chapter 12

Lin's presence in Knockturn Alley no longer drew curious looks. She passed among its residents not in the least perturbed and paid more attention to her inner voices than to the nervous vigilance which tended to disturb those who never ventured into the twisted alley before.

Her last conversation with Arpina had suffered from a misunderstanding, as they had been thinking about different men. Arpina had not said her lover's name because it was painful, and Lin had deemed herself poor at consoling crying women and thus had avoided anything upsetting that could interrupt her questioning. To her regret, she could no longer spare Arpina's feelings because the woman was in danger and had to be placed somewhere within the Ministry for her protection. Following Arpina's initial explanation, Lin could believe that Nox would not confide in his lover whose neck he would readily cut if it expanded his power. Ansel had been completely different. He would have told Aprina something to prove his honourable intentions to marry her.

When she reached the brothel, Lin went through the familiar gap to the back of the building and climbed up the ladder. She had no desire to be delayed by the attendant again. A small circle where the Squishie had been attached was visible on the glass. Lin peeked into the room, only to withdraw swiftly when she saw a man moving towards the window. He did not notice her. His silhouette swept past the half-closed curtain. Lin peeked inside, noticing a turned over table and a broken glass on the floor. The man appeared again, kicking the shards aside and kneeling to examine the floor. He did not look like anyone from the Ministry. Lin recalled a man who had vanished on her who had also attempted to get Arpina to confide in him. Perhaps, he had decided to search Arpina's room, but Lin had yet to find out what had happened to the woman. The man was in a vulnerable position with his back to the window. Lin decided to stun him and then determine who he was.

The wizard jumped unexpectedly as she reached for her wand and turned around directly to face her. The ladder shook from the force of the explosion. The window and the frame went flying outwards. Lin released slippery bars, falling. A shower of broken glass followed her. A curtain fell on top of Lin, obscuring her view. She sensed that more than one person was running past her.

"Hold it! You're under arrest!"

She recognised that voice. McLee! Lin instantly pushed the curtain aside and jumped to her feet, but she only saw someone disappearing around the corner. Cursing him for the ill timing, Lin climbed into the window carefully, avoiding multiple shards that could cut flesh.

The room was a disaster. The paintings were ripped off the walls, the flower pots turned over, with the earth soiling everything near by. Part of the wall was damaged and grinning at Lin like a large, toothless mouth. It was the work of a maniac, single-mindedly bent on finding one thing. The smell in the room was revolting. It was the smell of burned flesh.

In harmony with this chaos, Arpina's body lay on the floor. Lin recognised a golden hairclip that was set in the woman's hair, which was now burned and mixed with the earth. Magic bonds that had held her in place during the torture no longer existed, but she had no power to get up, nor would she ever.

Lin crouched down beside Arpina, discovering that she was still alive, but that nothing could save her. Green mist surrounded Arpina up to her waist, and it was slowly rising. It was a decay curse which painfully ate away the body. The only one who had the power to stop the curse was the one who cast it; otherwise, only an amputation of the stricken area could stop its progress. The interrogator must have used it as a last resort. That man had wanted information, so he had kept her alive as long as possible, until she broke from pain. Arpina was going to die in agony.

"Arpina," Lin said loudly, "can you hear me? I am Auror Snow."

The woman's mouth half-opened, revealing still unbroken teeth, perhaps the only part of her that was not damaged. Lin looked away from her face. The sightless eyes that used to sparkle with life were gorges of abscesses and blood, cut vertically in half with a nail.

"Who was that man who tortured you? What did he want from you?" Seeing that her words caused no reaction she continued stubbornly. "I know Ansel must have told you something important, told or perhaps given. Do you think this man was the one who killed him for that information before coming to you? You need to tell me, so I can find his killers. His soul cannot rest in peace until this is done. It will keep returning to earth because everyone keeps disturbing his memories. Help me free him from this burden."

Arpina stirred, affected by her last words. Lin nearly gasped when Arpina brushed her mutilated fingers across her wrist. The maniac must have twisted and broken them one by one.

White fog surrounded them both, bringing forth new images.

There was Ansel, standing in the same room they were in, except it was still intact. He was smiling, looking happier than Lin could ever remember him looking.

"I have done it," he told Arpina, who sat across from him. "I only need one last clue." He laughed briefly and waved his hand to an open bottle of wine. "I thought we deserved a small celebration."

Arpina smiled at him, dropping her shoulder charmingly. "Ah," she said knowingly, "so this is why you warned me in advance to prepare for your coming."

The gesture had an effect because Ansel went around the table and sat beside her, kissing her hands. "Soon," he promised seriously, "you will have a real celebration."

Arpina wrapped her arms around his neck, and the room fell into tender whispers, rustling of clothes and soft cries.

At the height of their passion, Ansel suddenly pushed her away. In confusion, Arpina tried to embrace him again and then recoiled in mute horror. His face was distorted by an anguished grimace. His body bent in half, and a strangled cry escaped his lips that were rapidly turning blue. He rolled off the bed in convulsions, clutching his throat. Bloodied foam appeared on his lips.

Arpina fled the room, clutching her own throat. In the corridor she bumped into the caretaker and flailed her hands wildly, making strangled sounds. Mrs Strant grabbed her and dragged her back to her room. There, Arpina finally shrieked, but Mrs Strant pressed her hand firmly against her mouth. "Be silent," she ordered in a deadly voice. "Stay here and put something on while I call for the Healer."

Arpina followed her order, but she kept glancing back at the body of her lover.

The caretaker came back soon, followed by the owner. "Are you certain that we shouldn't call for a Healer, Mr Nogent?" she was asking him uncertainly.

The owner of the brothel examined the still body. "It's too late," he informed them coldly.

Arpina shrieked again, and Mrs Strant slapped her. She grabbed Arpina's shoulders and shook her, although she, herself, was shaking from fear. "What have you done? How could this have happened? Do you have any idea what will happen to us now? We will be shut down because of you! We'll be lucky if that's the worst that happens to us! Where will we go? What will we do?"

"I don't know! I swear I didn't kill him!" Arpina sunk to the floor in a hopeless heap. "I would never hurt him! I didn't kill him, I didn't, I swear!"

"Then who did?" Mrs Strant hissed at her.

"Be quiet, both of you!" Nox barked at them. "Has anyone else seen this?"

"There was no one else in the hall when Arpina ran into me," said the caretaker, calming down somewhat.

"Then we have to clean up this mess before anyone sees it," Nox decided. In his life, he must have dealt with many similar circumstances that involved victims. He knew what to do with them. "Take care of the room, and I will dispose of the body. We should be able to hide the evidence. I don't think anyone knew that he came here. I doubt he would broadcast his evening plans." He looked at both women as if to determine whether he could count on them. "I don't need to tell either of you to keep your mouths shut. Got it?"

"Yes, sir," said Mrs Strant.

Arpina slowly nodded.

As she did so, the memory became clouded by fog, bringing Lin back to the mutilated body.

"I confess," Arpina whispered, "I killed him, but heaven knows I would have died for him."

"You are not the one who killed him." Lin put as much conviction as she could into her voice. "Someone used you to get to him. You are not the one to blame."

"Do you think Ansel will forgive me?"

"There is nothing to forgive."

Arpina smiled as unexpected hope took root in her heart. "Then you should take this as I won't need it any longer. No one could have found it without my permission."

"Take what?" Lin wondered, seeing how Arpina was slipping away from the world.

"Put your hand on my heart," Arpina requested. "I will give it to you."

Lin did as she was told, wary of the green mist that hovered so close to her hand. It was an unpleasant sensation being near it, although she knew that the curse focused on only one living being and did not spread to others.

Arpina gathered her strength to whisper the chant clearly, "Come forth, that which lies within me, in between dead and living."

Lin felt something materialising under her palm. It was a key, as small as a little finger. "What is this?" she questioned.

But Arpina no longer owed this world even a second of her attention. Her mind was flying away to re-connect with her missing lover. "He called me his Trinovantes Queen," she whispered as the green mist touched her heart.

Lin hid the key in her pocket and got up. She approached the window for a gulp of fresh air. The alley was dim. She wondered if McLee had managed to catch that man.

Someone behind her cleared his throat, and she unhurriedly turned around. It was a Healer, judging by the white robes with a crest of St Mungo's engraved on the pocket.

"Hello," he greeted Lin, looking at her suspiciously. He had no idea who she was, found at the scene of the crime.

"This is our operative," said McLee, coming up behind the Healer.

The Healer accepted the explanation and went to examine the body. He muttered a few diagnostic spells and then materialised a white blanket, throwing it over the corpse. "She must be taken to the morgue," he told them. "It is up to you to request further analysis, but the cause seems more than clear."

"Go for it," said McLee, making a point not to stare.

Lin approached the Auror. "Did you capture that man?"

"One of them. The other injured David badly. I had to stop to take one to the hospital and the other to jail. I got the Healer to come with me from the same hospital."

"Unlike the Healer, you weren't surprised to see me."

"You always have plenty of luck in stumbling onto random clues. I have been keeping a close eye on you since we went to Inwood's house."

"In other words, you have eavesdropped on my conversation with his daughter."

"Yes, and don't bother looking for the picture. It is no longer in your pocket."

"I didn't expect that from you."

"Don't try to make me feel guilty. You should have shared that information with us. Remember, those were Shacklebolt's orders, but you were always fond of playing with the exceptions to the rules." Noting Lin's expression, he added more peacefully, "I knew I had to beat you in finding this woman. I told David to come with me after we established her identity by the picture. When we got here, that door attendant got all dodgy and refused to let us in, even with the identification. He called his manager, rather unpleasant witch with red hair. I smelled something wrong and acted accordingly."

"She is the caretaker," Lin corrected him, accepting the situation. There was no point in getting angry, even if she was tempted to ask McLee how much information he had shared with her up to this moment. "We better talk to her before she decides to run for it too. The victim made a confession before her death. Ansel was murdered in the room next to this one, and the caretaker took an active role in disposing of the evidence."

McLee seemed satisfied that he was right about Lin's luck. "I think we should talk to her too."

Leaving the Healer to do his work, they both headed to the lobby. The blue-haired attendant was absent.

"Why are you stalling behind that desk?" asked McLee.

"Hold on, there was a journal somewhere." Lin ran her wand across the surface of the desk and then tapped it twice. The journal appeared, hovering above the desk. Lin grabbed it. McLee did not waste his time observing. He found a person who showed them the way to the caretaker's office.

Just like Arpina's room, it was at the back of the Retreat. It looked similar, with the exception of much larger windows. Mrs Strant was not present. "There she is," said Lin as she pulled aside a curtain to check outside. Mrs Strant was out at the back, frantically covering up a hole in the ground. Lin opened the window and jumped outside, closely followed by McLee. "Can I help you?" she asked loudly.

Mrs Strant turned around and gasped, dropping a bottle that was soiled by dirt. McLee had excellent reflexes. He caught the bottle before it hit the ground.

It was simple. When people panic, they always hurry to grab their most cherished possessions, or in this case, an item that caused Mrs Strant endless fear of it being discovered. "Hold it tight, McLee," said Lin. "Ansel was poisoned by the contents of that bottle."

"I don't know what you are talking about." Mrs Strant paled.

"Luckily, we do," said McLee. He was quite intimidating, towering over the woman. "Murder and covering up the clues of it is enough to be locked up for a very long time. Only complete cooperation will lessen the punishment."

"But I didn't kill him!" Mrs Strant exclaimed. She was not particularly clever, but had a good understanding when her well-being was concerned. Her mediocre mind turned slowly to a new track. "I swear, when that client died, Arpina came to me, and I instantly wanted to call the Healers, but Mr Nogent forbade me from doing so. He came to get the Retreat's revenues that day, and he was in the lobby. He saw me, and I had to confess to him what had happened. I would have behaved differently otherwise. He was in charge, and there was something about him I cannot really explain, but I was afraid of him, not just because he could fire me. Afterwards, I was afraid to confess."

"Why were you hiding the bottle then?" asked McLee, not any kinder than before. His pity had long been dulled by numerous lies he had heard from those who had tried to save their skins from justice.

"Mr Nogent left, taking the body with him. Arpina was of no use, so I was cleaning up the mess by myself, and I found this bottle. That wizard had had unnatural blue lips. Whatever was inside that bottle was to blame, I had thought at once. But I'm not the one who made the wine. I didn't know what to do with the bottle because if I tried to destroy it, there was no way of knowing how the product might interact with magic. I didn't want it to explode. So, I just buried it and tried not to think about its existence until you showed up."

"How did this bottle get into Arpina's room?" asked Lin.

"We have a wine cellar. Mostly, it is ordered by clients who watch the show, but sometimes they request a bottle to be taken to their room."

"So, Arpina went to the cellar, took the bottle..."

"Not really. She doesn't have the key. We have a manager, Melvin, in charge of the drinks and food distribution. He controls access to the cellar."

"With the exception of you and the owner, can anyone else borrow the keys from him?"

"He is not supposed to give them to anyone else."

"I have been informed that Mr Nogent collected his revenues each Tuesday. Did he explain why he came here on Sunday?" Lin shot McLee a surprised look. How did he find out so much detail in such a short time?

Mrs Strant was surprised by the abrupt change in conversation and took a moment to reply. "He told me that he would be busy on Tuesday and he wanted to get the money in advance. He must have had some business with that man who came with him, but who chose to wait for him outside."

"What man? What did he look like?" McLee looked like a big anaconda about to swallow his prey. He was a hunter.

"I didn't see anyone. I just suspected it was so because when the journal with the accounts page went missing, Mr Nogent was displeased and told me that someone was waiting for him. He was not always alone. Not that day, but I have seen him, a few times, walking towards the Retreat with a companion, but then his companion never went inside and has walked past while Mr Nogent came in to collect his money."

"I think we can return to the Ministry now," said Lin, thinking that Mrs Strant should not be informed who they were suspecting. McLee's questions were too obvious. "You will have to come with us, Mrs Strant."

The woman tensed, only for an instant eyeing the narrow alley like it was her only escape, and then hung her head in defeat. "As you wish," she said flatly.

Lin felt about the same way, even if they had uncovered an important clue. She suspected this capture would not go unnoticed by others and a long meeting would be called to discuss the sad results. She knew this meeting would not bring her anything positive.