Owls!

[themountie.livejournal.com]

Dr. Hodgins Jack,

I can't apologize enough for the lateness of this owl. I'm afraid I have no excuse, save that Hogwarts appears to make one extremely scatterbrained and in the chaos of the last few weeks I seem to have let a few of my marbles slip.

At any rate, do you still have any interest in the experiment we discussed at your Sorting? The House Elves assure me that should we need a pig they can provide one or even several for our purposes.

Sincerely,
Constable Benton Fraser



Lily,

Your friend Dr. Cox asked me to look into a certain matter for him. Would you mind if I asked you a few questions? Nothing too dramatic, I promise.

Ben



Phil,

I hope I'm not intruding, but I couldn't help but notice that you appeared to be in somewhat of a state during Professor Evans' Defense Against the Dark Arts class the other day.

I realize that you and I are not particularly close, but I thought I would offer my services, in case you need... well, any help. I know this kind of thing can be difficult to get through alone. Believe me, you don't have to be. Very often, the first step to helping yourself is admitting that you need help.

Sincerely,
Constable Benton Fraser

Attached to the note are several helpful pamphlets.

Comments

[buggy-genius.livejournal.com]

"Oh. Good." Hodgins shrugged off the whole thing, satisfied. "Once you've collected the flies and beetles, you put them in these 'killing jars,' the ones with cottonballs soaked in ethyl acetate, you can start on the maggots. First, you have to note where the maggot mass is concentrated. You expect them in natural orifices, but they also tend to cluster in open wounds--stabs, gunshots, that sort of thing. Then, you look for eggs and cast-off pupae. Once you find the pupa casings, you know that the remains have been available for colonization for more than a day. Then, you collect the maggots. You'll be dividing them into thirds, basically: one-third goes in preservatives, one-third go in kill jars, and the last third you'll keep and rear to adulthood. Basically, you're tripling your chances of not screwing up the identification process. Still following?"