Rose is a bit nervous when she's called into the leaders' office on the last Saturday of June, at least fifty percent sure she'd managed to screw up again and is about to be fired. She can't actually come up with what she messed up so badly, but her hindbrain is pretty confident there's no other reason she could possibly be called in. Thankfully her forebrain and basic logic assures her there's a very low likelihood of that actually being the reason, though she's still fighting down nervous nausea when she knocks on the door and is admitted into the room.

Undersecretary Weasley is the only person in the room, and she immediately gestures for Rose to take a seat. Her face is drawn, gaunt, even, and Rose's concerns for her job fly out the window in favor of concern over her boss obviously working herself way too hard.

Before she can comment, the Undersecretary gestures again for her to take a seat, and Rose quickly complies, some of her nerves about possible firing returning in force. She swallows awkwardly and clears , but once again doesn't have the chance to say anything before Undersecretary Weasley speaks.

"There were a series of circumstances that occurred this past week, and I feel it would be beneficial to your work with the local and international communities to be made fully aware of them." The woman says, tone serious in a way that has Rose adjusting her posture to be straighter. "What I share with you here is to be used only when you feel it will be most beneficial - this is not something that should be shared casually outside of work."

Rose nods mutely, realizing that this is probably the exact opposite of her being fired. This kind of sounds instead like she's being entrusted with top-secret information that would make it possibly dangerous to let her go.

She isn't sure how to feel about that, considering she's still generally fifty-fifty on whether or not she deserves this job. But she'd told Landon she'd try, and if this is part of that then she'll do what she has to.

"There was a mole in the Initiative."

Rose blinks. Of everything the Undersecretary could have said that was honestly not even in the top ten of what Rose might have guessed.

"Seriously?" She can't help the exclamation, though she quickly turns red at bites her tongue. "Um, sorry."

Weasley chuckles without humor. "Unfortunately yes. They were under duress, but they were reporting on everything we did day to day, keeping Yurina well informed of every move we made. We recently released this person from said duress, and we now have the full story. I will be sharing everything the mole told us to be used as needed in your upcoming work. Yurina's network goes deeper than we ever wanted to suspect, and the leaders of the magical community need to be made aware of it."

Rose swallows hard and nods again. She doesn't ask for the mole's name, quietly doesn't want to know and is glad the identity is being kept secret. Whoever it was was being forced and now they're free - that's what matters.

The Undersecretary then begins laying out everything they'd learned from the mole - the method of communication used, the frequency of reports and what was given, and, most startlingly, the code phrases.

"Whoever the Handler is, it's likely they were a part of the Underground." Weasley says heavily. "Or at least someone in the network was part of it - only people directly involved were taught those code phrases. Even Yurina, though I've no doubt she knew about the groups itself, could only have learned those from an inside source." She sighs heavily and finally leans back in her chair. "And that's everything. Do you want me to go back through any of it for you?"

Rose lets the question settle, actually considers it, before shaking her head. "I think I've got it. May I speak with you again if I later do need any clarifications?"

Weasley nods. "Of course. Mrs. Morgan knows all this as well, so if I'm not here you can speak with her."

Rose hums in acknowledgement, wondering if that's her dismissal or if it would be rude to stand up and leave right now. She opts to get up when the Undersecretary turns back to her desk and the files scattered across it, and no move is made to stop her so she heads back to her desk, mind still spinning slightly from all the new information that had been dropped into it. She collapses at her desk, takes a moment to scream internally, and then begins digging through her own pile of paperwork to figure out where and how she can use this new information most effectively. She has several meetings this week, including with their allies and the Council, so surely something she'd just learned would help there?

She ponders over it, reading and rereading a few reports until her eyes and brain both hurt from the strain, and she still can't come up with anything.

She drops her head onto her desk with a groan. She should have quit. Landon should have demanded a new partner. Or she shouldn't have agreed to try and-

She takes a deep breath. No. Thinking like that doesn't help anything. She can do this - people are depending on her to.

Despite the attempted mental pep talk she still feels rather despairing, though. People are depending on her, and she has to do this right, but that doesn't mean she suddenly knows how to even begin.

She stares miserably at her desk for a while, trying to think some more, though holding any coherent thought other than 'panic' is becoming increasingly difficult the longer she goes without coming up with anything. After what feels like forever (but has only been, on checking, about twelve minutes), a voice pierces through her jumbled brain.

"Rose? You good?"

She winces and looks across her desk to where Landon has appeared in his own seat. He's watching her with a frown, and she shrinks back just a bit. She debates a moment what to tell him, but most of her thoughts are rather negative and she knows he won't appreciate them. But she doesn't want him to know she's struggling, either. She doesn't want him to regret giving her another chance. She's been doing her best, and generally she thinks she's getting better, but being around Landon still activates every single anxiety nerve in her brain. Of everyone, he's the one she worries most about letting down. He's giving her this second chance, and here she is screwing it up.

"Rose. What's going on? Can I help with anything?"

Rose takes a deep breath. Okay. She can do this. "Actually, yes, but we shouldn't talk about it here." She says as firmly as she can manage. She figures since the information is so hush-hush she should do her best to prevent anyone from overhearing her, even if she doesn't intend to give Landon all the details. Undersecretary Weasley said to only share with people if necessary.

Landon is obviously confused, but he follows her to the meeting room without any protests and watches in mild bemusement as she erects several additional silencing spells and a few anti-eavesdropping ones for good measure. She's glad that Estelle had taught them to her not long after bringing Rose and Petra in on her secret investigative work, as they'll be useful for passing around this information as well.

"Okay, so Undersecretary Weasley just told me some stuff, and I can't tell you all of it because it's need-to-know and she thought I needed to know but now I'm not sure how to actually use it." She rushes out, all in one breath. "I can't tell you everything but I need to figure out how to use this and my brain isn't being very nice to me or helpful right at this moment so." She finally takes a breath. "Help."

Landon is poorly attempting to hide his amusement at her distress, and she pouts at him until he gives in and laughs. "Right, then tell me what you can and let's see if we can figure something out, shall we?" He offers once he's finished chuckling, and Rose nods, relief spilling through every facet of her being. He's not mad, or thinks she isn't pulling her weight. She can do this.

She does have to stop and actually think about how to frame the information. What does she have to tell him, and what can she leave out entirely? She chews the inside of her lip idly as she organizes her thoughts, and thankfully Landon seems to understand what she's doing as he doesn't comment or otherwise interrupt the process. Finally, she nods firmly.

"Okay, so as it turns out Yurina had someone inside the Ministry feeding her information. It was under duress, but it was happening all the same, and she got a lot of information that way." She explains, figuring that says enough without revealing any details.

Landon in a breath, and Rose grimaces at him sympathetically. Even with just that small snippet there's still a lot to take in.

"Do you know who?" He asks after a moment, and Rose shakes her head.

"No clue, and I don't want to. It's over now, at least, but the fact there was an informant at all means something, right? I don't know if it's stress or exhaustion, but I can't connect the dots on this one."

Landon hums. "I'm not sure how much specified advice I can really give - I'm not so in touch with the magical international community these days. Her just having an informant at all does seem significant, though. The network goes deep."

Rose blinks, and then jumps up from her seat excitedly. "That's it!" She exclaims. "The network. See, I was being stupid, thanks Landon!"

"No problem?" He offers with a slightly confused grin that she barely catches as she spins around and darts right out the door.

How had she not realized before? The mole's situation clearly showcases how deeply Yurina's network runs - anyone, even people who wouldn't be the betraying type, could still be a part of it under duress. The International Confederation of Wizards has been functioning under the idea that Yurina can't possibly have everything planned out, but this situation challenges that idea. And if Yurina really is pulling more strings than expected, then they need to step a lot more carefully than they have been, which means no war. 

Rose is practically skipping that afternoon as she heads into her first meeting of the day. Once she had her angle, it was a cinch to put together three distinct presentations for the three groups she'll be meeting with over the next two days, keeping the information in each limited to only what is directly relevant. Tomorrow's meeting is just with the international reps and Pup, so she's less worried about that one - today's two gatherings are the big ones, ones she normally would be nervous about, but today she's actually rather excited to see the look on people's faces when she finishes her report.

The Minister raises an eyebrow at Rose's approach. "You seem chipper." She remarks, "Considering we're about to go speak with the International Confederation of Wizards I'm assuming you have something solid, since this is usually the biggest slog of my week."

Rose grins. "I might. Is everyone tuning in today? I don't want to repeat this, it's sensitive information."

Granger hums. "I may know what this is about, though I'm curious to see how you're planning to use it. And yes, everyone is in today as far as I know."

The two women step into the conference room, and Rose takes a stance behind Granger, joined soon after by the British seat Rajani Misra, who gives them both a somewhat harassed, extremely wry grin.

"Just observing today?" She asks, and looks slightly surprised when Rose shakes her head.

"I've got some new information I think the Confederation will want to hear before they continue their talks of war preparation." Rose says confidently, and it feels good. For weeks they've been able to do little more than sit in and listen to these meetings as the Confederation becomes more and more certain that the worst case scenario is unavoidable - and worse, that it's necessary. Rose is honestly looking forward to showing the group that they've all been thoroughly manipulated by the very woman they tend to dismiss as a genuinely serious threat.

She lets the Confeeration go through it's traditional opening greetings and updates, managing to bite her tongue until they open the floor for agenda changes.

Misra steps forward with a smirk. "We have a presentation on a recent development concerning the Initiative efforts by Rose Evans." She announces. "If possible, we'd like this moved to the top of today's agenda, as it has wide-reaching impacts that are best addressed as quickly as possible."

A few Confederation members immediately cite support for the proposal - Rose had actually almost forgotten that not all of them are close-minded and fearful of change - but just as many speak up against it.

The Supreme Mugwump raises his hand, and the group quiets down. He stares hard at Misra, as if suspecting some sort of trick.

"Explain further why putting this first instead of last would make any difference." He says at last, and Misra nods. Rose isn't sure what the woman is actually going to say considering Misra isn't actually aware of the material within the presentation, but she's learned over many meetings that Misra is always prepared, and she has no doubt that the woman will manage this new challenge as seamlessly as she's managed others.

Misra nods firmly. "Of course, that's understandable. Based on the rest of the agenda, we'll be continuing our discussion of war preparation from last week - the information Ms. Evans will be providing is something that not only should be, but must be considered in conjunction with everything else. Leaving it for last could very well render all earlier discussion unusable."

The man frowns. "That's a large boast, Ms. Misra, but if this is true then Ms. Evans may go first. Are there any further agenda changes to be proposed?"

After a bit more chatter Rose finally is waved forward. Speech in hand and wand at the ready to provide a few visual aids, she takes a quick breath, heart pounding, and then steps onto the Floo Projection Spot so she can be clearly seen by the Confederation. She's got one shot at this, and if she messes up now she'll be ruining not only her own reputation, but also that of Misra and the British Magical Community as a whole.

For the first time in her life, the pressure doesn't make her curl into herself - instead, she stands taller. She's here to do her job, and she's more than ready to throw reality back into the faces of these self-righteous arses.

She moves through the speech easily, wand dancing as she highlights key points and emphasizes the massive nature of Yurina's internal network, as well as how deeply she's sunk into even the Ministry. She preemptively reminds everyone of the relatively recent massive overhaul the Ministry had undergone to remove corruption in the aftermath of the war, and how if Yurina could work past that, how much easier would it be for areas that weren't as robust in their anti-corruption measures as Britain now was? When Rose finishes Misra looks smug and Granger looks thrilled. Rose feels a mix of both as she bows to the assembled group, who have a combination of gleeful and sour looks among them, and hops off the Floo Spot so Misra can return to the conference.

"That was brilliant. Will you be doing the same with the Council after this?" The Minister asks quietly, and Rose grins at her.

"Modified for their particular... tastes, but yeah, pretty much." She murmurs back. The two watch the rest of the Confederation's meeting in silence, though internally Rose is reveling at how often her points are brought up and defended. War preparations are put on pause by the end of the meeting, and once the three women leave Misra slaps her back with a wide smile.

"Well, thank you for the massive help with my job, Ms. Evans." She says. "I'd like if you could keep me in the loop on any further information you come across on this matter that you believe would be of use to me."

Rose nods. "Of course." She agrees. "I'm happy to help."

She has about an hour before her next meeting so she carefully goes over her presentation notes for the Council - as big as presenting to the entire Confederation had been, she knows this is an even more important defense. The Confederation seats make suggestions and are highly respected, but without their local Councils onboard as well their thoughts can't actually be made into laws. So if Rose is successful with the British Council then she can be more confident that other councils will also be willing to pause whatever war efforts they're starting to consider.

The meeting itself is a blur of raised voices, repeating the same points over and over, and just general arguing, but Rose walks out with her head held high and a spring in her step. All movements towards war are going to be held off until the Yurina situation is sorted - and if that isn't a major victory Rose doesn't know what is.

She clocks out right after finishing the meeting - it's well past 6 in the afternoon at that point, and she doesn't think anyone will begrudge her calling it a day. Besides, she has one more conversation she needs to have, and this one is possibly even more important than the last two (though significantly less stressful, overall).

She goes home first, changes, and then Floos to Estelle's flat.

The young Auror looks momentarily startled before hopping up, wand appearing in her hand (whether it was nearby or Estelle just wordlessly summoned it, Rose isn't sure). A few moments later the two women are encased in a bubble of silencing and anti-eavesdropping spells.

"You're getting quicker at that." Rose observes.

"Been meeting with a lot of people lately." Estelle replies vaguely. "What do you have?"

Rose tells her everything - on the list of who needs to know, Estelle is right at the top, and Rose only feels a little bit bad that this probably definitely wasn't what the leaders had wanted her to do with this information, but as the person investigating the internal corruption, Estelle definitely needs every detail.

Estelle frowns throughout the report, only moving when Rose finishes. She nods firmly and dispells the privacy bubble.

"Sounds good, thanks for telling me. Keep me informed if anything else comes up?"

Rose nods. "Naturally. Good luck."

"You too."

Estelle watches Rose head back through the Floo, her mind whirling a mile a minute. The mole is Underground. Fergus's Handler is Underground. The revelation is both horrifying, for obvious reasons, but also a massive breakthrough for her work. She can now eliminate a massive section of people from the suspect list - anyone who had been too young 20 years ago to be a part of the Underground can't be the handler, which translates to anybody below the age of thirty eight being in the clear. After all, people who were still in school (or not born yet) twenty years ago can't have been Underground.

It does remove one of her top suspects, unfortunately, though she still is pretty sure that the Atrium greeter Thomas is somehow wrapped up with everything - the guy sees too much to not be suspicious in her books. But he's only twenty five, so he can't be the actual mole.

If she can get her hands on a list of Underground members, that would narrow the list even further.

It would also help if she could figure out who had checked out the files she'd needed Pup to get - she definitely doesn't have them, and she's honestly a bit panicked about the entire situation, not that she'd ever admit to that. The biggest stress factor is that they're checked out in her name. That particular cheeky detail is obviously a direct call out - whoever the mole is, they know Estelle is hunting them, which... really doesn't look good for Clary Shacklebolt, if Estelle is honest with herself. No one else in the higher levels knows about her work, though at the same time it's possible the mole really is just that good and has eyes everywhere.

Estelle honestly isn't sure which solution she finds less terrifying.

She's pushed the worry out of her mind by the next day, opting to focus in on narrowing down her suspect list as much as possible with this new information. She's mentally striking out names as she walks the Archives, on the hunt for misplaced or altered files to check out and send to Farrah. With the new information on the Underground they may be able to further determine how and when the files were changed, which could be a further clue towards the mole's identity.

She's honestly more focused on her internal world than the external one, which is how she ends up badly startled by the sudden appearance of Eloise Taylor directly in her sightline. The Archive Head looks slightly amused at Estelle's jump.

"Good morning Ms. Kuhara." The woman says, not commenting on the rather embarrassing show Estelle had just put on, "Hunting for files again? By the way, we'd prefer if you returned files to an actual person - if there's no one at the desk when you arrive you can just hold onto the files until you leave."

Estelle blinks, frowning. But she hadn't... She takes a closer look at the files Taylor is putting away and feels her heart rate pick up when she recognizes them.

Those are the fiiles that had been checked out under her name, but that she hadn't had. Obviously they'd just been dropped off by whoever actually did have them, and Estelle completely missed them while in her own head. She really should have had someone watching the front, but she doesn't really have anyone working under her who could do so without raising suspicion, and considering "an Archive member" is at the top of her suspect list she can't recruit any of them without possibly tipping her hand. 

She realizes she's probably been quiet for too long and looks back up at Taylor, who sure enough looks rather bemused.

"Um, right, I apologize. I'll keep that in mind for next time." She says, because like hell she's telling one of her top suspects that she hadn't actually checked out the files. As soon as Taylor leaves she immediately grabs the just-returned reports and flicks through them, trying to see if there's anything incriminating within the pages (not that she's really expecting to get that lucky - even if there was something, it's likely been scrubbed out now).

She returns the files to the cabinet about a half hour later, having found, as expected, absolutely nothing. However, she has taken note of which files specifically were part of the return group, and a few are ones she wouldn't have thought to grab in the first place. They relate to a smaller case that occured long before Estelle had graduated Hogwarts - a disturbance at an old Muggle dock. It doesn't seem to be related in any way to Dark Magic, but Estelle figures if it was worth smuggling out, it probably has some sort of significance.

She is really lucky she was here when Taylor returned these files, or she probably would have never thought to study that particular file. She decides her next step, at least in the Archives, is to explore if there were any other incidents with that particular abandoned dock and hope there is.

Sure enough, before lunch she learns that same dock area is where Yurina was last thought to have been hiding after the last war, before she left the continent entirely. Obviously that place is important (or, a voice in her head warns, Taylor is the mole and is intentionally sending you this way on a goose chase, though Estelle pushes it down since Taylor is another person she really doesn't want to suspect after actually getting to know the woman), so Estelle determines her next steps should focus on that area and anything even distantly suspicious that occurred in or around it in the years following the war and Yurina's escape. Even if it is a trick, she can't rule anything out.

Luckily, she's not working alone - this is a job she can delegate out. She decides she'll need to set up meetings with Edward, Noah, and Petra - all of them have their own reasons to be in the Archives, and they can keep their eyes out for further dock-related situations while down here. The trick is actually getting to those people without raising suspicion - the "mole has eyes everywhere" theory is still viable, so Estelle always has to be careful when she's the one reaching out. So she starts planning.

By the end of the day she's decided to just fill everyone in on the latest updates, including the edited suspect list (though she won't be sharing why the list is smaller now - Rose risked enough telling just her about the Underground connection, and Estelle won't break that trust). If she's going to be engaging in the complex process of contacting her (slightly uncomfortably) large team, she may as well go all-in and make sure they're all on the same page.

Tristan is the easiest - they have a standing lunch date, and she invites Demelza and Noah along with this week which covers three in one go. Des of course is also pretty straightforward, and she can ask him about Edward and Petra's work schedules in order to coordinate her own to facilitate their running into each other. It's Aruna who's ultimately going to be the most complicated to coordinate - she's not really close to anyone, so talking to her is a challenge at the best of times, nonetheless when Estelle knows for a fact the law specialist is being monitored extra carefully right now due to being a primary person of interest during the Internal Investigation (though they hadn't found anything, people are still wary. Estelle gets it, honestly, but she's banking on everyone being wrong on that front).

She asks Desmond about how best to approach the Aruna problem that night while filling him in on the new situation. He frowns.

"I'd offer to talk to her, but considering I can't put up those spells you insist on using that probably wouldn't be a great idea." He hums. "Maybe we can invite her over for dinner or something? You could ask Edward too, he talks to her semi-regularly for work."

Estelle sighs. "Well, we'll keep working on it. In the meantime, you don't happen to know Edward and Petra's schedules so I can arrange an accidental run-in with them sometime this week?"

Desmond frowned. "Edward I can guess, but I'm clueless on Petra - sorry."

Estelle sighs again, but waves dismissively. "That's alright, I'll figure something out. Just give me Edward and I'll go from there. Who knows, I could get lucky again and just run into Petra in the Archives this week." She says, half joking but half thinking that might be her best cast scenario at this point.

The next day is her lunch with Tristan, and she meets up with Demelza and Noah on the way out.

"Man it's been forever since we just hung out." Demelza observes, stretching, as they walk through the Atrium. "You'd think it be easier considering the fact I'm doing jack-all right now."

"Well la di da for you, some of us are still junior Aurors and have to run errands for the few teams still working." Estelle grumbles good-naturedly, falling into the banter easily enough. Noah just rolls his eyes and lets the two women bounce off each other the entire way to the restaurant, where Estelle spots Tristan and waves him over cheerfully.

The whole thing needs to be coordinated to look like it's not really been planned - after all, Estelle is still worried someone is on to her, and though she hates to admit it it's possible she wouldn't notice if she was being followed. The mole really does seem to be that good.

Once the foursome is settled into a corner booth, Estelle puts up their usual spells so they can actually discuss what they came here for. She fills them in on the basics of the latest situation, not explicitly mentioning the Underground but revealing that someone has switched sides from the last war.

Noah grimaces. "Well, wouldn't that expand the suspect list then?" He points out. "There were a few people I was mentally ruling out on the premise that they were pretty active in the last war on the opposite side."

Estelle sighs. "Same here, but it's a specific group." She admits. "Hence the shrinking. I'm also guessing whoever it is is pretty high up, otherwise they wouldn't be able to do as much as they have."

"We're still assuming this is just one person." Demelza points out. "It could easily be a network like the one you've set up Estelle."

Estelle frowns, chewing her straw. Demelza does have a very good point, but her gut tells her there's one key linchpin to all this, and even if there are a number of lower-level infiltrators the mole themself is a single person. She can't quite put into words why - so she looks over at Tristan, who grins in that annoyingly knowing way he has sometimes.

"It could be," He agrees, "But whoever it was needed to be above scrutiny all the way back when the war wounds were still fresh and the corruption cleanup was still ongoing. That suggests one, high-ranking person to start. I'm sure the network has grown since then, but there's one key player, probably someone who works directly with Yurina. She had to start somewhere, and I'm betting our mole is a big part of that 'somewhere'."

Estelle smiles at him. Tristan has always been good at putting his thoughts into words, and she's happy to take advantage of that skill whenever she can't quite get her tongue on the same page as her brain, especially since she knows the two of them think rather similarly when it comes to their job.

Demelza is nodding thoughtfully. "Good point. That said, I think I know at least a few people who are part of the new network being set up. Once we nab the main guy, I can take point on cleanup."

Estelle grins - she knew Demelza was a good choice for this team. "Awesome to hear it. I'll leave that to you then. Noah, Tristan, any reports from your ends?"

Tristan shrugs awkwardly. "Since the II has been scaled back post-hiatus I'm pretty much stuck in the office twenty four seven." He admits morosely. "It . I've been trying to keep tabs on some of the higher level Aurors we're considering, but their movements are scattered at best. Well, except Mrs. Shacklebolt - she's back to training these days. She's letting Jarvis handle the II remnants."

Estelle perks up. "You're certain?" She checks, and he frowns at her.

"Um, yes? She loves it, you know. I asked her about it a month ago when we were looking through files and she said she couldn't wait to get back to trainer duty."

Estelle thinks that through for a moment, and then grins. "Then I think we can pull her off the suspect list." She declares firmly. "And it's not wishful thinking, don't give me that look Noah. Think about it: being a trainer doesn't really put her in a position to be doing half the things that have been happening. She deals with the lowest of the low - dropouts, even, and she's known for really weeding people out. Plus, some of the forged documents we've seen she wouldn't have really had access to until a few years after the fact when she was promoted to Department Head." She leans forward a bit, getting excited now. "We should put together a formal timeline of everything - see what happened when and if there's anything that couldn't have been done by certain people - we can limit the suspect list even further with that."

Noah's hand half raises. "I can actually do that - I sort of already started a rough one." He admits with a grin, and Estelle beams. Definitely another excellent teammate choice on her part, there. "As for an actual report on my end of things, it's a little slower going in Relocation since people tend to come and go as they want or are needed, so observation is difficult most of the time. I do still believe at least a few of them are likely part of the larger network - Demelza, if you're able, perhaps you could swing by to say hello? I imagine you have a system set up if you're already certain about some of the network, and you could check out the people I've put on my radar."

"Sure!" Demelza agrees easily. "I'll do it sometime later this week, if that works?"

Tristan sighs next to Estelle as the two older Aurors hash out the details of Demelza's visit between them. Estelle glance over at him with a raised brow. "Something wrong?" She asks, and he shrugs sheepishly.

"Just disappointed I didn't get to do as much as I'd hoped. It sort of seems like things are wrapping up for you, and I've barely contributed."

Estelle laughs. "I wish I had your confidence." She replies. "This feels very far from over on my end. Any big suggestions on how to get to that wrap-up you're seeing on the horizon?"

Tristan hums thoughtfully. "...Is that reporter still watching the Initiative?" He asks suddenly, and Estelle blinks at the seemingly random topic change.

"Gabriel Beaux? Yeah, he's around. He's been weirdly low-key about his investigating according to Desmond, and other than that first article he hasn't published anything else on the topic. Why do you bring him up?"

Tristan hums. "Maybe we could coordinate with him? See what information he's dug up? It could prove complimentary to our own work, help narrow the list down even more."

Estelle grins over at him. "Well, it sounds like you just gave yourself a new goal." She declares, and Tristan beams.

The rest of lunch is spent actually talking about life - which translates mostly to teasing Tristan about the fact he still hasn't asked Kylee out despite his obvious interest.

"There's the literal end of the world at stake here!" He defends himself. "It's not exactly the best time to be asking someone out!"

"Counter point - if the world ends you'll have missed your chance." Demelza says slyly, and Tristan whines and buries his face in his hands as Estelle hops in on the teasing.

They eventually head back to work, and Estelle returns to the Archives, hoping to catch Edward or Petra while she's there. She also takes the time to properly consider her own argument for removing Clary from suspicion - as certain as she'd been about it over lunch, she could be trying to fit pieces together that just don't in order to clear her idol.

She ultimately realizes she'll probably have to wait for Noah's timeline to be finished before she can decide much of anything, though she does add the mental note that if Clary is guilty then her husband, by extension, becomes a suspect as well. So if they can clear former Minister Shacklebolt it will do worlds of good towards confirming her suspicion that Clary has nothing to do with Yurina.

She continues her hunt for documents or reports relating to the docking area, and very nearly gives up on running into either of her two quarries when, just before she's ready to leave, she spots one Edward Clark perusing through the Archives himself. Grinning, she makes her way over casually, hand slipping into her robe sleeve to grasp her stowed wand so she can quickly toss up her usual protective spells once she's close enough.

"Hey Edward, it's been a while." She greets easily. "How are things with the Hunters?"

He hums, eyeing her uncertainly. "Fine, I suppose." He says, and Estelle for a moment wonders if he even knows she's the head of the group Des had recruited him for, but then she figures that he's just being cautious - he won't be able to tell when the spells are fully set, so he's acting normal until Estelle gives him the all-clear.

She is awesome at picking team members.

She finishes the spells and gives him a nod. "We're good now." She tells him, "No eavesdroppers. So, I'm sort of trying to check in with everyone to see how things are going. I also have a request for you, if you're able to fit it into your work."

Edward tilts his head, the only real indication that he's listening - to the outside world he would appear to be returning to his work, ignoring Estelle's chatting. Estelle grins again.

"Cool, taking that as a yes." She explains the new situation to him, and he hums a few times but otherwise barely spares her a glance. She gets to a point where she's honestly wondering if he does just want her to leave him alone, but she reminds herself that he's a secret agent in the Muggle world and is probably just really good at his job. Probably.

She does get some relief when he mutters a short. "Acknowledged, I'll keep an eye out." after she's finished outlining what she's hoping he'll do. So he is just that good.

It's only a few minutes later when the thought strikes her - could Edward be the person the Internal Investigation was looking for? He is a Muggle, and his skillset would certainly lend itself well to espionage... She lets herself spiral down that path for all of ten seconds before shaking her head firmly and pushing on through the Archives. She can't let herself doubt her team, not right now, not when things feel like they're just about to fall into place if she just collects the last few pieces. If Edward was the insider, then he'd have had plenty of time to rat her out, considering how long he's been in the group, and Estelle's guts tell her that, whatever might have been happening in the past, Edward is on the team 100%.

Still. She might ask him about it when everything is over. Just to see what exactly that situation was.

She doesn't get much of anything else done that afternoon, which is frustrating, but at least she'd managed to speak with Edward. That really just leaves Petra and Aruna out of the loop now, and if she's lucky maybe the people already in it will find something without Estelle needing to speak with those two at all.

She updates Desmond that night (he stays over more often than not these days, and she's honestly fine with it - they'd already been talking about moving in together) and they go through the little additional information she'd collected that day, trying to compile something that might connect pieces that otherwise seemed disparate. They don't come up with much, but Estelle hopes that Noah's timeline and Edward's snooping may be able to help solidify things as they discover more. She still feels like they're close, closer than they've ever been, and though she probably doesn't really have enough job experience to have a gut instinct that's properly developed, she's listening to hers all the same.

It takes a few days for new information to start trickling back to her, but slowly, surely, it does. Edward reports a few more incidents at the abandoned ship yard (which he informs her is actually a ship graveyard, which is apparently an important distinction), and Noah finishes up his rough timeline and passes it over during a casual chat by her desk, during which he reveals that Demelza has already dropped by Relocation and is, presumably, working on her own identification of smaller network members.

It's Tristan who ends up having the major breakthrough, however. He successfully meets with Gabriel Beaux (how he managed it isn't something he divulges, so it's either illegal or embarrassing, and knowing Tristan Estelle is leaning towards the latter) and manages to trade notes with the investigator to massive success.

"This guy is seriously mind-blowing." Tristan raves at their weekly lunch, eyes lit up in admiration. "If the Hit-Wizards had someone like him on the team, every crime ever would be solved within a few weeks, tops."

Estelle raises an eyebrow slightly. "Begs the question of why he's not a Hit-Wizard though." She observes, and Tristan shrugs. 

"He says he had his fill of violent retribution during the war. Also that he's not really a team player." Her friend says. "I'm not sure that's really all of it, but I'm never comfortable pushing when the war comes up so. Anyway, we compared notes and I sort of promised to keep him updated on whatever else we find in the future."

Estelle balks. "Tristan, no. He could publish things and get us all killed if we don't find the mole first!" She exclaims.

He holds his hands up defensively. "I know that! But he knows that too, and it was the only way I could get access to his notes - and trust me Estelle, it's more than a fair trade-off. He's narrowed it down to the Hit-Wizards, based on a series of Dark Wizard movements during the hunt for Yurina twenty years ago. We cross-reference his charts with Noah's timeline and we may just be able to determine which of them it actually is."

Estelle feels something glowing in her chest. "Hit-Wizards? You're sure?" She checks, and Tristan nods firmly. "Then Clary is in the clear."

Tristan winces. "Um... actually, Trainer Shacklebolt was a Hit-Wizard, or at least trained as one - all the major Aurors involved in the immediate post-war clean up were. It was to make sure that every person involved would be able to defend themselves no matter who they were up against. So, basically, every Auror in the immediate aftermath of the war is still a suspect."

Estelle would swear if she wasn't so disheartened by the reveal. "Well great. So I guess we compare his list to ours and go from there."

They don't make the comparisons just then, but Tristan does give her Beaux's list to go over that evening using her own list as well as Noah's timeline to try and narrow things even further. By the time Desmond forces her to go to bed, she has seven names left - one of which is still Clary. Hugo Longbottom and Finn are both present as well, alongside a few other Hit-Wizards like Minerva Seo and Drake Jarvis.

Estelle is honestly hoping it's either Kent Sylvester or Naomi Reeds, the only two names on the list belonging to people she doesn't know personally. Somehow she doubts she'll be so lucky, though.

She is glad that Fiona McKay was eliminated - Estelle always felt bad seeing her name on the list since she really can't see the sweet woman having anything to do with Yurina (not that she can see any self-respecting Auror or Hit-Wizard working with Yurina, but Fiona always felt like the least-likely person for it).

She knows that in order to make the final leap from seven down to one, she'll need to somehow get a complete list of who was actually in the Underground - and that may be impossible. She's heard the recordings of the press conferences that revealed the group to the world and knows that there isn't a complete list of members anywhere. But perhaps if she just asks the leaders, she can at least get a few names to start with?

The issue is, like with Aruna, she has no idea how she could speak with them without arousing suspicion.

She ends up getting lucky when she runs into both Petra and Edward in the Archives the next day while working under the guise of "checking some stuff" for Clary. She engages in some friendly banter while Petra puts up the silencing spells and Edward resolutely ignores them both. Once they're clear, Clary updates them on the list.

"I have four people on that list who were involved with the graveyard." Edward reveals, still not looking at either woman as he continues with his work. "Reeds, Sylvester, Shacklebolt, and Lopatkina-Paluch. Sylvester was only in one report, so he's probably of a lower concern than the other three."

Estelle blinks. And then there were four (and still the one person she really doesn't want to be on the list at all, but at least Reeds is still there too). She bites her lip slightly - four is still too high a number for her to feel comfortable choosing a prime suspect, so she supposes she should just research each of them individually-

Petra interrupts her thought process. "Oh good, I'm really glad Ms. Taylor isn't a suspect anymore." She hums. "I mean, she was Underground so she probably wouldn't be anyway, but still. I suppose you can't count anyone out."

Estelle's brain nearly trips over itself. "Taylor is Underground?" She asks, to be sure she'd heard correctly. If that is the case, then she may have just accidentally stumbled on a way to get down to one name in the next half hour.

Petra nods. "She uses their messengers here in the Archives." She explains. "It's pretty cool."

"That is actually neat." Estelle agrees. "If you two don't have anything else, I'm going to head back before someone starts missing me. Good luck."

After leaving Petra and Edward to continue with their real jobs, Estelle makes a beeline for Taylor's office. Now that Taylor is off the suspect list courtesy of Gabriel Beaux, Estelle is more confident that the returned files really weren't supposed to be seen, and it was pure luck she ran across them like she did. So her current list of four names definitely has the mole on it.

It has to.

She knocks politely on the door, waiting impatiently to be allowed in.

Eloise Taylor raises an eyebrow at Estelle's entrance. "Ms. Kuhara? How can I help you?"

"You were in the Underground, right?" Estelle gets straight to the point - when this close to an answer, every second counts. "I need to know if you can identify any of the other members for me. Specifically, if any are on this list." She quickly scrawls out the four remaining suspect's names and passes them over to Eloise. The woman frowns and glances down.

"Well, I only can tell you about the people I saw at the final battle." She finally says. "But both Finn and Clary were there. Sylvester I believe was part of the Order but not the Underground, and Reeds was out of commission for basically the entire final month of the war and the rest of that year due to a Dark Curse, so if she was Underground I don't know about it."

Estelle in a breath. Okay, maybe not down to one. But... two is good. Even if Clary is one of those two.

"That's of great help, thanks Ms. Taylor." She says quickly when she realizes she hasn't responded to the woman's words. Taylor nods, watching Estelle carefully but not commenting as the young Auror excuses herself and heads out of the Archives. She needs to meet with Demelza and find out who the network recruits are - maybe that will be able to eliminate one of the two and get them their mole.

But Estelle knows that no matter who it ends up being, she's not going to be happy with the results.

Author's Note: :D Place your bets now! Do we think Estelle has the right names, or do Yurina and the mole still have them chasing false leads? I guess only time will tell!~