𝗜𝗩𝗬

𝘒𝘙𝘖𝘝𝘖𝘡𝘏𝘈𝘋𝘕𝘖𝘚𝘛

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( trigger warnings: mentions of death )

"For the tenth time, Winter, this is protocol!" a man said, his hands firmly pressed against his broad chest as he blocked the way. "No visits allowed after midnight."

"I don't give a bloody damn about your stupid protocol, Ross. I need to talk to my witness right now. And no, it can't wait until the morning," Winter snapped back.

"Why not? Mrs. Lacework is sleeping, don't you think she's had enough for today? She lost her husband today, for Merlin's sake. Show some sympathy and let the poor woman rest for one night."

Regulus sat behind Winter, sighing every now and then. Ross Burton, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, was guarding Mrs. Lacework's door and he didn't seem like he had any intention of moving anytime soon.

But Winter was hellbent on making it happen.

"Are you going to take the blame if she dies before I get to question her? She is my only lead and sadly, I need her to be alive and breathing to get vital information out of her, so you either move or I'll—"

"—Ten minutes, Winter," Ross said, finally giving in. "If you two don't come back here when the time's up, I'm personally dragging you out of her room."

"Ten minutes is more than enough for me." As she spoke, Winter stepped closer to Officer Ross, invading the man's personal space.

Close, a little too close.

Impressive, Regulus thought as he watched how Winter talked her way through this situation. This man wasn't an ordinary guard, he was the one in charge with the national law enforcement. If anything went wrong, if anyone found out about this breach of protocol, he would be in big trouble.

But still, he let them pass.

For a moment, however, Regulus found himself wondering what Ross Burton's relationship with Detective Swift was, given how informal they were speaking to each other and the way his cheeks flushed red when she leaned in. But he couldn't dwell on it too much, his mind had to focus elsewhere. On Mrs. Lacework.

"Excuse us for barging in at this late hour," Winter said as soon as she walked in the room, taking out her badge and presenting it to the widow. "I'm Inspector Detective Winter Swift from the Department of Mysteries and this is my appointed consultant, Regulus Black. We're here to talk about your husband."

As soon as she mentioned Regulus' name, Mrs. Lacework tensed up and avoided making eye contact.

"I've already told your team everything I knew," the widowed woman started, glancing at fireplace.

"Some important details came up and we wanted to discuss them with you—" Winter said, but she was cut off.

"—If my presence is making you uncomfortable, Mrs. Lacework, I can wait outside," Regulus said, trying to offer her a reassuring smile. "I understand it's difficult to talk to a Black, but I promise you I'm here with good intentions."

At first, Winter glared at him, but then she heard Mrs. Lacework sigh and figured out Regulus could be onto something.

"With all due respect, we wouldn't be here if this wasn't urgent. Both of us are concerned about your safety and we want to clear this out so we can prevent another unfortunate death," Detective Swift firmly said. "Mr. Black is here to assist me in solving your husband's case."

"Very well." Mrs. Lacework waved a dismissive hand and sighed again. She was still tense, but at least she was willing to cooperate. "What is it that you want to know?"

"A few months ago, you wanted to publish an article that got you banned from attending open courts. As far as we know, that article never made it in the newspaper, so we'd like to hear what it was about."

"Oh, that.." the widow raised her eyebrows for a moment, then frowned. "It was about something someone declared in a trial, but I don't see how it's connected to my husband's death."

"I'm going to need more details than that, Mrs. Lacework. We strongly believe that there is someone hellbent on keeping you away from what happens in court, so tell us everything you remember about that article."

While Winter talked, Regulus was silent. He wasn't going to say anything unless Winter tried to push the witness over the limit; he knew Mrs. Lacework didn't trust him and that was a smart thing to do, but he wondered whether his family ever came in contact with her before, or caused her any trouble.

"As you know, I'm a journalist. I seek to bring the truth to the surface every time, even if it means exposing corruption. About a year ago, I heard whispers about a group of troublesome wizards. They were rumored to be involved in many crimes such as kidnapping, selling drugs and brutally murdering people who stood in their way."

It was Winter's time to frown. She had been working in the Ministry for quite some time, but she didn't remember ever hearing about this. Sure, kidnappings, drugs and murders were what her department was responsible for, but a group that did all three? It didn't ring a bell, so how did she miss it?

"They had many names, but I know them as Krovozhadnost. These monsters thought they were above the law, I imagine they considered themselves as some sort of gods no one could ever reach. Anyway, I assumed they had many friends in high positions, otherwise how could they get away every single time? That, of course, until one of them was caught. He was used as a scapegoat, if you ask me."

"What's his name?" Winter asked.

"Arthur Chapman," Mrs. Lacework replied. "He was accused of being in charge of a drug cartel. That wasn't entirely true. According to my sources, there were three men in charge of that business, Arthur Chapman was just one of them. It was difficult to get a press pass for his trial but I pulled some strings. It was a private trial because, well.." she hesitated.

"Because he was suspected to be a Death Eater," Regulus finished the sentence for her.

For a moment, nobody dared to say a work. Mrs. Lacework nodded, but she didn't say anything more. Winter shifted her gaze from the witness to her consultant and only briefly a glimpse of concern sparked in her eyes.

"I'm quite familiar with what happened next," he continued. "There wasn't enough evidence to support this claim, so Arthur Chapman has never been convicted, but as soon as his trial was over, he vanished in thin air."

None of the two women questioned Regulus' words, neither did they ask how he got this information. Some things were better left unsaid.

"Indeed," Mrs. Lacework finally confirmed. "I knew he was part of the Krovozhadnost, but nobody talked about it. They all acted as if his case never existed in the first place."

"Did you continue your research on them?" Winter asked.

"I did, yes. I wrote my article and before I sent it to the newspaper, I knew I had to protect the little evidence I had, so I hid it in boxes and scattered them around several places in London and gave the keys to people I knew I could trust."

Winter frowned. "Did you perhaps give one of these keys to your husband? And if so.. do you know where he put it?"

"First of all, I don't know where the boxes are. There should be five boxes but they're no longer in the places I put them. I asked every key keeper to move the evidence to wherever they considered fit and not tell each other about it, but yes. My husband also had a key. It wasn't a regular key, it was small and round and.."

"And it was hidden in his own body." Winter's jaw clenched, realizing this was going to be more problematic than she initially thought. "Are the keys still with their original keepers?"

"Yes, that's where he sealed it. Since you already know that, I assume the key is missing.." Mrs. Lacework looked restless, she was biting her fingernails and frowning. "I'm afraid I don't know. They could have passed it to somebody else. We all promised never to speak about the Krovozhadnost until we were sure we could expose the truth, but as time passed by, I realized I care more about the wellbeing of my family. I didn't want them to be in danger."

"I'm afraid we don't have much time left. Can you please write a list of names you think are connected to the Krovozhadnost and a list of the original key keepers?"

"I can but.." Mrs. Lacework desperately ran a hand through her hair. "You have to keep me alive. I know I'm not safe here, or anywhere for that matter, but my children.. they're at Hogwarts and I can't protect them. Please, if you think the Krovozhadnost is back and they're trying to get to us, keep my family safe."

"I promise," Winter said with a nod.

Soon enough, Ross Burton knocked on the door. The ten minutes were over.

"Thank you for your time, Mrs. Lacework. You've given us valuable information and in return, I will keep my word." With that, Winter left the widow's room, carefully folding the paper and placing it in her pocket.

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we're super close to 700 reads, thank you very much for all the love you guys show to this book! it's very fun to share this journey with you!

also, what tracks from midnights are you claiming?? for me, it's track 5 and track 13 🤍

yours truly,
vega