"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention?" Wadsworth had come back into the library. "Dinner is served." He turned on his heel, and led us into the dining room. A decorative table was laid for nine people, and an elaborate painting of an unsmiling man hung on the wall behind it.

"Please, sit." Wadsworth waved his hand in the direction of the table.

We all sat down. The young man with the bowtie made a great show of pulling my chair out for me. I tried to give him a sharp look with Professor Layton noticing.

Wadsworth and a very beautiful French maid wearing a very short French maid's dress brought various dishes to the table, one by one. First came shark fin soup, which Flora didn't trust and Luke didn't like.

The elderly lady was making conversation, but I wasn't particularly listening. I was a bit preoccupied with looking at the placards beside each person as discretely as I could. I learnt that the elderly lady was Mrs Peacock; the military man was Colonel Mustard; the red lady was Miss Scarlett; the young man was Professor Plum; and the stern black-dressed lady was Mrs White. I wondered if they, like us, were not using their real names.

The next course was a fluffy white foam-like substance that was too sweet for my taste, and so was very agreeable to Luke. Mrs Peacock seemed to share his enthusiasm, and was all but gulping down the foam, an expression of rapture on her rather wrinkled face as she uttered noises of delight around mouthfuls. .

"This is one of my favorite recipes!" she told Wadsworth.

"I know, madam," he replied amiably, before walking to the kitchen with the used soup bowls. This struck me as odd. How had Wadsworth the butler known about Mrs Peacock's preferred meal if they hadn't met?

Meanwhile, Mrs Peacock had been quizzing Layton – aka, Mr Green – on his supposed job in Parliament. I supposed the Professor had told her that in their earlier conversation, whilst I was otherwise engaged.

"Come on, what do you do?" she asked, smiling. "I mean how are we to get acquainted if we don't say anything about ourselves?"

"Maybe he doesn't want to get acquainted with you," retorted Miss Scarlett.

Mrs Peacock put down her spoon, looking offended and hurt. "Well I'm sure I don't know, but if I wasn't trying to keep the conversation going the we'd just be sitting here in an embarrassed silence!" At this her voice broke.

Miss Scarlett didn't look too upset at this outburst.

"Are you afraid of silence, Mrs Peacock?" asked Professor Plum, rather mockingly.

"Why no, I …" Mrs Peacock seemed confused by the question. "No."

"Are you a shrink?" asked Miss Scarlett bluntly.

"I do know a little bit about psychological medicine, yes," admitted Professor Plum.

"So you're a doctor?" queried Mrs White. First time she had spoken.

Professor Plum gave a tiny cough that could have been a laugh. "I am, but I don't practice."

"But practice makes perfect," smirked Miss Scarlett. "I think most men need a little practice, don't you, Mrs Peacock?" Mrs Peacock made a noise of uncertainty.

"So what do you do, Professor?" asked Mrs White.

"I work for the United Nation organization," said Professor Plum grandly.

(You know, I'm tired of putting their titles all the time. From now on, I'm calling the characters by their last names only – except for select few, of course.)

"Another politician, Jesus," chuckled Mustard.

"No, I work for a branch of the UN," corrected Plum. "The World Help Organization."

"Well, what is your area of special concern?" asked Peacock.

"Family planning," said Plum shortly.

"And who are you?" Peacock's eyes were turned to Luke, Flora and I.

"My name is Jennifer," I replied for us. "Mr Green's assistant. Nathaniel is my younger brother. Mr Green was kind enough to adopt him and Freyja." I turned my attention on another member of the party, not wishing to keep the awareness on us. "What about you, Colonel? Are you a real colonel?"

"I am, miss," confirmed Mustard.

"You're not going to mention the coincidence that you too live in London?" smirked Scarlett.

Mustard put down his spoon. "How did you know that? Have we met before?"

"I've certainly seen you before," Scarlett answered mysteriously. "Although you may not have seen me."

"So, Miss Scarlett, does that mean you live in London also?" asked Layton.

"Sure do." Scarlett spooned up a mouthful of foam.

"Does anyone here not live in London?" asked Peacock impatiently.

"I don't," replied Plum.

"Yes, but you work for the United Nations," Layton pointed out. "That's a government occupation; and the rest of our party live in a government city. Does anyone here not earn their living from the government in some form?"

Mustard threw his napkin down on his plate and stood up. The butler stepped up to the table. "Wadsworth, where's our host and why have we been brought here?"

The doorbell chimed before Wadsworth could answer. He quickly left the room to answer the door. Mustard glared after him, then grudgingly sat down.

We heard the door opening, and Wadsworth's greeting. "Ah, good evening. You are eagerly awaited." The door closed with a click.

"Are you locking me in?" asked another male voice. "I'll take the key."

"Over my dead body, sir," replied the unseen Wadsworth. "May I take your bag?"

"No. I may need it."

The French maid, Yvette, was eavesdropping on the conversation in the hall at the dining room door. Mrs Ho the cook stood behind the sideboard, also listening intently.

"It contains evidence, I presume?"

"Surprises, my friend." There was a smile in the unknown man's voice. "That's what it contains. Surprises."

Wadsworth entered again, followed by a stocky tanned man. "Ladies and gentlemen," announced the butler. "May I present Mr Boddy?"

Boddy had an aura of menace around him, no doubt about it. "What're they all doing here?" he asked, his eyes sweeping over the table, and coming to rest on Luke and Flora.

"Eating dinner," said Wadsworth. "Do sit down, Mr Boddy." He pulled out Boddy's chair while Yvette brought another plate of foam.

"Nah, you can take that away, honey," he growled at Yvette. She moved away.

"Look," snapped Peacock, banging her palm on the tabletop. "I demand to know what's going on. Now why have we all been dragged up here to this horrible place?"

And … cliffhanger! Until next time, ladies and gentlemen!