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Post by Sean Leviner on Apr 5, 2009 13:55:19 GMT -5
Sean walked into St. Mungo’s and straight up to the nurses’ station. It had been a long night so far, but he had to get this going before he could go home to sleep. But then he thought about everyone hearing the news, and wondered how well they’d be able to sleep.
“Excuse me… I’m Sean Leviner, Magical Law Enforcement. A body was delivered here not too long ago. Who do I talk to about that?”
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Post by Adrienne Kelly on Apr 5, 2009 13:55:51 GMT -5
Adrienne looked up and nodded. “Right, there was a body brought in about an hour ago. The Auror, right?”
She knew that no one except her mediwizards, the Aurors, or the MLE were allowed to see the body, or what was left of it. Everything was all sort of being kept under wraps.
She had two mediwizards on staff tonight, her brother and Lydia. “Go to the basement, take a left and it’s the first door on your left. Put your wand up to the lock and it will let you in, and one of our doctors will meet you down there soon.”
As Sean left, Adrienne sent a page to Lydia, telling her where to go.
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Post by Sean Leviner on Apr 5, 2009 13:56:33 GMT -5
“Thank you,” Sean said with a nod, and turned down the hall to find the stairwell. He had a lot on his mind, and lot of facts about this case that just weren’t very clear, and he hoped the staff here would be able to help him a bit.
Once inside the room, he saw a table in the middle encased in a magical protection, he assumed. Inside was the body from the scene. You could barely even tell it had been a person.
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Apr 5, 2009 14:46:16 GMT -5
Lydia received the page from Adrienne and headed downstairs to the morgue to meet the person from the MLE and examine the body. It was true, examining the dead was not exactly her area of expertise, but Chase was the only other one who was available who could and he was swamped with patients. It was something they had often had Grace do, but since her death, they were scrambling to fill her position.
As she entered the room, she was surprised to see a familiar face. "Oh, hello," she said, her voice sounding warmer than usual. "Sean, right? It's nice seeing you again... sorry it's not under better circumstances."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Apr 5, 2009 15:22:57 GMT -5
"Hey," Sean said, looking up at smiling at a familiar face. "One of these days, I swear I'll come to you without someone else who needs help or whose..." Dead. But he only gestured to the body so it wasn't so insensitive.
The last thing he wanted was for anyone to associated him with that. He had enough issues there as it was.
He wanted to ask how she'd been, but that body in the middle of the room kept grabbing his attention, and he sighed. "I guess we should get to work?" He shook his head. "Sorry, I know this isn't usually something you guys do with anyone else sitting in... but if you wouldn't mind terribly..."
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Apr 5, 2009 21:52:28 GMT -5
Lydia shook her head. "No... don't worry about it. That's my job, right? People always come to me when there's a problem."
Then she turned her attention to the body. It was badly burned and barely recognizable as a person, much less who the person had been "So... he was an auror, you say?"
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Post by Sean Leviner on Apr 24, 2009 12:21:50 GMT -5
Sean nodded. "Well... speculatively. The man who was killed was Roland Ferrera, a well respected Auror. I just need to make sure the body is his."
He kept his words as neutral as possible, and watched her as she came closer to the body. She wasn't kicking him out... that was a good thing. He supposed, ultimately, that he didn't need to be here, but he wanted to be.
"The family's waiting for confirmation for the funeral... well, and to have the body to bury."
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Apr 24, 2009 12:52:01 GMT -5
Lydia shook her head sadly. She felt horrible for his family. She tried to distance herself from the situation, but it was hard to hear that the man had a family. People who loved him. It just wasn't fair. Life wasn't fair.
"OK. I'll look him up and see if I can find any old records of him from previous visits," Lydia said, trying to turn on the profession tone in her voice. "But... What happens if it's not him?"
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Post by Sean Leviner on Apr 30, 2009 6:51:54 GMT -5
Sean looked at her and nearly smiled, though he couldn't explain why. Nothing about the situation was remotely humorous.
"If it's not him, I tell the family, my department goes back to the warehouse to find any kind of remains and at all... he was, from the accounts we've heard, in the center of the explosion. If this isn't his body, there's a very good chance there's no body to find. Either way, whether it's him or not, your work's done." He offereda shrug, not really knowing what else to say.
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Apr 30, 2009 13:54:22 GMT -5
Lydia's returning smile was grim. "Yeah, but yours isn't," she said. "Either way, you've got a pretty unpleasant task on your hands."
Either he would have to tell a family that the badly burned, utterly unrecognizable body belonged to their loved one, or he would have to tell them that the body had been destroyed. And if it was the latter, he would have to look for any remnants of a young, brave auror. Lydia didn't envy him either task. She'd had to deliver bad news to families before in her line of work, and she could only do it by shutting off her emotions. She wondered if Sean was able to do the same.
"OK," she said, changing the subject and getting down to business. "Let me just see if there's a file for Mr. Ferrera."
She left the room for a few minutes and returned carrying a folder. She didn't say anything for a few minutes as she looked through the information, then finally she set the file aside and returned to the table, where the body lay. Glancing up at Sean, she explained, "I'm just going to run a few tests. It shouldn't take me long. Do you also want to know how he died?"
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Post by Sean Leviner on May 1, 2009 3:27:09 GMT -5
"No... mine won't be done. To be honest, I don't know which I'm hoping for. A body will give them closure... but it also takes their hopes away that maybe he survived." He really didn't want to go back and search for more remains though. That would be worse on everyone. Oftentimes, when he muggle authorities didn't find a body, all that was left was some blood somewhere.
He felt desperately lonely when she left him to find the file, and he blamed it on the dead body right next to him. But he felt a rush of relief when Lydia came back into the room, and nodded at her question. "Yes, if it's possible to find that out." It seemed pretty obvious how the person died, but Sean couldn't overlook anything.
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on May 1, 2009 11:18:51 GMT -5
In her job, Lydia had learned never to assume anything, but to investigate all options. Yes, it might have seemed obvious how the man had died, but Lydia wasn't about to take chances. "There are a couple of things I can check to determine the cause of death," she explained. "If it turns out that it is him, his family might feel a little better if they knew whether he suffered. For example, if he'd been hit by a killing curse before hitting the ground, or if he hit his head on impact. If it turns out that the fire killed him, maybe it will be kinder to tell them one of those things, anyway."
Again, she gave him a grim smile as she went about her work. She donned a pair of magical goggles, which enabled her to see things in greater detail, and began doing some scanning with her wand. Later, she took out a needle and drew some samples. It was a long time before she spoke again.
"He didn't die from the fire," she said at last, her voice filled with certainty. "He was already dead when the explosion occurred. There was no smoke in his lungs, and if he had been burned alive, blood would have rushed closer to the surface. He also doesn't seem to have a mark on him. My belief is that he was killed by the killing curse."
Then she paused, biting down on her lower lip. "Also... I still need to run one more check, but I feel pretty safe in saying this. I don't think this is him."
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Post by Sean Leviner on May 1, 2009 11:32:35 GMT -5
Sean sighed. He listened to her, taking in everything she said, and he wondered how he was supposed to tell any of this to the family. He knew they were waiting for the body to have the funeral... how was he supposed to tell them they didn't have a body to bury?
"Okay," Sean said. "Do the last test... be absolutely sure. Also, is there any way you can trace back to whose wand killed him? And we really do need to identify the body if it's not Roland Ferrera's."
He was jumping into his investigative mode. There was a lot of work to be done.
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on May 1, 2009 12:15:14 GMT -5
Lydia nodded. "I'll run the check now. But I'm really pretty sure. The blood types don't match, so that's a pretty big clue. If it's not him... well, it's going to take a little time to determine his identity. I may need to attempt a facial reconstruction. As for telling whose wand may have killed him, I'm afraid we have no way of knowing unless we test the wands themselves with Priori Incantatem. If you have an idea for who might have killed him, we can test the wand. Otherwise, there's no real way of knowing, unfortunately."
She let out a sigh, wishing to herself that things didn't have to be so hard. But she forced these self-pitying thoughts from her head as she went about running the last check. It only took her a few minutes before she shook her head and looked back up at Sean. "I don't know if I should say I'm sorry or not, but... it isn't him. I'm sure of it."
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Post by Sean Leviner on May 4, 2009 4:39:13 GMT -5
"I don't actually think that's better."
How was the family supposed to have the funeral they'd been waiting for if they still didn't have a body?
"If Ferrera's partner's story holds up..." Sean trailed off for a moment. Both he and Daniel mentioned how odd it was that there was only one body if two people had been killed that night. He rubbed his eyes. "That means there's probably nothing left of Ferrera's body, and that body... I think his partner killed him." It would make sense. Roland's body would have been destroyed in the explosion, and the two remaining Death Eaters wouldn't have taken a fallen comrade... they weren't the type. What if they threw the body in the buring building to get rid of it?
That also meant that an an Auror used an Unforgiveable. Were they even allowed to do that? He was getting a headache, and rubbed a hand over his eyes. Where was Daniel when he needed a break? "I can get the wand that I think killed him."
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on May 4, 2009 15:51:23 GMT -5
Lydia frowned as well, perhaps sensing the increase in Sean's discomfort. She did not envy him having to go search for any small remnant of the auror's body. Actually, there was very little about his job that she envied at this point. She would likely never have to face the poor man's family and see the looks on their faces when they learned that the body didn't belong to their son and that he most likely had been completely destroyed in the explosion. How were they to deal with that? With burying an empty coffin?
These thoughts gnawed at her, but they did not show on her face. Instead, she nodded in her brisk way and turned completely professional. "Yes, that would help," she said. "I can also get to work on a facial reconstruction simulation... I'm not as familiar with the process, but perhaps the new cornoner, Mr. Cavus, will be able to do it."
She took a breath and extended her hand to Sean. "I am sorry to have to bring you this news. Oh... but this might cheer you up a little. Remember the girl you brought in after the Hogsmeade attack? She's going home next week with her family. She's going to make a full recovery."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Jun 8, 2009 12:58:51 GMT -5
Sean nodded and made a mental note to get Ms. Neves' wand from her. It was all part of the investigation, afterall, and she did admit to killing a Death Eater. From there, he would just have to wait for word from Lydia on the identification of the body, and he and Daniel would have to go back to the warehouse. It was not a task he was looking forward to.
Her next words caught his attention, though, and he actually smiled. "Yeah? That's fantastic," he said. "I was actually just thinking about her today, too. I bet her family is thrilled."
He hoped she didn't remember anything. Being the sole survivor in The Three Broomsticks... that could weigh heavily on her mind for the rest of her life.
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Jun 27, 2009 17:13:21 GMT -5
Lydia was glad to at least have one good thing to tell him. His face kind of lit up when he smiled, and she found herself smiling as well, despite their current location. "They are. She's their only child, and they would have been devastated if they lost her. They actually were hoping to meet you to thank you for saving her life. She's going to be laid up for a little while, and her parents want her to stay home, instead of going back to school. But she's doing much better. Her name's Josie, by the way. Maybe you can stop by before she leaves on Thursday."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Jul 10, 2009 12:53:15 GMT -5
Sean's smile faded slightly. "You didn't tell them who I was, did you?" He wasn't in this to be any sort of hero. He didn't actually want the girl's parents to thank him. He'd done his job, and anyone else in that situation would have done the same. He just happened to be there in time.
"Josie," he repeated. Short for Josephine? It suited her. She looked like a sweet girl, and he was glad that she was able to go home soon. He just hoped the trauma of being trapped in there wouldn't haunt her. "I think I'll go by before Thursday. She probably won't remember me... and I'd rather not meet her parents. Will you come with me? I don't want her to be scared."
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Jul 10, 2009 14:21:42 GMT -5
Lydia shook her head. "No, I didn't tell them your name or anything, just that you were a ministry official, and you were just doing your job. Still they were very grateful. I'm sure she'd enjoy meeting you, at least. We can go together. She's a sweet girl... a little skittish, but that's to be expected after what she's been through. She's really doing amazingly well, under the circumstances."
She took a breath, then returned her attention to the body in front of her. "Well, we can get to work on the facial reconstruction, but it will take a couple of days, at least. Get back to me when you have Ms. Neves' wand, so that we can test it."
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