A Short Time Before The Start Of Chapter 2:
"Artemis" Holly shouted. "Your phone is ringing again."
Artemis rolled into the room, picked his phone up, and walked out again. If Holly had sounded frustrated, it's because she was. Artemis never got two phone calls in quick succession. This was supposed to be their final day, and he was too busy getting phone calls.
Artemis retreated into his bedroom, so that he wouldn't be disturbed. The caller ID had come up as LEP One, but he knew nobody used that number anymore. He was intrigued.
"Yes" He answered.
"Artemis Fowl" The voice on the other end replied. It was low and gravelly, and Artemis heard him clear his throat. "You might not know who is speaking at this very moment, but you know who I am."
"Enlighten me."
"My name is Chriton Salt."
"Salt? Chriton Salt is supposed to be dead. How would a dead man be contacting me?"
"You say that Artemis, and yet there is no surprise in your voice."
"I've learnt not to expect people who are assumed to be dead to stay dead, not unless I witness it myself. Besides, this phone runs an automatic voice analyser and it's come up a 100% match. So no, there is no surprise in my voice, but I am wondering why you would feel the need to call me. What could I possibly do for a dead man?"
"I need you to help me."
"Why would I help you. Why would I need to help you?" Artemis questioned. He had an idea, but he wanted to hear Salt say it himself. Then he could be sure the plan he was formulating in his head was the right one.
"Because I've done some terrible things, Artemis. Because I've spent the last year of my life living in a world I did not know was even possible. I want to be able to put things right to everyone that I've affected, and that includes you. I just don't know how."
"You were working for Flower Kevoor, weren't you?"
"Yeah, I was... And you figured that out?"
"Well it wasn't hard. I mean how else would you have affected me? I hadn't even heard of you until we started dealing with Flower Kevoor. So how did she manage to get you under her control? I know Ramon Stone was corrupted by the possibility of power, but you don't seem like the natural type to sell your soul to the devil."
"Gambling" Salt replied. "I have a massive gambling addiction. I owed money to so many people, I was drowning in debt. Then Flower came along and paid it off. All of it. All she wanted was me to slip her a few secrets here and there, and I thought it was no big deal. But as time went on, it got more and more, and larger secrets too. Then IA came along and she said I had to fake my death. I agreed, but I had no idea the number of people that were going to die there. Now, with her gone, I don't know what to do. I've been hiding in the fear that, if someone finds me, they'll expose me. It's driven me to the edge of my sanity. And then one day someone did notice me, and I had no idea what to do. I didn't want to be caught, I couldn't stand being in prison, so I shot him. I shot him and killed him in cold blood. And I don't know what to do."
Artemis rubbed his temples. There were a lot of words in Salt's speech, but he at least understood the core message. And his plan could still work.
"Who did you kill?"
Artemis heard Salt let out a large sigh. "I killed Trouble Kelp."
That Artemis had been expecting, but it was still weird to hear Salt say it out loud. Artemis may never have been good friends with Trouble Kelp, but Holly had, and he had dedicated a lot of time to finding out who killed him. Now he knew. It was a hollow victory.
"I don't even think he knew it was me, I had blacked out windows and everything, but he pulled me over. I knew, if he saw me, it would be over, so I rolled down the window, and shot him- point blank in the chest. I saw the look of horror on his face as his life drained away. He looked me in the eyes Artemis, and all I could see was his question. Why? And I decided then, I can't do this anymore. I need help."
"Disappearing isn't going to work" Artemis said, "If the people involved are still around. What you need is closure, to have the elements responsible eliminated."
"But Flower Kevoor is already dead."
"But who made Flower Kevoor?"
"Opal Koboi."
"Precisely. Without Opal Koboi's influence, Flower Kevoor would never have become the Pixie she was. This all stems from her. Take Opal out of the equation, you can have closure. You wanted me to help, well this is what I'm going to do..."