After the future fiasco, Clive Dove had been put on trial. For the safety of the public, Was his publicized reasoning. To protect myself, Was his own personal opinion. The public, of course, was outraged at the young man; they questioned why anyone in their right mind would try to level London.
Then he stepped in.
Layton, a professor of archeology and puzzle extraordinaire, decided to bring his arguments and evidence to the case. He spoke about his involvement with Clive Dove and brought another case to the light: the lab explosion of ten years ago, a cold case. Layton -with the support of his ward, apprentice, and now Fiancé- discussed how he had been affected by the case. He also said that when he was conducting his own personal investigation, it was abruptly ended by a hired thug from an unknown employer. That employer being none other than himself, Bill Hawks.
He knew where Layton was going with his argument, and he wasn't going to stand for it. In fact, he decided he'd take the fight straight to Layton, and he was going to take what Layton loved most: his fiancé.
The woman was Elizabeth Rey, soon to be Elizabeth Rey-Layton. They'd met before during their escape from the mechanical colossus, but not formally. She seemed a simple enough target. She was tall, definitely taller than himself, but thin as a rail with seemingly no muscle mass. Her long brown hair, usually messily strewn around, framed an often impassive face. She was 24, and had spent the past three months in a coma from a bus accident. Her right arm was a complicated metal prosthetic that seemed a bit too advanced for the day and age we lived in, but then again, so did that mechanical colossus.
The plan was simple as well: On one of their hunts around London for more information, she'd simply disappear. At least that was the plan. What happened... however... was nothing short of a total failure.
Not only was the plan a failure, but everything was falling apart. The girl had not even a bruise to show that there had been any conflict. The only damage his goons had done was to her prosthetic and where they had injected the woman.
His goons had also gotten caught and told the police who their employer was. When news broke out the next morning, the public was furious at him, demanding an explanation for the ordered assault of an innocent woman. He could feel that his time at power was coming to an end... and was irate.
How could this have happened? He thought. Everything had been so perfect! What had he done to deserve this?
Hershel Layton was more than charmed to bring the truth to the light for the public.