#acevalentine

@acevalentine

Cora had received the most peculiar of letters that morning. She wasn’t sure how or why it had reached her, but it wasn’t every day that a witch was given a letter of No-maj origin. It was because of it that she was standing there right now in the middle of the afternoon with an unusually sweltering heat overpowering her. She was out of cigarettes, something that bothered her even more, and her fingers drummed on her arm to the tune of a song she had been hearing earlier that very day.

She didn’t even know who she was waiting for. 

Her mother had told her not to go that day because A) Talking to a complete stranger was a stupid fucking idea, and B) It was hotter than the infernal bowels of hell outside. But Cora had a good feeling about this, perhaps  it was woman’s intuition? Or maybe it was boredom? She couldn’t really tell. 

Her eyes glanced at the bench that stood behind her and she slumped down, only to be met with the sharp fire of the metal. She wanted to lock herself in her room and freeze the place with a spell, but she would wait, she would be patient for this stranger.

Ace quirked an eyebrow when the witch stepped into the room. He couldn’t help but smirk as he glanced at Lancaster, “Oh, you know me so well.”

Valentine stood from his chair and rounded the large mahogany desk. When she commented on their need for a witch, Lancaster nodded, “It was a decision to make sure nothing got too out of hand. Miss Granger, this is Ace Valentine. He’s a man of... Talent. While he doesn’t work for the Ministry of Magic, he’s one of the best investigators around.”

Ace raised a finger to stop Lancaster, “Oh you’re flattering me. But please, continue.” he chuckled and approached Hermione, offering his hand.

“I believe Mr. Lancaster here didn’t introduce me all too properly. I’m known as the Ace of Hearts,” he gestured toward the placard on his desk with the playing card stapled crudely onto it, “Luckily for you, you wont have to introduce yourself. I’ve heard quite a bit about your endeavors, Hermione.”

Ace walked in circles around the witch, he was trying to get her measure. Sure he had heard of her talents, but he was never truly convinced in this world without seeing them. “I must say I like your demeanor. You’re here on business and you show it. But in my line of work, it pays to relax. Would you care for a drink? It’s quite good.”

The bottle of rum was suddenly in his hand. Lancaster looked over to the table, the illusory bottle was still there. “How did he get-” the inspector mumbled, he really shouldn’t have been surprised.

Ace opened the bottle while still walking circles around Hermione. The second crystal cup on the desk floated across the office and into Ace’s hand. He poured a small amount of rum and handed the glass to her. “We’re going to be working together, hon. In my books, having a drink with a stranger is the quickest way to build trust.”

The bottle floated from Ace’s hand and refilled his own glass. His eyes seemed to change to all different colors while the magic was in the air. Mr. Clarke chimed in, “If it’s a trust building exercise, I wouldn’t mind a drink.”

((RP with @hermioneinmonocaneland ))

“It’s a grim business...” one man said as he lit a cigar.

Another man glanced sidelong to the smoker and raised a brow, “What is? Investigations?”

The first man pulled the cigar from his mouth, a small stream of smoke trailing from his lips before he exhaled. He nodded and took a step forward into the rain. He fixed his hat on head head and pulled the collar of his coat up, “Indeed. You’re never prepared when you walk into a crime scene. Sure, you can hear all about the details but it never paints the same picture.”

A police officer walked past the inspector and into the building. The second man stepped aside to let the officer through. He looked back to the man smoking the cigar, “Who do you think did it?” he asked.

After taking another puff, the inspector shrugged, “I don’t think we’re looking for a who, rather a what, Mr. Clarke.”

The second man tilted his head, looked over his shoulder into the cordoned off building and then approached the inspector. He leaned in close to whisper, “You don’t think it was-”

“A cult? That exactly what I think this is.” the inspector said as he glared into the building.

Mr. Clarke took in a breath nervously and followed the inspector’s gaze, “Should we contact the ministry? I’m sure an auror would be able to root this cult, and whatever beast they’ve conjured, out.”

The inspector shook his head, “An auror would be a damn fine solution to this problem, Mr. Clarke. But the problem in that lies with the fact that they’re all busy hunting down bigger, darker things. A simple cult wont attract their attention. This is a job for one of our own.”

Mr. Clarke nodded, “A ministry detective, then?”

The inspector was silent. Mr. Clarke looked to him with a curious expression, “You don’t mean to bring -him- into the investigation, do you, Inspector Lancaster?”

The inspector was chewing on his cigar when he grinned, “The Ace of Hearts is the only one who’d make any progress. He has a tendency to... evade bureaucracy. He’d track down this cult faster than the ministry ever could.”

Mr. Clarke ran a hand through his hair and sighed, “Oh how desperate we’ve become to need to call upon Valentine...” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ace Valentine sat back in his brown leather office chair. The circular room was filled with classical music that seemed fitting for the bureau. Sitting on Ace’s great mahogany desk was a bottle of expensive rum with a crystal cup next to it. A neat stack of paper occupied the center of the desk along with a quill and ink. The placard on his desk showed his name to the world with a playing card stapled to it: the Ace of Hearts. Along the walls of the rounded office were high shelves filled with books of all colors, sizes, and origins. Some were old and others were new. A large window behind the groomed man showed off the concrete jungle of New York City. High rises sat level with the large window, the one directly across was dominated by a large pool that was conveniently overlooked by a gold plated telescope in Ace’s office.

Ace had his feet kicked up on the desk, his feet moving back and forth in tune with the music. He held matching crystal cup in his hand, a small amount of rum in it. He sipped from the drink while he read a piece of paper. There was a knock on the door before it slowly opened, Ace glanced up from the report, “Yes, Triss?” he asked.

His secretary poked her head through the door, Ace smirked, “Wait. Before you tell me the news. I have something to say to you.” he smirked, “You look wonderful in glasses. You need to wear them more often.”

His secretary blushed a bit before clearing her throat, “Two inspectors from the Ministry of Magic are here to see you.”

Ace raised a brow. “Is that so?” he reached for his rum and filled the glass to the top, “This should be good.”

Ace made no effort to move, he’d be damned if he was told how to be ‘proper’ in his own office. He kept his feet up while he sipped at the alcohol. The door opened entirely and the two inspectors stepped in. Ace grinned wide when he spotted the first man to enter, “Richard Lancaster! What a surprise! Come to work for me? I hear the Ministry hasn’t quite been the same after that whole You Know Who business a few years back. Sorry to say it, friend, but we’re not hiring.”

Inspector Lancaster stepped forward, “Save your wits, Valentine. I’m not here to satisfy your desire for being right.” he reached for one of the two chairs opposite to Ace.

Ace stopped him quickly, “Ah- ah! Not that chair. It isn’t real. Sit in the other one.”

Lancaster looked at Ace Valentine with narrowed eyes and decided to try and sit down anyways. He fell through the illusory chair as it broke apart and ceased to exist. Ace laughed, “I warned you.” and drank back some more of his rum. Lancaster’s partner decided to remain standing, he eyed the other chair warily.

Richard grumbled, “What’s the point of having fake chairs anyways? Do you like having your clients humiliate themselves?”

Ace shrugged, “Only the ones I don’t like. What can I do ya for?”

The inspector straightened out his coat and collected himself, “There’s been a murder.”

“It’s New York City, you have to be more specific than that.” Ace said.

“We believe it to be magical in nature.” Lancaster continued.

“Which is why two inspectors of the Ministry of Magic are in my office. Do better.” The Ace of Hearts sipped him rum.

Lancaster looked over to Clarke and rolled his eyes, “Right now, all of the evidence is pointing us to cult activity. The remains of the victims suggests that the killer wasn’t human.”

Ace raised a finger, “So you’re assuming a mysterious cult rose some sort monster from its slumber?”

Richard blinked, “No- Well yes, but the investigation has only just begun so we can’t come to conclusions yet.”

“But you wouldn’t come to me unless you had some reason to believe what I said is true. And you wouldn’t come to me if you knew your Ministry boys could handle it. So!” Ace took his feet from the desk and leaned forward on his elbows, “What do you have for me?”

Lancaster pulled something out of his pocket and dropped it on the desk. The item was in a clear plastic baggy labelled ‘evidence’. Inside the bag was a long, sharp tooth with strange letters inscribed into it. It immediately caught Ace’s attention, “I assume this was left in one of the victims?” he picked up the baggy and studied in the blood crusted fang.

“Right in a man’s heart. The fang is hollow, likely for injecting venom. The victim was as stiff as a board but his insides were...”

Ace looked to Lancaster, “Were what?”

Mr. Clarke answered instead, “Liquefied. The other body was completely emptied, like the beast was feeding.”

Ace nodded slowly, “Ahh, I see. This investigation is too dangerous for your own detectives.” he seemed to have a vested interest in the fang, “Well good news, Mr. Lancaster. My schedule just freed up. I’ll have the beast caught and the cult exposed soon.”

Richard watched as Ace pulled a pistol from one of his desk’s drawers. The man slid the gun into a underarm holster. Witnessing Ace take his gun reminded the inspector, “One more thing. The Ministry doesn’t like the way you operate-”

“Just as I don’t like their methods.” Ace interrupted, Lancaster cleared his throat.

“So to keep tabs on your flagrant use of magic, they’ve decided to pair you up with a partner. A witch actually, she studied at Hogwarts.”

Ace leaned his head back against his chair and sighed, “If it’s that divination lady who stares into tea cups for hours then this investigation will go nowhere.”

Lancaster shook his head, “No, it’s not thankfully. She had a hand in bringing down You Know Who.”

Ace chuckled, “She’s going to have to be pretty uptight to keep my ‘flagrant use of magic’ in check. I’ll try not to fluster her... Actually wait... That’s a lie.”

Mr. Clarke chuckled, Inspector Lancaster just rolled his eyes again. “Well she should be arriving any moment now.”

As if on cue, Ace’s secretary poked her head in through the door again. Before she could speak, Ace commented, “I’m serious, Triss, those glasses are mighty fine on that pretty face of yours.”

Triss’ took on a new shade of red before speaking, “We have a visitor who just arrived by portkey. I believe her name is Miss Granger.”

Richard grinned, “Excellent. Now we can get this investigation truly underway. That’s cause for a drink if I do say so myself.” he reached for the bottle of expensive rum.