, his tone unfriendly. He paused to take a few deep breaths. "Yeah... hold on," he said barely looking at her.
He searched through his desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of headache potion, then swigged down a healthy dose before standing up. "Let's get this over with."
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 23, 2008 22:58:53 GMT -5
Riley's expression during this display did not change at all. She took in the unfriendly tone, year headache potion, and his choice of words.
What had changed since he was in Angelique's office a few hours ago. Had he been playing nice thinking he was going to get reassaigned?
"Lead the way," she said softly, keeping her thoughts to herself.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 23, 2008 23:22:52 GMT -5
Of course, his irritation had nothing to do with her, or their partnership. He was immersed deeply inside himself at that moment and wasn't really able to bring himself out of his thoughts to speak to her with the proper amount of consideration. He was really only half-aware of her presence at all.
He led the way to the Ministry's cafeteria, where he grabbed a tray and loaded it up with fruits and vegetables. He wasn't particularly hungry, but he went through the motions anyway.
Without a word to Riley, he chose a table near the back of the room and sat down, then finally looked up for her.
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 23, 2008 23:35:27 GMT -5
Riley moved through the line slowly, putting together a salad and grabbing a water on her way toward the table he had chosen.
She was quiet, not saying anything or doing anything to irritate him more.
She sat down with practiced grace, and slid the folder across the table to him. Her eyes never left his face.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 23, 2008 23:47:20 GMT -5
Although he was often known for his intense gaze, he found it rather annoying that she would stare at him with such a focused look on her face. He just barely managed to bite back a terse "what the hell are you looking at" and sighed heavily instead. He wasn't quite able to keep the surly expression from his face as he paused to take a drink of water.
"OK, so about the case," he said almost off-handedly. "Did you look at the file already?"
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 23, 2008 23:58:53 GMT -5
"Yes, I did," Riley answered, biting back her own sarcastic answer to that question. "And I would like you to look it over before I say anything. There isn't much there."
Should she ask him what happened? No, he would snap at her, and she didn't want to deal with it.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 24, 2008 0:20:50 GMT -5
Roland grabbed the file and opened it, relieved for the distraction. He wasn't in the mood to talk with her, and he needed to get his mind off of thoughts of the note, his previous case, and the feelings of helplessness he felt at the idea of his family in danger.
He said nothing for a long time, just pored over the details of the case as he ate.
The girl had been killed by a killing curse, that much was well known. She had been dead for about 18 hours before her body was discovered. The body had been dragged for some distance to the place where it had been found. There was some analysis of soil and rocks found embedded in the girl's body, but no traces of hair samples or other identifying matter. There were, however, some strands of spider webs on the hands and face.
Other than that, there was little information to be found. Some interesting details, but nothing really that could point to anything real.
When he was done, Roland closed the file with disgust and looked up at her. "You're right, there's not much here," he said tightly. "We're pretty much looking for a needle in a haystack."
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 24, 2008 0:31:10 GMT -5
"But we'll start from the bottom and we'll figure out who did it. It's our job." She took the file back and set it next to her tray, which so far was untouched.
"I was thinking that we could start with some of the creatures in the forest, and the hogwarts staff. I've been told you're rather good at interrogations, and that's probably our best place to start."
She fell silent, drinking more water and waiting to hear his thoughts.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 24, 2008 0:40:07 GMT -5
Roland nearly laughed at this. Yes, he was good at interrogations. But just yesterday, Angelique had told him he'd been too harsh with a "suspect" in a recent interrogation. He felt like he was getting mixed messages.
"That so?" he said, narrowing his eyes at her and leaning back in his seat. "What else did she tell you about me? What kind of impression did she give you of me?"
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 24, 2008 0:51:47 GMT -5
"I don't see how that has anything to do with our assignment." In fact, he didn't see her asking about what their boss had said about her. What did it matter?
"I'm sure Angelique told us both exactly what we needed to know to be able to work together. But if you must know before we can continue with a murder, for your piece of mind, she said you are very good at what you do and she needed her best on this case. Can we move on?"
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 24, 2008 1:09:17 GMT -5
Roland frowned and stared at her for a moment, his eyes intense. "You're lying," he said. "That's not all she said." There was no question in his voice. He had a pretty good idea what Angelique had told Riley, but he also knew that Riley was not going to tell him anything.
He sighed, then waved his hand at her, as if to dismiss the subject. "But you won't tell me what she said, will you? Whatever... You're right, it has nothing to do with the case. Except that she told me to dial it down in my interrogations, and now I find out she's telling you that I'm good at conducting interrogations. Which means that now I don't know what the hell she wants me to do. I was going to try and play this her way, be a little more cautious, but now I'm not sure."
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 24, 2008 1:14:59 GMT -5
Riley opened her mouth to counter to accusation that she was lying, but her eyes narrowed and she leaned back in her seat.
"All right, you win. She wants you to keep our suspects alive. She wants you not to be such a loose cannon. So yes, interrogate, be good at it, but leave them in one piece for the ministry to deal with. As long as you can handle that, we're in business. Any other office gossip you'd like me to fill you in on? I heard something juicey about Cassidy," she said, smooth sarcasm laced into her voice. It was her very frustrated way of asking him if they could get back to the assignment.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 24, 2008 1:32:58 GMT -5
Roland raised his eyebrows at her sarcasm. Personally, he rather thought that his question was pretty well justified in this case. If he was getting mixed messages, he wanted to sort out what meaning he was supposed to take from them. Her answer satisfied him.
"I don't care about office gossip," he said tersely to her comment about Cassidy. He honestly wasn't even sure which one Cassidy was. "I just wanted to know what she was saying about me, so I can act accordingly." He gave a sardonic grin. "She actually said I was a loose cannon, huh? Well, I'll have to make sure to act a little extra crazy, just so you're not disappointed."
He took a sip of his water, then eyed her seriously. "Look, whatever she said about me... the fact is, I love what I do. I believe in it. So I get a little passionate sometimes... I get the job done. So if you're thinking I'm going to screw things up for you, you can relax. I'll do what has to be done."
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 24, 2008 1:46:22 GMT -5
"I never doubted that you would get the job done."
He would do what he had to, and a little extra, from what she heard. She was getting frustrated and it was getting the best of her. She stopped, took a deep breath, and nodded. "I can promise you the same... I will get the job done as well, and I won't mess anything up for you."
She took another sip of her water. "I'd like to hear your thoughts on the case. Where you think we should start."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 24, 2008 1:57:54 GMT -5
Roland released a long, slow breath. Had he really been thinking earlier that maybe she wasn't so bad? It must have been a moment of insanity. He found her tone patronizing, and his jaw clenched in annoyance. But he nodded quietly. "Fair enough," he replied, dropping the subject.
He glanced back down at the file. "Well, although I admit, I'm positively itching to start on those interrogations I'm so good at," he began, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "I rather think we should start by investigating the scene. Apparently the body was dragged to the spot where it was found. There were some suspicious particulates embedded in the girl's scalp... rocks that would only be found close to the caves. I'm thinking she was investigating one of the caves when she happened upon the killer. I also think it wouldn't hurt to speak to some of the creatures who live in the forest... centaurs... possibly even werewolves... to see if they saw anything suspicious."
He looked up at her and smirked, as if trying to prove a point.
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 24, 2008 2:03:21 GMT -5
"Well, at least we agree on talking to the creatures in the forest," Riley replied, nearly rolling her eyes at his sarcasm and his attempt to be better at their job than she was.
"And I would agree on investigating the scene, except that I think it would be a waste of our time. Aurors have already been through the scene, and everything the found is in that file. Not to mention the creatures in the forest, the staff at Hogwarts, and nosey, reckless students that have been through our crime scene as well. Anything that may have been left for us to find is surely gone by now, but I'm willing to give it a shot. We probably shouldn't over look anything."
She raised her eyebrows, wondering what point he'd come back at her with next.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 24, 2008 2:17:25 GMT -5
He pressed his lips together. Somehow he had known she would come back with something like that. She seemed like the type who had an answer for everything. "But there's no indication that much of an investigation was done of the nearby caves. And it isn't common knowledge that the body was dragged from the scene of the actual murder. You're right... there probably won't be much left in the way of evidence, but it couldn't hurt to take a look. Especially if we're already heading into the forest to talk to the creatures there."
With a sigh, he added, "We should probably talk with Andromeda Black as well... she's supposed to be investigating the possibility of death eaters on staff at Hogwarts. Perhaps she can help lead us in the right direction. Although, I'm not entirely convinced that the killer is a professor. But since we can't interrogate every single person in the school, it would help to have a direction, at least."
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 24, 2008 2:25:26 GMT -5
"I already told you I would be willing to investigate, Roland." Riley said this calmly. He had a point, and they really shouldn't overlook anything that might help them. In fact, it was a good idea, but she wasn't going to tell him as much. Lord knew she shouldn't inflate his ego or give him any reason to act smug. He was handling that well enough without her help.
"No, we can't question every person in the school. But we do need to have a chat with every member of the staff, any friends that were close to Ms. Lawrence, and, if we find any, any enemies of hers as well. That will be enough to keep us busy for a while, but someone will have to have something that can help us."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 24, 2008 2:34:04 GMT -5
There was that patronizing tone again. Painstakingly patient, like she was talking to a 5 year old. He pressed his lips together in an attempt to prevent something from slipping out. Just because she thought she could treat him like a 5 year old didn't mean he had to act like one.
"Agreed," he replied simply. It galled him to admit it, but Miss Know-It-All had a point. They could definitely start with the staff, and any acquaintances of Katie, whether good or bad. "So when do you want to start?"
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 24, 2008 2:48:56 GMT -5
"As soon as possible," was Riley's easy response. "This afternoon, if possible, but no later than the end of the week. The public wants to see her murderer brought to justice, and the longer we take to find this person... or creature... the less faith people are going to have in the Ministry, which is exactly what the Death Eaters want."
She stopped and waved her hand. "You know all of that, I don't have to go into it. When are you available to begin?"
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