Professor Layton and the Shining Stone
Disclaimer: The Prof and his many friends aren't my property. BTW, good luck with that cool looking crossover, Team Layton…
Rating: PG.
Summary: The rarest treasure in America, known as the Shining Stone, has been stolen from the house of one of the Professor's colleagues. Together with his self-proclaimed apprentice, Luke, and his unofficial adopted daughter, Flora, Layton has been asked to unravel the mystery…
I'm actually quite impressed I've managed to carry this fic this far. Makes everything all worthwhile. Keep reviewing guys, I like reviews.
Here's the next chapter, and the solution to the last puzzle.
Flora spent a long time on the puzzle, mumbling to herself about the key facts, and by the time she had the answer, it was time to board the plane.
"Ah! The flight times! They were arranged so that most of the people arriving had no choice but to fly to Vegas! Because if one flight to LA was at ten in the morning and another flight to Vegas was at half past eleven, for instance, you'd have to board the Vegas flight 'cause the LA flight's taken off!"
"Exactly," the Professor nodded, as they walked up the steps into the plane. "Imagine that the Vegas flight was at ten, the San Diego flight at 11:36 and the LA flight at two pm. If you turned up anytime between 2pm one day and 10am the next day, you'd have to get the Vegas flight. So, you'd have a 20 in 24 chance of going to Vegas, a 1.6 in 24 chance of going to San Diego, and 2.4 in 24 chance of ending up in LA. Hence the 25:2:3 split."
"…Did you give that one so you wouldn't have to think of too many others?" Luke asked suspiciously.
Layton shrugged. "Perhaps."
Flora groaned. "All this maths makes my head hurt."
Upon arrival into Angola, Layton bought a map from the souvenir shop, and together, they took the Laytonmobile to the entrance of the Black Eagle Diamond Mine. It took a long time, and to pass the time, they spent the journey setting each other puzzles (Layton kept getting his in almost no time at all, and both Luke and Flora gave up setting him any more). Eventually, they arrived. The entrance to the mine looked locked quite tight, and didn't show any signs of wear. It seemed that they weren't heading inside anytime soon. Outside, there was a small office building situated by the walls of the mine. There was a note on the door, reading, "Geschlossen für die jährliche Tag der Arbeit Urlaub. Bitte besuchen Sie uns auf der dritten Mai". Layton guessed that this was the site office mentioned in the package's note. He took the key out of its box, and unlocked the door. The room of the office was well kept, apart from the table area, which was covered in the rings of coffee stains, and some mining clothes with the black condor emblazoned on them. There were also many stamps strewn all over, most of them either red or blue, but each bearing the same diamond shaped pattern.
"I don't think there's anything worth taking, from a crook's point of view," Luke remarked. "Was the note wrong, do you think?"
"I'm not sure," Layton answered. "It could be that SNATCH thought that since the Shining Stone came from Germany, in a place where they deal with what is mined here, they thought that there was a valuable prize of some sort in here. So it could be a mistake. Or perhaps someone else moved everything that was valuable to someplace else."
"But how could SNATCH have the key to here in the first place?"
"Remember the profile on that woman in Mrs Williams's office? Spikey Muffin? She was last arrested trying to smuggle diamonds out of here. She may have been able to get a hold of the key at some point. So…"
"Then, we came here for nothing? This is a dead end?"
"Well, even if we came to the mine for nothing," the Professor said, "I would not say that the trip may turn out entirely unfruitful just yet." Layton pulled out the map, and pointed to another building near the mine. "According to the map, there is a delivery service in the vicinity. Perhaps they can shed some light on the mystery."
"Why them, Professor?" Flora asked.
"Well, I heard that they, Snoots and Co Deliveries, were the ones who sent Mr Hammond the Shining Stone in the first place. I was hoping to speak to the branch in Germany, but in light of what happened back there..."
"Well, it's a shame to head back so soon, I suppose," Luke said. "Let's go, Professor!"
"Quite," said Layton, heavily. "Let us leave, and quickly. I'm not about to answer any more questions to anyone who finds us here."
Snoots and Co Deliveries turned out to be a grand looking building, obviously very busy looking, with people all over the place typing away at the computer on the desk they were sitting at. Layton, Luke and Flora waited by the entrance, until a bald African man in a black suit walked over to them.
"Hello en welkom. Hoe kan ek u help?"
"Um..." said Layton, trying to do what he can to overcome the upcomong language barrier. "I'm here about..."
"Ah, English?" said the man. His accent was rather thick, but Layton seemed to understand him well enough.
"Oh, yes," the Professor nodded, glad at the fact he didn't have to work so hard. "Um...I'm Professor Layton. I'd like to ask about one of your clients, Mr Jake Hammond, I'm...a friend of his..."
"Hammond? I will check." The man hurried by an unoccupied computer, and searched through the records. A few minutes later, he came back. "Yes, Mr Hammond was a client for one of our branches in Germany before. He was a regular client. You are a friend of his?"
"Yes," Layton said again. "I want to ask about one of the things that he asked the company to deliver, something called the 'Shining Stone...'"
"Ah, yes. If you could come with me, please?" The man gestured to Layton and the others to sit by the desk for clients. There was only one seat, so Layton and Luke, being gentleman and gentleman-in-training, offered the seat to Flora.
"The Shining Stone," the man said, looking at the computer, "was the last thing Hammond asked the branch in Germany to deliver. This is it."
The record on the computer showed a photo of the contents of the package, which made Layton open his eyes in astonishment. For the photo showed little more than a glass-cut paperweight sitting on a red table. Surely this couldn't really be the Shining Stone? However, he kept his composure, and nodded.
"Mr Hammond said that he was very worried about thieves, it was that valuable," said the man.
"So, how was the package going to be delivered?" Layton asked.
The man typed for a bit onto the computer. "It says that it was given to him at his home by hand, no stamp required," he said eventually.
"No...stamp required?" There was something about what he said that seemed a bit strange to Layton. He thought back to the package he saw in John Maples's office. Wasn't there...?
"Um, thank you for you time. You've been a great help," Layton said finally, tipping his silk hat. "If it's not too much trouble, could I have a copy of that report?"
"What for?"
Layton paused. It was against a gentleman's principles to outright lie to another person, but at the same time, he couldn't tell him about the whole incident involving its theft...what to do?
"I'm...researching into as much as I can about the Shining Stone," Layton said delicately. "It was important to...Jake, after all, so..."
"I see. Just a minute." The man clicked on the screen a few times, and out of the nearby printer, a copy of the delivery report came out, which the man gave to Layton.
"Thank you. I'm sorry to take up much of your time..."
"It was no problem," smiled the man. "Perhaps you are thinking of our help in the future. We have a few branches in England."
"We'll see. Thank you so much for your help." And with that, the trio walked out of the building with their vital evidence in hand.
"Professor? You've been staring at that report for some time. Is something up?" Luke asked, noticing that the Professor had not stopped boring holes into the paper he was reading, as they headed back to the Laytonmobile.
Startled, Layton turned to Luke. "I'm fine. But, Luke, do you remember the time we visited Mr Maples's office?"
"Yeah. Why do you ask?"
"Did the package that Mr Maples show us have a stamp on it? Do you remember?"
Luke thought as hard as he could. "It had a...white one, I think? I don't remember much else."
"I think I have a firmer grasp of what happened, but I think that should wait for now. I want to head back to Scotland and tell May everything. She hasn't heard from us for days, and must surely be worried."
Back at the airport, Layton and the others were walking to their flight, when they saw a peculiar sight. Each of the barriers letting them into the grounds were shutting themselves locked or unlocked in a very strange manner, and some were unlocking or locking themselves almost as soon as they were changed the first time. Layton saw a man with a black beard and dirty overalls wielding a toolbox, trying to fix the controls, until eventually, each of the barriers appeared closed.
Layton walked over to the mechanic. "Is something the matter, sir?"
The man looked up at Layton. "Well, it's the barriers in the airport. All one hundred of them went haywire when I tried to open some of them up. I pressed the button once, an' they all slammed shut, just like that. Then I press the button again, an' then every second barrier stayed shut while the rest opened. Then every third set decided to change again, then every forth set joined in..."
He sighed. "An' it went on like this an' all, one hundred times, it did. I've shut them up, for now. But I'll have to inform the passengers which ones still work and which ones are closed."
"Well, I think I can be of assistance here," Layton informed the man, his brain already working on the solution. "From what you've described to me, the ones still open are..."
Post note: Well, how does Layton get the answer? This puzzle is worth 50 Picarats, I would think. Here are the key facts:
One hundred barriers between each passenger and their flights, and one hundred reactions from the barriers.
On the first movement every barrier is closed.
On the second movement every second barrier stays closed while the others open up.
On the third movement every barrier is toggled, i.e. opened if closed or closed if opened.
Process continues until the hundredth movement.
TASK: Figure out how many barriers are closed before they are damaged and no longer respond.
Ooh, the mystery's coming together now. I'm rather excited! Keep reviewing; anything from happy expressions to constructive criticism is nice!
Next chapter sees the Professor and the others on the flight back to Scotland!