May 7th, 1894 — Department of Mysteries Floor

Ivy wasn't sure that Viola would agree to this. She had not decided if she would tell the truth, either, but if she lied and got caught in it then it would probably get back to Prewett. Prewett wouldn't enjoy that, so maybe she should play nice — even if solving her case was far more important than the public knowing things.

So she was not sure how she would play it. She did not particularly enjoy working with other departments, but she was sure she would talk to Viola — she was the only one of the Information Services people that Ivy knew even vaguely.

"Sinistra," Ivy said, leaning against the desk. She wasn't sure they got along, but Ivy was happy to be flippant when they were away from the auror office."I need some information to go public." Ivy did not take the public particularly seriously — but on this case, getting out some misinformation would help her.

Viola Sinistra

  

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set by MJ

Viola looked up with interest. It had, quite frankly, been a frustratingly quiet day in the office so far. The sort of day when Vi had spent an unreasonable amount of time "looking over" the same stack of papers to appear busy. At this stage, she would take anything.

"Miss Sandow," she greeted. "What is the information?"

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Ivy tapped her fingertips against the surface of Sinistra's desk. "I've been investigating a series of cursed object trades," she said. "I need you to say in a release that it's solved." If she was lucky, Sinistra would not ask if they really were solved — Ivy did not anticipate that she would be lucky, but maybe she could be surprised.

  

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set by MJ

Vi retrieved a fresh sheet of parchment and her quill to take down notes. "Is it resolved?" she asked, even as she wrote down Miss Sandow's words.

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Ivy's mouth twisted in a wry sort-of-smile. ''No,'' she answered briefly.

  

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set by MJ

Viola wasn't surprised by the answer, of course, but that didn't mean the brevity of it wasn't disappointing. Raising her eyebrows expectantly, Vi said, in a perfectly reasonable ttone, "Well, I will of course need some details."

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Some details. A beat passed. "Vases," she answered, "From Amsterdam. They unload them in the Port of London and sell them to interested parties in Knockturn Alley. Mr. Nealy was arrested because his son touched the object and the healers alerted us to their suspicions of dark magic — that part is real, I just want them to think we've given up finding his source."

  

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set by MJ

Viola took down notes as Miss Sandow spoke, writing in quick shorthand that she would translate later when she wrote up the official statement. "Have you?" Viola asked, looking up from her writing. "Off the record, of course."

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Ivy grinned, sharklike. "No," she said, "I'm almost there."

  

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set by MJ

Viola nodded, and, as promised, did not make note of this fact. No one would give her information if they didn't think they could trust her, after all. "Well, I wish you luck on that, then. But I can write something up for the public."

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Ivy was pleased with Sinistra's response, but did not want to come across as too pleased — she nodded. "Thank you," she said, although she did not want to be too flowery about it. "You'll let me know when it's to go public?"

  

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set by MJ

"Yes, of course." Viola nodded. "I will let you know when it's ready."

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