Adelaide Riley Quinn (ohriley) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2008-05-07 16:08:00 |
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It was with a sense of reckless abandonment as Riley headed towards the jail cell, clutching the Official Ministry release tightly in her hand. She was supposed to meet with Chang -- she knew of him somewhat, he was one of those silly Aurors in the DMLE, was he not? No matter -- Riley didn't care who she was assigned to partner with; all she cared was that she had blatantly defied Rookwood's explicit order not to get herself involved, and Merlin it was something strange. She -- Riley Quinn, who firmly believed in the righteousness of Rookwood, had actually gone against his wishes? It was a foreign feeling, something she was both scared of but also delighted by. She was like a child, one who tried breaking their parents' rules just for the heck of it, barely understanding nor forseeing the consequences. The elevator halted to a stop -- she was on the floor where the jail cells were located. Rarely did Riley meander towards the jail cells (in fact, she stayed away from the DMLE almost entirely) so she was, in fact, rather intrigued. So this is where Selwyn took his last steps... she silently mused. In her mind she could picture it -- him, walking over yonder, hands tied behind his back, head hung, like a prisoner going to the gallows -- Riley snapped herself out of her daydreams and hurried through the hall to the jail cells. After all, her imagination was probably entirely wrong anyways. Most likely he was carried through here on some sort of cot, or levitated -- from what she knew about Selwyn he would not idly be arrested without a fight. Then again, that was what she thought. Nevertheless, Riley's feet eventually led her to the appropriate destination -- the door to the cells. She was to meet Chang here, but she was a bit early so while waiting for him she handed the Security Clearance to the guard so that he would let them in to the crime scene. Wen was never fashionably late - or fashionably early - to anything, and especially believed in being exactly on time for any and all work commitments. Conveniently, he seemed to have an internal body clock that not only woke him up at an appropriate time each day, but also sent signals to his brain whenever he had an appointment coming up. Punctual again today, he strode up to the guard, one good eye on the short figure of Adelaide Quinn. Frankly, he was a little surprised at the orders that the autopsy was to be performed in conjunction with the DoM. It's not that they didn't have the ability - Wen knew there were more than a few capable minds in the department; and that was what you got when you have a couple of Ravenclaws together - and he was sure they did good work, even if it was work that no one talked about ever. With this case, though, it wasn't as if the Aurors couldn't handle it on their own, and the less people that knew about it, the better. Though, he supposed, as the guard nodded to let him through, few people were better at keeping secrets than Unspeakbles. Normally she would have been annoyed at first -- everyone should be at least ten minutes early, naturally -- but anticipation for her very first, real autopsy covered up any feelings of anger and frustration towards the Auror. Instead, she dismissed his "lateness" (though in all truth he was perfectly punctual) as an "Auror thing". But in her excitement, she did not forget to use proper etiquette and extended her hand out at his approach, awaiting a handshake. "Adelaide Quinn, from the Department of Mysteries," she said. "But just call me Riley. You are Wen Chang, I presume?" She turned on her heel to enter the room, following the guard to Selwyn's jail cell. When she arrived there, she let out a small gasp -- the cell itself was smaller than she had imagined, though later thinking upon it she should have never expected any major luxuries for an interned criminal anyways -- and everything was left mostly untouched, though the DMLE decidedly spared the two of them of the sight of his body hanging from the ceiling. "Where is he?" she asked the guard with a sort of calm professionalism. The guard gave a curt nod and led them to the adjoining room, where the body was preserved. She winced -- it was worse than she imagined. No -- Riley Quinn should not be squeamish around dead bodies for the love of Merlin. She drew a breath before looking back at Chang with an inquisitive eye. "Where to start?" she asked. Since Riley pretty much did all the introductions, even his part, there was nothing much helpful to add besides meeting the handshake with a patented firm grip and a 'yes' and 'hello'. Wen was happy to let the other two lead the way into the cell, though his hand rested on the wand in his pocket as he followed. That was completely habitual, because although no harm would be coming to anyone in the immediate future (and it was too late for Selwyn), paranoia seemed to be a more common trait among the DMLE, and extra precautions never went amiss. No reaction came from him on sight of the cell, or Selwyn's body. The more cynical would presume that as an Auror, Wen would be used to it, but truth be told, even if he hadn't been an enforcer of the law, his face would betray no emotions other than uneasy stoicism. A muscle twitched in Wen's jaw as he regarded the body and the sad state it was in. There was no doubt that not all of these injuries were due to the prisoner's suicide, though whether they were sustained during the scuffle at Diagon or much later was debatable. An unspecified line existed when it came to interrogating prisoners, and while Wen believed that if the occasion called for it, it could be crossed, this did not bode well for the department if word was to get out. "A physical examination," he answered, already taking in details himself. "Superficial wounds and surface disturbances." A Look at Riley, wondering if the woman was willing to get her hands dirty. Another eyebrow raise was directed towards his silence, but Riley only dismissed it as another "Auror thing", or was it perhaps mental ineptitude? Her personal musings towards him were even more confused as she noted his apparent lack of response when they saw Selwynn's body: did he lack the necessary brain functions for emotions? Or was stoicism some sort of trend he was following? If it were the former, Riley would be happy to analyze his brain for him; if it were the latter, then Riley would only have to ask what sort of cult he was following. Nevertheless, Riley began to realize that her trail of thoughts were doing only one thing: diverting her attention from the task at hand. "Oh, yes, yes, a physical," she said hurriedly, sliding her wand from behind her ear where it was so neatly tucked. She could vividly picture a book page in her mind -- so clear was her memory that it seemed to be floating right in front of her. She gulped down the lump in her throat -- no, that was not out of nervousness, that was merely something she had eaten earlier, that was it. She met his look with a mischievous smirk and nodded with (albeit feigned) confidence. "Let's get to it," she said, and wave of her wand and an incantation later, Selwynn's clothes were mostly removed (except for the underwear, of course, Riley could leave that part of the job to Chang). She winced -- the body was in worse condition than she had previously expected. There was no room for modesty here - the underpants would be banished sooner or later, but the body could be afforded some dignity for the time being. Sweeping his robes back so they didn't get in the way, Wen crouched down to get a better look, having plans to do this systematically. His eye was drawn automatically to the ugly purple bruises around Selwyn's neck, skin broken from rope burn. Taking out his wand and muttering a quick incantation that would preserve the current state of Selwyn's body even if it was touched, Wen laid a hand on the chin to tip it down, looking inside the mouth, and glad that rigor mortis had not occurred. Physical contact like this was never easy, but he was well-versed in the art of detachment. His voice was steady, though more lower pitched when he spoke. "Bruises and injuries around his neck correspond with the report that Selwyn was hung. Tongue's rolled back into his throat, which isn't unusual, given that-" a glance up "-with a ceiling this tall it's not probable to have severed his spine, and cause of death was likely asphyxiation." The spine thing would have to be confirmed. Wen glanced at Riley, 'do you have anything to add' was unsaid, but implied. She nodded in quiet understanding -- everything seen so far had coincided. The words he said were quickly jotted down by a dictaquill and a piece of parchment levitating in midair. He was hung, there was no doubt about it, with all the bruises around the neck and the apparent asphyxiation. "If he were hanging from the ceiling, then the blood should collect in his feet.." she muttered aloud, mostly to herself as if she were thinking, though her words were also jotted down by the dictaquill. Riley moved towards the end of the table, where she saw a pair of purple feet that appeared to be bruised, though the coloring was probably due to the collection of blood at his feet. Another wand wave and an incantation later, she nodded her head slowly. "Pooling of blood in feet indicate early morning hanging, erm.. between the hours of two and five am approximately.." She knit her brows. Had they called the two earlier or preserved the body in a better state a more accurate time could be pinpointed. She shook her head in frustration before she glanced over the body again, her eyes landing on his stomach before widening in surprise. "Wait.. unnaturally large amount of bruises around the abdominal region?" She looked up at Chang, to gauge his opinion. Frowning, Wen looked at the discolouration more closely than he had so far. "You're right," he said, moving his head so the shadow it cast didn't obscure the bruises. Not that it could, given that it was over a fairly large area, extending from the ribs to abdomen. Hanging couldn't do this to someone, only blunt trauma. "He didn't do this to himself," he muttered, realising that he was stating the obvious there. He rubbed his chin, smoothing out the scowl that was starting to form there. "The prisoner should've been seen by a healer when he was brought in." Who this was directed at, Wen wasn't sure. Healers were mostly a formality anyway, a way for the DMLE to waive responsibility - 'hey look, he was like this when we found him'. She nodded in sullen agreement. "Certainly, that is department regulations. Yet these bruises -- " she waved her wand over the purplish region " -- they are extremely recent. Perhaps even more recent than the Diagon Alley attack. Is it possible.." She looked up at Chang, the question clearly in her eyes, though she hesitated to finish the sentence. She didn't ask him straight out because she liked him so far, she liked his quiet willingness to work, unlike that bastardly fool Pepper. He seemed to confirm that there were still DMLE workers actually doing their job, and so she gave him the benefit of the doubt. She simply looked at him, her eyes finishing the sentence: Is it possible that the interrogator did this? |