Alfendi Layton shut the office window blinds, rendering the floating dust invisible. The room turned from midday sky blue to a dusty blue-grey color. With a sigh, the lanky man flicked on the white electric lights, then turned and collapsed into his wheeled desk chair. A stack of about thirty papers sat before him, printed out forms with empty boxes a plenty. Alfendi moaned and massaged his temples with rough fingertips.
Lucy, his assistant, looked up from the clipboard she was writing on. "Paperwork still gettin' ya down, Prof?" she asked as she straightened her back in the plush chair she sat in.
"Unfortunately, yes." Alfendi brushed his boysenberry-purple hair out of his face. "Solving crimes is truly fascinating and exciting, but these blasted forms after the criminal is jailed are, quite frankly, an ungodly abomination." He growled and hid his face in his hands.
Lucy laughed and shook her head. "Just because 'is a bit dull don' mean they're an abomination." She crossed the room and removed the papers from her clipboard. "By the way, if it be any help, I got these filled for ya, Prof."
Alfendi looked up and smiled at seeing the blocks of the new paperwork filled in with tidy black characters. "Thank you, Lucy. Your help with these matters are always appreciated." He stowed the finished forms on a black filing shelf to his left.
"Anytime, Prof!" She took a handful of the blank forms and crossed back to the green plush chair. "Sounds like you need a bi' more excitement to make you like this downtime, eh?"
Alfendi chuckled, sliding a blank paper off the stack. "Perhaps." He wrote his name in stiff print and curled penmanship on the form.
The door burst open. "Hello, Fendy Bendy!" a young woman's voice cried out.
Lucy squealed and dropped her pen. Alfendi jolted his head upright to see a girl with curled brown hair, a red dress, a tan trenchcoat and a matching top hat headband standing in the doorway. "Oh dear." Alfendi smacked his forehead with his palm. "What do you need, Katrielle?" he asked as he stood.
"Oh, Fendy, no need to be like that with your dear sister," the girl replied with a giggle. She skipped over to his desk, her hair and coat bouncing. "Come along, Sharo!" She beckoned towards the doorway. A beagle with red splotches on its coat padded inside behind her.
"Blimey!" Lucy exclaimed, leaning forward. "I didn' know you got a dog!"
Katrielle beamed and swept an arm towards the dog. "I got him about six months ago. Rescued him during one of my cases. And speaking of cases…" Katrielle swiped a folded paper out of her pocket as Sharo padded her leg. "I need your help with this one!" She thrust the paper towards Alfendi.
"Is it another missing child case?" Alfendi droned, stuffing his hands in his lab coat pockets.
"No, even better—it's another clue towards finding Father!" Katrielle unfolded the paper and laid it flat on Alfendi's desk.
"The real Professa? I want ta see!" Lucy dashed around the desk, squishing Alfendi between herself and Katrielle. A large photo of a busy street corner lay before them. Standing by a lightpost was Professor Hershel Layton, facing a dark-cloaked gentleman with his smiling mouth agape, as if the camera caught the Professor conversing with the man.
"What is this?" Alfendi lifted an eyebrow.
"One of the street cameras caught a photo of Father near this bakery the day he vanished." Katrielle circled the name Luigi's Bakery in the middle of the photo with her finger. "These three men here—" she pointed to three different men, all of whom wore trilby hats—"were all the only ones paying attention to him, and this man he was actually talking to. It would be safe to assume they were involved in Father's disappearance."
"How come ya didn' find this soona?" Lucy asked.
"There's a nasty knot of regulations around public camera footage," Katrielle replied. "It took me quite a while to get to it." She picked up the paper and held it towards Alfendi. "I need you to look up those faces in your criminal database. I'm sure—"
"It would be rather hasty to assume they kidnapped him," Alfendi interrupted, tapping his chin.
"I never said they kidnapped him!" Katrielle's hands clenched, crinkling the paper in her fingers. "I just said they were involved. Or at least they might have seen where he vanished to." She stared at him, eyebrows furrowed, and Alfendi's shoulders sagged as he frowned at her.
Lucy stared between the two siblings, biting her nails. "Um, well, it wouldn' hurt to take a gander, would it, Prof?"
"That's what Katrielle said last time," Alfendi said, his fingers twitching as he turned to Lucy. "However, that argument is still a fair one, I suppose."
"You suppose?" Katrielle stomped her foot, making Sharo yelp in the process. "Alfendi Layton, you're SUPPOSED to be one of Scotland Yard's best. How can you just give up so easily?!"
"Katrielle, it's been years!" Alfendi whirled on her, his hair standing on end and turning crimson under the luminescent white bulbs.
Katrielle shrunk back, clutching her hands to her chest. "Fendy… What's going on…?"
"Prof, stoppit!" Lucy grabbed Alfendi's arm, but he shook her arms off of him.
"Father went missing YEARS ago." Alfendi slammed a hand on the desk. "No one has found a single lead in his case—not the Commissioner, not Inspector Growsky, not anyone! Not even any international forces!" He growled and bared his teeth. "What makes you think that you, a small-time detective with nary a resource to her name, can prove that he ISN'T dead?"
Lip quivering, Katrielle furrowed her eyebrows and clenched her fists. "Well, what makes you so sure that he actually IS dead, you hopeless—"
"He's far too clever to remain captured for so long. Hell, he probably got shot or choked or hung—"
"ALFENDI!" Katrielle's eyes widened. "How can you be so despondent that—"
"Enuff o' that!" Lucy tugged the photograph from Katrielle's grip. "I'll go ta find these men in the Yard's resources." She strode towards the still open door. "You lot obviously have some issues to work out between ya." She clicked her teeth and beckoned to Sharo. "C'mon, puppy. If I was you, I wouldn' stay here."
Sharo looked up at Katrielle with a low whine, then trotted out the door before Lucy clicked the door shut.
"Hey, wait!" Katrielle stretched a hand towards the open door, then held her fist over her face as her eyes watered. She glanced sideways at her brother.
Alfendi's hair faded to purple again and fell limp over his eyes. He leaned against the desk, arms shaking and his breath raspy. "I… I'm sorry, dear sister. I didn't mean… to get so angry…" He fell into his chair, hiding his face in his hands.
"Fendy…" Tears streaked Katrielle's cheeks. "What happened to make you such a pessimist? Don't you believe in Father?"
"Kat…" Alfendi sighed. "The world isn't that cheery or hopeful. You have to think logically."
"You know I can reason logically as well as you. We learned from the best, after all." Kat crossed her arms across her chest. "Being optimistic isn't a separate parcel from being reasonable."
Alfendi's fingers curled into his palms, but he refused to uncover his eyes. "Well… Occam's Razor is still in effect."
"More like Murphey's law with you." Katrielle stepped back. "I refuse to believe that Father's dead. I'm sure he's out there, and I will find him. You just watch me." She stomped towards the door, grabbing the door handle—then her hand stilled. "I…" Her voice cracked. "I thought you were better than this, big brother." She slid out the door without making a sound.
Alfendi lifted his head, his eyes red. He watched the empty door. Silence draped over his throat and his heavy heart with its woolen weight. "I hope the world doesn't break your spirit, little sister," he whispered.