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Post by Angelique St. Clare on Mar 31, 2009 21:59:41 GMT -5
"You couldn't have helped him, Riley," Angelique said softly. "I know it's impossible for me to tell you not to dwell on it. But you could have been killed if you tried to go after him. And then no one would have even known what happened. You did what you had to do."
She sighed. "We have to go to his parents' house. Are you sure you're able to do this? I really can go alone, if you'd prefer."
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Post by Riley Neves on Mar 31, 2009 22:02:31 GMT -5
Riley didn't want to go at all. It would have been so easy for her to relent and say that she couldn't do it.
But she owed this much to Roland, didn't she? If she failed him, and couldn't save him, she should at least have the courage to tell his family.
"No, I have to," She said. "Just please be there."
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Post by Angelique St. Clare on Mar 31, 2009 22:13:50 GMT -5
Angelique hesitated for a moment, looking at Riley appraisingly. She looked a step away from death herself. But she was determined to do this... so she would allow it.
"OK. Then let's go and get this over with. I'll apparate us both there." In the condition Riley was in, Angelique wasn't sure the girl wouldn't splinch herself if she went separately.
She took the girl's hand and gave it a quick squeeze. Then they apparated.
(are we going to tell them in this thread, or a separate thread?)
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Post by Daniel Leviner on Mar 31, 2009 22:15:33 GMT -5
He knew that both of the women must be in pain, and Daniel had heard of Roland Ferrera and Riley Neves. Who hadn't? Daniel heard about more than just that however. In quite honesty, Daniel had great respect for the man.
Nodding to his brother, he started to walk toward the warehouse. He didn't mind that he was out late after all, they were needed and they were going to be useful. "I suppose we should split up and search. Let me know if you find anything alright?"
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Post by Sean Leviner on Mar 31, 2009 22:29:07 GMT -5
"Yeah," Sean said. "Listen, after we're done here, I'm going to take the body to St. Mungo's myself. I want to get any information to the Aurors as soon as possible. You can go home, though." He smiled at Dan. "Here goes..." he said.
He broke off to the left, letting Dan take the right half of the building.
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Post by Daniel Leviner on Mar 31, 2009 22:39:15 GMT -5
"No, you're not going by yourself. I'm going with you, after all we're in this together. Its our job and I'm not just going to leave you to do all the work, but thanks for the offer." Daniel returned the smile and started off to the right.
"Good luck Sean," he said as he started to look around.
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Post by Paige Owen on Apr 1, 2009 13:44:54 GMT -5
Paige was still prowling around, trying to find out what information she could. The muggle police were gone, but there were still a few firefighters finishing up their work. After flirting with one of them for a few minutes, she had received some interesting information, but she still had no idea what had exactly happened.
Then she turned a corner and recognized Sean, who she had danced with that one night. She broke into a smile and approached him.
"Sean? Hi, I don't know if you remember me... We danced a few weeks ago? You rescued me from that drunk guy? I was wondering if you could tell me anything about what happened here?"
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Post by Sean Leviner on Apr 1, 2009 13:52:07 GMT -5
Sean turned, looking at her and recognizing her right away, but he struggled for a minute on her name. "Right... uhm... Paige, right? I remember."
She asked him what happened, and he frowned slightly. "We don't have many details yet, I'm afraid. I don't think there's much I can tell you that you probably don't already know." He also knew that the Auror department would likely have some sort of question and answer time tomorrow, so he didn't have much of a right to say anything.
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Post by Paige Owen on Apr 1, 2009 13:55:07 GMT -5
"I don't know much of anything," Paige said. "I know someone was killed, but I don't even have a name. I promise I won't publish it until the family is told... but I need a name."
She nodded towards the firefighters, who looked like they were getting ready to leave. "Listen, I talked to those guys over there, and they gave me some interesting information... if you can tell me the name, I'll tell you what they told me."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Apr 1, 2009 14:07:10 GMT -5
Sean smiled. "Paige, I'm a member of the MLE... I can get the information from them quite easily," he told her. He had to hand it to her though... she was at least making deals.
"Besides, I probably can't tell you, anyway. You should talk to Angelique St. Clare about it. I can tell you it was an Auror who died... so she'll be the one to ask." Even that was probably giving her too much, but it seemed like that was fairly apparent, considering two Aurors had been here just moments ago.
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Post by Paige Owen on Apr 1, 2009 14:21:23 GMT -5
Paige frowned. She really didn't want to wait until tomorrow to get a name. "She wouldn't tell me. I have to wait until tomorrow... you really can't tell me?"
The fire crew had finished packing up their truck and started up the engine. "Look, they're leaving. I'll tell you what they said. It's pretty important, I think..."
She sighed, sensing that he wasn't going to give her anything. "OK, look... they told me there was something weird about this fire. It spread really quickly, as you'd expect, but once you got past the fire on the outer edges, there was something really strange... the flames didn't burn. The spot where they think the initial explosion started... it was cold."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Apr 1, 2009 14:26:06 GMT -5
Sean's brow creased. Cold.... he glanced over his shoulder at where Daniel was. His brother was deeper inside the warehouse than he was.
He turned back to Paige. He didn't bother asking why she needed the name so badly now if she wasn't going to release her article until they told the family.
"Where did the explosion start?" He asked.
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Post by Paige Owen on Apr 1, 2009 14:35:16 GMT -5
"I'll take you to the spot," Paige said. She'd flirted unashamedly with the fireman (who'd asked for something called a phone number, but she had no idea what that meant) until he took her to the spot where the explosion had started.
"But will you give me a name? Please? I need at least that much so I can start researching the story."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Apr 1, 2009 14:39:03 GMT -5
Sean frowned. "If Ms. St. Clare didn't give you his name, I really probably shouldn't either."
But she was willing to help him out, and it was going to leak into the papers sooner or later anyway... tomorrow, most likely.
He sighed. "I'll give you a hint, but you're going to have to figure out what it means and how to use it. And if anyone asks, you didn't get it from me. Okay?"
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Post by Paige Owen on Apr 1, 2009 14:49:17 GMT -5
Paige smiled. It really had been a lucky thing that she'd met Sean a few weeks ago... she had a feeling that he wouldn't be quite so agreeable towards her if they hadn't already met. Sure, she could have turned her full charms on him, if she had wanted to... but she would have felt a little guilty. Sean was a good guy, and he was just trying to do his job. Just as she was.
"OK," she said. "It's a deal. I swear I won't say a word. I'll even take you to the spot first, if that's what you want."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Apr 1, 2009 14:57:36 GMT -5
He could get in so much trouble for leaking anything to her... but honestly, what was the harm? As long as the family found out first.
He nodded for her to lead the way to the spot, making sure she wouldn't back out on it. As they walked, however, he said, "I can't give you the guy's name... but the woman here with Angelique St. Clare was Riley Neves. You're a clever girl... I rather suspect you'll be able to piece something together out of that."
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Post by Paige Owen on Apr 1, 2009 16:28:34 GMT -5
Paige gasped as realization struck her. "Oh... Oh, no..." she murmured. Since taking the job at the Prophet, she had kept track of all Ministry personnel issues, particularly the auror department. Now that she thought about it, she should have figured it out sooner. But Merlin, she didn't want to believe it.
She had met Roland Ferrera a few years earlier. He was fascinating and complex, two things you didn't normally say about guys his age. Of course she had slept with him, and she had fond memories of that night.
"His family is going to be crushed." One of the things she had learned about Roland in her brief time with him was that he adored his family beyond reason. They must surely love him the same way... this would kill them.
"I'll wait to get the official OK to release his name from Angelique," she said.
They were inside the burnt-out shell of a warehouse now, and Paige came to a stop in front of a pile of rubble. "This came from the roof," she explained, pointing up to the wide chasm in the ceiling. "When it caved in, this debris fell here. It seems likely that there were flames or a spark here... the muggles think it was a spark from the nearby fireworks... and they caught a bit of gunpowder residue, which set off the explosion. But the odd thing is, the fireworks started after the explosion, if my tip is to be believed. And the firemen said that the flames in this spot were cold. Once they'd put out the fire along the edges they came into the center and tried to put it out here, and this should have been the hottest place in the building, but it wasn't. They were mystified... but it sounds magical to me, don't you think?"
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Post by Sean Leviner on Apr 1, 2009 22:14:07 GMT -5
Sean nodded. Paige did catch on, rather quickly. It was a sad situation all around, and his heart really did go out to his family and his partner. It was going to be a heartbreaking time for all of them.
But he turned his attention quickly to what she was telling him.
"I don't know much about muggle chemistry, Paige, but how would cold flames cause an explosion? As far as I know, the heat it what causes it." Maybe he was wrong. Still, it was peculiar. "This is where the explosion started..." he looked up. Most of the roof was gone, blown away and burnt. "And do you know where they found the body?" He asked.
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Post by Paige Owen on Apr 1, 2009 23:05:39 GMT -5
Paige nodded. He was starting to see the odd things about this story, and she rather hoped that if he was going to investigate the case, he might let her in on some of the investigation. It would be exciting to have an "in" on the case.
"Well, that's just it, isn't it? How did the explosion start if the flames weren't hot? I don't know much about it, either... maybe it's the burning of gases or something. Maybe someone could tell you that. But again, if the flames weren't hot, anyone in this spot might have been able to survive, at least until the explosion. The body was found all the way over there, by the door. The muggles said that nothing was blocking the door, so he should have been able to get out if he made it from here to there. So what happened? It's very suspicious, if you ask me."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Apr 2, 2009 11:38:48 GMT -5
"Unless the blast threw his body that far," Sean reasoned. "I don't think we can assume he was alive to make it to the door."
He glanced over there, and back at the roof above them. "And whose to say that he was near the initial cause of the explosion? He could have been anywhere here and been caught up in it." He didn't know yet that Riley had told Dan that he fell through the roof Sean was now looking at.
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