“No signs of spells cast here, of our kind at least.” Nad confirmed, though they were pretty much sure, Ceph appreciated her attention to detail in checking. Despite her acerbic personality at times, she did follow procedure. “...struggled though. Her nail polish is all chipped, he’s got a head wound. Could one of you have overpowered them both?” There was venom in that, but Tristan answered easily and simply about it.

“...Bruises, scrapes. It's what we would call a sloppy job, they either did not care about being found, or they wanted to be.” That wasn’t good news. If they wanted to do this to make a statement, rather than just out of hunger, then there was an underlying issue or axe one of them wanted to grind. Whether it was a rogue or whether it was an existing thorn in their side, Ceph didn’t know. He wasn’t about to line up all the most grumbling vampires on the register to check where they were that night.

“So we are looking for a new vampire. Or one that did not claim blood at the hospital. Or just a greedy vampire?” His sister asked, though Ceph could tell without looking by her tone that she was not convinced that they were narrowing things down. “Is the squib network checking the muggle cameras? I know it will not show up but it is worth a try. The bodies are laid out side by side like they are sleeping. They did not just dump them. I say they wanted them to be found. They want to show they can and they had enough time to do that."

“They are,” one of level three’s bods confirmed to Andie, pleased to be able to contribute. Behind them, Ceph saw the approaching figure of someone he very much didn’t expect to appear here. Jacqueline Devereux had stepped into his father’s shoes in February, taking charge of the Department of Mysteries. Ceph didn’t know all that much about her, but was always a bit uneasy around her. She wasn’t the most likeable character.

“There’s a lightbulb joke here,” Ceph muttered, exchanging a glance with Tristan and his sister, who he thought might get the Muggle reference.

“It’s obvious that this was a deliberate attack. And this was no new vampire – freshly turned vampires rarely have the restraint to keep things so tidy.”

Her muscling in on the situation was not appreciated by Pratt, who at least had someone else to direct his irritations towards.
“Jacqueline is the Head of the Department of Mysteries,” Ceph uttered to his favoured consultant. “Perhaps you were mistaken in hearing there were dementors at the scene?” Cepheus suggested with a smile that feigned innocence, happy to back Pratt up on this one.

“There’s a lightbulb joke here,"
“Ms Devereux, this is a crime scene with the main mystery being ‘who done it?’ As far as I am aware, no one mentioned this to your office because it has nothing to do with you at present. Could you kindly explain why you have shown up to my crime scene?” Nadine got back to her feet, looking smug, though she turned her shoulder a little away from the Department Head while she examined the driving licences of the two deceased.

“Boss,” she uttered beneath the interruptions, to Pratt, “As it’s getting so crowded, I’ll take a ‘bliv and go see the families.” Seeing agreement[1] she jerked her head to the most docile obliviator of the three. Together, they headed up the alley before disapparating.

Exit Nadine

1.	Checked with Mel

"Suddenly everyone's an expert." Andie grumbled. She was happy Nadine and an obliviator was gone. It was crowded. Andromeda made notes. "Have there been any other cases?" Andromeda asked. She ignored the Head of Mysteries. Andie was here to do her job. "Muggles been bitten in the last few decades?" She shone her wand on the wall. She was looking for a message. If this was a protest then one might be there.

Everybody, thought Tristan, thinks they are an expert. The sentiment was later echoed by Andromeda Gamp.

He bristled at Devereaux's interruption... she was predictably inexact. But the vampire wasn't the only one annoyed by her arrival, as Aurors and level four alike questioned the presence of an unwelcome party. The more odious of Aurors didn't seem particularly impressed and left the rest of them to deal with the new predicament.[1]

Tristan's eyes followed Nadine only for a moment before he turned back to the investigation.

"Freshly turned vampires don't waste blood, unless they are extremely recent - in which case we would find more than this incident in one night..." he did not look at Jacqueline and proceeded to ignore her as it did seem that she had nothing constructive to add - better to address Andromeda. She wasn't as blatantly uninformed as Pratt. "You are therefore looking for either an older vampire who wants to be noticed, with a sadistic streak. Or a younger vampire, or any combination thereof. This could have been a snack, between two persons."

It was important for him to recapitulate the details: Tristan did not want the Aurors using inaccurate information to find their suspect.

He glanced at Cepheus, then finally at the Head Auror. "To my recollection, there have only been isolated cases of vampire attacks of muggles in the last twenty five years."[2]

1.	Note: Attempts have been made to contact Michael but we'll be pressing on with the thread in his absence.
2.	Before the second wizarding war.

Andie turned and listened to Tristan.
"So a vampire on a publicity trip. Or a binge." She summarised. "And we look for others." She thought happy thoughts. He panther patronus exploded from her wand. She sent a message back to base. The squibs would find other bodies. She gave Madam Lumpkin a sharp look. If this was another Level 9 experiment she was going to get really mad. "I have never dealt with one." Andie confessed. Tristan said they were rare so she did not feel bad. "Is there official protocol for this Boss?" She asked Pratt.

Cepheus watched his sister comb the scene out the corner of his eye. He had begun to note things down in his pocketbook. He’d have to write a report up later, and it felt as if things might escalate, what with suggestions there was a risk of more victims.
“Ones reported publicly, yes.” Cepheus agreed with Tristan’s estimation. He looked to Pratt, “Bit hard to track near misses, not always reported to Muggles, and even then, often logged sceptically by the police, or recorded at hospitals as animal bites.”

Andromeda had the foresight to ask Level 3’s network to get on with a search for patterns in muggle emergency reports that night. Cepheus suspected if there were any, they might not reveal themselves until morning when daylight found bodies.
“Right, before this gets contaminated any more, Ed…” Cepheus retreated away from the scene, giving the Head Auror full charge of the scene since Andromedas was asking her superior’s advice.

Cepheus gestured to Tristan to follow so they could confer.
“No sources you can follow up,” he asked in a low voice, “amongst the community? I don’t want this to be pointing fingers, because if this is someone who for whatever reason, is feeding because they don’t know or have no better, we need to get them to the right places. And if it’s not, then we need to know why before the pitchfork brigade begins.”

Too many people were already on the scene. That problem, mixed in with the presence of Mr Walkingdead, was greatly irking the Head Auror as he stared down at the bodies in the alley. Protocol said it was his scene as there’d been a crime, but Ed could only imagine how much his once pristine crime scene was now contaminated and imperfect. Raynor would have had a fit. Ed just stared, lips pressed together as she considered the plan of action and Pinn left the scene.

Bright green eyes finally landed on his fellow auror and Pratt shook his head.
“Not that I’m aware of. Not heard of an attack like this in a long time.” It was something they’d have to read up on. “We’ll have to swot up with the legal team back at Level 2.”

But something the other Gamp sibling said irked the auror and he turned to face his old school mate.
“Right now I don’t care for reasons why this blood sucker killed two innocent muggles; I want him caught. The right place is a bloody Azbakan cell regardless of how unknowledgable they are about feeding.”

A pause as Ed eyed the vampire once more for a moment. “Yer gonna to need to clear the scene. Level 2 personnel only. I’ll forward everyting onto ye.”

Tristan acquiesced to the division head's desire to distance themselves from the crime scene - it was clear that work had to be done by level two, and further consultation could wait until more concrete information was within their grasp. Cepheus posed a fair question as they retreated slightly from the aurors.

"And if it’s not, then we need to know why before the pitchfork brigade begins."
       A soft light entered the vampire's dark eyes, if only for this unexpectedly sensible approach to the matter : but Pratt wasn't one for tact. "Right now I don’t care for reasons why this blood sucker killed two innocent muggles; I want him caught...."

That word. Blood sucker. Black eyebrows rose slightly at the slur, so casually used by the Head Auror. Tristan had heard much worse in the past but never whilst he occupied a position like this. It was strange. Like being allowed backstage at the Ministry, where guards were lowered and officials were shown to be the bigots they truly were.

He wondered if this information was more valuable to the head of the DMLE, or the press. Tristan ignored Ed and turned back to Cepheus diffidently. "I will make enquiries where necessary," he met the man in the eye. "Tonight, in fact."

There were covens beyond the reach of Aurors who he might visit, and all of them far better company than some of the humans here. Glancing at the Aurors, Tristan inclined his head. "Good evening."

And then he wasn't there at all but for a set of black leathery wings that carried him away from the dismal alleyway, still reeking of death.