Bader Crouch disappeared on Thursday and died after suffering terrible torture.
Less than ten minutes after he died, the killer, carrying his body, apparated onto the roof of the house.
The killer first dropped a diary down the chimney, then cut off Bader's head, and finally threw both the separated body and head down the chimney.
Because Bader was only 3 years old, his body was very small and did not get stuck in the chimney.
So, his body fell out of the fireplace inside the house.
“The killer apparated onto the roof,” Weilan told Carson, “This is just a dumping ground.”
“To move the case forward, we must find the murder scene.”
Carson agreed with Weilan:
“Alright! It’s cold on the roof, you go down first, I’ll do some evidence collection here.”
Weilan climbed down the ladder and saw that Mr. and Mrs. Crouch had already been brought to the scene.
“This is Bader!”
Mrs. Crouch identified the body, then prostrated herself on the body bag, weeping bitterly.
Mr. Crouch looked at his wife, who was crying her eyes out, and his son, who had become a headless corpse, with no expression on his face.
He was like a wooden puppet, facing this scene, so indifferent as if what lay on the ground was just a small beast that had nothing to do with him.
Weilan questioned the truthfulness of the rumors Ginny had told him:
“This is still the cold-blooded man Crouch I know!”
“Who said that Mr. Crouch was so anxious about his young son’s disappearance that he gave up work?!”
“Bang! —”
With a slight cracking sound, Mrs. Lupin appeared not far away.
She rushed over, accidentally bumping into Thomas.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Thomas.”
She helped Thomas up.
“I forgot to tell you, Hogwarts doesn’t allow Apparition, so I used your fireplace.”
“But I accidentally spilled your bagged cat food. Although I later used magic to clean it up, but…”
“The sound of the cat food spilling attracted your two cats, who jumped from the second floor to the first-floor living room, and they are now jumping around on your sofa.”
“What?”
Mr. Thomas urgently and loudly asked all the Aurors: “Gentlemen, is there anything else you need my cooperation with?”
“It’s very late now, I think I must go home—”
Carson had just climbed down from the roof and replied to him:
“Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Thomas, go back quickly! If there are any further questions, we will call you again.”
Hermione and Ron were already so cold that clear snot was running down their noses, and Mrs. Lupin asked them if the three students’ statements were finished.
“Done!”
This was the answer she received.
“Then hurry back to school!” Mrs. Lupin immediately said, “I told Professor McGonagall about this, and she was very anxious.”
“I don’t think she will be at ease with you spending the night out.”
“Okay.” Weilan first agreed to her, then asked, “Why isn’t Mr. Potter here?”
“The Auror office cannot be empty, there must always be a few people on duty there.”
Mrs. Lupin explained:
“Besides, he’s been worried about the case, worried about his son, and dealing with reporters for a while now… He’s not in good shape. We all hope he can rest more.”
“Alas, Mr. Potter really should take better care of himself.” Weilan put on his cloak hood, ready to leave, “Since that’s the case, Mrs. Lupin, then we’ll now…”
“Wait!”
Someone suddenly interrupted them.
Weilan turned his head and saw Mrs. Crouch running over.
She came out in a hurry and didn’t have time to put on warm clothes.
But at this moment, Mrs. Crouch didn't care about the cold. She frequently looked back, observing if her husband noticed her.
Weilan turned his head again and saw Mr. Crouch talking to Carson, not noticing his side.
“Child, your shoelace is untied.”
Mrs. Crouch said, feigning composure:
“Let me tie your shoelace for you.”
“What?” Weilan looked down and found that the boots he was wearing had no shoelaces at all.
But just as Mrs. Crouch bent down, Weilan heard her whisper quickly:
“Your daily pay is increased to 12 Galleons, continue to track Barty Crouch for me!”
Weilan’s eyes widened.
The woman calmly bent down, picked up a dead branch at Weilan’s feet, and smiled at Mrs. Lupin, saying:
“I’m sorry, I misread, this child has no shoelaces.”
Mrs. Crouch left.
When taking the three students back to school, Mrs. Lupin leaned over and asked what Mrs. Crouch had said to him.
“She offered a daily wage of 12 Galleons, asking us to track her husband.”
“Mrs. Crouch is quite certain that it was Mr. Crouch’s mistress who kidnapped and killed Bader.”
Weilan immediately told Mrs. Lupin all these things without reservation.
Weilan could still clearly distinguish which of the two women, Mrs. Lupin and Mrs. Crouch, was more trustworthy.
“Mr. Crouch’s mistress?”
Mrs. Lupin’s hair turned into a fiery red afro, as if she had heard some rare and novel gossip:
“Did I hear that right? Mr. Crouch? Mistress?”
“Yes, you heard right.”
Weilan felt that there was definitely something wrong with Mr. Crouch, otherwise his wife would not suspect him for no reason.
Mrs. Lupin thought for a while and told them her opinion:
“Listen to me, you first follow Mrs. Crouch’s wishes and track her husband to see if Mr. Crouch acts abnormally.”
“My colleagues and I will secretly collect information on both of their past experiences, without their knowledge.”
“At this time tomorrow, we will combine our respective clues. But please be sure to pay attention to safety, and immediately abandon the tracking if anything feels wrong.”
Weilan strongly agreed with her proposal.
This way, he could continue to receive Mrs. Crouch's daily pay.
They had returned to Thomas’s house. Knocking on the door, they saw two disobedient cats hissing in a cage.
“Sorry, I need to borrow your fireplace again to send these three children back to school.”
Thomas said nothing and let them in.
Mrs. Lupin almost knocked over the bagged cat food on the fireplace again. But Ron caught it for her.
“Oh, sorry again—here, the Floo powder is here, who wants to go first.”
“I will!” Weilan was really tired. Too much had happened, and he wanted to get some sleep as soon as possible.
Sprinkling the Floo powder, he said “Gryffindor Common Room” and stepped into the flames.
Weilan was transported to the Gryffindor common room fireplace.
He walked out of it, and soon after, Hermione and Ron also returned.
“I’m going back to sleep.”
Weilan said this, climbing the stairs leading to the boys’ dormitory.
Before going to sleep, he didn't forget to set his alarm for six in the morning.
His head almost touched the pillow and he immediately fell asleep.
…
The next day, when woken by the alarm clock, Weilan felt like all his bones were falling apart.
The Seer skill still had more than an hour of cooldown. Weilan couldn’t confirm the killer’s identity by guessing and divining first.
Weilan called Ron out of bed, and after getting dressed, they went downstairs. They still had to track Mr. Crouch today.
