bill williamson! (billiamson) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2008-06-20 01:11:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! [1979-06] june, bill williamson, marius lestrange |
RP Log: Bill & Marius
who → Bill Williamson & Marius Lestrange.
what → Interrogation time.
when → Thursday, 19 June 1979; 4:15pm.
where → Ministry of Magic Holding Cell.
warnings → None.
status → Completed log.
The growing reputation of the Lestranges (along with several other old, Pureblood families) for linking themselves to murder and terrorism was nothing to take lightly; Bill did not prefer to go into things with bias or preconceived notions, but giving potential murderers too much credit was something he hesitated to do, as well. It was different than something petty like friend bias or House bias. This was seeing justice for the taking of innocent lives -- in particular, the slaughtering of Ministry officials. Bill had never met Marius Lestrange before. In fact, he only vaguly knew of his existence from a passing mention when Rodolphus Lestrange, Marius's father, had been arrested for the first time not that long ago on suspicion for the torture of Jo Savage -- yet another Ministry worker. But this was about Marius Lestrange, and he told himself that if they were ever going to successfully convict anyone for anything worse than having illegal Dark objects in their house, then they would have to get some decent proof. Walking down to the assigned holding cell, he looked in to see a man about his own age. He could not help but think how remarkably tall the people in that family were, but the thought was shaken off, as there was business to attend to. "Good afternoon, Mr. Lestrange," he said in an even voice -- not rudely, but certainly without his typical friendly, relaxed intonations. There was no need to aggravate a potential murderer. There was a table in the middle of the holding cell for such interrogations, so once he too was in the cell (wand in a convenient place and the door closed so as to prevent the prisoners escape), he sat down and added, "Do you know why you're here?" Marius hadn't been happy to be arrested, but considering his alibi was rock-solid and he had been unable to use his wand arm for two days now, he wasn't particularly concerned they could make these charges stick. "I have been told I am to be questioned about murders that took place last night," Marius said in a tone that while polite was certainly not friendly. He was being held falsely after all. "But you are wasting your time. I was involved in a mishap the day before last and my arm was injured. I am unable to use my wand arm, and I was seen by a healer from Mungo's, at my own home, late in the evening last night, as the pain became unbearable," Marius explained. The pain now wasn't much better, honestly, but Marius was too proud to ask to be taken out of the handcuffs that were currently torturing him. He'd have likely been able to present a somewhat pleasant tone to this Auror if it weren't for the fact that his entire arm was throbbing, and he was fervently hoping that the man would want to see his injuries, thus freeing him, even for a few short moments of relief. "I see," Bill said, eying Marius. It was not uncommon for the accused to come up with an alibi, but he had to admit that, if it was true, then injury and a healer seeing him was quite the solid alibi. He did not trust that the story was necessarily true, and even if it was, there was always an element of hesitation in letting someone go when the charges were this serious. If he really was injured, he would still be injured. "Mind if I take a look, then?" Bill asked with a calm and relaxed air. He had not truly been expecting anything particularly straight-forward from the (at least seemingly) ever evasive and private Pureblood elite, but it was certainly preferable to failed attempts at prying information out with painful failure. Standing up once again (though he had sat for only a moment), Bill walked around the table to get a closer look at these injuries Marius was referencing. It hadn't been as easy to tell from the opposite side of the table, but the bandages on his shoulder was professionally wrapped, and nearly his entire arm appeared swolen. Pursing his lips, he nodded. "I am going to go see if I can clear your alibi, then. What were the names of the healers who saw you?" "Only one," Marius said. "I did not wish to go to the hospital, and I did not want my father to know I was injured," he added carefully. "Madame Marcella Pronto," he said. "I owled inquiring of home visits and she is the healer who was sent. They should have my request on record as well. She arrived at the estate at around 7:00 pm and she remained until quite late as my injuries were more extensive than I had thought for myself," he said. Marius wasn't always keen on giving the full and complete truth up so easily, but in this instance it worked so heavily in his favor that keeping any details back would have been the definition of foolishness. He would not spend any more time in this horrid place than he needed to, simply to obstruct justice. If he wanted to obstruct justice then he would go kill someone later. He'd probably end up doing that anyway if anything untoward was happening to his father at the moment. He wasn't sure if Rodolphus had a good alibi or not, but if not, he knew that the Ministry would be hopping on the chance to discredit him. Bill nodded. "Good to know you're going to cooperate, then." Of course, most people were pretty forthcoming when it came to defending themselves, but at least this would not be overcomplicated. Walking back over to his seat, he pulled out a piece of paper, writing down orders to have the alibi checked. It ought to be a straight-forward thing, really, and hopefully would not take very long. Charming it to fold up and fly, he sent it back to the Auror department. Soon he would know if this was going to pan out or not, as a definitive alibi would leave them with no choice but to clarify. Without further explanation, Bill turned his attention back to Marius. "The fact that it is your wand arm is certainly in your favour, but it's not impossible to cast magic with your other arm, so we must approach this with caution, of course. I don't remember anything mentioned about the attacker being injured, at least not from those who survived," he said, his voice a little strained at the thought not several did not fall under that category. "I'm sure you understand. For that matter, will this alibi fall between 4PM to 4AM?" Marius watched as the man wrote down the details he'd given and then charmed the paper to fly away. No doubt some fact checker somewhere would be contacting Mungo's and Marius had no doubt that the fact checker would find his story to be true. It was almost enough to make Marius wish he were innocent more often. To be able to prove without a shadow of doubt that he was innocent was particularly sweet. He almost wished that the Auror was someone he had reason to dislike so he could be more condescending about it. "Oui, I told you that the healer arrived near seven. I also had two friends visiting from France who could vouch for my whereabouts, but they were leaving as I was arrested, and as they are my friends, I am certain their credibility would be questioned," he said in a tone that made it clear that though it would be ridiculous to doubt them, the ministry was as ridiculous as any institution he had every come across. "Alibis from those close are, naturally, put under more scrutiny, but we're not unreasonable." He weeded the defensiveness from his voice and opted not to point out just how much reason they would have question flimsy alibis by allies. It was nothing for the Ministry to be ashamed of, however; there were times he wished he could just blindly trust people to do the right thing, as he always had, but he knew that as an Auror, he couldn't apply that to his job. The goodness of human nature couldn't be assumed when it came to murders. They did not have to wait long before another memo dropped itself in front of Bill. Picking it up and opening it, he read:
When he finished reading the note, Bill stood up from the chair. While he was still unwilling to be friendly to the son of the man who had tortured Jo, he (with a strange grudging) had to admit that there wasn't much more they could do. If he hadn't done it, then he hadn't done it, and there wasn't much more they could do about it. They couldn't justify holding him any longer. "Thank you for your cooperation," Bill said with a nod. After walking out of the cell and locking it behind himself, he set off for the Auror Office to take a look at the alibi documentation. It was another 15 minutes of waiting as his shoulder throbbed before anyone returned to the cell. It was either an intern or the youngest Auror he'd ever met, but the boy hesitantly released his bonds and handed him his wand. Taking it with his good hand, Marius pocketed it and followed the red-head down through the halls of the Ministry until they were in the lobby. "Thank you for your time," the boy mumbled before turning on his heel. "Oh, it was no inconvenience at all," Marius snapped, rolling his eyes. He was more than glad to be done with the Ministry for the day, and he headed outside to the nearest apparation point, hoping that when he returned home, his father was there to greet him. |