-=-
Chapter 2: Be quiet and drive

Emmy felt like she was ready to collapse by the time she left the office the next day. It had been good to spend time with the Professor but it was hard work too. They had spent the last 20 hours or so sifting through the notes and had decided that the best course of action would be to enquire around the university about the victims. Apart from their dark hair and the university, the girls had little else in common from what the police had found out from the victim's relatives.

*Those poor girls...I will never understand why people can do such things to one another..* She thought to herself sadly, heading past the staff room and stopping by the notice board. *Nothing new today, just a newspaper clipping...The segment about the murders is very small...perhaps the Police will be able to keep the media away this time...*

As Emmy skimmed over the clipping, she heard some footsteps approaching and saw the tall Professor Hopkins making her way over with a deeply saddened look on her face. Even with the sad look Emmy thought her sleek black hair swayed in such a wonderful way.

"Good afternoon Professor" Emmy smiled sympathetically.

"I've told you a thousand times Emmy, please call me Darcy. I feel like an old woman when you refer to me as 'Professor'" she sighed and joined her. "So sad...that Girl Paris was one of my students..cheerful thing she was...always bunking off though, It got to the point she'd be away for maybe one..two weeks at a time..although from her work you'd have thought she'd attended every lecture...if only I had asked why she skipped so much..."

It seemed to her that the Professor was a lot sadder about this than she should have been. Emmy paused to think for a moment before replying."Did you know her well?"

"Not at all. I hated the fact she always skipped" Darcy snorted, almost as if scolding herself. "However, after reading the paper this morning, it seems I should have made more of an effort to find out why." A small tear threatened to appear before Darcy turned and left.

Feeling a little confused, Emmy turned to read the rest of the article out to herself.

"..As tragic as these murders are, the real tragedy of Miss Valentine's death is there is now a little boy without his mother..."
*****

Tiring of the feeling of gloom that seemed to be clouding his office, Layton emerged through the door and rubbed his eyes. He was long over due a break and had decided to take a quick walk around the university before marking some of his students work. It had been a while since he had gone wondering along the halls.

*I'll head towards the gym, I expect there will be very few people there at this time of night..* He thought to himself. After the long day he'd had he wasn't in the mood to face any questions or puzzle requests. This was a rarity for the Professor, however it wasn't everyday he was asked to assist on a murder case. The recent cuts had effected the police force significantly. It was to the point so many jobs had been lost that without His assistance, they just didn't have the manpower to bring the perpetrator to justice in time.

*Even with my assistance, I believe there may be lives lost yet...* he thought darkly. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed likely that the Killer may strike again before he'd even started on a lead.

Taking a sudden left through a set of swing doors, Layton found himself in the gym's seating area. Tuesday was one of the few nights where there was never any practise on. This night was left free for a deep clean so no one ever bothered to come in, which meant the Professor had the place to himself..or so he had thought.

Looking down at the court as he took a seat, he saw the outline of a woman in sweat pants and a sports vest standing very still in the center of the gym. The Professor rose his hand to clear his throat and make his presence known when all of a sudden he was interrupted when the figure sprung to life.

"HHHIYAAAAA!" She cried as she swung her leg into a perfect roundhouse kick. She did it in a style so unique that he immediately realised that it was Emmy doing some training.

*Oh my..*

Under normal circumstances, He would've made his apologies and left as quickly as possible. After all, its very rude to watch someone without them knowing, especially a woman. Layton found himself engrossed and unable to stop watching Emmy as she twisted and struck the air. For something intended to be used in a fight, he couldn't help but feel there was something wonderfully beautiful about the way she did it. It might have been the way her dark waves tumbled over her shoulders as her slender arms sliced through the air. Layton thought that her pretty face was incredibly deceptive of the amount of skill and power she possessed. It was also probably her deadliest weapon.

*How beautiful..* he thought. The way she fought was almost hypnotic to him. It was almost as if he was seeing her movements in slow motion. Had he not been so entranced it may have stunned him how fast she could be. He was so captivated he'd forgotten why he'd come to the gym in the first place and was only brought back to reality when he realised his heart was starting to pound.

Layton gasped as he was brought back to earth with a rather nasty bump. He hadn't expected that to in the slightest. *Control yourself Hershal!* he scolded himself mentally *She's your assistant!*It had been a few years since he'd had that feeling. He decided there and then that he must have just got caught up in the moment.

"Professor?"

Hearing Emmy's voice call him gave him a shock and he stood up immediately, his brain searching frantically for any sort of coherent apology "Ah, Emmy, I-"

"Ah good!" She interrupted "I'm glad your here Professor! my moped's tires are flat and I've missed the last bus"

"Oh.." The professor said. Noting that Emmy really had been pleased to see him and she didn't seem to have realised how long he'd been sat there. "Do you need a lift Home? After all, a lady shouldn't be walking home alone"

Emmy beamed up at him "Fantastic! let me shower and change and I will be right with you!" and left before the Professor could apologise.

"I'm getting too old for this" He sighed wearily.
*****

Sitting in the staff room, Professor Layton waited for Emmy. He'd decided that although Emmy was quicker than most, she was no exception to the rule of Ladies taking a while to get figured she would think to look for him here rather than his office.

"Ah, Layton" Came the voice of Professor Crawford. "I see you've gotten yourself an assistant at long last"

Layton watched the Art professor sit on the edge of the table he was sat. With his skinny frame and jet black hair, He looked like the stereotypical artist. James Crawford rarely spoke to other staff members so his comment took Layton by surprise. As far as he recalled, this was probably the fourth time they had ever spoken.

"Indeed, though I'm surprised you noticed at all James.I'd heard you've been very busy recently"

"This is true" James drawled, clasping and un-clasping his left hand (he was known to do this a lot.) "My Partner, Claudia has been going through Chemotherapy, so I've been relying on the substitute teachers heavily...Still..back to the original subject, what made you finally get an assistant?"

Layton had forgotten that James had only been here a year or two so did not realise that Emmy had been his assistant in the past.

"She tired of her old job and I needed the help" He said simply, using his tone to make sure it was clear he would not elaborate any further.

"Well, you have good taste Layton...Anyway, I must dash as I have a chance meeting to attend..." The other man sighed, before sniggering a little and walking away rather quickly.
*Good taste? what does he mean by that?* Layton had heard Crawford was a bit strange at times but this was the first he had experienced it himself. He assumed it was down to the stress of having a loved one in hospital and didn't give it too much thought. *After all, I've met plenty of eccentric people in my time..*he thought, reminiscing back on his felt so long ago, almost too long.

It was as he was reflecting on the past that Emmy turned up, her hair still slightly damp from her shower. Layton felt slightly taken aback at the sight of her and averted his gaze, still feeling a bit bad about having watched her train earlier.*How ungentlemanly...*

"Sorry to keep you waiting Professor!" she said cheerfully. "I'm ready when you are"
*****

The next morning, Emmy let out a loud yawn as she was once again forced to be up rather early. It wasn't so bad though as she'd managed to get into bed as soon as the Professor had dropped her off the night before.

She was unsure as to why the Professor needed her so early in the morning but he had said he would pick her up as her moped was out of action. *I'm still unsure who would let all the air out of my tires...perhaps one of his students is jealous...* she thought as she stood outside her apartment building and shivered, the cold October morning giving hints of colder days to come. Looking at her camera,she thought about how much time she had wasted working for the paper. It was almost as though the job had sucked the passion of photography out of her. *Ah well..the year is coming to a close...New year, new start right?* she sighed mentally.

Pondering what the winter months may bring, Emmy almost failed to notice the Professor pull up in the LaytonMobile. She snapped back to reality and gave Layton a bright smile as he gave a small wave, motioning her to get into the car.

"Good morning Emmy" he smiled politely

"Morning Professor!" she beamed, climbing in and feeling her face flush from the comfortable warmth of the car.

"I apologise for getting you up early once again" Layton said, starting the car and setting off.

"Not a problem at all! So, tell me where we're going then Professor?"

"Today we are heading up north to Lincoln. The university there is known for its Forensic Investigation and Criminology Department. An old friend of mine, Robert Helson is Lecturing there and I need to speak to him about this case we're on." Layton said.

"Ah, Lincoln is about a 3 hour drive from what I've heard. I've not been there myself but one of my old room mates used to go there in the holidays" Emmy replied. "Speaking of holidays, How are Luke and Flora? are they coming home for Christmas this year?" She wanted to be sure that Layton would not be alone like he was last year.

"...Well, Flora has expressed her intentions to spend Christmas up north. Its amazing, since she started attending school and then college, she has come leaps and bounds. I recall a time when she would get extremely upset should we be separated. Now, she is truly an Independant young lady. Last I heard from her letter, as she's ahead of the other students she has found time to have a Boyfriend now, but will not tell me anything about him. Luke is also doing well. His father left him in my care for the time being, as Clarke seems to have regained an interest in archeology and set off to Egypt with his wife." Layton paused as he took a corner and then took a breath before resuming. "I was told Luke was to go into intensive education to make up for his time travelling with me. As you can imagine he was most upset when he heard about this. I believe he thought it would be like old times, so to is yet to tell me of his plans for the holidays"

Emmy gave a small nod and sat quietly for a moment. It was clear to her how much he loved those children and how proud he was. It was also rather clear from the sad undertone how much he missed them.

"You will see them again before you know it, Professor" she smiled, hoping to make him feel a little better.

"This is true. Till then, Have you managed to speak to anyone about the victims?" He asked

Emmy sighed and rested her head in her hand "Yes, I've asked a few students here and there about Paris and Penny. It seems both of them weren't the best students. Penny was so forgetful she would frequently miss lectures and Paris was absent because she couldn't get anyone to look after her son."

"How very sad" Layton replied gloomily. "I asked some of the lab technicians about Ivy Marshall. She was usually anti-social and often holed up in the lab away from anyone else. she was highly intelligent but no one really noticed her..." once again, the professor paused "..it seems the link between the three is that there was no one who would really miss them"