Consumption

“Black.” Sirius mumbled into the phone. The previous evening Remus had stuck around for a while, bringing Sirius water and feeding Snuffles for him. It left a warm feeling in his chest, the confused jumble of emotions making Sirius dizzy.

“I know you’re recovering, but I need you to confirm if this is The Artist.” Dumbledore’s voice was urgent. Sirius understood how intent the man was on catching the killer, to some extent, Sirius was too, but he also understood how skilled The Artist is. He doesn’t let his hopes rise when he gets to a crime scene, knowing that not even the tiniest strand of hair will be left.

“I’ll be there in an hour.”

This scene was different.

Before, most of his scenes depicted someone being reprimanded for their actions, providing a lesson through the blood and guts.

This time however, it was a work of poetry. His gentle brushstrokes showed through, proving his delicate message behind the bodies.

A woman, clothed in blue and red silk was posed standing up, surgical rods drilling her into the ground to prohibit her corpse from succumbing to gravity. She faced away from the other body, only her head turned towards the man. He wore nothing but a red fabric, draped over his lower half and back. He was leaning towards the woman, like he was trying to save her.

“It’s a message of salvation.” The team's eyes snapped towards him.

“Salvation?” James asked, bringing the camera up to his eye once again. “From what?”

“I’m not exactly sure.” Sirius sighed, this scene in particular was frustrating. He had gotten used to the old dynamic–almost vigilante killings. Killings that served a purpose to rid the scum off the earth and enact fear in the hearts of the filthy.

This, however, was an act of passion, of love. The killer had met someone; someone he wanted to save.

“He changed his ways?” Peter looked at him, slightly skeptical at the thought. Which, while fair, did annoy Sirius a great amount.

“He didn’t change; he’s just using this as a message. He wants someone to see this, and he knows they will understand.” Sirius took a pause, his hand running through his hair. “They’re the key to finding him…Where’s Remus?”

“He had a patient, told me to tell you to come by later so you can discuss this.” James gave Sirius a knowing smile, causing the man to roll his eyes. “How was his little house visit last night?”

“You make it sound dirty.” Sirius purposefully ignored the snickers and wolf whistles coming from Marlene, Dorcas, and Peter. “He just brought me some chicken soup.”

“Yum, chicken soup…” Marlene laughed, “Is that code for sex?”

Sirius’ face turned red, crossing his arms over his chest and giving Marlene a glare, he turned around and headed for Dumbledore.

“It’s some kind of proposal. I have to find what painting it’s from, but I’m sure it will tell me the same thing.”

“On my desk tomorrow morning.” Dumbledore said, walking away. Sirius rolled his eyes, annoyed at the older man. His stress was clearly showing, his hair and beard getting even more white than before.

“How are you feeling?” Remus asked, stepping back from the door as he welcomed Sirius into his office.

“Better, thank you.” Sirius smiled gently, sitting down on one of the chairs and pulling the case file out of his bag. “I was wondering if you could look at this, get a second opinion. And maybe you could place the painting it’s from.”

“No longer an art connoisseur?” Remus joked, taking the file from his hand and sitting back.

“I was never much into paintings and such, at least not past the basics that my parents had made me learn. I only started reading about different artists and their work after I got put on The Artist case.”

Remus nodded in understanding, looking at James’ pictures of the scene. “What did you take from this?”

“It’s different.” Sirius said simply, he really wanted to hear what Remus had to say before he gave his input. It was intriguing to see if the doctor's mind matched his own.

“It is; almost like a proposal of some kind.” Sirius smiled at the words. “I believe this is the painting Bacchus and Ariadne by the Italian painter, Titian. Are you familiar with the story?”

“No, but it looks like, Bacchus I assume, is reaching for Ariadne.”

“Indeed. When Theseus went to slay the Minotaur, he used Ariadne to escape the labyrinth, promising to take her back to his kingdom. While she was sleeping, he abandoned her on a remote island, stranding her away from civilization.” Remus gently placed the photos back into the folder, passing it back to Sirius and allowing their fingers to gently brush. “Bacchus, the God of grape harvest finds her, and swoops down in an attempt to save her from certain death. Later on in the myths, we find out that he eventually married her and gave her immortality.”

“So it is an act of salvation.” Sirius stood up, pacing back and forth. “Our killer found someone. He’s courting them through kills. This completely changes the game.”

“How so?”

“Well before, the only motive we had was the fact that the killer hated the rude, but now, we know that he’s in love. We just have to find whoever caught his eye and they will lead us directly to him.”

“How do you plan on doing that?” Remus asked, genuinely intrigued with the man’s line of thought. It was hard enough to find The Artist, how would they find his acquaintances?

“He killed these people with the intent that whoever he was seducing would see it, that they would understand. They would obviously have some kind of insight on art and Greek mythology, but also someone keeping up with the case. The average civilian may hear about these murders and be disgusted, but then they would go about their day.” Sirius’ hands were flying about as he spoke, his words speeding up as his thoughts spilled out. “But this person, they would follow it closely. Checking the paper every day, reading the reports, going to the press conferences. They would be a follower of the arts, at least to the basic knowledge required to understand The Artist.”

“Some of the details of the scenes aren't released to the public.” Remus said matter of factly, standing up and following Sirius’ erratic pacing. “Would that change this theory? Wouldn’t the killer want his muse to know everything?”

Sirius stopped his movements, looking up at Remus. “It’s someone with inside information. It could be someone from the local police, a journalist who got a little too close…It could be someone in the bureau.”

Sirius pulled out his phone, immediately dialing Dumbledore’s number.

“Agent Dumbledore.”

“It’s Sirius, I think The Artist is sending a message to someone in the bureau.”