In the Shadows
Chapter One
July 21, 2006 – 9:00 A.M.
The City of London Police Department
“JANE DOE MURDERED”
“POLICE HAVE NO LEADS”
“SERIAL KILLER’S TALLY UP TO FOUR”
“MURDER LINK?”
“SIX JANE DOEs DEAD”
“ANOTHER BODY FOUND”
Detective Audrey Reed glared down at the various headlines. They were mocking her—mocking her inability to find the psycho who had been torturing and murdering women for weeks.
They had worked tirelessly since the first victim had been discovered and they had nothing. They did not have a suspect. They did not even know the victims’ names. None of their descriptions matched any reported missing person within the last five years.
The City of London Police force had nothing but seven dead bodies, sleep deprivation, frustration, and the press hounding them to find the murderer.
The last of the headlines, “ANOTHER BODY FOUND” was from today’s early edition of the paper. Today, the seventh murder victim of the ‘Alley Murderer’ had been found. She had yet to get to the crime scene. Audrey first had to brief her superiors about the status of the case, which was essentially nonexistent.
The unsub was immaculate. There hadn’t been one trace of forensic evidence at any of the previous six crime scenes. Audrey didn’t have high hopes for the seventh.
As she was leaving her desk, her cell phone rang. It was her fiancé. Hitting the ‘Ignore’ button, she promised herself she’d call him back when she got a free moment. Things were hectic at the moment.
July 21, 2006 – 9:16 A.M.
The Ministry of Magic Auror Department
Things were slow at the Auror office recently. With his latest case being tried, Harry Potter had a lack of occupation at the moment.
Deciding he needed air, he took the lift up to the lobby floor of the Ministry. Soon enough, he found himself walking down a busy, Muggle-filled street. Walking down the street, he caught sight of, in his peripheral vision, a man reading a newspaper. However it is was not the man that caught his attention. It was the front page headline that caught his attention: ANOTHER BODY FOUND.
With his curiosity sparked, he brought a copy of the newspaper with a bit of spare Muggle money he usually kept lying around. He took the paper back to his cubicle to read in private.
Reading the article, Harry found that the body had been found was the seventh one that was discovered in the same way. Since March, seven bodies (including this one) had been found all over London. All were women. All were unidentified. Each crime scene held no evidence for the muggle police.
Halfway through the article, there was a picture of the victim. A photographer must’ve gotten the shot before the police could stop him. There was something familiar about the photo. Getting out of his chair, he turned to the coworker in the next cubicle over.
“Do you recognize her?” He asked, holding out the newspaper.
Marks scratched his head. “Isn’t that that girl from the uh Muggle Liason Office. What’s her name, er—Marjorie Rowena?”
“Thanks.” Harry murmured as he sat back down in his chair.
Marjorie Rowena.
Waving his wand, the work records of Marjorie Rowena were in front of Harry in an instant along with other articles about the Alley murders.
Harry lay out of the pictures of the seven victims on his desk. Waving his wand, he allowed magic to work for him and match the pictures to names while he read Marjorie Rowena’s file. She hadn’t reported to work for two weeks.
Within minutes, Harry had the names of the other victims.
Lily Cadogan; she was a Healer at St. Mungo’s who disappeared about eighteen weeks ago. She was the first victim.
Violet Acker; she was a mother of two who disappeared about sixteen weeks ago. She was the second victim.
Helga Baron; she worked at Flourish and Blotts and disappeared around thirteen weeks ago. She was the third victim.
Hannah Friar; she was a mediwizard who disappeared about ten weeks ago. She was the fourth victim.
Susan Nicoles; she was an alternate for the Appleby Arrows; she disappeared about seven weeks ago. She was the fifth victim.
Sybill Myrtle; she worked at the Three Broomsticks and hadn’t been at work for five weeks. She was the sixth victim.
Marjorie Rowena; she was a Muggle Liason at the Ministry. She had been missing for two weeks. She was the seventh victim.
His interest was severely peaked; he scanned the next paragraph of the article for details on the crime scenes.
Each woman had been found naked in an alley, dead only for only about two to three hours. They had each been tortured over an extended period of time. As of yet, the police had no suspects.
Scanning the rest of the article, he stopped short at a familiar name.
“Detective Audrey Reed, lead investigator on the Alley Murderer case, has declined to comment on the numerous bodies found murdered in the same way as today’s Jane Doe.” Harry murmured aloud.
“Audrey Reed.” He repeated. Out of habit, his eyes flew to the empty picture frame that used to be filled with a picture of his fiancée.
Standing up, Harry went into the Head’s office. Seven witches were dead after having been missing for two weeks each. A serial killer was murdering witches and Harry couldn’t let the muggle cops and their detective bumble around when there was a large possibility of more murders.
The City of London Police Department
“JANE DOE MURDERED”
“POLICE HAVE NO LEADS”
“SERIAL KILLER’S TALLY UP TO FOUR”
“MURDER LINK?”
“SIX JANE DOEs DEAD”
“ANOTHER BODY FOUND”
Detective Audrey Reed glared down at the various headlines. They were mocking her—mocking her inability to find the psycho who had been torturing and murdering women for weeks.
They had worked tirelessly since the first victim had been discovered and they had nothing. They did not have a suspect. They did not even know the victims’ names. None of their descriptions matched any reported missing person within the last five years.
The City of London Police force had nothing but seven dead bodies, sleep deprivation, frustration, and the press hounding them to find the murderer.
The last of the headlines, “ANOTHER BODY FOUND” was from today’s early edition of the paper. Today, the seventh murder victim of the ‘Alley Murderer’ had been found. She had yet to get to the crime scene. Audrey first had to brief her superiors about the status of the case, which was essentially nonexistent.
The unsub was immaculate. There hadn’t been one trace of forensic evidence at any of the previous six crime scenes. Audrey didn’t have high hopes for the seventh.
As she was leaving her desk, her cell phone rang. It was her fiancé. Hitting the ‘Ignore’ button, she promised herself she’d call him back when she got a free moment. Things were hectic at the moment.
July 21, 2006 – 9:16 A.M.
The Ministry of Magic Auror Department
Things were slow at the Auror office recently. With his latest case being tried, Harry Potter had a lack of occupation at the moment.
Deciding he needed air, he took the lift up to the lobby floor of the Ministry. Soon enough, he found himself walking down a busy, Muggle-filled street. Walking down the street, he caught sight of, in his peripheral vision, a man reading a newspaper. However it is was not the man that caught his attention. It was the front page headline that caught his attention: ANOTHER BODY FOUND.
With his curiosity sparked, he brought a copy of the newspaper with a bit of spare Muggle money he usually kept lying around. He took the paper back to his cubicle to read in private.
Reading the article, Harry found that the body had been found was the seventh one that was discovered in the same way. Since March, seven bodies (including this one) had been found all over London. All were women. All were unidentified. Each crime scene held no evidence for the muggle police.
Halfway through the article, there was a picture of the victim. A photographer must’ve gotten the shot before the police could stop him. There was something familiar about the photo. Getting out of his chair, he turned to the coworker in the next cubicle over.
“Do you recognize her?” He asked, holding out the newspaper.
Marks scratched his head. “Isn’t that that girl from the uh Muggle Liason Office. What’s her name, er—Marjorie Rowena?”
“Thanks.” Harry murmured as he sat back down in his chair.
Marjorie Rowena.
Waving his wand, the work records of Marjorie Rowena were in front of Harry in an instant along with other articles about the Alley murders.
Harry lay out of the pictures of the seven victims on his desk. Waving his wand, he allowed magic to work for him and match the pictures to names while he read Marjorie Rowena’s file. She hadn’t reported to work for two weeks.
Within minutes, Harry had the names of the other victims.
Lily Cadogan; she was a Healer at St. Mungo’s who disappeared about eighteen weeks ago. She was the first victim.
Violet Acker; she was a mother of two who disappeared about sixteen weeks ago. She was the second victim.
Helga Baron; she worked at Flourish and Blotts and disappeared around thirteen weeks ago. She was the third victim.
Hannah Friar; she was a mediwizard who disappeared about ten weeks ago. She was the fourth victim.
Susan Nicoles; she was an alternate for the Appleby Arrows; she disappeared about seven weeks ago. She was the fifth victim.
Sybill Myrtle; she worked at the Three Broomsticks and hadn’t been at work for five weeks. She was the sixth victim.
Marjorie Rowena; she was a Muggle Liason at the Ministry. She had been missing for two weeks. She was the seventh victim.
His interest was severely peaked; he scanned the next paragraph of the article for details on the crime scenes.
Each woman had been found naked in an alley, dead only for only about two to three hours. They had each been tortured over an extended period of time. As of yet, the police had no suspects.
Scanning the rest of the article, he stopped short at a familiar name.
“Detective Audrey Reed, lead investigator on the Alley Murderer case, has declined to comment on the numerous bodies found murdered in the same way as today’s Jane Doe.” Harry murmured aloud.
“Audrey Reed.” He repeated. Out of habit, his eyes flew to the empty picture frame that used to be filled with a picture of his fiancée.
Standing up, Harry went into the Head’s office. Seven witches were dead after having been missing for two weeks each. A serial killer was murdering witches and Harry couldn’t let the muggle cops and their detective bumble around when there was a large possibility of more murders.