23 January 2012
Monday at 2pm, a few hours after the crime scene had been cleared and the letter re-assembled
Improper Use of Magic Office

Zora Roh didn't have far to walk for her next interview, just down the hall to the Improper Use of Magic office. She was going to speak with Sameera Taylor, the team's deputy head. Interdepartmental cooperation had been the name of the game since Zephyr was Minister, but it wasn't always easy when the main question is: oi, think maybe your lot is involved in two murders.

   "Hold tight, Roh," said Taylor's front line of defense against meetings.

Zora hadn't bothered to call ahead. Things had to move quickly. They had a pattern now and no reason to think the letters would stop. It was a horrible shame that it took a second death to break a real lead.

She ran her fingers through her thick black hair and paced the floor, skimming the placards and public service warnings on the wall. One of them had teddy bears with a serious warning to under age wix that nothing short of Azkaban could await them for even warming their breakfast pastries with a wand out of school bounds.

Sameera had been picking up some long-deserved files from various offices when she'd heard the gossip: Improper Use was on the killing letter. It had been whispered amidst two passing witches so they hadn't seen the deputy, but the deputy had to restrain herself from chasing them down for more details. Level Two would eventually inform them - they were, after all, on the same floor. If someone couldn't make the effort of walking the five metres down from their offices, it'd say a lot about the lousy interdepartmental communication that seemed to be the name of the game lately.

She arrived, slightly flustered, at the office several minutes later than she had intended. Dieter was not in - possibly called away to investigate a field case. Mordecai had briefly gone to address something, he hadn't informed her. Either way, her stomach churned at the sight of the senior auror in the office.

"I apologise for making you wait," said the deputy, hurriedly setting her files down onto her desk. "We don't get many people dropping by here - but am I correct in saying that our office has been involved in something? Word travels fast," she added a little defensively. "But I'd like to know for posterity, and I'm sure Hollingbury will too."

Zora offered a cursory smile as she followed the hurried Sameera Taylor into her office. She wasn't the type to immediately take a seat. Instead she approached the desk and opened a file for Sameera. There was a single page.

It was a copy of the offending letter, pieced back together meticulously. There must have been a thousand bits. It didn't line up perfectly, but it was legible.

"It's possible," Zora said. "We think the last one from the Floo Network was a forgery; if it is, it's a very good one."

The artifact looked just like the official communications they sent out. The content was a bit convoluted but it was basically a follow up to some previous communication about a report of an authorized magic on one of the Prewett's properties. The follow up saying to disregard the previous note. If they were honest, this was the kind of red tape the Ministry excelled at.

"What do you make of it? Is it yours? Have your lot been communicating with Prewett?" Zora asked directly but without aggression. Sameera Taylor was one of theirs; Zora would have to admit she gave her the benefit of the doubt even if they couldn't conclusively rule anyone out.

The Aurors were floating a few theories. There'd been a theft of official documents somehow, or it was forged in-house. Entirely possible the letter was legitimate and had been intercepted and cursed en route.

"Trying to figure out if this is an inside job."

She looked it over once, twice. A frown creased her brow, and without an answer she headed over to one of the many folders that surrounded her desk on a wall shelf, pulling one off and flipping open the heavy cover. After several pages of looking, checking and minor squinting she unclipped one of the pages and returned to where Roh was standing, paper in hand, and slid it alongside the offending item as a comparison.

The writing on it had similarities - it was an urging the dismissal of a previous notice that had been sent to the wrong address. But it was unmistakable that it hadn't been meant for Ignatius Prewett III, much less a Prewett - it was addressed to a Samuel Ainsworth instead, in the East Midlands.

"The Board," said Sameera, indicating the large map on one side of the office wall, "sends automated mail as a notification when it detects the use of unauthorised magic or breaking of the Trace. It was in late December last year when we sent this one shortly after when we discovered that one of the charms on the Board was becoming faulty and noted the wrong address, just down the street if I recall. We have never contacted any of the Prewetts in recent months." She left it there for Roh to take a look for herself, brow still furrowed.

"If anything, it could just be a perfect copy that was altered or forged. But I'm not sure who in this office would do that, because I created that letter myself." The deputy head laid a finger on her lips as she looked thoughtful and troubled. "This is the original for record purposes; the one sent to the recipient was a copy, and I'm sure they received it. I did all of the filing for that on the same day..." A thought struck her and she glanced up, distess in her expression. "I... I wouldn't... knowingly send a letter meant to be a murder tool. That's against what this office stands for."

Zora looked up from the letter and shook her head a little. "No, of course not. Just trying to guard all the hoops."

Like the Floo Network the source of the letter from the IUM office was part of a mostly automated process documented thoroughly with well-kept records. There was going to be a crack somewhere though. Zora had tried to keep her suspicions under wraps, but she had a sinister suspicion that it was Theodora Kingstreet who had found the crack. The Azkaban prisoner wasn't allowed a paperclip let alone stationary. It didn't seem possible she'd be able to do this. But her threats against the MInistry were heartfelt, many, and recent.

Zora would need to try to keep an open mind, but she felt like the answer was smoldering in her face. She took a breath and shook her head.

"How do you know the letter made it to Ainsworth? Does anyone else handle the outgoing post?"

Despite the auror's reassurance Sameera wasn't so sure. If something wasn't secure in Improper Use, it was a serious matter. Like all cases dealing with law, sensitive information was liable to get out. She was, of course, unaware of what Auror Roh was thinking regarding how this could have happened.

"I'm the only person who oversees the outgoing mail, but most of the time the process is automated," she said, turning to look back at the Board. "I'm not always here to check, and normally the charms work like, well, a charm. I can't say for certain whether Ainsworth received it, but the previous notice sent was asking one of his neighbours to come to the Office on a specific date." She turned back to Roh.

"That he didn't - and we met his neighbour to clear things up regarding their case on the appointed date - more than implies that he did receive this one and passed the original message to his neighbour. The previous notice had the wrong address, but the right name was inside." Sameera squinted a little. "Do you... does Level Two have an inkling of who's behind this, or who the next target is? Either way I'm going to have to inform Hollingbury that one of our letters was either forged or repurposed."

Zora jotted notes down as Taylor answered questions. She didn't sound like she was hiding anything, but there was a tension there. Zora could understand that; there was reason to think this Office may have been infiltrated somehow and that was enough to put anyone on edge.

"Hollingbury, sure, but no one else," Zora said without looking up. Natural that she'd inform her boss and Zora didn't doubt this would be the last time she'd be poking her head in.

"Can't speak to theories at this time," Zora said looked back up to Taylor. It was too early to be leaking things around, especially if there was a narrow possibility IUM had been compromised.

"But it's safe to say that three is a much rounder number than two, and the next target is going to Wizengamot. We're still looking into any other connections between the victims."

It was a real pleasure, honestly, to speak with another office and not get blocked out. Probably helped that IUM was part of the MLE. She can't imagine the pain in her arse of having to bother with Mysteries or Creatures. Or let alone Games and Sports. They were a mess, an utter mess.

The next target was going to Wizengamot?! Though Mordecai would not draw attention to it Sameera was well aware that her boss was part of the court. And more than two? This was difficult for her to take in.

But as Roh said, theories would only be theories for now and she could imagine the panic that would set in if the information was called too early without certainty - or if their culprit caught wind that Level Two suspected something and stopped before they could be tracked down. It was partially why Improper Use on its own was secretive otherwise. There was at least this level of understanding between the separate offices of the floor, even if the lack of communication became a tad infuriating sometimes.

"Well, alright," she conceded, folding her arms with a crisp sound from her sleeves sliding over each other. "I can try my best to help, not sure how much that worked out for you, but we will do our best to contribute. After all, this counts under improper use of magic." It certainly did give a new meaning to 'the pen is mightier than the sword'.

"I'm certain Hollingbury will agree to helping out in the investigation. He may not be present at the moment, but I know him well enough that he'd say so. Do you have anymore questions for me, Roh, or would you want to wait around to personally inform Hollingbury? I understand if you're busy," she added.

Zora laughed just a little in spite of herself.

"You're not wrong..."  Yes, this absolutely was an improper use of magic. The most improper use, most would agree. It really made one think why they were all here.

"We're going to want to speak with Ainsworth and the neighbor," Zora responded matter-of-factly.  She flipped her notes shut and took a breath. Taylor was thorough and helpful and Zora had never heard of anything to indicated she didn't keep this place running ship-shape.  Zora felt she owed Taylor something for it, but it really wasn't her way to pepper reassurances around.  She was happy for the assurances that Hollingbury would cooperate, although he didn't really have an option. Someone was using the Ministry's own working to murder. They'd all better assist in this investigation.

"You can fill in Hollingbury, but no alarms just yet. Business as usual." Technically, Hollingbury outranked a Senior Auror so he could always go over her head to Pratt if he wanted more information than Zora was ready to spread around.

Zora picked up her file and nodded. "Thank you. You've been helpful."

"Business as usual," agreed Sameera. That was one thing Improper Use was good at, at least. "Fair. If you want to send over the murder implements for analysis, I can fit Morgenstern in but not tell him why." Dieter would know better than to ask if she told him the matter was sensitive, frankly.

"I hope you find what you need with Ainsworth," she told Roh. "The neighbour in question is a pleasant lady in her thirties, a Aisling Davenport. Don't mention her duck and you'll be on good terms with her." There was no explaining the duck in simple terms and Sameera did not want to hold Roh up any longer than necessary. "Good luck with the investigation, Roh."

She watched the auror leave before shutting the door and turning to stare at the folder from which she'd retrieved the original letter for comparison. Hollingbury wasn't going to get angry with her, but she'd better check the files for her own peace of mind. Just in case.