Thank you for reviewing, Childatheart28, Guest, awesomest99er! Warning: In this chapter are spoilers for File No. 009: Good Cop, Bad Cop.
Read and review, but no flames, please.
Disclaimer: I do not own Layton Brothers® Mystery Room. Level-5 does.
In her chair, Lucy sat back with a smile on her face. She had just finished the extensive amount of paperwork for the Forbodium Castle case, and she didn't have to work overtime to do it.
Alfendi looked over, a smirk creeping up on his face. "I take it that you're done with your paperwork?" he said.
Lucy ignored the jibe and stood up to stretch. "Aye. Do you need me to do anything else?"
The Prof scanned his own stack of paperwork. There were only a few pages left on his report to complete, but everything else was done. "No. You deserve some rest after that case."
Lucy came up to his desk, shaking her head. "It were nowt, Prof. Really." She didn't want him to feel guilty over something that wasn't anyone's fault but Diane Makepeace's and Justin Lawson's.
Alfendi smiled sadly. Sometimes, Lucy was too kind and loyal. She never failed to see the good side of people. "Thank you. And be careful on your way home!" He said, knowing that she was riding her bicycle home at such a late hour.
"Ta, Prof. I will!" Lucy shouted back over her shoulder as she left the Mystery Room.
As she started to pedal her way to her apartment, Lucy took in her surroundings. The streets were empty, save for an occasional passer-by or car. She glanced up. The moon was full and pale, contrasting with the dark night sky, which was littered with stars.
The peaceful sky reminded her of her family's home in the country. She could almost smell her mother's baking, and hear her dad working on the car.
She sighed nostalgically. However, she wouldn't trade her current life for anything. Working with the Prof, solving crimes, and apprehending criminals only added to the thrill of her new life in urban London.
The Prof. Lucy wasn't sure how to feel about him. She blushed as she remembered how they had met, with the unfortunate timing of his entrance and her accusation and finger point. Her blush receded as she recalled her first case, with the hand sandwich, and how excited she was to work with the Prof.
Then after that, came the case with the ice knife, and she saw the other side of Alfendi Layton, Potty Prof. She couldn't deny that he scared her when he first appeared, but she got used to him, as they solved crimes brought by others of Scotland Yard−Flo, Dustin, Sniffer, Hilda, and Justin.
She tensed as she heard the last name. Justin. At first, she thought that Justin was looking out for Alfendi. After that last case, her entire world had been turned upside down. Justin had been protecting Keenan Makepeace in the Met, and had ended up killing Keelan, almost killing the Prof, and later killing Keelan's daughter Diane.
She felt sorry for Sniffer and the others, though. They had been friends with Justin long before she had even stepped foot into the Mystery Room, and he had betrayed their trust. On the bright side, Alfendi was finally able to figure out what caused his personality switches, even if a trashy book on brainwashing seemed to be an unlikely source.
With that final thought, Lucy reached her apartment. Using her brakes, she stopped, and hopped off. After securing the bike onto a bike rack with a lock, Lucy walked into an elevator, and stepped off at the 7th floor.
She neared her apartment, and reached into her pocket for her keys.
She fumbled, and they slipped out of her hand. Sighing at her bad luck, she bent over to grab them. Then she froze. The hairs on the back of her neck tingled, as if someone was behind her.
As she straightened up slowly, she turned. No one was there.
Unseen to the naked eye, however, a pair of yellow eyes and a collar with silver spikes gleamed in the shadows.
"Come on, Lucy lass. Don't get het up over nowt," she berated herself. Using the key, she managed to get into her apartment.
As soon as she entered the doorway, however, she stopped. Her apartment was a mess! Sure, at times there was an occasional shirt or jacket strewn on her sofa because she rushed to get to work, but her apartment looked like it had been ransacked.
Lucy was in investigator mode. Keeping silent, she slowly went through her apartment, looking for any sign that the intruder was still here. She made her way through the living room/dining room area, then through the kitchen and the bedroom. She found no one there, although the entire apartment looked like a tornado had gone through it.
After she finished searching, she stood back at the living room, her attention on the few clues she had found. There were pieces of white fur and a few short brown hairs left near the coffee table. Did some animals escape a circus and go through her apartment?
She decided to call Alfendi. The Prof would know what to do. Glancing at the clock, which was miraculously unharmed, she decided that he would probably still be in the office. Dialing his number, she hoped he would pick up.
After three rings, he did. "Hello?"
Lucy sighed in relief. "Hey Prof, it's me, Lucy."
"Lucy?" The Prof sounded confused. "Are you alright?"
Lucy was about to reply, but just then, the figure from the shadows pounced on her. The force knocked her head to the ground, and she slumped over, unconscious. In the scuffle, her phone was knocked out of her hand, and landed under her coffee table.
"Lucy? Lucy! Answer me! Lucy!" said the Prof, sounding more and more worried.
The mysterious assailant ignored the calls and picked up Lucy, leaping from her balcony to the ground below in seconds. Landing on his feet, he ran, with Lucy still in his arms.
