Rebels → F.W

38

oh, hey, look who's back! sorry i didn't elaborate too much on the wedding, but if you want a dedicated chapter for it, comment for one! won't do it without requests. also, sorry for disappearing- it's mock week. enjoy!

Charlotte stopped just in front of the bullpen. Her team was standing in front of Rick's desk (well, Rick was sat at his desk; the other two huddled around it) and were looking at something on his computer screen. 
"It looks more like a dolphin," Rian said, turning his head. 
"No, it's a cricket bat," Amina argued, turning hers the other way. 
"No, you both are wrong. It's obviously a cow," Rick corrected. Charlotte sighed at her team, then surged forwards. 
"How about a dead Ministry official?" she suggested, grabbing her bag from behind her desk. 
"Huh, I kind of see it now," Rick agreed, turning his head back around. 
"No. We've got a dead Ministry official. Outside the Ministry." 
"Is that not Auror jurisdiction?" Amina asked. 
"Not a civilian," Rick informed her as they all followed Charlotte to the lift. 

"His name's Elbert Wallace," Rick called, the victim's finger to some sort of scanner. "Worked quite high up- a junior assistant to Umbridge, whatever her job is now."

"Bring her in," Charlotte ordered, "and everyone else he worked closely with. We'll go from there."

Interrogating Umbridge, Charlotte thought, was going to be interesting. No one else would be in the room, but she knew her team would be on the other side of the glass. 
"She's going to keep pulling rank," Charlotte's boss, Whitmore, told her. "Ignore it."
"Yes, sir," Charlotte said, and stopped right outside the interrogation door. "Anything else?"
"I'll only come in if I need to. Proceed." Charlotte opened the door, made her way calmly to the table as usual and put down the case file. 
"Why am I in here?" Umbridge demanded immediately in her high pitched voice. "I am not a criminal. I haven't done anything wrong!" 
"I wouldn't be so sure," Charlotte countered, thinking of the small scar on the back of her husband's hand. "Mr Elbert Wallace," Charlotte introduced. "Started in the Ministry as a Statue of Secrecy worker in 1970. Moved into the Department for Protection in 1979. September this year, he began to work for you. What can you tell me about him?" 
"First, I demand to know why I'm in here!" she screamed again, and Charlotte winced internally. 
"This was the only room available," Charlotte explained. "You'll have to do. Now, Elbert Wallace. What was he like?" 
"Wallace? Why are you asking me about him? Is it due to him being late?" 
"Mr Wallace was murdered early this morning." Charlotte pulled out the photos and showed them to Umbridge. She didn't look at them very long. 
"This is all very distressing, but I don't see why you need to ask me questions," Umbridge said innocently. 
"He worked for you. Surely you had at least one conversation with him?" 
"No, no, he wasn't pureblood, you see, so I wasn't very interested." 
"Then why'd you hire him? And why is it wrong for him to not be pureblood?"
"I had no choice; it was disgusting." Charlotte nodded. 
"Okay," she replied simply, and stood up, leaving Umbridge in Interrogation. 

"So she's a suspect?" Rian confirmed, walking with her from Interrogation.
"Yes. I don't think she'd have gotten her hands dirty, but if she did it, she got hitmen or something. Nott?" Charlotte called. 
"Yes, boss?"
"Umbridge's purchases. See if she spent a lot of money in a block sum recently. Amina, go through any security footage of her; see what you can find. Rian?"
"Yes, boss?" 
"Come with me. We're going to check her house. And yes, I have got a warrant this time." 

"What are we looking for, then?" Rian asked as they entered the house. It was a classic London house, but not too big. 
"A note, or a burn phone," Charlotte explained. "Anything out of the ordinary. We'll bag it and get it to Lily."
"Yes, boss," Rian answered. A few moments later, he spoke again. "I hope it was that damn woman." Charlotte, who'd squatted to look in a pouffe, looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. "Well, I do. She's evil pure evil." 
"Tell me about it," Charlotte said. "She became High Inquisitor in my final year. And she is the reason my husband has that damn permanent scar on his hand." Rian nodded. 
"I forget you're younger than me," Rian said. He was older than her; only by nine months. A month later and they would've been in the same year. In fact, everyone on the team was older than Charlotte- Theo was older by five months (December) and Amina was an entire year older (she was a May baby too). 

Charlotte's train of thought was soon interrupted. 
"Boss, I think I've got something," he said, holding up a series of checks that had been hidden under a porcelain cat.