God Bless the Broken Road

James knocked on the door. Joe seemed a little reluctant to eat with the Weasleys, but Ed seemed genuinely interested in meeting them, and Lenny never turned down a free meal. Rey seemed genial. Mike seemed unaffected and unimpressed.

Molly answered the door and smiled. "Oh, good, you're here. Ron told us you were coming...come on in." She held out her hand uncertainly to James's companions. "I'm Molly Weasley."

Anita stepped forward and shook Molly's hand warmly. "Lieutenant Anita Van Buren. This is Investigator Leonard Briscoe, Detective Edward Green, Detective Michael Logan, Detective Reynaldo Curtis, and Detective Joseph Fontana. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Weasley."

"Oh, no, dear, call me Molly," Molly said cheerfully. "Come in, come in...my husband will be home soon, we're almost ready to start." She led them out the back door, explaining, "We're eating out back, there just isn't room in here...I have a large family."

Bill and Charlie were straightening a pair of tables. Hermione and Ginny were setting out plates, Ron and Harry the knives and forks, Fred and George the glasses. Bill straightened when he saw the detectives and crossed the yard. He turned to Ed and asked, "Are you Detective Green? James mentioned you the other day...I'm Bill Weasley."

"Not bad, kid. Call me Ed." Ed shook his hand.

James introduced his boss and the other detectives. "Thanks again for asking us to dinner, Molly."

"Oh, no trouble at all, dears," Molly said warmly, bustling into the house to get the food.

Bill looked up at James. "Hey, while I'm thinking about it...Hermione said you mentioned Kenneth Kissell as they were leaving. I thought the name sounded familiar, but I couldn't think why...I went into the bank and dropped a couple questions, got some answers. One of my co-workers told me he's a career criminal--he worked over here a few years ago. My direct superior seemed surprised when I mentioned his name. Turns out she's his cousin, she knows a couple places he liked to hang out when he was over here. Then I remembered where I'd heard the name before...he was in my class at school."

"Why didn't you tell any of this to the police?" Joe demanded.

Bill blinked. "I just did, didn't I?" Joe didn't seem to have a smart response for that. "Besides, my father and my younger brother both work for the government. I've got friends who work as detectives, police officers, lawyers, PIs, the whole nine yards, and I know enough to know that if I passed on anything like that to the British police force you'd lose jurisdiction...assuming you managed to get it in the first place."

"Thanks, Bill," James said, fighting back a grin.

"You don't happen to have a name for us of this superior of yours, do you?" Lenny asked.

"Sure. Alina Henderson. Not sure where she lives, though."

"I'll probably stop by and talk to her tomorrow," James told him.

Ed opened his mouth to say something, but Molly came out just then, accompanied by Arthur. James quickly introduced him to the detectives; Arthur shook their hands, welcomed them to England, and added that, if they needed a hand with anything, all they had to do was ask him.