The Second Victim

"Please tell me, Igor, who asked you to meet there tonight?" Ivan asked the figure in front of him.

"Who else could it be? The French Minister, of course, and this bastard somehow got his hands on evidence that I had killed the previous Minister, and used it as blackmail to try and get me to help him take over as head of the Coalition… only to find out when I got there that it was all a hoax, and that he wanted me dead in the first place!" Igor roared furiously.

Ivan's expression did not change, however, as he continued to take his time with his questions, and Igor answered them fluently, leaving nothing out.

Ivan, of course, did not take this seriously, as he knew exactly what the Resurrection Stone was.

Despite the fact that the Resurrection Stone appeared to be a false illusion, he was the only one who knew about it, and the others thought that Igor was more real than real.

The testimony of a dead man can be useful when necessary, and can even reverse the situation…

Yvonne slowly put the Resurrection Stone away, replaying the events of the night in her mind.

He was fairly certain that Grindelwald had something to do with Igor's death, although he was certain that Grindelwald had been very thorough and left little behind.

This was the reason for the investigation's stalemate.

Ivan was confident that even if Wilkinson and Connor had thoroughly investigated the goblins and Aurors stationed at North American Magical Headquarters, they would not have found anything, as Grindelwald would never have been able to leave such an obvious opening.

Fortunately, the absence of clues can sometimes be one of them, indicating Grindelwald's familiarity with the place and his knowledge that the Aurors of the Department of Mysteries were in possession of the Scenes Reappearance Charm. Otherwise, even if Grindelwald had somehow managed to sneak in, he would not have been able to plan a perfect attack in just a few hours.

This may have something to do with Grindelwald disguising himself as the Minister for Magical Safety in North America during the last Wizarding War.

Ivan, however, felt that there was more to this than meets the eye. Grindelwald's operation had gone too smoothly, and he had managed to ignore the security that had been placed around MACUSA.

It is also clear from the fact that Igor went to the meeting alone that Grindelwald was most likely disguised as someone important and had access to Igor's dirty secrets.

This was the only way to gain the Minister's initial trust through a brief encounter with him or through a magical communication, and on these grounds Ivan suspected the Minister.

Of course, North America's executive director, Conal, Congressional President Wilkinson, the head of the Asian Association for Magic, and the heads of the other small countries and their retinue were all suspects.

Yvonne rubbed her chin. There were too many suspects, and it would not be easy to be 100% certain it was someone with what he had.

Grindelwald's goal, however, was now in plain sight.

The first is to obtain the five keys and have possession of the wizarding nuclear weapons.

The second was to sow discord as much as possible, causing their plan to form an alliance to fail, and perhaps even making themselves the scapegoat.

There will be another attack soon, either tonight or tomorrow night, as Igor's death will also speed up the meeting…

Once the countries had reached an alliance and left MACUSA headquarters, it would not be easy to collect all the keys.

If it had been anyone else, Ivan wouldn't have been so sure, but a man as proud as Grindelwald would never settle for petty squabbles. This was his chance to get out of this…

Yvonne was lost in thought. What would Grindelwald have done if he had wanted to achieve these goals?

… .

Early the next morning, North American Magical Headquarters was still in a state of panic. After a night of sedimentation, the effects of Igor's death had not only not abated, but the news had caused even more panic.

However, the morning's meeting was not cancelled, as Wilkinson and the others knew that the more the enemy tried to stop them, the more they would have to act.

"Strange, why isn't the French Minister here yet?" Pierce glanced at the clock on the wall of the conference room and frowned. It was almost time for the meeting, but the table that represented the French Ministry of Magic was empty.

Ivan noticed this and shook his head to himself. Grindelwald was quicker than he thought. It seemed he could cross off a suspect…

As expected, a minute later, several Aurors barged into the room in a panic and whispered something to Wilkinson. The President's face fell, and he hurried away with Connor and the others.

After they left, the meeting room was in chaos. There were many smart people in the room, and it was easy to guess that there had been a second attack, and it was most likely related to the absent French Minister!

As the crowd protested, the Aurors on guard were forced to lead them to the lounge.

The truth was as they had guessed. The French Minister was dead… but in a way that no one had expected. He had died in his room!

The cause of death was suicide!

No one wanted to believe it, but the Aurors of the Department of Mysteries cast Scene Repair over and over again.

This discovery caused the wizards present to shiver and get goose bumps.

"What the hell is going on, President Wilkinson? I thought you promised every single one of us last night that you'd put extra guards on us! And what happened?" the President of the Asian Association demanded, grabbing Wilkinson by the collar.

How could he not be horrified when two leaders, former Igor and now Minister for France, died so mysteriously in the North American Magical Congress?

If he had not been attacked last night, would he not have died in his sleep?

"That's enough… I've had enough! I'm leaving now!" a witch in the crowd screamed in terror. The successive attacks had completely shattered her defenses, and the strange death of the French Minister was beyond her comprehension.

Although the attacks were now aimed only at the ministers of the major countries, who knew if they would turn into massacres…