Welcome, everybody, to the second part of my Professor Layton trilogy, following the relationship of Hershel and Emmy. I hope those who waited patiently for this enjoy it, as well as those who have just stumbled across it. I would suggest reading my other story, 'Lady in Yellow' before tackling this one as this is technically a sequel. Enjoy!

Hershel Layton was sitting in his office, bright and early at just gone eight o'clock. It was one of those rare mornings where he was actually in early and hadn't slept in his office all night. The mail had come in early this morning and he was listening to his young apprentice listing out what had arrived whilst he made an attempt at tidying the mass of papers he insisted was his desk. It was no wonder he lost so many papers that his students handed up to him, and it was most certainly no wonder that many of them had completely given up on him ever returning things. Some may say he was hopeless and disorganised but he had to argue that he found everything eventually! Granted, a student had once been graduated for three years before he found one of her papers.

He would not like to admit it, but he had been ignoring the boy for the most part. A lot of his post was about requests for guest lectures, joint projects, digs, new discoveries etc. He could read these all when he got home in the evening and he would actually enjoy doing so then. He shuffled papers around and tried to organise them in some sort of order, determined that he would not give up this time. This would be the third attempt this week and it was only Thursday.

"Professor!" Luke's voice sounded much more excited than it had done before, rendering it hard to ignore for the time being.

"What is it, Luke?"

The boy thrust a photograph into his hands before settling back into his chair to read from the paper he held in his hands, although he eagerly watched the professor for permission to read once he was ready. He was confronted with the back of the photograph first and frowned slightly as he read the words scrawled across the paper. "Her favourite spot in the world.."

He turned the picture over and laughed at the sight which greeted him. It was a dufferin! And not only that, she was sleeping in a dog basket! The creature was actually sleeping like a pet. Well, he supposed that she was a pet now. She was Arnic's pet and it was clear that she and the scientist shared a strong bond. He smiled as he observed the little blue blob in her basket then gestured to Luke to read the letter. He was interested to hear the news from those in Mespil.

It took them a good half an hour to go through the letter and Hershel was thrilled at receiving news. So much had happened in the three months since they'd left and it was good to know that life was returning to normal. And moving on, it seemed! Arnic and Rikka were together, no doubt he would receive a wedding invitation in a few months, the town was getting a source of money back and Maurice's family was expanding! He couldn't have hoped for anything better.

Luke was smiling to himself as he read through the letter again in his head, Hershel had handed him the picture and the boy had decided he wished to keep it. He wanted to see little Zilla again one day, see how she was getting on. How the whole family was getting on, the whole town even. A letter was all well and good but going to see them in person would be far better.

"So, Luke, is that all of the post for the day?" He went back to shuffling the papers around his desk.

"I think so, professor, and it is nearly time for first lecture.."

"I am afraid you shall be a bit late for that, I need your help, Hershel." Emmy had abruptly entered his office and was holding another letter. It seemed there was never an end to all the correspondence that he had to deal with! This letter looked crumpled and she shoved it into his hands.

"This letter arrived this morning from an old friend of mine, he needs help." She explained and he read the letter aloud so Luke could hear the predicament also.

'Emmy,

I know it has been a long time but I hope you have not forgotten me. I should really ask first how your life is going and deal with all the niceties associated with starting a letter but I am afraid that I do not have the time to bounce letters back and forth. My home is in dire need of help and I understand that you know the man who can help me.

I live in a place by the name of Webwood.. It is quite a large place, full of shops and a variety of attractions. The Mayor is highly interested in just generating money for his own gain and has no interest in the people that live there.. Saying that, life has not been too bad here. But, that was until a month or so ago.

At first, it was only minor, but it has been rapidly growing in force and destruction over time. The public, myself included, was not aware of one final point until recently. I am talking about earthquakes. We have been suffering from earthquakes of increasing force for the past four weeks, as I am writing this letter. At first they were just trembles but now they are destroying buildings and damaging roads. Experts have been out to try and determine what is going on but, as far as they can tell, there is no geological reason for these things.

The last thing I spoke about, that last detail is what has caused me to write this letter and has troubled me more than anything else I can remember. Apparently these are caused by a man, or a woman, as they have been sending the location of the next earthquake to the Mayor himself in the form of riddles. He didn't feel the need to tell anybody until the most recent strike which very nearly damaged his precious mansion. Turns out he hadn't even attempted to try and decipher the riddles and try to save that part of the town. The man refuses to look for help so I am doing it for him. Please, Emmy, we need help.

I have enclosed directions to Webwood; I really hope that you come as quickly as you can.

All my best,

Bill'