Nymphadora Tonks and the Liquor of Jacmel

6: The Uses and Abuses of Veritaserum

Monday July 27^th 1994

Tonks used the weekend to brush up on her interrogation theory and Apparated into the foyer on Monday morning. She feet nervous but excited, thinking through everything they might want to ask Farley. Naturally, this distraction meant that she wasn't looking where she was going, and several people collided with her, including (to her deep embarrassment) the wizard in pinstripes she'd 'met' on her first day. This time he merely looked at her disdainfully, as if she were a troll with halitosis, and marched off.

Preoccupied with this, she didn't at first notice the quiet voice speaking to her as the lift started up.

"Well, Auror Tonks, how are you settling in?"

Tonks looked around in surprise to see a very familiar face. Bruno Featherstone had been the kind of department head that favoured the hands-on approach. He'd taught many of the more interesting classes during her Auror training. The cadets had rather enjoyed his lessons as a general rule, despite it rapidly becoming clear that he did not suffer fools gladly.

"Er ... quite well, I think, sir. Commander Claymore put me straight on to a case. We're doing an interview with Veritaserum this morning, in fact," she said brightly.

"Veritaserum, eh?" said Featherstone thoughtfully as the lift came to a halt at Level Five. "Well, well. I do hope you remember all we taught you about it." With a slight smile, he got out, leaving Tonks to think. It was quite easy to remember what he'd taught. It had been a memorable sort of lecture.

*****

February 1992

Featherstone had written just one word on the blackboard that morning when they came into the lecture hall - "Veritaserum". The students all looked at each other with interest and slight excitement.

"Settle down, people." His voice was quiet, but the trainees immediately stopped murmuring. The head of Auror training was not a man who ever had any trouble keeping a class in order.

He pointed to the blackboard with his wand. "Today we will be considering an important factor in criminal investigations in the magical world. Veritaserum. I'm not here to tell you how to make the stuff. You can get all that from the recipe books, although I believe you will be taught how to do this in your potions classes at some point. In any case, if you qualify as Aurors, we don't expect you to brew all your own potions." Many of the class looked relieved at this.

"Veritaserum is a Truth Potion, in case there is someone here who doesn't know - if there is, please don't reveal your ignorance, I wouldn't wish to know you're falling behind in your studies - and is, in the opinion of many people, the best thing to happen to magical law enforcement since the invention of Anti-Disapparation Jinxes. Would you agree?"

Most of the class had eventually learned not to bite when Bruno Featherstone offered up rhetorical bait like this. But as this lecture was early in their training, one of them nodded and said, "It means we can just concentrate on actually catching the villains. Once we get them, we know we can easily get any information we need."

"Wrong, Mr Jenkins," replied Featherstone bluntly, shaking his head with mock sadness. The young man's face dropped like a stone. "On several different levels, in fact. Firstly, despite anything the Quibbler and its ilk may have suggested to you, we do actually have laws regulating what Aurors can and cannot do, and you will be expected to know what they are."

He paused briefly, apparently to gather his thoughts. "Now I know that some of you here have been sent for training from other wizarding administrations. We only teach - and examine - the rules of the British wizarding legal system here, so I'm afraid that you'll also have to learn the regulations that apply in your own countries in your own time. However, Veritaserum rules vary little, as far as I know." The British trainees glanced in sympathy at their foreign friends.

"Anyway, under our Wizengamot Charter of Rights, the Ministry may only use coercive interrogation methods under special circumstances, and never without a specific warrant." He gave the class an assessing look. "I would like to tell you that this is merely because we are civilised enough to feel that magical citizens should generally not be forced to incriminate themselves, let alone be subjected to painful and humiliating ordeals merely because they come under suspicion. These are principles which are frequently recognised even by Muggles. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Powerful methods and sweeping legal privileges invite - and usually get - abuse if they are not carefully monitored, which is something that an Auror should appreciate better than anyone."

The class shared uneasy glances. Tonks wasn't sure if they agreed with Featherstone on this. She wasn't entirely sure that she did, for that matter, although she supposed he had a very good point.

"There were far too many occasions in the early days after the invention of the potion in 1684 where members of the Ministry administered it to people for arbitrary reasons, especially when an unusually high level of Dark Wizard activity offered a convenient excuse. The experience of having Veritaserum administered to you is not a pleasant one, as you will discover later when we experiment with it, and excessive doses can cause serious damage." He gave them a twisted grin.

"In fact by 1821, when Minister Peasegood came to power - and no, you don't need to know the history, Mr Jenkins, but if you pay attention it may help to set things in context - an important reason why he gathered enough popular support was his promise to introduce restrictions on such methods. Of course, it took him several years to, ah, 'convince' the Wizengamot to agree to such laws, but he eventually succeeded, and the rules that he introduced are still substantially in place. We law enforcers have only ourselves to blame.

"Secondly, it is not generally known that it is actually possible, although admittedly extremely difficult, for subjects to resist Veritaserum." Eyebrows were raised at this. "It requires the same strength of purpose needed to defeat the Imperius Curse. Although this is rarely found it can be done, especially with practice. And in 1764 the Deception Draught was discovered - this potion counteracts the effects of Veritaserum for up to seven days. We are fortunate that the ingredients required make it expensive even harder to brew correctly than Veritaserum itself."

Tonks scribbled the dates down in her notebook to give the impression of efficiency, although she was glad they weren't going to be tested on them afterwards. Magical history had never been her favourite subject. Or that of any of her classmates. Or, come to think of it, that of anyone who had been educated at Hogwarts during the last half-century.

"Thirdly, and most importantly, however, there is no guarantee that even a subject completely under the influence of Veritaserum will give you correct answers. Does anyone wish to explain why this is?" He gazed around the class inquiringly. None of them seemed keen to stick their heads in the firing line.

Oh well, here goes nothing, thought Tonks. "Er - because they might not know the right answers in the first place?" she said tentatively.

Featherstone looked at her with what might have been an approving expression. "Very good, Cadet ...Tonks, isn't it? It's always nice to see someone has stayed alert while I talk, it makes it all seem worthwhile.

"Yes, as she said, the most important thing to remember is that a Veritaserum subject can only tell you what they believe to be true. And this means that the answers they give you must always be treated with considerable caution, unless and until you have other reasons to believe that they are accurate."

He tapped the board with his wand, and a list appeared on it. "There are many ways for someone to mislead you despite being under the influence of Veritaserum, some of which are innocent, some of which are decidedly not so.

"Most straightforwardly, of course, the subject may simply be ill-informed. If they sincerely believe that someone has tried to curse them, for example, they will tell you so, even if they merely got in the way of a spell that was aimed at someone else. The contents of memories are often subjective and strongly influenced by personal experience and background, and you will find it is not always easy to distinguish what actually happened from what someone thinks has happened, even with magical assistance.

"Then, of course, you may be interrogating someone who is in fact insane. I remember sitting in on an interview where the Veritaserum subject explained quite calmly and matter-of-factly, with precise detail, how he had assassinated Pierre Bonaccord. Well, needless to say, if that had been true we would certainly have had to radically revise our history books. The same man also confessed that he had murdered Millicent Bagnold. I did consider asking Minister Bagnold if she had noticed this, but decided to let it pass."

The class sniggered quietly, and Featherstone continued, now with a sharper tone to his voice.

"More dangerous yet to the slapdash investigator are those who take precautions in advance. It has long been a common practice among the more ... organised criminal elements to arrange for memories of their crimes to be wiped from their minds with a simple Obliviate, if they have reason to suspect that they will be interrogated with Veritaserum or other coercive methods. The technique can be dangerous to sanity, certainly, but then so can a long stretch in Azkaban. Since memories tend to be strongly interconnected, usually there will be stray recollections or suspicious gaps that will show up under careful questioning, but many a lazy Auror has been fooled by such methods."

This statement had made the class sit up and take notice. Uneasy glances had been exchanged between them. And Featherstone's next point had proceeded to drive the idea home.

"During the last war, in fact, some of the Death Eaters came up with a novel variant - they occasionally used Confundus Charms on victims, or on expendable members of their own ranks who had fallen under suspicion, in order to plant actual false memories that incriminated somebody else. It is in the nature of the 'memories' created by this charm to be very prominent in the mind while they last, and very difficult to distinguish from real memories, even by the victims. Since many people in the Ministry were none too fussy about who they arrested, there were several cases of entirely innocent people sent to Azkaban on the word of You-Know-Who's supporters. Not the Department's finest hour."

Several of the class were open-mouthed. Tonks wasn't one of them, but she understood why, and shuddered to herself. The thought briefly flashed across her mind that maybe there was a chance then that ... no. There were too many witnesses to that one.

"For those dark wizards and witches who wish to retain the information in their memories without revealing it under questioning, there is the alternative of a device called a Pensieve and its associated spells. I would hope that some of the students in this class will have at least heard of Pensieves. Although as they are expensive, quite difficult to manufacture, and tricky to use, I won't expect you to know much about them.

"If you are unclear on the theory underpinning the Pensieve, I believe it will be discussed in the Advanced Obliviation classes in your third year of training. But briefly, you may be surprised to learn that with practice, it is possible to actually extract thoughts and memories from a mind, rather than simply eliminate them. A Pensieve allows you to store them, examine them from an external perspective, and replace them later if need be." He paused. "Naming no names, obviously, but we in the Department feel certain that there are former Death Eaters walking around free who escaped by claiming that they were acting under the Imperius Curse, and who were able to afford and use a Pensieve to temporarily remove the evidence of their crimes."

Tonks could think of a possible name. And a face. A sneering, patrician face that had always looked on her as if she were something unclean, seldom seen but loathed whenever she encountered it.

"Which brings me to the final caveat I wish to make. The reactions of those affected by the stronger forms of magic - especially Dark Magic - are also highly suspect. Imperius cursed wizards, for example, may or may not tell you the truth as they know it under Veritaserum. It depends entirely on the relative strengths of the curse and the potion, and the powers of resistance of the individual wizard. There are other Dark Arts with similar effects, although they are mercifully rare." Tonks hadn't known what he meant at the time. Obscure potions weren't part of the training course, which concentrated on bringing Auror candidates up to speed on the key material.

"And even some protective spells can affect what a person is able to tell you. For example, is anyone in this class aware of the nature of the Fidelius charm?"

Tonks raised her hand reluctantly, as did a couple of other members of the class. She suspected that the reason for the others' reluctance was that they didn't want to be asked to explain a charm that had only ever been mentioned in passing during their education. In her case it was because she had heard of it at a very young age, and didn't want to have to explain the reason why.

"A few of you? Good. For you others, this charm protects a secret and makes it impossible for anyone to learn it unless a designated individual chooses to reveal it to them. No potion or spell yet devised will enable us to force the information from anyone else, even if they have been told the secret." The students who had raised hands breathed a sigh of relief.

Featherstone looked directly at the student who had answered him before. "So, Mr Jenkins, will you now agree that Veritaserum is actually fairly useless stuff?" he asked briskly.

The young man gulped and fidgeted. "Er, I guess so, sir."

"Well that's a pity, Mr Jenkins, because I really wouldn't want you to go away with that idea," said Featherstone smoothly. The rest of the class snickered under their breath. "Now despite all the problems I have outlined, Veritaserum is actually fairly useful stuff. Miss Tonks, you seemed to be reasonably awake, would you like to tell us why this is?"

Tonks winced. Terrific, you just had to let yourself in for this, didn't you? She didn't have much choice but to hazard some kind of answer. "I suppose because ... well, because it still gives you information you didn't have before and you can always work on that and, er, test it out?" She held her breath, and crossed her fingers out of sight under the desk.

"Not too bad an answer," said Featherstone. "I'm sure you would rather not have had to give it, but as you see Veritaserum is not the only way of making people talk." The class laughed out loud at this and Tonks reddened slightly. Featherstone, with the slight smile back on his face, allowed them a few moments to settle down before finishing.

"That of course is the other important thing to remember about Veritaserum. You will undoubtedly get something from its use, even if that something is rarely a complete solution to your case all gift-wrapped and tied with a little bow.

"The methods I've described for defeating Veritaserum all have one thing in common - they require preparation. If you can catch people unprepared, then yes, you probably can get the information you need. You still have to ask the right questions - if you flounder around without knowing what to talk about, you are unlikely to get anywhere - but if you know enough about the case to keep your interrogation to the point, you will get valuable information.

"Now you should know that information obtained by Veritaserum is not a legal free pass in this country. Firstly, because of all the possible problems that I have described, its accuracy is subject to challenge by the accused at trial. This makes it vitally important to be able to show that your interrogation was properly conducted, and wherever possible the results should be backed up by additional evidence from other sources.

"Also, you are not supposed to use Veritaserum as an excuse for a general fishing expedition. Anything you learn from it that cannot be plausibly related to the case at hand may not be used in court." He permitted himself another smile. "Of course, this is not an insuperable objection. Once you learn something, you have the opportunity to verify it independently, and that evidence is legally acceptable. So my advice, frankly, is to ask anything you wish to ask if you think that the information may help with other investigations.

"Finally, as I have already said, even the use of memory charms may not be a complete defence. You need to acquire sufficiently good interviewing skills to notice when there is a pattern of missing pieces which suggest that this technique has been applied. Of course, the fact that something is clearly being concealed is an important pointer in itself.

"I hope that when the time comes for you to conduct such interrogations for real, you will all have a working knowledge of the value and the pitfalls of these methods. You'll be getting training in this later during the practical lessons, and I look forward to seeing the reports. Don't let me down."

The class filed out thoughtfully. It had indeed been a memorable lesson.

*****

Monday July 27^th 1994

Tonks found Scrimgeour, O'Gregan and Cornworthy already in their cubicles when she arrived at Auror Headquarters.

"Nymphadora. Top of the mornin' and all that," said O'Gregan cheerily. Seeing Tonks' wince, Cassius Scrimgeour quickly muttered to him under his breath. "Oh, sorry, Tonks then. Now we've got the Farley fellow on ice for us down in the interview room, so any time you're ready we can get down there. We thought it'd be best if we start the questioning, and you and Cassius just sit there so he doesn't know who you are and worries a bit. Then if you want to ask anything you can come in later. OK? Follow me then."

O'Gregan led them down to one of the small rooms Tonks had only seen in passing since she'd joined. A prim-looking middle-aged witch carrying a stack of parchment was waiting outside, accompanied by a man in lime-green robes and a grey-haired wizard with attire of a neat burgundy.

O'Gregan handled the introductions. "This is Marcie Macmillan from the Wizengamot Administration Services, Healer Parkinson, and this will I believe be Morgan Harris, Mr Farley's legal adviser. Shall we begin?"

Tonks and Cassius followed the others into the room. A scruffy, nervous-looking wizard was sitting at a table. So that's Farley, thought Tonks. He wasn't an especially impressive sight.

She recognised the seating arrangement at once. It was essentially the same as the one used at her initial Auror interview. Farley was seated in the middle, upon the long edge of a narrow table, on which he was drumming his fingers (apparently unconsciously). There were three chairs on the opposite side of the table in which O'Gregan, Cornworthy and the administrative witch took their seats, and chairs on either side of him clearly meant for Tonks and Scrimgeour.

Farley's adviser took a chair which had been placed next to his client, while the Healer placed a dropper and a bottle of clear liquid on the table and stood ready. The prim witch cleared her throat.

"You are Mr Benjamin Allen Farley of 271 North Clipperhorn Street, Manchester?"

Farley glanced at his adviser, who nodded at him. "Yes, I am."

The witch started to read from a piece of parchment, in a flat voice that suggested she'd done this far too many times to find it anything more than a dull routine.

"Mr Farley, this is a warrant duly granted by the Wizengamot, who have ruled that you may be questioned in connection with the attempted murder of Mackenzie Ashford while under the influence of Veritaserum. The questioning may relate only to the matter at hand, but such answers may be received in evidence and taken into account in any subsequent court proceedings, subject to the right of challenge by either side.

"The questions and answers will be recorded" - Tonks suddenly realised that Cornworthy had placed an auto-dictation quill on the table in front of him, along with a gadget she didn't immediately recognise - "but you may at your option have a witness of your own choosing present, provided that they agree not to disclose any information revealed in the interview that could jeopardise a current investigation, the life of a Ministry law enforcement official, or that of any other person, and that the Ministry may place a short-term Memory Charm upon them to enforce this at the discretion of the case Aurors.

"The interview will be conducted in the presence of a trained Healer, who is authorised to intervene if they feel that your life or health may be at risk. The Aurors may however use reasonable force to administer the potion if necessary.

"Mr Farley, do you understand these statements?"

Farley gulped. "Er, yes ma'am."

"Very well. I understand Mr Harris is your nominated representative, and that he has signed all the appropriate disclaimers?" Both of them nodded.

"In that case, we have completed the formalities. If Healer Parkinson would care to give Mr Farley the appropriate dose of the potion, I will leave you in what I am sure are the capable hands of Aurors O'Gregan and Cornworthy. Good-day to you." She gathered up her collection of parchment and walked out of the room, with a small nod to the Aurors.

The Healer drew a small amount of Veritaserum from the bottle and turned to Farley. "Put your tongue out then, Mr Farley," he said in the over-hearty voice that all Healers seemed to have been taught as part of their training. "This won't hurt a bit."

That's what you think, mate, thought Tonks as he dripped three drops of potion onto Farley's tongue with a cheerful "Swallow now, that's it!" She could remember only too well what it felt like from her training. True, there wasn't much actual physical pain from the stuff - a little nausea, a slight headache afterwards - but the experience of having other people stomping through your innermost thoughts, despite desperately trying to fight it, was not at all pleasant.

Farley slumped back in his chair with an unfocused look, and O'Gregan rubbed his hands briskly. "Excellent. Now, Mr Farley, please describe what you did on the evening of the twenty-eighth for us."

Tonks listened carefully as Farley recounted his evening's activities in a dull monotone. She'd already read his story several times in the interview transcripts. Although the Veritaserum brought out a number of embarrassing details that would probably have been of great interest to Mrs Farley (and her divorce lawyer), the main points remained consistent.

He'd gone to the party. He'd noticed a real looker who was wandering about the pub chatting to people and knocking drinks back from the bottle. He'd been taken aback to realise that she was flirting with him every time she passed by, and disappointed when he realised that she was flirting with all the other men there too. Towards the end of the evening he'd finally succeeded in getting her attention, and been amazed and delighted when he'd actually managed to pull her. They'd left the pub together. And then ... he was basically out of it until he woke up in Auror custody. He couldn't remember where he got the knife, or what he'd done with it, or where he'd been, or who he'd talked to. He could vaguely remember a scuffle and being hit with a hex, but that was all. He wasn't even familiar with the part of London where he'd been at the time of the attack.

Tonks took a sideways glance at O'Gregan and Cornworthy, neither of whom looked especially disappointed by this development. They must have already come to the conclusion he was telling the truth.

Cornworthy's other gadget turned out to be an Image Projector (another useful item she'd only encountered in passing during training). He placed a small bronze-coloured ring on Farley's head - it promptly expanded and adjusted itself to fit tightly around his temples - and fixed a matching ring flush to the top of the Projector. Having done this, he then prompted him to think hard about how the people he'd seen at the pub that night had looked. Tonks watched in fascination as a silvery mist formed between the two rings .

She glanced over at Cornworthy with eyebrows raised in inquiry, mouthing "how does it work again?"

"Bit like an automatic Pensieve," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth while Farley was sweating with concentration. "Doesn't record nearly as much detail, but you don't need to know what you're doing to use one." Tonks nodded.

Images slowly took shape above the Projector ring one by one. Each time Farley confirmed that one of them was an accurate representation of someone he'd seen that night, Cornworthy tapped the Projector with his wand; as this cleared the images, Tonks assumed it must store them first. The person they were most interested in was, of course, the woman he'd escorted out. There had been no response to the request for her to come forward inserted in the crime beat section of the Daily Prophet, a result which had surprised none of them. Her face meant nothing to Tonks - or to most of the others, apparently, although Cassius had a kind of distant look in his eyes that suggested a man trying to recall a hazy memory. Tonks made a mental note to ask him about it later.

The woman was indeed extremely good-looking and fully justified Farley's description of her as a 'honey' - blonde, blue-eyed, a figure with curves in all the places convention deemed appropriate. Williamson would definitely have appreciated her. Tonks made another mental note of the elaborate and quite distinctive waved hairstyle. One of these days she'd have to try it out. At least it might stop her mirror complaining.

Farley eventually ran out of people to project images of, and the Aurors looked at each other thoughtfully. "Had you ever met Mackenzie Ashford before you tried to stab him?" asked Cornworthy.

"No, never, not as far as I know," said Farley, still in the flat monotone characteristic of people under the influence of Veritaserum.

"Had you ever spoken to anyone about him?"

"No, I hadn't."

Tonks, remembering what Featherstone had said about careful questioning, surprised everyone - including herself - at this point by throwing in a question. "Have you ever been involved in the magical creature trade, or spoken to anyone about the people involved in it?"

"Well, once or twice, yeah."

Cornworthy nodded at Tonks in approval - you've got the right idea - then turned back to Farley. "Describe these occasions and the people involved, please."

Farley began to recite again. "A few years ago I helped out this Greek bloke. Papadopolous he called hisself, don't think it was his real name, though. He 'ad some funny creatures he'd smuggled in and couldn't get rid of - sphinxes, manticores, things like that. Well, I knew this bloke up in Lancashire 'ad his own private zoo. Nutter. He liked that sort of thing, so I said I'd put 'em in touch for a commission. I was only the middleman. I mean, I wasn't going to go near the things myself, was I? Tear your head off soon as look at you. Anyway, he sold most of 'em, just left with this bloody great mutant hound thing at the end. No idea what he did with that. Couldn't care less after I got my ten per."

Farley's legal adviser was looking decidedly worried at this point. O'Gregan grinned. "For the record, Mr Farley, tell us who the buyer was and we'll say no more about it."

"Bloke called Arkwright, Nathan Arkwright, haven't seen him couple of years now. Never really did much else in that line. I mean, I've dealt in nicked owls a few times, who hasn't, but that's about it."

Harris coughed hastily. "May I remind you, gentlemen - and lady - that confessions on matters not directly related to the Ashford case are not valid evidence?"

"Don't worry," said O'Gregan with a snort. "You're talking to Aurors here, not plodders from the Law Enforcement Patrol who barely know one end of their wand from the other. We don't mess about with petty cr -"

"I'm going to show you some pictures of Ashford's relatives and their known associates," Cornworthy interrupted quickly. "Tell me if you recognise any of them." He laid out a row of wizarding photographs on the desk. Farley looked at them blankly.

"Don't mean nothing to me," he said. Cornworthy shrugged. "Try these. These are Ashford's main business associates and trade rivals."

Farley still looked indifferent. "That one's got a shop near where I live. Freddy Farnham. Sells pedigree Kneazles and stuff. Don't recognise anyone else there."

Cassius entered the fray for the first time. "Have you heard anyone mention a potion that acts on victims much like an Imperius Curse?" They'd agreed they had to ask this question at some point. Even if Farley had been part of a plot and the use of the potion had been a bluff, there was the off-chance that he'd admit to knowing more than he should about it, even if they'd Memory Charmed him to forget the plot itself.

Farley's eyes took on a look that was even more distant. "I did overhear some Midlands blokes talk about something like that. In that pub in the Magical Market in Birmingham, when I was in there time before last, couple of months ago? They was saying somebody had wanted some for a job."

Tonks caught Cassius' eye; from the look on his face, he was just as surprised as she was. "Describe these people, please, Mr Farley," he said urgently. "Do you know who they are?"

"Never seen 'em before. Must have been locals, though, you could tell by the accents. Don't really know what they looked like, they was on the next table and they 'ad hoods over their faces. Wasn't like something I was supposed to overhear, was it?"

Cassius shrugged, looking slightly disappointed. "What did they say about the, er, job that they wanted it for? Describe the conversation as closely as you can, please."

"They didn't say what it was exactly. They was talking about stuff they'd heard had been nicked. One of 'em said they knew someone - Trollbrain, they called 'im - his lot had a commission they couldn't fulfil, some collector's item with protections on it, and it was from someone you didn't really want to cross, by the sound of it -"

"'Trollbrain'?" interrupted O'Gregan. "Did that sound like a nickname or just an insult, now?"

"Bit of both, I think. They was saying he got desperate enough to ask around for ideas, and someone down south told 'em about this funny potion from abroad."

"Did they say where they got it from?" said Cassius.

"Not really, just that this bloke they bought stuff off from time to time told 'em about it, and reckoned he could get some for 'em. One who was talking said he thought whoever got it brought in a supply for stock."

"Did you ask around to see if you could find the supplier?" asked Tonks, excited.

"Not me, no! Bloody dangerous stuff by the sound of it, you'd have to be a bit desperate to use it, wouldn't you? I don't like getting involved with Dark Magic stuff. Could get the Aurors after you. You want to keep away from that lot. Stitch you up if they don't like the look of you, everyone knows that."

Harris gulped at this statement from his client. An evil grin appeared on O'Gregan's face.

"At least he understands the way we work. Now then, Farley boy, let's talk about who your dodgy contacts are - at the Transfigured Toad to start with, then any others."

Farley hesitated, but under the influence of the Veritaserum he reeled off a list of names. None of them meant much to Tonks, but the others nodded occasionally in recognition. She glanced at Cornworthy with eyebrows raised in inquiry; he gave a slight, chagrined shake of the head to indicate that none of the names really suggested anything more than an involvement in petty crime.

The Aurors exchanged glances. "Again?" asked O'Gregan, looking around.

"I think so," said Cassius. Tonks nodded vigorously, and Cornworthy more gently.

So they went over the ground they'd already covered again, and then yet again, varying the form of the questions, and trying to catch Farley unawares. But the Veritaserum had apparently succeeded in forcing him to be an honest man, and they were unable to get any significant information from him that they didn't already know.

Eventually, it became clear even to O'Gregan that they'd got about as much as they were going to get from Farley. A couple of security guards escorted Farley back to his holding cell, while the Aurors trooped back to the office in thoughtful silence.

O'Gregan threw himself down into his cubicle chair.

"Well?"

His question hung in the air.