"Oh my!" Bakura gasped, staring at the graffiti and the cutlery.
"The door was locked!" Yugi exclaimed. "How did they get in?"
Yami Yugi grimly pointed at the curtain, which was blowing faintly. "Through the window."
"The window! But we're on the second floor," Yugi protested, rushing over and looking out. It was a long drop to the bottom. There was a small, empty flower box outside the window, but no way to get into it, unless . . .
Yugi leaned out the window and looked up at the window directly above his. Someone could've used a rope and scaled down the wall, into the flower box, and in through his window.
"Be careful, Yugi. You don't want to fall out," his Yami warned.
"I'll be alright," Yugi said, pulling himself back inside. "I wonder what kind of room is directly above us?"
"I don't know," Yami Yugi mused.
"Why not wait until tomorrow to investigate it?" Bakura said. He paused. "Or should we inform the police about this threat? This is quite serious after all."
"I'd hate to wake Carl up again so late, but you're right, Bakura," Yugi said. "This is serious. We'd better go tell him."
"I'll stay here in case the perpetrator decides to come back for some reason," Yami Yugi volunteered. "And in case he wakes up before the effects of the cider have worn off," he added, indicating Yami Bakura.
As Yugi and Bakura left the room and walked back down the hall, Yugi said suddenly, "I just realized something—they could've also used the crawlspace to get in, and then just left the window open to throw us off!"
"That's possible too," Bakura said wide-eyed. "This whole thing is quite disturbing."
"That's for sure."
Suddenly both Tristan and Joey's, and Tea's doors flew open. "Someone just threatened us!" they all screamed in unison.
"You guys too?" Bakura exclaimed, wide-eyed.
"Someone stuck a knife in our wall," Yugi added, when three pairs of questioning eyes turned to him and Bakura.
"Alright, now that's just not funny," Tea declared. "We should call the police."
"First we need to tell Carl," Yugi replied.
They hurried downstairs to find the elderly man. "Yugi, I have the feelin' that whoever's been doin' this wouldn't hesitate to really use those knifes," Joey remarked.
"I'm afraid you're right, Joey," Yugi said gravely.
****
"What!" Carl's eyes first went wide with horror, then narrowed in anger and outrage. "Alright, that's it." He sighed in defeat. "It's not safe. I should have never agreed to let you all stay here."
"Hey, we're not lettin' ourselves be scared off by a few measly threats!" Joey declared.
"I would never forgive myself if anything happened to any of you," Carl replied.
"It's alright, Carl," Yugi said. "We'll be okay. We don't have any intentions of leaving until this mystery is solved!"
"Yeah! We've been to the Shadow Realm and back," Tristan chimed in.
"And defeated many enemies," Tea added.
"Who, I must say, are probably more dangerous for the most part than whoever we're dealing with now," Bakura remarked.
Carl sighed again. "You kids are stubborn."
"Hey, we're not gonna leave you here to deal with the 'accidents' by yourself," Joey said with a shrug.
"That's right," Yugi agreed. "We're sticking it out!"
"Well, I guess there's no convincing you," Carl said reluctantly, "even tho since you got here, you've had ski poles thrown at you, phantoms appearing at you, people have fallen off cliffs, and now you've been threatened with knifes!"
"Not to mention Kaiba got bashed on the head," Joey added.
Carl turned pale. "What?! When?!"
"Earlier tonight . . . or would that be yesterday now?" Joey mused.
"Is he alright?" Carl demanded.
"Accordin' to him, he is," Joey shrugged.
Carl slumped into a chair. One more 'accident' to add to the list.
****
"Whoa, I can't believe what that police officer said," Joey remarked a tiring hour later as they finally trooped back to their rooms for some sleep.
"Yeah. If this isn't resolved within the next three to five days, they're going to shut the whole place down," Tristan stated. "And if another really bad disaster happens anytime during those three to five days, they could shut the place down even sooner."
"We need to find out who's behind this quickly then!" Bakura declared.
"That's right," Tea agreed. "Tomorrow we'll all split up again. Some of us will search the rooms, and the rest of us will go talk to Peggy Flemming."
They all said goodnight once again and disappeared into their various rooms.
Yami Yugi looked up with relief when Yugi and Bakura came in. "I'm glad you're both back," he said. "He woke up a while ago and tried to make me do the jitterbug with him." He indicated Yami Bakura, who now was passed out again on the couch.
Bakura and Yugi grinned in spite of the seriousness of the mystery they had to solve. "My poor yami," Bakura chuckled, shaking his head. "I have the feeling he won't be very happy to learn of his antics in the morning."
"Just try to keep him away from apple cider in the future," Yami Yugi said.
"I'm sure he'll see to that himself," Bakura replied.
****
The next day at breakfast, the Kaiba brothers and von Bruno were all noticeably absent. Kaiba hadn't been eating at the resort since his arrival, but he usually came downstairs to check his mail in the morning. Betty said he hadn't been down so far today.
"I hope he really is okay," Yugi said worriedly. "He must've taken quite a blow."
Joey shrugged. "Eh, you know Kaiba. He usually bounces back pretty quick. Maybe the guy just didn't wanna deal with rapid-fire questioning from all the guests." He grinned.
"That sounds like Kaiba alright," Tea remarked.
"But now where von Bruno is . . . that's a real mystery," Joey sighed.
"How's your yami, Bakura?" Tristan asked. "Did he try any more bad Elvis impressions?"
Bakura chuckled. "No, actually. He woke up right before Yugi and I came downstairs and wondered what had happened. When we told him, he started screaming in ancient Egyptian and disappeared. He didn't go back in the Ring . . . I hope he's not planning some kind of mischief," he sighed worriedly.
"You never know with that guy," Tristan sighed.
"Alright, let's decide how we're going to do this," Tea said.
"Why don't you and Tristan question that Flemming lady while Yugi, Bakura, and yours truly search the rooms?" Joey suggested.
"Fine with me," Tea said. "Is that acceptable to everyone?"
After they all agreed on the idea, the five teens split up to try to shed some light on the baffling mystery.
"Everyone's for sure not up in their rooms, right?" Joey said as he, Yugi, and Bakura headed upstairs.
"I think they're all outside on the slopes," Yugi replied.
"Whose room do we check first?" Bakura wondered.
Before anyone could answer, a door near the end of the hall opened and Seto Kaiba stepped out, Mokuba following closely alongside him. They noticed that the young businessman was looking a lot steadier than he had the previous night, and he didn't appear to be suffering any pain.
"Hey, Kaiba," Yugi greeted. "Are you feeling better?"
"I'm fine, Yugi," Seto replied. "They can't take me down that easily."
"We were just going to check the guests' rooms for clues," Bakura said.
Seto's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Not a bad idea. I should search von Bruno's room and see if I can figure out what my attacker wanted in there."
"Maybe the jerk was von Bruno himself and not some intruder," Mokuba suggested.
"It could've been," Seto agreed. "I'm not sure I'd put anything past him."
"Well, why don't you come with us?" Yugi suggested.
"Yeah, we need all the help we can get," Joey said.
"Oh, I'll come with you alright," Seto said determinedly. "I want to get to the bottom of this as much as you do."
"Which room is von Bruno's?" Joey asked.
"This one," Seto replied, going to the infamous door. Mokuba tried the knob.
"It's unlocked again," he announced.
Everyone gathered around the door and Mokuba opened it.
"Now be careful," Seto warned. "Someone might be sneaking around again and try to knock us all out."
"Pleasant thought," Bakura remarked sarcastically.
Joey assumed a fighting stance as they went in, and immediately started checking around for hidden assailants. "I think we're alone in here this time," he declared presently.
"Bakura, you stand guard in case someone comes," Yugi suggested.
"Alright," the silver-haired boy agreed.
Mokuba opened the desk drawer and pawed through a phone book and some papers. "Nothing suspicious in here," he said.
"Not here either," Yugi said, closing the drawer of the antique-looking nightstand.
"Nuts," Joey sighed, preparing to shut the closet door. "Wait . . . what's this?"
Everyone came to attention. "What did you find, Joey?" Yugi asked.
"Some weird statue . . . it was probably sitting on top of the desk or something," Joey mused, holding up a cat figurine made of some kind of attractive stone.
"Why do you say that, Joey?" Bakura said curiously.
"Well, because there's a ring on the desk like there sometimes is when something's sat somewhere for a long time," Joey replied. "And the statue fits over that ring perfectly." He paused. "What I'd like to know is, why was it on the closet floor?"
"Maybe someone hit Kaiba with it and then hid it in there," Yugi suggested.
Joey turned it over and over in his hands. "Hit him with this? Ouch."
"My thoughts exactly," Seto said dryly, coming over to look at it. He glanced in the closet. "There's something else in there."
"Huh?" Joey turned to look as Seto pulled a crumpled jacket out from the back of the closet.
"Hey!" Bakura exclaimed. "That looks like the jacket the phantom wore yesterday."
"There's a piece missing," Seto noticed.
"He tore it on a tree," Bakura explained.
"So von Bruno is the phantom?" Joey said, scratching his head.
"Looks that way," Yugi replied. "We need to talk to him and see how he reacts to the piece of cloth Tea found from that jacket."
"Good luck finding him," Seto said dryly.
Suddenly Bakura's eyes went wide and he motioned frantically with his hand. "Quick! We have to hide. Von Bruno's coming!"
"The door was locked!" Yugi exclaimed. "How did they get in?"
Yami Yugi grimly pointed at the curtain, which was blowing faintly. "Through the window."
"The window! But we're on the second floor," Yugi protested, rushing over and looking out. It was a long drop to the bottom. There was a small, empty flower box outside the window, but no way to get into it, unless . . .
Yugi leaned out the window and looked up at the window directly above his. Someone could've used a rope and scaled down the wall, into the flower box, and in through his window.
"Be careful, Yugi. You don't want to fall out," his Yami warned.
"I'll be alright," Yugi said, pulling himself back inside. "I wonder what kind of room is directly above us?"
"I don't know," Yami Yugi mused.
"Why not wait until tomorrow to investigate it?" Bakura said. He paused. "Or should we inform the police about this threat? This is quite serious after all."
"I'd hate to wake Carl up again so late, but you're right, Bakura," Yugi said. "This is serious. We'd better go tell him."
"I'll stay here in case the perpetrator decides to come back for some reason," Yami Yugi volunteered. "And in case he wakes up before the effects of the cider have worn off," he added, indicating Yami Bakura.
As Yugi and Bakura left the room and walked back down the hall, Yugi said suddenly, "I just realized something—they could've also used the crawlspace to get in, and then just left the window open to throw us off!"
"That's possible too," Bakura said wide-eyed. "This whole thing is quite disturbing."
"That's for sure."
Suddenly both Tristan and Joey's, and Tea's doors flew open. "Someone just threatened us!" they all screamed in unison.
"You guys too?" Bakura exclaimed, wide-eyed.
"Someone stuck a knife in our wall," Yugi added, when three pairs of questioning eyes turned to him and Bakura.
"Alright, now that's just not funny," Tea declared. "We should call the police."
"First we need to tell Carl," Yugi replied.
They hurried downstairs to find the elderly man. "Yugi, I have the feelin' that whoever's been doin' this wouldn't hesitate to really use those knifes," Joey remarked.
"I'm afraid you're right, Joey," Yugi said gravely.
****
"What!" Carl's eyes first went wide with horror, then narrowed in anger and outrage. "Alright, that's it." He sighed in defeat. "It's not safe. I should have never agreed to let you all stay here."
"Hey, we're not lettin' ourselves be scared off by a few measly threats!" Joey declared.
"I would never forgive myself if anything happened to any of you," Carl replied.
"It's alright, Carl," Yugi said. "We'll be okay. We don't have any intentions of leaving until this mystery is solved!"
"Yeah! We've been to the Shadow Realm and back," Tristan chimed in.
"And defeated many enemies," Tea added.
"Who, I must say, are probably more dangerous for the most part than whoever we're dealing with now," Bakura remarked.
Carl sighed again. "You kids are stubborn."
"Hey, we're not gonna leave you here to deal with the 'accidents' by yourself," Joey said with a shrug.
"That's right," Yugi agreed. "We're sticking it out!"
"Well, I guess there's no convincing you," Carl said reluctantly, "even tho since you got here, you've had ski poles thrown at you, phantoms appearing at you, people have fallen off cliffs, and now you've been threatened with knifes!"
"Not to mention Kaiba got bashed on the head," Joey added.
Carl turned pale. "What?! When?!"
"Earlier tonight . . . or would that be yesterday now?" Joey mused.
"Is he alright?" Carl demanded.
"Accordin' to him, he is," Joey shrugged.
Carl slumped into a chair. One more 'accident' to add to the list.
****
"Whoa, I can't believe what that police officer said," Joey remarked a tiring hour later as they finally trooped back to their rooms for some sleep.
"Yeah. If this isn't resolved within the next three to five days, they're going to shut the whole place down," Tristan stated. "And if another really bad disaster happens anytime during those three to five days, they could shut the place down even sooner."
"We need to find out who's behind this quickly then!" Bakura declared.
"That's right," Tea agreed. "Tomorrow we'll all split up again. Some of us will search the rooms, and the rest of us will go talk to Peggy Flemming."
They all said goodnight once again and disappeared into their various rooms.
Yami Yugi looked up with relief when Yugi and Bakura came in. "I'm glad you're both back," he said. "He woke up a while ago and tried to make me do the jitterbug with him." He indicated Yami Bakura, who now was passed out again on the couch.
Bakura and Yugi grinned in spite of the seriousness of the mystery they had to solve. "My poor yami," Bakura chuckled, shaking his head. "I have the feeling he won't be very happy to learn of his antics in the morning."
"Just try to keep him away from apple cider in the future," Yami Yugi said.
"I'm sure he'll see to that himself," Bakura replied.
****
The next day at breakfast, the Kaiba brothers and von Bruno were all noticeably absent. Kaiba hadn't been eating at the resort since his arrival, but he usually came downstairs to check his mail in the morning. Betty said he hadn't been down so far today.
"I hope he really is okay," Yugi said worriedly. "He must've taken quite a blow."
Joey shrugged. "Eh, you know Kaiba. He usually bounces back pretty quick. Maybe the guy just didn't wanna deal with rapid-fire questioning from all the guests." He grinned.
"That sounds like Kaiba alright," Tea remarked.
"But now where von Bruno is . . . that's a real mystery," Joey sighed.
"How's your yami, Bakura?" Tristan asked. "Did he try any more bad Elvis impressions?"
Bakura chuckled. "No, actually. He woke up right before Yugi and I came downstairs and wondered what had happened. When we told him, he started screaming in ancient Egyptian and disappeared. He didn't go back in the Ring . . . I hope he's not planning some kind of mischief," he sighed worriedly.
"You never know with that guy," Tristan sighed.
"Alright, let's decide how we're going to do this," Tea said.
"Why don't you and Tristan question that Flemming lady while Yugi, Bakura, and yours truly search the rooms?" Joey suggested.
"Fine with me," Tea said. "Is that acceptable to everyone?"
After they all agreed on the idea, the five teens split up to try to shed some light on the baffling mystery.
"Everyone's for sure not up in their rooms, right?" Joey said as he, Yugi, and Bakura headed upstairs.
"I think they're all outside on the slopes," Yugi replied.
"Whose room do we check first?" Bakura wondered.
Before anyone could answer, a door near the end of the hall opened and Seto Kaiba stepped out, Mokuba following closely alongside him. They noticed that the young businessman was looking a lot steadier than he had the previous night, and he didn't appear to be suffering any pain.
"Hey, Kaiba," Yugi greeted. "Are you feeling better?"
"I'm fine, Yugi," Seto replied. "They can't take me down that easily."
"We were just going to check the guests' rooms for clues," Bakura said.
Seto's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Not a bad idea. I should search von Bruno's room and see if I can figure out what my attacker wanted in there."
"Maybe the jerk was von Bruno himself and not some intruder," Mokuba suggested.
"It could've been," Seto agreed. "I'm not sure I'd put anything past him."
"Well, why don't you come with us?" Yugi suggested.
"Yeah, we need all the help we can get," Joey said.
"Oh, I'll come with you alright," Seto said determinedly. "I want to get to the bottom of this as much as you do."
"Which room is von Bruno's?" Joey asked.
"This one," Seto replied, going to the infamous door. Mokuba tried the knob.
"It's unlocked again," he announced.
Everyone gathered around the door and Mokuba opened it.
"Now be careful," Seto warned. "Someone might be sneaking around again and try to knock us all out."
"Pleasant thought," Bakura remarked sarcastically.
Joey assumed a fighting stance as they went in, and immediately started checking around for hidden assailants. "I think we're alone in here this time," he declared presently.
"Bakura, you stand guard in case someone comes," Yugi suggested.
"Alright," the silver-haired boy agreed.
Mokuba opened the desk drawer and pawed through a phone book and some papers. "Nothing suspicious in here," he said.
"Not here either," Yugi said, closing the drawer of the antique-looking nightstand.
"Nuts," Joey sighed, preparing to shut the closet door. "Wait . . . what's this?"
Everyone came to attention. "What did you find, Joey?" Yugi asked.
"Some weird statue . . . it was probably sitting on top of the desk or something," Joey mused, holding up a cat figurine made of some kind of attractive stone.
"Why do you say that, Joey?" Bakura said curiously.
"Well, because there's a ring on the desk like there sometimes is when something's sat somewhere for a long time," Joey replied. "And the statue fits over that ring perfectly." He paused. "What I'd like to know is, why was it on the closet floor?"
"Maybe someone hit Kaiba with it and then hid it in there," Yugi suggested.
Joey turned it over and over in his hands. "Hit him with this? Ouch."
"My thoughts exactly," Seto said dryly, coming over to look at it. He glanced in the closet. "There's something else in there."
"Huh?" Joey turned to look as Seto pulled a crumpled jacket out from the back of the closet.
"Hey!" Bakura exclaimed. "That looks like the jacket the phantom wore yesterday."
"There's a piece missing," Seto noticed.
"He tore it on a tree," Bakura explained.
"So von Bruno is the phantom?" Joey said, scratching his head.
"Looks that way," Yugi replied. "We need to talk to him and see how he reacts to the piece of cloth Tea found from that jacket."
"Good luck finding him," Seto said dryly.
Suddenly Bakura's eyes went wide and he motioned frantically with his hand. "Quick! We have to hide. Von Bruno's coming!"
