The Case of the Golden Heron Society - Chapter 2
Chapter Two: The Golden Heron Pin
“What?” Snape asked, reeling at Harry’s revelation.
Harry just shrugged and turned back to the body. The man had been shot twice in the chest at close range, but there were faint signs of a struggle as well. He was willing to bet that one of the gunshot wounds had been made during the struggle and the second one had been made after the man had collapsed; though it was hard to tell at this angle. It hadn't been too long of a fight, though, as there really weren't a whole lot of evidence of a struggle. The most telling mark was the cut on the man’s cheek, which looked as though it had been made by something other than fingernails.
“What do you mean that you are here to solve a murder?” Snape demanded after Harry didn't answer him.
“It’s just as it sounds,” Harry said. He glanced over the body once more before standing up; he had seen enough for now. “I am here to figure out who killed this man and why. I know that it is a bit surprising, but it’s nothing new to me.”
“Is this the truth?” Snape asked, turning to Emery for answers.
Emery shrugged. “I wish that it weren’t, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth to rely on a kid, but the truth is that he is damn good at what he does. He makes leaps and bounds in logic that astound me and he is always right.”
“And that makes it all right to use a child like that?” Snape asked.
“Hell no, but good luck trying to keep him away from scenes like this,” Emery said as he motioned towards the body. “And before you say something about my taking him to this particular crime scene, I have to tell you that there is a good chance that he would end up here anyway. I have no idea how or why, but through some circumstance, he would end up here, even if he is under house arrest or whatever you were looking for.”
“It’s true, I seem to have extraordinary luck in finding dead, murdered bodies,” Harry said with a shrug. “It took Emery forever to catch on to this fact.”
“There was a point in time where we thought that he was a serial killer,” Emery said. “Of course then someone was killed right in the station when he was right in front of me at the time. No, he just seems to be drawn to them like a magnet.”
Harry shrugged. “I haven't really bothered to work it out. Besides, you are always calling me a trouble magnet.”
“There’s a difference between being caught out of bounds after curfew or being injured in sports and finding dead bodies,” Snape said.
“Well, I was also good at finding people who wanted to kill me, so there is that,” Harry offered. He hadn’t been idle while explaining things to Snape, slowly circling his way through the library to get an idea of what the victim and the killer’s motions had been. He paused and pointed at where the victim had to have been standing before getting shot, and then he motioned over to where the killer would have had to have stood. “The victim was facing this way when he was discovered, right?” he asked just to be sure, motioning the direction that the man would have been facing.
“That’s right,” Emery said. He motioned to where Harry had earlier. “And the killer would have been standing here.”
“Thought so,” Harry said. He then proceeded to ignore the space where the killer had been standing and he went past the spot where the dead man lay. He ignored the looks that Snape was giving him as he got to his hands and knees in front of a book case. He peered under the slim crack of where the bookcase didn't reach the floor. It took some maneuvering, but he managed to spot the glint of gold from under the bookcase.
“What are you doing?” Snape asked.
“I need a ruler or something like that,” Harry said. He motioned at the underside of the bookcase. “There’s something there.”
“Back up,” Emery said as he motioned towards one of the men in the room. That man used a ruler to carefully fetch the golden object. He then backed away as Emery and Harry crowded over to see the object.
It was a golden pin, depicting a heron. Harry frowned, trying to place it, and then he blinked when he remembered where he had seen it. “Wasn't the victim wearing a pin like this?”
“That’s right,” Emery said.
“I think that the killer had this one on them at some point,” Harry said as he motioned towards the pin.
“And what makes you think that?” Snape asked, sounding as though Harry had answered a potions question wrong. Harry didn't let that bother him, though; he knew more about killers than he did about potions. “If the victim had the same kind of pin, then wouldn't it be possible for this pin to be one of his?”
Harry shook his head. “I don't think so.” Harry stood up and stepped away as the constable moved in to bag the golden heron pin. He turned towards Emery. “Can I talk to the suspects now?”
“If you think you’ve gotten everything here,” Emery said.
“As near as I can,” Harry said. “I even have a good idea how exactly they managed to get in to kill the victim with the door locked, and how they got back out again. I’ll have to poke around a bit to fully pin it down, though.”
“This way to the people who were here for the party,” Emery said as he motioned out of the library.
Harry and Snape followed him down to the living room, where nine people were waiting. Harry glanced over them right before stepping into the room and he could tell that this hadn't been an ordinary party. It was obvious straight away from the way that they looked. Yes, having someone die was quite the thing to ruin a party, but Harry could see underlying traces of seriousness that he didn't think were just because the host of the party died. Plus, there was also simply the way that they looked; only a couple of them really looked at home in the mansion.
Harry entered the room, but allowed Emery to take over at that point. There were only a couple of people who would answer a teen asking questions about a murder and Harry didn't think that any of them would. Besides, Emery really was more skilled at handling the people than he was.
Harry gained a couple of odd looks for his presence, but most of the party goers ignored him as Emery started the questioning. Snape they found harder to ignore, but since he was just lurking behind Emery, they didn't think much about him. Harry listened as Emery went through interviewing each witness.
The events of the matter were simple. They had all been invited to a party hosted by the victim. They had arrived for dinner and then had a discussion after the meal. During that point in time there was a disagreement between the host of the party and one of his guests. The guest, Isaac Foster, was sullen when questioned about it. He claimed that it was an ordinary argument and that, of course, he did not murder Peterson after that. But, yes, that was the reason why Peterson went and locked himself in the library.
It was hardly new behavior, one of the guests, Zoe Newman, said. Peterson was quick to lose his temper and get into a fight, but also well behaved enough to excuse himself to regain his lost temper. They had expected him back in ten minutes or so, which was why they were close to the library when they heard the gunshots.
They had become worried when they hadn't heard from Peterson after ten minutes and they had decided to head over to the library in order to make sure that he was all right. There was a chance that he had an adverse reaction to the confrontation; they were getting older, after all, Ethan Gibson said.
They were only a couple of rooms away from the library when they heard the shots ring out. Normally they probably wouldn't have heard it, Alexandra Goldberg said, not down in the parlor where they were. But, since they were close enough to the library, they heard the shots.
Of course they panicked and rushed over, but the library doors were locked. The key was in the keyhole, and everything was silent. They knew that Peterson was in trouble, Shanna Simpson said, so they called the police. Once the police got there, they discovered the body in the library. It was horrible.
Was there anyone who had left during the ten minutes that Peterson had been gone? Well, Isaac Foster had also stormed off in a huff, Jill Cooper said. But, he was gone only about five minutes or so, Paul Jones added; he had paid attention to the time only because he wanted to know when to drag them back so that they could resume their discussion.
What was the purpose of the party? Well, they can’t really say. It was a reunion, a get together after being apart for so long, Kristin Brown said. They wanted to catch up about old times, and see what people were like in the present. Of course, it was the old times that led to the argument, Jose Scott said, but he really couldn't imagine it leading to death.
There was more that the guests weren't telling Emery about, but Harry figured that it would take a bit of doing before the actually came out and told them what it was. Harry was willing to bet that it had to do with the real reason they were there.
Emery asked each of the nine people about the golden heron pin - the last question that he asked them. They all paled when asked about it, but they didn't say a word about it. They had no idea why there were two golden heron pins and, no, they didn't know what it could mean. Lies.
After interviewing the guests, they interviewed the staff of the mansion. Nothing in particular really stood out during those interviews. The staff had all been doing their job at the time, something that everyone could vouch for. No, they did not know what the party was about, but it was not their business to know.
The golden pin? Peterson always wore that, but they did not know about the second pin. He only had one pin that he wore; they were at a complete loss as to what was going on.
“Thank you,” Emery said to the last person he interviewed. He waited until the cook had left the room before turning to Harry. “Well, did you get anything?”
“Contrary to some belief, I am not psychic,” Harry said, arching his eyebrows at Emery. “But, yes, this did prove useful.”
“And?” Snape drawled. “Have you solved the case?”
Harry shook his head. “Now is the time to do some research. I need to go back to the library to look at Peterson’s papers.”
“What makes you think that he has papers in the library?” Emery asked.
“Why else would he choose the library to go after the argument?” Harry asked. He stood up and left the room without waiting for an answer. The picture was in front of him, now he only had to find a way to shine a light on it.
Chapter Three
“What?” Snape asked, reeling at Harry’s revelation.
Harry just shrugged and turned back to the body. The man had been shot twice in the chest at close range, but there were faint signs of a struggle as well. He was willing to bet that one of the gunshot wounds had been made during the struggle and the second one had been made after the man had collapsed; though it was hard to tell at this angle. It hadn't been too long of a fight, though, as there really weren't a whole lot of evidence of a struggle. The most telling mark was the cut on the man’s cheek, which looked as though it had been made by something other than fingernails.
“What do you mean that you are here to solve a murder?” Snape demanded after Harry didn't answer him.
“It’s just as it sounds,” Harry said. He glanced over the body once more before standing up; he had seen enough for now. “I am here to figure out who killed this man and why. I know that it is a bit surprising, but it’s nothing new to me.”
“Is this the truth?” Snape asked, turning to Emery for answers.
Emery shrugged. “I wish that it weren’t, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth to rely on a kid, but the truth is that he is damn good at what he does. He makes leaps and bounds in logic that astound me and he is always right.”
“And that makes it all right to use a child like that?” Snape asked.
“Hell no, but good luck trying to keep him away from scenes like this,” Emery said as he motioned towards the body. “And before you say something about my taking him to this particular crime scene, I have to tell you that there is a good chance that he would end up here anyway. I have no idea how or why, but through some circumstance, he would end up here, even if he is under house arrest or whatever you were looking for.”
“It’s true, I seem to have extraordinary luck in finding dead, murdered bodies,” Harry said with a shrug. “It took Emery forever to catch on to this fact.”
“There was a point in time where we thought that he was a serial killer,” Emery said. “Of course then someone was killed right in the station when he was right in front of me at the time. No, he just seems to be drawn to them like a magnet.”
Harry shrugged. “I haven't really bothered to work it out. Besides, you are always calling me a trouble magnet.”
“There’s a difference between being caught out of bounds after curfew or being injured in sports and finding dead bodies,” Snape said.
“Well, I was also good at finding people who wanted to kill me, so there is that,” Harry offered. He hadn’t been idle while explaining things to Snape, slowly circling his way through the library to get an idea of what the victim and the killer’s motions had been. He paused and pointed at where the victim had to have been standing before getting shot, and then he motioned over to where the killer would have had to have stood. “The victim was facing this way when he was discovered, right?” he asked just to be sure, motioning the direction that the man would have been facing.
“That’s right,” Emery said. He motioned to where Harry had earlier. “And the killer would have been standing here.”
“Thought so,” Harry said. He then proceeded to ignore the space where the killer had been standing and he went past the spot where the dead man lay. He ignored the looks that Snape was giving him as he got to his hands and knees in front of a book case. He peered under the slim crack of where the bookcase didn't reach the floor. It took some maneuvering, but he managed to spot the glint of gold from under the bookcase.
“What are you doing?” Snape asked.
“I need a ruler or something like that,” Harry said. He motioned at the underside of the bookcase. “There’s something there.”
“Back up,” Emery said as he motioned towards one of the men in the room. That man used a ruler to carefully fetch the golden object. He then backed away as Emery and Harry crowded over to see the object.
It was a golden pin, depicting a heron. Harry frowned, trying to place it, and then he blinked when he remembered where he had seen it. “Wasn't the victim wearing a pin like this?”
“That’s right,” Emery said.
“I think that the killer had this one on them at some point,” Harry said as he motioned towards the pin.
“And what makes you think that?” Snape asked, sounding as though Harry had answered a potions question wrong. Harry didn't let that bother him, though; he knew more about killers than he did about potions. “If the victim had the same kind of pin, then wouldn't it be possible for this pin to be one of his?”
Harry shook his head. “I don't think so.” Harry stood up and stepped away as the constable moved in to bag the golden heron pin. He turned towards Emery. “Can I talk to the suspects now?”
“If you think you’ve gotten everything here,” Emery said.
“As near as I can,” Harry said. “I even have a good idea how exactly they managed to get in to kill the victim with the door locked, and how they got back out again. I’ll have to poke around a bit to fully pin it down, though.”
“This way to the people who were here for the party,” Emery said as he motioned out of the library.
Harry and Snape followed him down to the living room, where nine people were waiting. Harry glanced over them right before stepping into the room and he could tell that this hadn't been an ordinary party. It was obvious straight away from the way that they looked. Yes, having someone die was quite the thing to ruin a party, but Harry could see underlying traces of seriousness that he didn't think were just because the host of the party died. Plus, there was also simply the way that they looked; only a couple of them really looked at home in the mansion.
Harry entered the room, but allowed Emery to take over at that point. There were only a couple of people who would answer a teen asking questions about a murder and Harry didn't think that any of them would. Besides, Emery really was more skilled at handling the people than he was.
Harry gained a couple of odd looks for his presence, but most of the party goers ignored him as Emery started the questioning. Snape they found harder to ignore, but since he was just lurking behind Emery, they didn't think much about him. Harry listened as Emery went through interviewing each witness.
The events of the matter were simple. They had all been invited to a party hosted by the victim. They had arrived for dinner and then had a discussion after the meal. During that point in time there was a disagreement between the host of the party and one of his guests. The guest, Isaac Foster, was sullen when questioned about it. He claimed that it was an ordinary argument and that, of course, he did not murder Peterson after that. But, yes, that was the reason why Peterson went and locked himself in the library.
It was hardly new behavior, one of the guests, Zoe Newman, said. Peterson was quick to lose his temper and get into a fight, but also well behaved enough to excuse himself to regain his lost temper. They had expected him back in ten minutes or so, which was why they were close to the library when they heard the gunshots.
They had become worried when they hadn't heard from Peterson after ten minutes and they had decided to head over to the library in order to make sure that he was all right. There was a chance that he had an adverse reaction to the confrontation; they were getting older, after all, Ethan Gibson said.
They were only a couple of rooms away from the library when they heard the shots ring out. Normally they probably wouldn't have heard it, Alexandra Goldberg said, not down in the parlor where they were. But, since they were close enough to the library, they heard the shots.
Of course they panicked and rushed over, but the library doors were locked. The key was in the keyhole, and everything was silent. They knew that Peterson was in trouble, Shanna Simpson said, so they called the police. Once the police got there, they discovered the body in the library. It was horrible.
Was there anyone who had left during the ten minutes that Peterson had been gone? Well, Isaac Foster had also stormed off in a huff, Jill Cooper said. But, he was gone only about five minutes or so, Paul Jones added; he had paid attention to the time only because he wanted to know when to drag them back so that they could resume their discussion.
What was the purpose of the party? Well, they can’t really say. It was a reunion, a get together after being apart for so long, Kristin Brown said. They wanted to catch up about old times, and see what people were like in the present. Of course, it was the old times that led to the argument, Jose Scott said, but he really couldn't imagine it leading to death.
There was more that the guests weren't telling Emery about, but Harry figured that it would take a bit of doing before the actually came out and told them what it was. Harry was willing to bet that it had to do with the real reason they were there.
Emery asked each of the nine people about the golden heron pin - the last question that he asked them. They all paled when asked about it, but they didn't say a word about it. They had no idea why there were two golden heron pins and, no, they didn't know what it could mean. Lies.
After interviewing the guests, they interviewed the staff of the mansion. Nothing in particular really stood out during those interviews. The staff had all been doing their job at the time, something that everyone could vouch for. No, they did not know what the party was about, but it was not their business to know.
The golden pin? Peterson always wore that, but they did not know about the second pin. He only had one pin that he wore; they were at a complete loss as to what was going on.
“Thank you,” Emery said to the last person he interviewed. He waited until the cook had left the room before turning to Harry. “Well, did you get anything?”
“Contrary to some belief, I am not psychic,” Harry said, arching his eyebrows at Emery. “But, yes, this did prove useful.”
“And?” Snape drawled. “Have you solved the case?”
Harry shook his head. “Now is the time to do some research. I need to go back to the library to look at Peterson’s papers.”
“What makes you think that he has papers in the library?” Emery asked.
“Why else would he choose the library to go after the argument?” Harry asked. He stood up and left the room without waiting for an answer. The picture was in front of him, now he only had to find a way to shine a light on it.
Chapter Three