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Post by Roland Ferrera on Feb 17, 2009 0:44:40 GMT -5
Roland nodded. "That sounds good," he said. "We can talk with Natalie tomorrow, and maybe Slughorn and the Rothschilds." There were still quite a lot of staff members left to talk to, but he wanted to keep the focus on people who were more closely connected with some of the key players. Arachne was Slughorn's assistant, and Bellatrix was Isabella Rothschild's assistant. And both of the Rothschilds were known to be former death eaters, so there was a chance that they had some possible inside information.
"So I guess we can head back now, and we can talk about what we uncovered?"
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Post by Riley Neves on Feb 17, 2009 0:52:29 GMT -5
And of course, today he wanted to do more work. She almost rolled her eyes.
"All right, I'll be honest with you. You can head back. There's something else here I'd like to take care of. I think we'll be fine if we just regroup in the morning."
She still believed that Bellatrix, Arachne, and Augustus knew something. It was just a sense about people, and she knew Roland felt it too. She wanted this case solved, and one of them had information.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Feb 17, 2009 1:00:26 GMT -5
He hesitated, eying her suspiciously. He didn't like the sound of this at all. There was something about her manner that seemed... off.
There was just no way he was leaving her here alone. Maybe he could linger, too. He could take the opportunity to go visit Jamie and Amandine. But there were definite alarm bells going off in his head, telling him not to leave her here. "Are you sure?" he asked.
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Post by Riley Neves on Feb 17, 2009 1:04:26 GMT -5
Riley smiled. "I've never known you to hesitate at the chance to leave me as soon as possible," she joked. Granted, they'd only been working together for two days, but he always seemed eager to go. Why, in Merlin's name, wasn't he like that now?
"I'm sure," she said. "I'll see you in the morning."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Feb 17, 2009 1:12:41 GMT -5
He flashed her his crooked grin. "I don't know... maybe it's just because we're getting along right now, and who knows what we'll be like tomorrow?"
She seemed too eager to get rid of him, especially considering the fact that they were getting along so well. What exactly was she up to? "If you're sure..." He frowned.
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Post by Riley Neves on Feb 17, 2009 1:19:34 GMT -5
Riley sighed, giving Roland a look. "I'm sure," she said, raising her eyebrows. She just wanted him to be on his way, because she knew if he saw the direction she was headed in, he'd stop her. Honestly, she was just going to talk with Augustus again. Wesley had given her an idea how to deal with him, and if it worked, she would swallow her pride for a few minutes.
"Don't work too hard tonight, all right?"
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Feb 17, 2009 1:28:39 GMT -5
He hesitated another second, then nodded. "OK," he said. "Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow."
He almost laughed when she told him not to work too hard. He had already been planning to write up some notes about everything they had learned so far. He'd probably do it over takeout. Maybe Italian tonight.
But first, he was going to wait until she was out of sight, then he was going to follow her. Just in case she needed backup for whatever it was she was planning to do without him.
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Post by Riley Neves on Feb 17, 2009 1:35:25 GMT -5
She couldn't really wait any longer for him to leave, or it would be awkward and he would know something was up, so she smiled and nodded, and then turned down the hallway.
It wasn't that she didn't want him around for this, she just knew this would work better without him.
She followed the path back to Augustus' quarters, and paused briefly outside his door. Then, just a moment later, she opened it and went inside without even knocking.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Feb 17, 2009 1:40:26 GMT -5
He headed down the hall, but looked over his shoulder to see which direction she was going. As soon as he saw where she was going, he knew what she was trying to do. She was going to try again with Augustus.
He frowned deeply, then turned back to follow her at a safe distance. When she went into Rookwood's room, he stood there, hesitating. He felt that strange need to protect her again... but he decided just to wait and see. If she ran into trouble, he'd be right outside.
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Post by Riley Neves on Feb 17, 2009 2:28:47 GMT -5
(Ha ha... not letting you know what happened)
It was an excruciatingly long twenty minutes before Riley came back. There was never a sign of trouble, but it was obvious that she was not happy. Her hair was down when she came out, and the look in her eyes said that there was a lot of anger bubbling below the surface. It was a good thing she needed something from Augustus, or she would have started swinging the second she stepped back into his quarters.
She wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings, assuming she was alone.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Feb 17, 2009 11:24:51 GMT -5
He was leaning against the stone wall, his arms folded across his chest, when she came out. One look at her, with her hair down and the angry look in her eyes, and he felt a flare of something he couldn't quite name. He was torn between wanting to hold her and wanting to go back into Rookwood's room and beat the hell out of him.
He didn't move from his position, but he called attention to himself by clearing his throat. "What happened?" he asked.
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Post by Riley Neves on Feb 17, 2009 11:31:46 GMT -5
Riley jumped slightly at the sound of his voice... just barely, and most people wouldn't have even noticed it. Augustus had her on edge, and she needed to wind down.
She considered making a snide remark about him following her, because she had really hoped he would go home. She could take care of things on her own, but no, naturally, he had to tag along. Still, she had to give him credit for staying outside, at least.
So she settled for getting straight to business. "Ms. Weaver's alibi isn't as airtight as we thought."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Feb 17, 2009 11:38:18 GMT -5
He noticed the jump, but wasn't particularly surprised by it. Obviously she didn't know he was there, so of course she would be startled.
He raised his eyebrows at her when she went straight to business without actually answering his question. Whatever had happened in that room, it may have given them some valuable information, but at what cost? He was more interested in what she'd had to do to get this information than in the information itself.
"Oh, really? Do tell."
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Post by Riley Neves on Feb 17, 2009 11:46:43 GMT -5
That seemed to put her at ease, if only just a little, and her shoulder relaxed. "All right," she said. "Both she and Ms. Black said that they were together before Katie was murdered, and went out for drinks. The drink part I think is true, as Rookwood can't account for that time. But what Ms. Weaver failed to tell us was that between grading papers and seeing Ms. Black, she went to Rookwood's quarters to check in with him, for probably only five minutes. But it was awfully close to Katie's murder."
She paused to make sure he was following her, because there were a lot of loose ends here. "When she left, Rookwood followed her for a little way, and walked right past Rothschild's classroom. Here's where it gets fuzzy, and we still don't have proof of anything, but if she left the living quarters and didn't look in Black's classroom, it doesn't seem to me that she was looking for Black. So where was she going?"
She was talking fast, but it was for her own benefit, really, and she leading Roland away from Augustus' door. "We also know that both she and Black lied to us about being together the whole time, though I'm not sure that's helpful, because she'll say she was doing it to stay undercover, which is exactly what Rookwood said about it."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Feb 17, 2009 11:55:05 GMT -5
Roland listened with interest. She was talking very fast, but whether it was the excitement of getting this key information, or nervousness over how she had obtained it, was unclear.
They walked down the hall almost as quickly as she was talking, and they were a pretty good distance away from Rookwood's door when she finished talking. "That's good... we can work with that," he said. "Now are you going to tell me how you managed to get this information?"
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Post by Riley Neves on Feb 17, 2009 12:04:33 GMT -5
"No, I'm not," Riley said without missing a beat. "Except that to say there's only so far I'm willing to lower myself, so it's probably not as bad as whatever you're thinking. I don't think I would have gotten anything from him anyway, except that I don't think he realized he was giving anything away."
She successfully turned the conversation back to the information and not the method. "I just had to figure out how to be smarter than him, without letting him know it."
Or Augustus had still one upped her. That was a new thought... what if he didn't trust his intern and was testing her with this, knowing that Roland and Riley would go back to her? She frowned, her dislike for Augustus growing just a little more.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Feb 17, 2009 12:10:47 GMT -5
He raised an eyebrow at her. He had a few unsavory theories about what might have happened in there, but most of them were more negative towards Rookwood than her. He may not have known Riley very long, but he knew enough to know that she was unlikely to do anything inappropriate to get information--he was the loose cannon, not her. Still... she was being awfully secretive about it...
"Oh, really? Why don't you tell me just what it is you think I'm thinking?"
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Post by Riley Neves on Feb 17, 2009 12:16:33 GMT -5
Unlikely to do anything inappropriate to get information... unless she absolutely had to. Her two options at that point were to try and convince Fiona to pry, but there were several reasons why she didn't see that working.
And the other option was to do it herself.
She finally stopped talking for a moment. Why was Roland pressing so hard for this? "I don't know what you're thinking," she said softly. She sighed and briefly closed her eyes. "Rookwood has a weakness for women that he can control and manipulate, who will still fawn all over him. I used it against him, all right?"
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Feb 17, 2009 12:23:58 GMT -5
He frowned deeply and his body tensed. He couldn't explain why they idea of that bothered him, but he was two steps away from running back there and beating the hell out of Rookwood. He could just imagine the smug git's annoyingly calm reaction....
"Did he touch you?" he asked harshly. "Because if he so much as laid a finger on you, I swear I'll kill him."
He told himself it was just because he hated Rookwood so much, that it had nothing to do with Riley specifically. But the idea that Rookwood, who had been so cold and disdainful towards Riley before would then turn around and put his hands on her infuriated Roland.
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Post by Riley Neves on Feb 17, 2009 13:51:12 GMT -5
Her own eyebrows shot up in surprise. Was he being protective of her?
"Whoa, there, Killer. Calm down." Riley reached out, putting a hand on Roland's arm to try and get him to calm down. "Look at me... I'm fine, all right? I'm find, and we have more to work with. Let's finally call it a day. I'll even go back to the office with you, this time."
It was sweet, she thought, how angry he was at the thought of what she had done, but it needed to be done.
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