Case 8.5
She slowly paced around him to admire her work; a quick, reassuring tug on the rope around his waist producing a satisfactory smile on her lips when she heard him choke on his breath. "Perfect!" The sadistic joy was clearly heard in her voice.
"Is all this really necessary, Diane?" Potty Prof snarled as he tried another futile attempted at loosening the restrains digging into his skin.
"Ah-ah-ah," She childishly scolded him by lightly tapping his nose. "You wouldn't want your little assistant's game to end too soon, would you? Now watch!" With her best effort, Diane turned Alfendi's chair to face the tiny monitor placed on top of the dresser; the occasional crack of lightning outside making it go haywire with static for a few seconds.
On the screen he saw Lucy moving about some other room in the castle, a big smile on her face as she found a stack of files located in the room's desk. After a few moments of going through all her pieces of evidence, that confident gleam in her eyes set in and she rushed over to the table and slammed its button.
"D-Diane?" Lucy's unsure voice came through the speaker with some static interference.
Diane looked over to Alfendi whose cold, amber eyes stared a hole through her, but she could only smile as she spoke. "Speak up one time, Layton, and you won't live long enough to see her solve this case." For reassurance, she finally revealed to him her pistol that was now aimed straight at his heart. "Hello Lucy! Have you figured out who the culprit is yet?"
"Aye! All th' evidence leads ta Hen; she's th' culprit!" She was determined, and the way she sounded proved it.
"Just a moment…" Diane giggled as she released her finger from the speaker's button to cut the sound and began removing her dress.
"What are you doing!?" Potty Prof was appalled, Diane in only her lingerie as she slowly leaned over him; the chair and the bindings not letting him lean back.
"What's the matter, Layton?" She gave him a playful wink before backing off.
"I said, what do you think you're doing?" He snapped; any tolerance he had at its breaking point along with his urge to rip off the ropes before she could get any other ideas.
"It's a costume change! It helps me… get into character." Diane walked over to the dresser again and picked up a simple, white cloth. "If you don't like what you see, then let's fix that." She tightly tied the makeshift blindfold around Alfendi's head, the first attempt failing due to his resistance, and his sight was completely blocked off from the world; no light could be seen through the thick cloth. "I'll be right back!" He heard her take off, her bare feet slapping against the stone floor as she traveled downstairs.
*~*~*~*~*~*
The peaceful silence from Diane's absence didn't last long; she was back as quickly as she left. Without saying a word to Alfendi she pressed the speaker's button down once more, the same static noise filling the air, and proceeded to speak in a forced country accent that was almost laughable.
She couldn't have possibly gone to change into a Hen costume, had she? Potty Prof entertained the idea and had to give her some creative credit for the effort. Any comments he had to poke fun at her he had to bite back, remembering the threat that was still in place from earlier.
As Alfendi listened to the two girls go back and forth, Lucy giving it her all, he came to his own conclusion before they themselves reached it; Hen could not be the killer. And as the playful confrontation drew to a close, Lucy left in defeat to go search for the damning piece of evidence to show her the true culprit.
"Oh poor Lucy," Diane's fake accent was gone, "Silly me, I forgot to tell her that she only gets three tries to guess the right culprit! What do you think, Layton? Should I tell her?" A sarcastic fueled comeback was just on the tip of his tongue. "No wait! I'll let her figure that out if she gets that far." A joyous expression spread across her face at the thought. "She'll realize that her treasured mentor died indirectly by her hands… but," She paused at another idea. "What if I just killed you now instead of waiting for her?"
"Do you know how pathetic you sound right now, Diane? Your plan is brilliant, I have to admit; just the kind of criminal I love. But when Lucy figures out the culprit, and I know she will, what will you do then? Is this petty game of yours over? There's no doubt that back up is on its way; you're trapped here." Alfendi could only try to listen to the shuffle of her movements as he spoke, those little indications possibly showing her emotion, and tried to figure her out.
"I plan on shooting you, once Lucy gets here of course. Think of it as a reward for solving the case… As for the situation I'm in… I'm aware of it, but I'm ready to die if it means killing the man who killed Papa! So either way… You're going to die."
"Oh, bravo Miss Makepeace, what a great id-"
The sarcastic filled statement was cut short by the static once again coming through the speaker that signaled Lucy was ready. "Do you think you have it right that time, Lucy?"
"Aye! This time I know who th' culprit is; one hundred percent! The culprit in this case is Dog!" Alfendi could hear her pound her fist against the table and smiled at her sheer dedication to solve the case.
"Just a mo-"
"Are you slipping away to put on another ridiculous costume?" The only response was an offended 'Hmph!' before he heard her stop back down the stairs again.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Diane's trip was the same as the first; she wasted no time to what Alfendi figured was putting on the Dog culprit's costume. And once more she tried her best to change her voice, this time taking it to a dark, low tone that was clearly too far out of her range.
Lucy was able to bear Diane's occasional muttering as she tried to go too low during some statements, and the interrogation soon got heated. Potty Prof excitedly listened as he knew Lucy would be on the right track this time; she had to be! But it was only a matter of presenting the right evidence, in the right order that would lead her to the ultimate truth.
"Just admit it! It couldn't 'ave been anyone else!" The final questioning reached its climax, and everything about the crime had finally been exposed.
"Grrr… fine. You've got me…" Diane let out a sigh of defeat and Lucy's faint cheering could be heard through the speaker. "What a splendid job, Lucy! For a job well done I have some information for you; the culprit's real name was Keelan Makepeace."
"Give over!" Lucy's shock almost blew out the speaker. "Your dad is the Jigsaw Puzzle killer?"
"Correct! The case you solved was one of those, you would have caught Papa, but he never did end up getting caught. He kept killing and killing… I remember one drunken night my Papa told me 'I can away with anything because I've got friends in the force'."
"Jus' wot are ya tryin' ta say!?"
"Do not trust Alfendi Layton… That man… He killed Papa." Diane ended their conversation, small tears forming on the edges of her eyes. But before she walked away from the dresser her hand slipped under it, pressing another hidden button as a mechanism seemed to activate under the floor beneath them.
"So that's what this is all about?" Potty Prof scoffed, "I didn't kill your father! Go and believe the lies that my pathetic other side spouts, but I didn't shoot him."
"I don't care which one of you did it!" Diane quickly recomposed herself from the outburst, but not before the tears cascaded down her face with a light grey trail from smudged make-up following behind. "Why don't we settle this already, Layton? If I kill the host, the parasite dies with it. It's like two murders in one… Wonderful, isn't it?" She whipped around, swift to recover, the all too familiar cold metal of a pistol's barrel being placed against Alfendi's forehead.
"Give it up, Diane." Alfendi felt his heart drumming wildly in his throat; a scenario like this would never strike fear in him. But to imagine that Lucy would come bursting through the door to see him lying in a pool of his blood, the floor stained crimson; it made him uneasy. "You're a cornered criminal with nowhere left to run. Why not face your punishment with some dignity," He smirked, "Unlike your father."
Alfendi felt the barrel of the gun being to tremble against his skin; the next moment feeling it as the cold metal was smacked across his face with as much strength Diane could put into the swing. "You think you're so clever… Let's see how smart you are with a bullet in your brain, shall we? Let's create a wonderful scene for that precious Lucy of yours." He heard the gun being cocked in no time.
Bang!
There was an immediate silence and his eyes still weren't exposed to the scene; the somewhat heavy thump of what he assumed was the pistol fell into his lap. Was he shot? He didn't feel any pain, but he wasn't sure if that was from the adrenaline rushing through his veins or if he really was in the clear. Then he heard it, faint and fast approaching; the sound of footsteps rushing up the staircase. "Prof!" Lucy burst through the door, her voice full of panic.
All Alfendi could do was breathe a temporary sigh of relief; hearing her voice let him know that he truly was alive.
It feels so good not to write fluff for once, it's been forever since I've written something normal. I had a lot of fun writing this!
So leave a review if you want guys; there's always advice that can help me improve! Reviews are my life blood! OuO
-MysteryProf