Alan and Alex arrived at a small magical settlement just adjacent to Diagon Alley. In the settlement, there was a garden where they had received the news about the bodies being discovered.
When they arrived, the magical settlement was already crowded. A dozen Aurors were securing the site. A few photographers were trying to get as close as they could to click pictures. A small group of ministry workers, most likely from DMLE. Apart from them, there were quite a few common people who were just there out of curiosity.
"Lord Timirus," one of Alan's associates greeted him as soon as he arrived.
Alan nodded in response and asked, "Where is Ragcar Romanio?"
Ragcar Romanio was the father of Ragsan Romanio and Alan's friend and lackey.
"He was taken to the Ministry by the DMLE workers," the man replied. "They wanted to take statements from him and see if they could find anything that might help them in the investigation and identify the culprit. Enemies, recent confrontations, what Ragsan was usually up to. You know, the usual stuff."
"And given that Ragsan and his friends were dressed in the attire of death eaters," the associate added, "does not help the cause of Ragcar. He is being looked at with suspicion."
Alan simply nodded and approached the small crowd of Ministry workers huddled together.
"Lord Timirus," Barty Crouch Sr, was the first to spot Alan walking toward them. He gave Alan a stiff smile.
"Lord Crouch," Alan responded before turning toward the man standing next to Barty Crouch. "Head Auror Alastor Moody."
Moody let out a grunt of acknowledgement and nodded.
"What has happened, Lord Crouch?" Alan asked, turning his attention back to the head of the DMLE. "Tell me something about all this."
Barty sighed before he began narrating the tale.
"It was morning," he said, "when we received an emergency call from a nearby resident who had come to the park for a morning walk."
"He stated that three Death Eaters were seated on a wooden chair, dressed in their attire and masks. Panicked, the man fled the park and made a report to the ministry," Barty continued. He gestured toward a wide wooden chair some distance away, which had been barricaded by the Aurors. "This was the chair on which they were seated."
"There was panic in the Ministry, and we immediately dispatched a team of Aurors led by Alastor Moody."
"When Moody arrived here, the Death Eaters were still sitting on the chair. They approached cautiously, only to find that they were not moving, not responding. They were dead."
"Their bodies were examined. We did not find any marks, injuries, or anything else on their bodies. They were as clean as it could have been."
"They were killed by the Killing Curse?" Alan questioned, raising an eyebrow. Only the killing curses were known to leave no mark on the body.
"Most likely," Barty nodded. "But we cannot be sure. We have sent the bodies to St. Mungo's Hospital."
"We are hoping that if there is something unusual, the mediwitches and mediwizards will be able to tell us."
Alan remained silent. And this also narrowed the circle of suspicion. A very less number of people were incapable of using the killing curse and most of those who could use were death eaters. And this made things more complicated for Alan.
"Any other evidence?" he questioned. "Any kind of message? Symbols?"
Clearly, he was trying to connect these deaths to the men who had previously been found with justice imprinted beside them on walls. Could Dumbledore who was 'suspected' of the previous killing was also involved in this killing too? It was not entirely impossible.
Barty shook his head. "Nothing."
"They were certainly not killed here," he said. "They were killed somewhere else, and then their bodies were placed in this park."
"Motive? Purpose?" Barty continued. "We cannot tell."
Alan nodded thoughtfully.
"Lord Timirus," Barty said, "if I may ask you something."
"Yes," Alan nodded.
"Were you aware that Ragsan and his two friends were Death Eaters?" Barty questioned. At this, even Moody, who had been standing there uninterested, perked up.
"No," Alan shook his head. "And why do you think Ragsan truly was a Death Eater?"
"Anyone could dress him in that attire so they could morally justify the killings and ensure that no huge hue and cry was made about it."
As he spoke, Alan's eyes narrowed. He was clearly offended by Ragsan being labeled a Death Eater.
"They had the Dark Mark imprinted on their hands, Lord Timirus," Barty sighed, shaking his head.
This struck Alan. He had clearly overlooked the fact that their bodies had already been examined.
"No," he said softly. "I was not aware."
Instinctively, he wanted to clench his arm where his own mark was imprinted. Though the small motion he made, raising his hand before stopping midway, went unnoticed by everyone else, it did not escape Alastor Moody. Moody narrowed his eyes.
"Lord Timirus," Moody interjected, drawing their attention to himself. "Could you tell us anything more about Ragsan?"
"Maybe your son, Mr. Timirus," he added, looking toward Alex, "could also help us and shed some light on Ragsan. His friends, his circle, his behavior, what he usually did and anything else that could help us."
"Maybe even when he became a Death Eater," Moody added, his eyes narrowing.
Alex instinctively opened his mouth, but Alan cut him off.
"I am not very aware of these things, Head Auror Moody," Alan answered. "And I was not aware that he was a Death Eater and I am certainly not aware of when he became one."
"And I believe," he added, "that if you wish to ask questions, you will have to issue a summons and call us to the Ministry. I do not think this place is appropriate for questioning."
Moody let out an awkward chuckle.
"Nothing too serious, Lord Timirus," he said. "Nothing too serious. I was just asking informally. I thought you too would be quite eager for the killer to be caught."
"And though these three were Death Eaters, we will still do our work honestly."
Barty read the tension rising between Alan Timirus and Alastor Moody.
"Alastor," he interjected. "We should get going. We would have a lot of work at the ministry."
Alastor gave one small stare to Alan before he followed after Alan.
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