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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 26, 2008 3:07:20 GMT -5
Roland raised an eyebrow as she apparated before him, just after saying that he should go first. Oh well... it didn't matter. He apparated right after her, arriving at a spot on the edge of the Hogwarts grounds. Ahead was the Forbidden Forest, and he could see Riley standing not far away.
His lip quirked upward as he approached her. "Glad you waited for me to go first," he remarked. "Not that it matters."
Nodding towards the papers in her hand, he added, "So, why don't you lead the way to the spot where she was found."
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 26, 2008 3:19:50 GMT -5
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I must have been too eager," Riley replied. Roland might take it sarcastically, but it was actually, to her dismay, true.
She tucked the folder away into her robes, having memorized everything inside. It was easy, since there wasn't much.
"We'll look into the caves after we check the place where she was found."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 26, 2008 3:25:46 GMT -5
"Eager for what?" Roland said. "To get started on the case? Or to get away from me?"
Either way, he didn't exactly blame her. In fact, the feeling was mutual on both counts.
"No, don't answer that," he added before she could reply. "I already know the answer. Just lead the way. I doubt we'll find much at the scene, but I'd at least like to get a perspective before we check the caves."
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 26, 2008 3:36:03 GMT -5
Riley's hands were on her hips, and she was biting her tongue. Merlin, she wanted to get them both out of the working environment so that she could just rip him a new one. But for now, she kept her calm.
She turned and walked, silent again, and kept her eyes and her ears open. She lead him to the site, and she wanted to comb everything around, even the trees above, even though she felt in her gut that there would be nothing here.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 26, 2008 3:45:06 GMT -5
She still wasn't speaking. It annoyed him even more than her know-it-all comments. He felt like she was humoring him, and probably thinking all of her sarcastic thoughts in her head at him.
He frowned deeply, but kept equally silent as they headed to the site where Katie had been found.
As expected, there was not much there. A light dusting of snow had fallen, cleaning away whatever had been there to begin with. A magical outline marked the spot where Katie had been found, but there was not so much as an indentation in the earth now.
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 26, 2008 3:55:29 GMT -5
Riley had at least visually combed everything, and she came to the same conclusion. There was nothing useful here, except the outline of her body confirmed that the body had been moved. She was definitely just dropped off here.
Who were they close to? Spiderwebs in her hair... "How willing do you think Aaragog would be to talk with us?"
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 26, 2008 18:57:46 GMT -5
Roland looked up at her. "Aragog? You mean Hagrid's giant spider?" He frowned, realizing what she was getting at. "Sure, why not? Of course, he'd probably want to eat us after we question him. A better idea might be to ask Hagrid to talk to him for us."
He bent down for a minute, examining the earth underneath where Katie had been found. There was not so much as a trace of blood left behind now. Standing up, he cast a look around, trying to determine where the nearest caves might be.
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 26, 2008 23:28:19 GMT -5
"Yes, that's a better idea."
She kept her thoughts to herself. He needed to learn how to converse with people, how to read their tones and such.
Or she could make things easier and speak as directly and simply with him as possible.
"I'd like to speak with him first, as soon as we're finished here."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 26, 2008 23:57:34 GMT -5
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Well, we're finished here," he said. "There's nothing to see here. Do you want to check out the caves first, or go straight to Hagrid's?"
And was he imagining it, or was she saying that she wanted to be the one to talk to Hagrid first? As if she couldn't trust him to handle talking to a sensitive soul like Hagrid?
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 27, 2008 0:07:07 GMT -5
Riley had only meant first, as in before any of the other staff. She wanted Hagrid to be the first interrogation, if that's what they were calling it.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying desperately not to get frustrated with Roland. It wasn't going to help matters, and she knew how to be patient. "I meant when we were finished in the forest. I apologize for making too vague a remark. Let's have a look at the caves."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 27, 2008 0:14:15 GMT -5
Roland was trying like hell to be on his best behavior; to focus on the job. But somehow, the two of them simply weren't communicating. He pressed his lips together and took a deep breath. "Fine," he replied shortly. "Judging by the rock formations, the caves seem to be over in that direction," he said, pointing off in the direction behind her left shoulder.
Without waiting for her, he began to walk in that direction.
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 27, 2008 0:20:29 GMT -5
Thank Merlin, they were working again. Riley took one last look at the outline on the ground, then turned and followed Roland at a short distance. Once this case was solved, they would not have to work together again. That was her light at the end of the tunnel. That was how she was going to get through this without murdering him. Or herself. She was known as having the patience of a saint, but he made it so difficult.
"Well done," she said when she could see the caves ahead of them.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 27, 2008 0:39:06 GMT -5
Roland had to bite back the urge to make a nasty comment at her tone. She was complimenting him as if she had expected him to be wrong. Like once again, she thought he was an idiot. But he refused to give her any more reason to think that. "I used to do a lot of exploring in the forest back when I was at Hogwarts," he replied simply.
He led the way to the closest of the caves, a small crevice that was barely big enough to fit a person crouching on all fours. "I doubt it was this one... but it's worth a look."
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 27, 2008 0:46:36 GMT -5
"Why don't we split up? We'll cover the grounds quicker, and we both know what to look for."
She waited to hear if he was all right with that, or if he thought they should stick together. Either way, she was already eyeing another nearby cave. Suddenly, her brows creased. There were spiderwebs thick around the entrance to one of them, when she looked close, but they had been swept aside and matted away, mostly.
"Wait, Roland..."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 27, 2008 0:57:01 GMT -5
Roland would have been all too happy to split up from her. In fact, he was about to tell her that it was the best idea she'd ever had. But before he had the chance, she stopped him and nodded towards one of the caves. He followed her gaze and quickly noticed the spiderwebs.
"I see it," he said. He began to walk toward the cave, not waiting to see if she was behind him.
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 27, 2008 1:01:39 GMT -5
Riley was right beside him, already walking towards the caves. She knew Roland knew his job, and his quick assesment of the cave made her feel even better about it. That meant they only had communication problems...
And with a look at the cave, those problems fell to the back of her mind. She looked around, as much as she could. "This looks like the only one like this... I could be wrong..."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 27, 2008 1:14:44 GMT -5
Roland also cast a quick eye around. "Yeah, it looks like it," he replied. He knelt down and began to carefully inspect the area, combing the spot for signs of... anything.
After a moment, his eyes caught a glimmering object. He picked it up in his hand and inspected it carefully. It was gold, with a small open-heart shape dangling from a round post. "It's an earring," he said, holding it out to Riley. "Probably Katie's."
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 27, 2008 1:20:55 GMT -5
"It didn't fall out," Riley said, after a moment of inspecting it. Usually, with curses and spells, jewelry would fly and land in branches or other places that would baffle a muggle.
"It looks like a trace of blood on the post."
She put it in a special little bag for any evidence they might collect. "Might have caught on something as she was being moved and ripped out. There's certainly enough evidence to support your theory."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 27, 2008 1:40:09 GMT -5
They were starting to get into a flow now. It had been several minutes since either of them had said anything to annoy the other. If it could be like this all the time, maybe they could finish the case without incident. "OK, that makes sense. So, so... she was killed somewhere around here and dragged to where she was found... why? What's the difference in finding her here and finding her where she was? There must be something about this cave."
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 27, 2008 1:48:00 GMT -5
Another good point.
"I don't know," Riley said softly, her eyes continually sweeping the area. "Too much evidence, maybe? It's harder to pin anything down if we're mistaken about the actual crime scene? Or there's something here... something that Katie knew about, and someone decided she knew too much?"
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