Gryffindor Investigations

The Watanabe townhouse was large and sumptuously furnished, bordering on opulent. It made Malfoy Manor look like a tramp shack by comparison. Harry did his best not to stare. “Where did they find the body?” Harry asked.



“In the gardens behind the house,” Yamamoto replied.



Ron frowned, puzzled. “What would he have been doing out there at one in the morning?”



“The theory,” Yamamoto told him, “is that Mr. Watanabe went outside to meet someone. Perhaps your sister, perhaps another.”



“Another?” Harry asked sharply.



Yamamoto paused. He glanced at Harry and Ron. “There is…the possibility that Mr. Watanabe was involved with a third woman, besides his wife and Miss Weasley.”



“What’s her name?”



“Katsumi Sato. She is a wealthy widow who lives nearby. Her daughter, Minako, is about your sister’s age.”



“I’m still not convinced that Mrs. Watanabe is innocent,” Ron declared. “Yes, yes, I know she was Stunned, but spells can be faked. Assuming she was—did she know about the other woman, this Sato woman? If she did, then she might have—“



“We have not asked her about Mrs. Sato,” Yamamoto replied mildly, “and I would recommend against telling her before I am ready to do so.”



Harry knew an unspoken command when he heard one. “We’ll be the soul of discretion, Mr. Yamamoto,” he said.



Yamamoto nodded. “That said, the servants I have spoken to have mentioned that both Mr. and Mrs. Watanabe have seemed upset of late. However—and here is the part that seems unexplained—they did not seem to be at odds with each other. In fact, the only quarrel either of them had was on the part of Mr. Watanabe, with his son.”



“Shiro?” Ron asked.



“You know him?”



Ron shook his head. “I’ve never met him, but Gin’s been dating him for the better part of a year.”



“Has she?” Yamamoto said. “That is……interesting. And given the condition of the will…”



“What about it?” Harry asked.



“The will leaves all of Mr. Watanabe’s money to his wife. The son is not mentioned at all.”



Harry and Ron looked at each other. “That’s weird,” Ron said. “How much money are we talking about?”



“I do not know the exact rate of conversion,” Yamamoto said, “but I believe it would translate into several hundred thousand of your pounds.”



That brought Harry and Ron up short. “And it all goes to Mrs. Watanabe?” Ron demanded. “And you STILL don’t see a motive?”



“Of course I see one, Mister Weasley,” Yamamoto said. His voice, for the first time, betrayed a sign of impatience. “But I also see the effects of a Stunning Spell. Mrs. Watanabe could not have killed her husband, and I wish you would accept that.”



“But she could have hired someone else to kill him, couldn’t she?” Harry asked.



Now it was Yamamoto’s turn to be brought up short. Annoyance warred with surprise on his face; it was clear he hadn’t considered that possibility. “Yes, Mr. Potter,” he said, “I suppose she could.”



“Glad to help,” Harry smirked as he traded a wink with Ron.







Mrs. Watanabe was somewhat of a surprise to Harry and Ron. First, she did really seem to be recovering from a Stunning Spell; Ron had been convinced that she had been shamming, and that the situation was the same as that of the Cryne family. However, as they handed her a teacup, Mrs. Watanabe’s hands shook and she almost spilled half the tea on herself before Harry came to her rescue.



Second, she was an Englishwoman.



She took a sip of the tea and nodded. “I met Hiroki when he was an exchange student at Hogwarts,” she told them. “Ravenclaw. We spent eight months getting under each other’s feet and wishing all sorts of horrible things on each other, and then about two months before the term ended, we fell in love.” She shrugged, and it was clear the action was painful. “Young love. We kept in touch until we graduated, and then I came out here. My parents arranged for a chaperone, but she wasn’t necessary for very long. We were married six months after I arrived.” Her face clouded over. “And now it’s over.”



“We’re very sorry for your loss, Mrs. Watanabe,” Harry told her.



“Thank you, Mr. Potter.” She smiled. “I was looking forward to meeting you, you know. When my son became involved with young Ginny, I was sure they’d make a pair of it. Your presence would have made it the wedding of the century.”



“It still might happen.”



“Perhaps.” She sat up a little straighter. “May I…see my husband’s body? Or has it been taken away?”



“It is still here, Mrs. Watanabe,” Yamamoto said. “If you wish to see it…” He gestured for the servants. Two young women rushed forward and gently helped Mrs. Yamamoto out of bed.



They made a slow procession down the stairs and out the back door to the garden. Mrs Watanabe trembled as she walked, though it was impossible to tell whether it was from physical or emotional weakness. Two Aurors stood guard over a huddled mass covered in a sheet, and Mrs. Watanabe stiffed at the sight of it.



“Are you ready?” Mr. Yamamoto asked. She nodded. He gestured to his men, and one of them bent over and removed the sheet. The face underneath was that of a middle-aged Japanese man. Shock and anger, and a little fear, twisted his features into a snarl.



“No….” The word came forth from Mrs. Watanabe’s lips as little more than a whisper. She repeated it, a little more loudly, “No…..NO!!!!!!!!” She broke down, weeping bitterly, her breath coming in harsh gasps.



Too harsh. Her breathing became more labored, her eyes wide with horror. Her body convulsed with the desperate need for air.



“She’s hyperventilating!” Harry cried. He reached for his wand, but Ron was faster. In seconds, a glowing nimbus of light, similar to a Bubble-Head Charm, surrounded her head. Slowly, her breathing slowed to normal.



“Thank you, Mr. Weasley,” she gasped. “I think………I would like to go back to bed now.”



The servants helped her back into the house. Yamamoto moved to talk with his men, and Harry murmured to Ron, “Do you believe her?”



Ron nodded. “Yes.”



“So do I. She didn’t kill her husband.”



“So who did?”