A New Faith: Part 1: Chapter 13

A few days went by as the team interviewed pretty much all of the people that Nadeem had come in contact with. At work, Vidya indeed appeared to be the one who had talked the most with Nadeem, both professionally and personally. Alia had made Carlos bring her in for another interview, far more detailed, at the HQ. She was a bit daunted because it was at the police HQ and in one of those scary looking interview rooms - mirrored glass, glaring overhead light, simple table with hooks for handcuffs, and uncomfortable chairs. Despite this set up, Carlos was a lot more successful at putting her to ease this time around. No fainting spells. But, also no new insights from her.

Tozi had largely struck out with her database mining. The Interpol had given her restricted access to their database and she hadn’t found anything relevant to the case. The Sudanese police were dragging their feet. Not because of any particular reason, just that this was a really low priority for them. Also, no one was really going to hold their feet to the fire, anyway. They had, vaguely, tried to finagle some funding from Interpol in return for cooperation. But the Interpol had conveniently acted as if they didn’t get the hints. Tozi thought, briefly, of just hacking into the Sudanese databases. Then decided against it because the Sudanese servers seemed to be more offline than online because of power-cuts apart from all sorts of hardware and software problems. Her time was far too valuable for that.

Nadia had far more luck in finding a few leads from their other interviews. She had been exploring all other potential contacts. Nadeem was not a crazily social person like Nadia. But he did frequent some places for food and drinks. His preferred places were those that had live music. She had finished visiting the places that Nadeem seemed to have visited during the day-time and she was just getting started on the ones that Nadeem went to in the evenings. 

In one of the interviews, she had gleaned that Nadeem had mentioned a bar called L&S. When she was updating the team about it, Alia decided that she would join Nadia for checking it out. Sonia had been reminding Alia that part of her job was to observe her team in the field and if needed, mentor them. Unlike Carlos, Alia had found Nadia to be quite good at interviews with people. So she had not prioritized tagging along with Nadia during the ongoing investigation. But this seemed like a good lead and Alia figured it was time to go hang out with Nadia and see how she was doing. 

Nadia was an Arab woman - flashing dark eyes, fair but weather-beaten complexion, lustrous hair, and medium height. Her hair was streaked with purple and blue shades all throughout. She was the youngest in their team and also the most mischievous of all. At times, Sonia thought of her as a child and scolded her for all the pranks she pulled on various unsuspecting members of the team. But beneath all that vivacious and outgoing demeanor was hidden a very keen mind that absorbed all that came her way like a sponge. 

She had grown up in a house filled with brothers who at times - probably, most of the time - forgot that she was a girl and treated her just like a boy. Because of which she had become an excellent marksman and the most agile member of the team. Of course, as police, everyone had to undergo weapons training which Nadia aced right away and ended up becoming an instructor.  

Most important of all, Nadia was the only member of the team who had a thriving social life, both in the real and the virtual world. Alia always wondered how Nadia found the time to do all the things that she did. In terms of access, it wasn’t that hard to have a social life in Sequoia. Rather, the hard thing was to avoid a social life. Every residential building had a courtyard. These courtyards were communal spaces. During the long, dark, and cold winters the ceilings of these courtyards would be closed up. That is when they would become de facto common living rooms that served as the main places for socializing without having to leave the warmth of the building. For a social butterfly like Nadia, those were the best days as she could flit from one party to another all night, practically, every day.

In the police department, there was seldom any reason to call upon Nadia’s physical skills. She usually got tagged to pick up the slack in whichever task that was short on staff. For the two murders, she was asked to focus on the social presence of the two victims and canvassing the neighborhoods in which the crime had occurred or where the victims lived and worked. Those social skills came in extremely handy for those tasks. 

Both Alia and Nadia went home to change before they met up at L&S. Nadia was wearing a dress with a lot of glitter. When she walked or moved, it felt like she was floating a few inches above the ground. Alia, mentally, shrugged at the fashion choices that Nadia made. Also, those that Tozi made. Although, Tozi’s were more about the makeup and accessories. Alia, herself, was dressed up in a relatively sober manner. Relative to Nadia, that is. By Alia’s standards, she was flamboyant. She kept blushing all the time when she was dressing and Maria kept making inappropriate comments. Well, maybe not inappropriate, but definitely untimely. Alia was on the clock. It was not as if she could go late. Or could she?

Alia nodded at Nadia when they met at the door and they both headed in. L&S stood for Lily and Severus, from the Harry Potter universe. “Now that’s interesting,” thought Alia. She remembered that Lily was Harry’s mom who had married Harry's dad, James Potter, while Severus Snape, Harry's teacher, had pined for Lily all his life.

They went up to the bar and sure enough, there was a guy dressed up like Snape with the long dark greasy hair and the black flowing robe. He was trying to glare like Snape did, but his eyes were way too humorous and twinkling for him to pull that off. On top of that, he had no sign of pasty white skin. He was brown and had lots of freckles. It just made him look funny instead of threatening. He winked at them while he finished serving a couple of other customers. 

“Aren’t you that crazy gal from the Solstice party? Or was it the Equinox one?” he exclaimed when he recognized Nadia. 

Of course he knew her, Alia thought. Sometimes she wondered if there was anyone left in Sequoia who hadn’t run into Nadia. And not remembered her. Nadia was not a celebrity. People knew her because they met her and she made such an impression on them, that they didn’t easily forget her. Nadia gave the bartender a broad smile and with mock humility, said, “Solstice it was!”

“I kinda felt that I had been here before, but couldn’t place it. Must be all those lovely drinks that you made for me that made me forget everything from that night!” she said while winking at him. 

“Yeah right! You can hold your drinks, girl. The way you sashayed around the room, you were a total hit. I wish we could have you come around here all the time. So many customers remembered you and later asked about you!” 

It was as if Alia was part of the furniture. The bartender and Nadia started chattering away at breakneck speed. Alia didn’t mind that at all. It gave her an opportunity to carefully scan the place. Sure enough, she spotted the supposed Lily Potter, the other bartender. No way were her eyes naturally that green! Her eye makeup was done in such as way as to make her eyes look almond-shaped. It kinda sorta worked. But not really. She was clearly east Asian. Her eyes were simply too narrow to pull that illusion off. She was wearing a midnight blue robe with stars and moons on it. She was also wearing a wizard’s peaked hat. She was busy making a large order of drinks and had not noticed Alia checking her out. Strictly professionally, that is.

Alia looked around the bar. It was not yet packed. But it seemed to be humming with a certain infectious energy. In the far corner, one guy wearing a shabby robe and round glasses actually appeared to be teaching a dozen or so customers. Alia had read the Potter novels after she came to Sequoia and had enjoyed them. She had watched the movies, too. Plus the TV adaption that came out recently. The movies were okay. A bit rushed, she felt. The TV show was much better, in her opinion. That had more magic in it than the movies. She had loved that. The TV show also had more space for the other characters in the story.  

There were some beakers and flasks filled with colorful liquids that the "teacher" was using. The customers were all imbibing their drinks while trying their best to listen to their "teacher." The other tables seemed to have menus that customers seemed to be intently reading. Strange for a bar.

Suddenly, it dawned on Alia - why that particular name for the bar. Both Lily Potter and Severus Snape were excellent at the subject of Potions. In fact, Snape had been Harry’s Potions master for several years and that "teacher" was probably Professor Slughorn who had taught both Lily and Snape when they were students at Hogwarts. This bar’s theme was “Potions”. Nice one!

She was in awe of the creativity of her fellow Sequoians. They came up with such fantastic and innovative ideas. She was dating one such artist - Maria. And worked with another - Tozi. She turned back to Nadia and Snape. She cleared her throat and gently nudged Nadia’s elbow. Time to get to work! Nadia didn’t show any sign of registering the two gestures, but she smoothly started her transition to interviewing Snape. Good!

“Hey, you know, I have been trying to find this guy I ran into a few months ago. I am hoping it was here at that Solstice party. He was a flautist and I remember chatting with him. Then another friend of mine was asking me the other day that she needed someone to play the flute in her new band. So... I thought about this guy…,” Nadia trailed off. That "trailing off" trick usually worked quite well. Most people just couldn’t help themselves from completing a sentence that was left hanging. Snape was no exception, he immediately obliged.

“I think you are referring to that guy who was murdered last week. Aren't you?” 

“He died?” Nadia feigned surprise at this news. But she also was aware that she shouldn’t push it too much. After all, practically everyone knew about the two deaths in Sequoia. Snape stared at her with twinkling eyes.

“Ohh… right… you know what? I do think it was him. Maybe that is why I thought about him. I must have seen his photo and something clicked somewhere. Sheesh… too bad he is dead!” Nadia sounded reasonably crestfallen.

Snape wasn’t buying all this. He kept quiet for a beat. Then he looked at both Alia and Nadia, and said conspiratorially, “I know you guys are cops and are here asking about Nadeem!” 

Neither of them showed their surprise which they, of course, were. Snape mischievously smiled.

“Now that was a good bit of magic, wasn’t it? I put the Legilimens spell on you and now I know everything in your mind!”

They both laughed out loud and he joined in with them. 

“I used to be a cop and my dad was a cop and my uncle was a cop… I know cops. I tagged you the moment you walked in.”

“So why didn’t you volunteer to be a cop here?” Alia asked.

“Naah… I was done with that life. Like really really done. I wanted to do something totally different. I tried a whole bunch of things when I came. But nothing clicked. 

Then one day, I was in an intro chemistry class and Lily was my partner in the lab. We discovered our common passion for the world of Harry Potter. Then we discovered that we liked all kinds of booze. Of course, a bar based on the Potions theme was the perfect fit for us. We actually started paying attention in the chemistry class after that. Later, we took every mixology course that we could find.”

He sighed as he looked at Lily.

“I was so smitten by him.” He smiled fondly. 

When he saw the confused looks on their faces, he added, “Lily used to be Huy and he was so beautiful that I couldn’t keep my hands off him. Alas, he wanted to be a she, and just like in those novels, my love was gonna be unrequited. Hence, the name for the bar.

Of course, we are the bestest of friends. But still… I miss him... like... a lot!”

He made a face. Lily must have caught sight of it and she bustled over.

“Did he just tell you his sad love story?” she asked them.

She ruffled his greasy hair and gave his shoulders a quick squeeze.

Then she looked at them questioningly. 

“Did he forget to make you a drink?”

“Ohh… no… he did ask. 

Actually, we are cops and here on duty. 

We heard that Nadeem used to hang out here at times and we were just asking him about it.”

Lily frowned at that.

“Yeah… he came here a few times.”

“Do you mind answering a few questions?” Nadia assumed control of the interview. She had switched over seamlessly from a party girl to all business in a flash. Alia was quite proud of her.

“When did you last see him?”

“A few days ago. Maybe… a week?” Lily looked at Snape and he nodded.

“Do you have an exact date? Thursday? Friday? Wednesday?” Nadia probed.

“I think it was Thursday.”

Both Nadia and Alia held their breath. Were they in luck? Was Nadeem here the same day he was killed? That would be a fantastic break! 

“Are you sure about that?”

Snape chimed in, “yes - it was last Thursday. That’s the day our Dumbledore had unexpectedly taken the day off.”

“Umm... what?” Alia exclaimed.

“I mean… we have a Slughorn and a Dumbledore who run mock classes on mixology Tuesdays-Thursdays-Saturdays. 

This guy - Nadeem - he was kinda keen on the Dumbledore. Always trying to chat him up,” Snape explained.

“Nadeem had come in looking quite excited about something. Said he couldn’t wait to tell it to Dumbledore. But our Dumbledore had an upset stomach. Wrong potion, apparently. 

Or maybe too much potion, more likely!” Lily said, sarcastically.

“Nadeem was quite disappointed,” she added seriously.

“What happened next?” Nadia asked.

“It was a busy night for us. So it is all a bit jumbled up. I think, he did stick around for a bit at the bar. I made a drink for him - on the house - I kinda felt sorry for him.”

“Did he leave after that drink? Talk with someone? Can you remember anything else?”

“Not really. I remember making that drink for him and kinda nudging him to get going after that. We don’t need sad puppies in here dampening the vibe… if you know what I mean,” Snape said with a knowing look. 

“Me neither. I was running the other class in place of Dumbledore. So - I wasn’t behind the bar that night. I did see him sitting there. That’s all.”

Nadia and Alia looked at each other. At least, they now had one of the last places Nadeem visited that night. But still not much to go on with. Nadia pursed her lips.

Seeing their disappointment, Lily said, “why don’t you ask the people around here?”

“These folks are regulars. They were probably here that Thursday, too. Do you want me to announce?”

Nadia vigorously nodded.

“Potions students!” Lily shouted at the top of her voice. The buzz got subdued as everyone turned toward her.

“Looks like last Thursday that guy who died recently had been here. Did any of you see him? 

Like... talking with someone? 

If you know something then please come up here and help these two detectives.”

Lots of exclamations got tossed around but no one made a move toward the bar. Then a small group of people came over and said that they had seen Nadeem sit at the bar. 

“Did you see anything else? Maybe… anyone talk with him?” Nadia keenly looked at them. They seemed a bit too high, to her. To be of use, that is. But no harm in asking, she felt. 

One of them said, “I am not sure if he knew the lady sitting next to him. But I saw them talking.”

Maybe they were getting somewhere, Alia fervently hoped. Hell, this might even be the killer. 

“Can you describe this lady? Did you hear any of what they were talking about?” Nadia asked.

“No - I was at the other side of the room. I was at the Slughorn table. I just saw them.”

“How about a description of the lady?”

“She was tall. Or more like big. She was bigger than you,” the woman said pointing to Alia who was definitely on the larger side when it came to women.

“Okay. What was she wearing? How did she look like? Anything that can help us identify her?”

“She was dark. Black. Yeah… she was black. She had the light behind her… so I couldn’t really make out her features. But she was black. I am sure of that. She was wearing some loose clothes. I didn’t pay attention to that.”

“A big black lady, then?” Nadia tried to get confirmation.

“Yeah. Definitely.” 

“Okay.” 

She looked around to see if anyone else had any more information. But no one else came forward. 

She and Alia thanked the bartenders and left. They had a vague but still a description of a potential suspect. 

Outside, they noticed a few folks smoking at the corner. They wandered over there and Nadia bummed a smoke from one of them. She lit up and casually asked, “were any of you here last Thursday, by any chance?”

The smokers gave them a cool appraising look and a couple of them nodded, “yes. We were here that day.”

“See anything unusual that night?”

“Unusual? Not really. L&S customers are quite high when they step out… so we always see a few stumbling around before they find their way. Nothing different last week, either.”

Out of curiosity, Alia asked, “does anyone fall down? Like too drunk to walk?”

Lots of chuckles and a few affirmatives erupted from the group. 

“Of course. What do you expect?”

“Who helps those drunks then?”

“Well - we do. I mean, unless someone else comes along to take them away.”

“See anything like that, last Thursday?” Alia warily asked.

“Yeah… I think we saw a guy who could barely stand up. He staggered out and was almost about to fall when his partner, this big woman came out and slipped her hand around his shoulder to support him.”

“Really? What happened next?” both Alia’s and Nadia’s hearts were beating fast now.

“We were about to go help him, but she waved us off. So we got back to our smokes.”

“What did she look like? Did you see her face?”

“Yeah… she was black. Like… really dark. There isn’t much light here in the shadows… so… I don’t know about her face. Anyways… what difference does it make. Why do you care?”

“Oh… nothing… just curious. That’s all,” Nadia said nonchalantly blowing off smoke rings. She flicked some ash away and looked in the distance.

“Did you see where that woman took that drunk?”

“Naah… they went around that corner. Didn’t see them after that. I was watching just to make sure that they both didn’t fall down.” 

“Hmm… too bad. It would have been great to have know where they went,” Nadia said wistfully blowing out another smoke ring. 

Someone else chimed up, “I heard a van’s whine soon after they turned the corner. They could have gone in it.”

Bingo! That must be the killer. Both Alia and Nadia looked at each other in the same instant. They had indeed caught a break. About time, thought Alia.