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Post by Bianca Alia Rivera on Aug 5, 2021 10:56:56 GMT -7
April 2026
...recommend strategic messaging for upcoming Paris summit, focus on successful mutual endeavors from previous task forces… Bianca’s eyes drifted out-of-focus as she surreptitiously glanced at the rest of the binder to see how much longer its author would ramble about the Hit-Wizard Office’s planned visit to Paris. She groaned at the thick stack of paper that promised many more hours of dry drivel, a novel that could have been a five-pager. She leaned back in her chair, throwing her feet carelessly onto the desk as she gave the report a deep look of disgust that would’ve sent any of her Auror trainees running. She didn’t stand on formality when she was alone – what was the point when there was nobody around to judge her?
Bianca skimmed the next section disinterestedly, allowing her eyes to skip past most of the content until it snagged on a buzzword or two that she read stonily. A knock at the door forced her to straighten, sweeping her legs off the desk until she looked presentable – prim and proper like was expected of a Department Head. She made a sound of acknowledgment – not much more than a growl from the back of her throat, but she had been out-of-sorts ever since Yrisle had snuck itself onto her list of responsibilities. It made sense for Law Enforcement to take the lead, but still – she had expected her promotion to mean that she would be part of a team. One of many Department Heads who collaborated and shared the burden. She hadn’t found that. She hadn’t found anyone who was willing to do much more than the bare minimum to stay afloat.
So as she took on more and more responsibilities, and expanded the role of Magical Law Enforcement in just about every way imaginable…well, her mood at work soured. The door creaked open, and a timid analyst peeked their head around the corner before nervously entering the room. He waited expectantly, but Bianca barely glanced up from her report before continuing to skim it. She had found a disappointing level of fear in the department – Aurors and Hit Wizards and analysts who were afraid to take initiative without a direct order. Bianca was trying to discourage that behavior – so she didn’t speak first. That would be the easy way out. Eventually the analyst cleared his throat and began tentatively, “Ms. Rivera?” It was a poor start, but Bianca looked up anyway. It was the best she was going to get. She raised an eyebrow at the sight of the analyst – the rumpled robes and smudged glasses were to be expected, but he was not carrying a file. No, he had an entire box in his hands. “Brought me your caseload for the month, have you?” she asked dryly, still holding the binder for the Paris summit tightly in her hands.
To his credit, the analyst blushed but continued anyway. “No ma’am. Well, in a way, ma’am. This isn’t just mine, it’s…well, I’ve been speaking with some of the other analysts and we’re positively baffled, ma’am.” He inched closer and set the box on the edge of her desk, as if she might bite if he came any closer. Bianca regarded him coolly, impassively, her face a mask of stone. Still, he must have been emboldened by the fact that she hadn’t immediately rejected him, because he brightened and continued in a stronger voice. “Well, you see, it’s a string of robberies. Apothecaries, mainly. Well, I don’t even think I can call it a string, that would assume a correlation and we simply haven’t found one…”
Bianca had to admit – his presence sparked her curiosity. What had paralyzed enough analysts that they had selected their victim to approach the Department Head for help? As he trailed off, however, she glanced back down at the report. “Robberies, hm? Send Aurors to the scene to search for magical signatures and collect memories from the employees. While you wait, prep a Pensieve and start putting together a dossier on the targeted apothecaries.” Her tone was authoritative, and dismissive. She was a little disappointed at her analysts, but gave her orders with the same cool confidence that she used when addressing other Department Heads. She expected it to be the end of the conversation, but glanced up again with a raised eyebrow at the nervous cough. The analyst looked embarrassed, as if he didn’t mean to disagree with his superior, but… “Well, yes ma’am. We did that already…maybe you should take a look.” He tentatively pushed the box closer to her.
With a little sigh, not much more than a slight exhale through her nose, Bianca set aside her papers and stood, pulling the box towards her. She shot a stern look at the analyst – look, he’d made her stand up – before picking up the top file and flipping it open. In her days as an Auror, and Interpol agent, she’d read through hundreds of these, maybe even thousands. It had become a matter of routine, and even the grisliest murder could be reduced to a few black-and-white pages – what, when, where, and how. Theories and observations. Still, Bianca felt a spark of curiosity as she read through the first file, then pulled the second one off the top and started to skim it too.
“Alright,” she began in a more appreciative tone as she kept her eyes glued to the page, “You have my interest. Walk me through it.”
“Yes ma’am! First thing our Aurors did was interview the employees and search for memories. But they didn’t find anything good, those memories are blocked. We contacted Obliviator Headquarters for assistance, but…”
“But they gave their usual line – it’s a memory charm, nothing that can be done. What else?”
“Right. So after that dead end, the team expanded the search radius, began to search for magical signatures. Anything that could give an indication of what happened. But-“
“But they didn’t find anything. No magic was used at all?” Bianca asked in shock, glancing up from one report to stare in awe at the analyst. Well, to someone who knew her, they would see the awe. All her coworkers would see was the furrowed brow and deep concentration of an expert at work.
“Yes ma’am. No magic at all. And, thank Merlin, no casualties either. The workers all seem fine. A little confused, of course, from the altered memories, but nothing the Healers at St. Mungo’s can’t tackle. And there’s not much to fix, anyway. There was barely anyone present at any of the robberies, usually just the cashier and maybe a potioneer or two in the back. That’s unusual. These apothecaries were all hit during the day, so they should have been full of people, but they were all short-staffed at the time of the robbery. That tells us-“
“-that our criminals are smart. They staked out their targets beforehand, studied the employee rotations. They knew when to hit to avoid staff or trigger any alarms. Disappointing, but not in itself unusual.” Bianca discarded the written report in her hands to grab another, and skimmed that as well. She could see why this had been brought to her. These cases were similar enough in nature to suggest a correlation – a string of apothecaries robbed in bright daylight with minimal employee presence and no magic signature to follow? Suspicious, but circumstantial. There was ultimately nothing to suggest that it had all been done by the same crew, and there were still substantial gaps in the reports. “Right, follow me.” Bianca’s order was curt, her usual style, as she carelessly waved her wand so all the reports flew neatly into their original places while the box levitated by her side.
It must have been a sight to behold – the Department Head of Magical Law Enforcement stormily exiting her office, a levitating box of case files and cowering analyst in tow. Bianca didn’t care, didn’t spare so much as a glance for the frozen workers sitting at their cubicles as she made her way across the floor. She approached a cluster of desks dedicated to the crime analysts that supported the Aurors, and unceremoniously interrupted their work by setting the box down in the center of their workspace. “Whatever you’re working on can wait until tomorrow. You have a new assignment,” she said, neither her face nor voice betraying her newfound interest in these cases. She began to distribute reports as if she were handing out Christmas bonuses, and didn’t speak again until every analyst was holding a file or two.
“I want linkages. Something must be tying these cases together. Maybe these apothecaries have the same supplier, or the ingredients that were taken add up to something. Look at their backgrounds, inventories, employee rosters – current and former. Don’t work independently, talk amongst yourselves.” With that, Bianca turned swiftly on her heel and returned to her office. She had calls to make.
This didn’t seem to be the work of amateurs. Whether it was one crew, or multiple criminals using the same playbook, they certainly seemed to know what they were doing. That usually meant there was a history to dig into – experienced crews rarely stuck to one city. They practiced trial runs, or refined their techniques across borders. Bianca still had contacts in Magical Interpol, and she took advantage of the newfound silence in her office to pull on her network and see what she could find. Eventually she reached her counterparts in several other European countries. But – arguing in Spanish, or French, or Italian, did very little to advance the case. Damn Europeans, they were all so territorial, never wanted to share the glory. So the robberies hadn’t been limited to English apothecaries, that was easy enough to determine. The French Ministry admitted to a similar string of thefts, and eventually the Spanish did too. But Merlin and Morgana be damned, they didn’t want the English crowding their investigation and eventually Bianca hung up on her Spanish counterpart (still mid-sentence), angrily slamming her phone onto her desk.
Almost two weeks had passed since Bianca had first begun to investigate these robberies. It was a waste of time for a Department Head to become so immersed in any single case, especially with the added headache of Yrisle, but Bianca couldn’t help herself. She missed fieldwork – her promotion meant she was tied to a desk all day, and it didn’t offer the same sense of fulfillment or adrenaline as catching criminals or hunting down escaped convicts.
“So?” she said curtly to the group of analysts, having finally returned to check on their progress. They all glanced fearfully at each other before one brave heavily-freckled girl spoke up. “W-we didn’t find much,” she said, voice becoming smaller and smaller as Bianca’s gaze hardened. “That is, we cross-referenced everything that was stolen. Every apothecary reported something different. One is missing their entire stock of dittany, while in another only hellebore was taken. Erm, we have the full list here…” She stopped to hurriedly search for a scrap of paper. A pair of origami mice were in the middle of a furious battle, but the analyst skillfully scooped one up by its tail and watched as it squeaked and unfolded to reveal a list of potion ingredients. She timidly handed the beaten-up parchment to Bianca as she continued, “We tried to guess what these ingredients might be used for…medical in nature, maybe. But it could also be to create potions for paralysis, or repelling water, or curing…hangovers…” her voice finally gave out at the fiery frustration in Bianca’s eyes.
“I see,” Bianca finally responded in a measured tone, eyes scanning the parchment. She rifled through the assortment of papers on the table before carefully extracting one that listed their conclusions. She ignored the large number of coffee stains as she skimmed. “So each apothecary reported something different missing, and the best you think they might be used for are…hangover cures. And I see you’ve found no common suspects or suppliers either. So you have nothing.” It wouldn’t do to lose her temper in front of a group of analysts, so Bianca swiftly gathered the box and beat a quick retreat back to her office. She seethed in anger the entire way. Not because of the analysts’ shoddy work – they’d been given very little to investigate, through no fault of their own. No, it was the mystery of these robberies. Bianca hated unsolvable mysteries – she found great pleasure in slowly unraveling the case, putting together the pieces, and turning the mystery into something known and understood. But every step to investigate had only raised more questions than answers.
Had these apothecaries been robbed by one crew, or many? Why had they been targeted, and these ingredients taken? And, most importantly, for what grim end?
