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Post by Grayson Steele on Sept 8, 2016 1:18:44 GMT -5
It had been a long night. Grayson had taken the morning shift. Actually he had kicked Kate out of the office at around six in the morning after she had started at noon the day before. The girl had passion, but a tired Auror was a careless one. Not that he had been an "active" auror for a while.
He was only signing on for this one job, and then only as a favor to a friend who had lost his daughter to this monster they were hunting.
Yes, he could understand why Kate was so passionate about the case that they had virtually no clues on.
Kate would have kicked him to know that less than an hour after she had left Grayson got the call about a body in Hogsmeade park.
Dorian Humbert had been first on the scene, but he had left to take care of the witness. Had she been a witness? No one had talked to her yet, though Grayson imagined that Dorian was doing so.
Grayson left immediately. He called Kate and left a message on her machine that they had a body then went to the scene itself. He was pleased that they called him before beginning any type of usual procedure. There were things he could see from the scene itself and it was better if the others didn't disturb it.
Taking down notes, mentally photographing everything, and gathering what intel he could he left to allow the rest of the crew to do their work.
Kate had come back immediately looking worse for the wear. They went over the evidence and had a profile to deliver by mid-afternoon.
They called in the others working the case to share what they had discerned.
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Post by Dorian Humbert on Sept 20, 2016 0:44:23 GMT -5
It had been several hours since he and Christine had left the park, and Dorian, always concerned about professionalism, worried that his absence would be noted. He wasn't foolish enough to think that simply because the others were occupied with an investigation, he would go unnoticed. He apparated into the Ministry and took the lift to the second level. He straightened his tie, although it didn't need it, and rapped his knuckles on the door of Grayson Steele's office.
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Post by Grayson Steele on Sept 20, 2016 1:01:09 GMT -5
"Ah Mr. Humbert, just in time." Grayson said looking up from his desk after Kate had opened the door.
"We're about to give a profile on the unsub. Our witness, did she have anything to add?"
Grayson was a seasoned detective with a photographic memory, he missed nothing, and had more insight and experience in the field than just about anybody. Still he never wore his intelligence or experience as a badge or shield, the man was charming and easy to get along with even Kate had warmed up to him.
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Post by Dorian Humbert on Sept 20, 2016 1:17:28 GMT -5
Dorian stepped inside, giving a polite nod to Kate. "Afternoon," he greeted them both. As always, it was right down to business. Dorian preferred this. "A few pieces, but nothing concrete." Dorian pulled a notebook from his breast pocket and flipped a few pages until he found the one he needed. While Christine had slept, Dorian transferred his notes of their conversation from the cocktail napkin to a notepad. He was thankful he had thought of it, as reading from a cocktail napkin may have appeared uncouth.
He began reading his notes aloud, paraphrasing as appropriate. "Ms. Mikaelson arrived at the scene near dawn, where the victim had already been left. She saw no signs of the struggle nor of any evidence that someone had been in that area recently. Although she saw no one else in the park that morning, she claimed she 'felt someone watching her'." He looked up from his notes and spoke directly to Grayson. "When pressed further she was unable to explain why she believed someone else was there, but she was adamant that she was being watched."
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Post by Kate Donaghy on Sept 20, 2016 1:24:14 GMT -5
"That fits the profile." Kate said wearily, " Gruesome death left in a public place. He wants to know that his "work" is being admired."
Kate's intuition and gut instincts were finer than most seasoned aurors. She graduated top of her class and had been the most successful out of the other trainees to become fully fledged aurors, but she had also been the most controversial. She didn't have Grayson's charm or unflappability. Kate was very flappable.
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Post by Dorian Humbert on Sept 20, 2016 1:42:16 GMT -5
Dorian had hoped that Christine's "feeling" of being watched was simply in her head. A byproduct of coming across such an astonishing display of unfathomable cruelty. But he knew that Grayson and Kate were rarely wrong once they put together a profile, so there had been someone in the park watching Christine. A chill ran down Dorian's spine.
"She said she lost her hotel key. Ms. Mikaelson ," he clarified needlessly. "She believes she dropped it in the park. Perhaps near the police box. I sent word, was it recovered?"
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Post by Kate Donaghy on Sept 20, 2016 1:58:25 GMT -5
"No." Kate answered swiftly catching Dorian's worry. Dorian was subtle about his emotions. Though Kate hadn't worked at the London office long she was skilled in reading people, but Dorian kept himself concealed, contained, rigid almost. It was different from the way Kate kept herself concealed by locking up anytime someone got too close. For Dorian it was almost as though nothing could penetrate through the calm facade and levelheaded coolness. So his worry was noteworthy.
"Nothing was recovered yet, but of course we'll keep up on it. Although perhaps it is within the witness's best interest if she is transferred to a safehouse until we can confirm that she isn't in any danger. At the very least we should have a guard posted with her at her hotel."
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Post by Dorian Humbert on Sept 20, 2016 2:19:12 GMT -5
A safe house it was not, but he had charmed the daylights out of Christine's room and felt comfortable with her being there for the time being, so long as she had a guard. "Agreed. I placed some standard security charms to ward off any ability to magically enter her hotel room, and alarmed the hallways. But a security detail seems prudent. We should also talk with the management about enchantments in the lobby and other common areas. The manager is a muggle, but his sister is a witch so he's not unfamiliar with some of the procedures." By procedures, Dorian meant spells.
He looked from Kate to Grayson. "A two man guard team, alternating 12-hour shifts. I have no other assignments, and don't mind volunteering. I can see if one of the other lads is available as well."
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Post by Grayson Steele on Sept 20, 2016 2:31:07 GMT -5
It didn't take a detective, or two particularly talented ones, to figure out that there was something ulterior in Dorian's motives.
Kate's eyes narrowed in suspiciously, having been too caught up with the case previously to dig her heels in Dorian's strange behavior, but just as she opened her mouth to comment on it Grayson interrupted.
"I'll speak to St. Clare. We appreciate your help on this Humbert. This one's different...it's been a long time since an unsub showed this kind of flare." Grayson's eyes revealed just how concerned he was, and Kate's unconscious gesture of tucking her short hair behind her ears gave away her concern as well. "Whoever this guy is, he's just getting started."
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Post by Dorian Humbert on Sept 20, 2016 2:46:06 GMT -5
Dorian nodded as Grayson mentioned Angelique. Everything had a process that must be followed. He understood that and needed no exceptions made. "If you don't need anything else, I'll put this into my report, "he said, referencing his notes, "and then go see about the hotel's enchantments."
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Post by Kate Donaghy on Sept 20, 2016 3:00:11 GMT -5
"Actually here." Kate said handing Dorian a thin file before he could leave, " We've put together a preliminary profile of the unsub, we're going to give a presentation in a few minutes, but you should probably be on witness detail and taking care of things on that end as you're ...familiar with the witness, but since you'll miss the presentation, these are the highlights."
Even Kate was impressed with Grayson's insight into the unsub's mind, just as he had been impressed with her observations, they worked well together and saw things that each other missed putting together a comprehensive file:
They were looking for a male unsub, 25 - 35. He'd be successful in his field. He'd also have medical training. He'd be more of a loner, but not socially awkward. He'd be meticulous in his personal life. He's also adaptable to his surroundings capable of either charming or putting at ease a variety of victims. And so on, and so on.
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Post by Dorian Humbert on Sept 21, 2016 2:42:44 GMT -5
Kate didn't hesitation didn't last but a moment, but Dorian noticed it as if it was an elephant charging into the room. ...Familiar with the witness. Yes, he was familiar with her, as in he had met her and gotten her statement, but Kate's pause seemed to insinuate something that was obviously more to the truth of the matter. However, Dorian didn't let on that he noticed anything in her comments.
Dorian took the file that was offered to him, and flipped through the few pages inside. They make psychopaths so young these days, he though as he read the suspect's assumed age. And medical training. They always had some sort of formal training. Why was it always the clever ones? He supposed the answer to this question was that the dumb ones were caught by the beat cops, and didn't make it to the level of requiring Aurors.
Looking up from the file, Dorian asked "do we have an ID on the victim yet? Any possible connection to other cases?" Reading over this man's possible skill set, Dorian became concerned again for Christine's safety. The hotel key had not been recovered, the murderer had possibly been watching Christine for her response to his "art," and he potentially had a set of skills that would make gaining access to her even easier that Dorian had hoped. He silently prayed that there was some sort of pattern that Christine did not fit into.
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Post by Kate Donaghy on Sept 21, 2016 2:50:18 GMT -5
"Her name is Penny Young. Age 23. No family or acquaintances have come forward yet, we're looking for next of kin. So far the unsub seems to favor young women." Kate answered, "Two of them students at the school, the last a little older, but all have vastly different backgrounds, ethnicity is different for each of the victims as well, there isn't anything more concrete to connect them."
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Post by Dorian Humbert on Sept 21, 2016 3:03:41 GMT -5
If there was one thing Dorian was certain of, it was that they would eventually discover some sort of pattern. Then his mind could be at ease. As it stood, Christine, along with a large chunk of the population, could fit the varied profile. A school-aged to early twenties, female.
Closing the file, Dorian handed it back to Kate. "I'll let you know if Ms. Mikaelson remembers anything else, after I check in on her."
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Post by Kate Donaghy on Sept 21, 2016 13:05:39 GMT -5
Kate wished she could be as certain as Dorian, not that she was giving up, that wasn't in her dna, but all the signs were pointing to a long term assignment, and whowever the killer was, he was careful, meticulous, he wasn't making any mistakes. The pressure was increasing and Kate wasn't sure she could handle everything coming her way.
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Post by Felicia Campbell on Sept 21, 2016 18:25:47 GMT -5
Felicia got the message a little late. Unlike Grayson and Kate, who were used to being among muggles, Felicia's message had been delivered by owl, which meant it had taken a little longer. As soon as she got the message, she hurried down to the Ministry to see what was going on. Hopefully Angelique would be soon to follow, she thought, as she entered the auror office, and saw several of the other aurors assembled.
"Looks like I'm late to the party," she commented. "Someone want to give me a rundown of the latest situation? Is this our guy again?"
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Post by Kate Donaghy on Sept 21, 2016 20:01:31 GMT -5
Even though Kate had a rough start at the London office, she found working with Grayson to be an enlightening experience. She was honestly surprised how warm this office had been toward her, where she had only ever met opposition before because of her age, sex, attractiveness, history, or less than welcoming behavior. It was hard to keep up that behavior when the people were kind to her, and above all when they were damned good at their jobs. Like Grayson, who had more patience than a saint, but pushed Kate to be the best auror she could be, and Angelique, who went to bat for Kate just because she worked for her, even working with the MLE was different here than it was in the states.
She may have had issues with some of the officers, but in time with the three victims they had, she learned that she wasn't the only one who cared about the truth or was passionate about bringing criminals to justice.
That's why she had no problem handing Felicia the file she just got back from Dorian, along with fresh coffee, guessing the woman had also possibly just come from a full shift.
"Looks like it."
Kate somewhat admired the no nonsense MLE department head. She, like the Auror department head, was tough but fair. No one seemed to look down on them because they were women, attractive, or still quite young. No one even seemed to notice these things, because they were so remarkable at their jobs. Well almost no one, even if Kate wasn't Grayson's partner or a gifted detective, it wasn't difficult to see how his eyes softened whenever Felicia came in the room. Even that didn't bother Kate as it might have at the other office. She knew Grayson, or felt like she did. He would never harass Felicia, or be lewd, or use his position and rank to force her into any compromise. He was a gentleman, and Felicia could more than take care of herself. Also Angelique, not to mention the majority of the Aurors and MLE officers Kate had met, would skin him alive for doing anything untoward against one of their own.
As terrifying as it was for Kate to accept help from others, she was starting to trust these people. It was almost as if they were becoming family to her.
"Found her in Hogsmeade Park this morning."
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Post by Grayson Steele on Sept 21, 2016 20:07:05 GMT -5
Grayson was not as consumed with inner turmoil as his younger counterpart seemed to be over the working environment. He knew Angelique ran a tough and capable ship, and while he hadn't known Felicia long he'd been impressed by her dedication to the job. He was consumed with inner turmoil when it came to the exotic beauty herself however.
The office wasn't the ideal place to find romance, most of the time the things they were dealing with didn't leave much room for positive emotions, but Grayson also knew that when you found someone who made the horrors recede, then they were worth holding on to. Felicia could do that when she entered a room, did that every time she entered a room, and Grayson was more than conflicted.
"Her name is Penny Young. She's the third victim, again young, attractive, female, but nothing else ties her to either of the other victims."
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Post by Felicia Campbell on Sept 21, 2016 21:28:17 GMT -5
Felicia took the file and opened it, but looked up at Kate as she spoke. As always, Kate was right to the point, agreeing that the latest victim was likely the work of the same killer who had attacked twice before. It was a troubling thought. As if it weren't bad enough that they had Death Eaters running around cursing muggleborns, now it looked like they had a serial killer on their hands, and it was already taking multiple departments to try and track him down before he killed again. Worse, they seemed to be failing.
She glanced back down at the file, looking at the poor girl's lifeless face in the crime scene photos, before casting her eye over to Mr. Steele. She always found herself a bit distracted when the man spoke--there was just something in his commanding presence that drew attention. The man had passion, and it was evident in every word he spoke.
"Poor girl," she said sadly. "Do we have a cause of death yet?"
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Post by Grayson Steele on Sept 22, 2016 0:17:30 GMT -5
"Exsanguination." Grayson answered grimly. The woman had been drained of blood, and according to the numerous contusions on the body, it was not a gentle death. The girl had been tortured.
It was at that moment that another person entered the office, "Sir, I believe we've found next of kin."
Grayson nodded.
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