Last time:

Layton nodded absent mindedly and walked into Robert and Rachel's bedroom. Luke and Flora, of course, followed him in.

Sitting on the bed was Robert Matthews.

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I cannot claim to own any of the persons, places, or objects in the Professor Layton series – all such persons, places, and objects are the property of their owner, Level 5 Inc. Any resemblance to any real world persons, places, or things is coincidental.**

Professor Layton

and the

Secret of 420 Corolla Street

"Hey! What are you doing here?!" Luke shouted. "You're supposed to be at work!"

Robert smiled. "I'm supposed to be. That doesn't mean I have to be. Rachel saw me go out the door, but I came back in through the window."

"What is the point in all that?" Flora asked.

The man smiled again. "I have my reasons." He took out a pocketknife from his pocket and flicked it open. He stood up and began advancing toward Layton and the two children.

Layton shoved Flora and Luke behind him. Why was , a refined gentleman of London, attacking them?

Layton's vision caused him to see Anton and Robert switching back-and-forth. His mind must have found this very similar to what happened in Folsense. He even almost found himself saying 'Anton! What is the meaning of all this?!'.

Suddenly, Robert fell to the floor laughing. He threw his knife like a spear. His laughter increased in volume as Layton, Luke, and Flora yelped and jumped out of the room. "Good choice!" he roared.

"What was that?!" Flora gasped. She leaned on the door and it clicked shut.

"Not Robert Matthews," Layton mumbled. Luke and Flora gave him odd looks. Layton sighed and went to the next room, where he hoped to have better luck in finding clues- not more mysteries.

They had found their way to Alex's room, which looked completely normal. A simple bed, dresser, and bookshelf were scattered about the room. Completely normal.

Of course, all except for the broken lamp, vase, and window.

Luke immediately took out his pad and wrote down Broken: window, vase, and lamp. He looked up from his writing and looked around the room some more. Something sticking out from under the pillow caught his eye. "Professah, what's that?" he asked. Flora walked toward the bed.

"It's a little piece of paper," she reported. Layton and Luke walked across the room and stood around Flora. "What does it say?" Luke asked.

Flora took the piece of paper out from under the pillow and unfolded. The three began reading:

Unfortunate reader,

If you're reading this, you're either the police or the little brat's mom. Both of you have a whole lot of money… or information. If the lady's reading, meet me at the old factory a few blocks down with the location of your fortune and five hundred thousand pounds. If you're the cops, I want all the money you can give me. More than 500 grand.

Your culprit, DP

Layton finished reading first. "It seems as though Don Paolo is seeking out money yet again," Layton sighed. "We should probably show this to Mrs. Matthews right away."

"And he's not a good guy," Flora finished.

Layton, Luke, Flora, and Rachel were all sitting in the Matthews' parlor. Flora had told Rachel all about what happened upstairs. Including their strange encounter with Mr. Matthews.

Rachel broke down sobbing. Layton picked up, 'He wants it,' and 'Why Robert, why?!' between her tears.

"Madam, I know this is a large decision to make on such short notice, but what are you going to do?" Layton asked.

Rachel sniffed and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "I'm going to that factory."

The next day, five armed police officers from the Scotland Yard -including Inspector Chelmey and Barton- surrounded the old factory. Layton, Rachel, and Luke approached the rickety chairs and table. Flora stayed with the police.

A man with oddly pointy hair approached the three. A girl was handcuffed to the man.

"So you came…," the man laughed. He abruptly stopped as he noticed Layton. "A-ah! Layton!"

"Paolo," Layton replied flatly. The DP signed at the bottom of the note, rude way of speaking, and pointy hair gave it all away- not to mention the voice Layton had hear over the years.

Don took out a key from his pocket and unhandcuffed himself from the girl. He shoved her forward, and everyone gasped. Rachel almost screamed.

Alex Matthews was covered in bruises, cuts, scrapes… you name it. Her eyes were purple and black, thanks to lack of sleep and a black eye. She was remarkably skinny.

"Who does this!" Rachel screeched. "You're a monster!"

"I got bored," Paolo yawned lazily. "Now, you got the money?"

Rachel angrily pulled out a bulging bag with a piece of paper attached. "Take it," she growled. "The location is on the side. Take what you want."

"This better not be fake. I want that fortune," Don said. "And you know what I can do to get my way…"

"Professah, what fortune?" Luke whispered.

"I honestly have no clue, my boy," Layton murmured in reply.

Paolo shoved the girl farther and she ran over to her mother. Rachel murmured words of comfort to her daughter and cast dirty looks at Don as Alex whispered what had happened.

Layton stood up and began walking away, with Luke hot on his trail. The two ladies weren't far behind.

The police dispersed by twos and threes to their cars, relieved no shooting was to be done. Chelmey and Barton stayed behind.

"And that just add to the little devil's record," Chelmey snarled. Looking at Alex, he said, "Alright little missy, come with my back to the Yard and tell me what happened."

"With all due respect Inspector, but I think mister Layton should take it from here. He did notice the note, after all," Rachel said.

"I don't care who did what in this case, Don Paolo is a number one criminal and a have every right to know what happened!" Chelmey replied.

"Well, Mr. Inspector, I'll have you know…."

"Just STOP IT!" Alex screamed. "I'm tired of people fighting over me, treating me like I'm just a sack of potatoes that deserves to be hurt by freaky old men, and bartered with!" Alex's hands clenched and unclenched. Chelmey, Layton, Flora, Luke, and Rachel all started at her in surprise. "Look, I'll tell everyone what happened at home. I need to eat," she sighed. Rachel nodded and ushered her toward their car.

Layton, Flora, and Luke headed to the Laytonmobile. Chelmey and Barton walked off to their car.

Back at the Matthews' house, Robert ran to the door as the Inspector, professor, Barton, Layton, Luke, Flora, Rachel, and Alex all knocked on the door. "Alex!" he cried. "You're ok! I thought-"

"We're all going to figure out what's what soon enough, and what we all thought won't mean anything," Chelmey interrupted.

Everyone piled into the parlor and plopped onto couches and chairs. They all looked at Alex expectantly. She swallowed the bread she had been eating, took a breath, and began to speak.

"I was just sitting in bed, when some dude with a mask jumped through the window. I screamed, but before I could call for help he stuffed a wet rag that tasted really bad into my mouth. I guess it was drugged, 'cause I was out in a few seconds.

"When I woke up, I was in that old factory, handcuffed. That spiky hair guy came in and asked me why I was here. I told him to let me go and go commit suicide. He punched me in the face.

"He had a conversation with some guy the second day, and before he left for good, he came in and beat me up. It really hurt. I felt like a sack of potatoes that had misbehaved and needed to be punished. He threw me around, kicked me, threw me, punched me….

"He left after that, to some place. I just sat around all tied up and stuff. No one was there, except for my little rat friends.

"On the third day Spike Man came back. He untied me and I got happy, thinking he was gonna bring me back home. Instead he handcuffed me to him and shoved me out the door, where you traded me for money and the fortune," the girl finished. She took a bite of cheese and lay back on the chair. "It really sucked," she added.

Chelmey and Luke both put away their pads. Chelmey stood up. "Thank you, we should be going now," he said. "Barton!"

"Yes sir!" Barton exclaimed. The two walked out the door, and they could hear the door slamming and the whirr of a car engine.

The wide-eyed Luke and Flora stood up and Layton said, "Yes, we should be going as well. Good day, madams."

"So what are you thinking happened, Professor?" Flora asked as they stepped outside.

Layton sighed. "That is not a fortune of money, and I honestly have no idea why Paolo is going to horribly extreme measures to get something he probably won't care about."

Next time:

"Well than, what do you think it is?" Flora asked. "And who was that person Don Paolo talked to before hur- leaving?"

Layton sighed. "There is a realm of possibilities for answers to those questions. But, I already have a hunch of what the answer is. Follow me."