Almost

Chapter 47: Motive, Recruiter, Leak

Katherine followed Ezra into his office, finally letting her shoulders fall when the door shut. But she picked them back up when she saw Grouse and Picquery standing inside.

Picquery stepped forward from where he'd been leaning on Crawley's desk, a file clenched in his hands. His eyes met Katherine and she could immediately feel the apology coming from him. The tension so similar to what he carried in the dress shop.

"I didn't have a choice," he said softly. "Quahog came back, and said something had happened but you weren't even speaking and—"

"It's okay," Katherine said, too tired to be angry. "I put you in a tough spot. The jig was up, anyways."

"You trusted me," Picquery murmured.

"I still trust you."

Katherine's words seemed to unleash something in the man's face, and he closed the space between them, wrapping his arms tightly around her. She dropped Ezra's hand and met the hug with her own.

Picquery regained his sense of decorum quickly, pulling away and looking a bit embarrassed. But Katherine smiled at him as he straightened his suit.

"Okay if I don't hug you?" Grouse asked, still perched against a bookshelf. Katherine just laughed in response.

"Where are Harry and Ginny?" Katherine asked Crawley.

"Went back to London. Ginny's filling in the rest of the family while Harry and Hermione figure out what to do about... well, what to do with Kevin."

Katherine's eyes flitted to Crawley, the words coming from his mouth already aware that they were unwelcome to her ears.

"They can't ignore the laws, Katherine. They might try. But you undid official Ministry memory charms and... They've got to make a plan."

Her shoulders squared with a new sense of purpose, but she knew they were misdirected. She'd convince them—Harry had said they couldn't do too many more memory charms on him, anyways. He'd understand, even if Hermione's hands were tied. Even she would have to come around.

She shook her head—that was an issue for another day.

"We need to figure out who's feeding these Recollectors information about you," Grouse said, shifting her weight from side to side. "I know this isn't my department, Crawley, but—"

"You already know more than most of the Major Investigators," Crawley assured her, and Picquery nodded. "It'd take too long to bring them up to speed. And you know better than most what Iz could have told them."

"Katherine knows best," she answered, her chin jutting towards the younger woman. "But I agree with her, it's more than Iz would have known alone. Could have known."

"You haven't gotten through her memories yet," Katherine told her. "If Hollinghunt thinks that she was the only one working with Ash."

"Ash?" Picquery asked.

"That's what I'm calling the guy from last night. He didn't tell me his name. But he's not working alone. And Kevin made it seem like there were more people, too, people who were telling him about me. I don't know how big the web is, but there are more than just him. I think these students are working with him."

"You don't think they were taken?" Grouse asked, her eyes shifting to Crawley's.

"No," Katherine answered. "Downstairs, I was talking to Harper Bellow. And I think Sam Coppen, at least, went on his own. Went looking for help."

She showed them the memories, though it felt weird watching Harper's memories through hers. It worked well enough, though, and she waited until the three sets of eyes looking back at her refocused.