Chapter 24 – Spies Among Us
"I think we should recover the third artefact soon," Jai said.
Three days had passed since the ice cream incident, and Layton, Emmy, Flora, Bronev, Celeste, Jai, Aurora and the Triton family were all in the Triton's kitchen. They had just eaten dinner, courtesy of Emmy and Brenda, and were perfectly relaxed and full.
"We've seen nothing of Vaughan in the last two months," Luke said. "Do you think the coast is clear and we don't have to guard everywhere anymore?"
"I sincerely doubt it, Luke," Celeste said. "He could strike at any moment."
"But he hasn't, not for two months," Luke pointed out. "Why would he strike now?"
"You don't know him, Luke," Celeste said. "He's a very... unpredictable type. He could do anything anywhere at any time. We have to keep everywhere under heavy protection, to prevent anyone from getting hurt."
"I don't think he wants to really hurt anyone, you know," Flora said. "I mean, Mr. Flanagan and Miss O'Brien are both back, safe and sound. They returned the day before yesterday."
"Yes, and they have both been heavily questioned by both the resistance and Superintendant Grosky. As far as they knew, one minute they were under threat, and the next, they were being packed off on holiday."
"And St. Mary's is being rebuilt without any kind of glitches," Luke said. "No one else has been threatened or even contacted by him. I think he's gone."
"That's what he wants you to think," Bronev said. "But believe me, he is far from gone, trust me on that."
"How do you know?" Luke asked.
"I have... contacts that are keeping a close eye on Vaughan for me, and are keeping me informed and up to date on his whereabouts. He is closer than you think, and it appears we are not the only ones keeping tabs on the opposition."
"You mean he's watching us?" Clark asked.
"Precisely."
"He's been spotted outside the estate on numerous occasions, talking to Carla's sister, Tori. Don't worry," Celeste said as Emmy opened her mouth to object. "She's our source. She has been keeping an extremely close eye on Vaughan for us. She tells us that his plan won't fall into place until he's certain of our plan."
"And what do you mean by that?" the professor asked.
"His plan will depend on whether we decide to keep searching for the artefacts. If we decide to continue doing so, he will simply wait until we have gotten hold of them and he will try to find a way of stealing them, and if we decide to abandon our search in the hopes of Vaughan waiting for us to find them, he will find a way of stealing the artefacts we have I possession and the sword. Either way, in his eyes, he will get the artefacts."
"I think we should get hold of all of the artefacts," Jai said. "I've tried to drag it out as long as possible, but we know that he has spies in the vicinity. We need to plan ahead of ourselves, and protect the artefacts from falling into the hands of the spies. But we cannot be certain that no one in this room is a spy."
Everyone stopped at this.
"What do you mean?" Luke asked. He glanced at Bronev.
So did Flora and the professor. Emmy glared at them.
"I case anyone has any suspicions, Uncle Leon and I are completely against Vaughan, thank you," Emmy said coldly. "And so is the doctor."
"I understand if any of you suspects me," Jai said.
"Why would we suspect you?" Aurora asked.
Everyone else looked very shifty at this.
"I understand that I have been keeping a lot of things from you all," Jai said. "Like the true horrors of the Grounds of Rebirth."
"And the artefacts, such as before when we only found out about the beasts when we saw you fight the first one," Clark pointed out. "And the sword, when you found it, you hid it from us. And—"
"Yes, I have been keeping a lot of secrets from you. But I could not trust you at the time. I knew nothing about you at the time, except that your souls contained more good than bad. Nevertheless, there are a lot of souls who are classified as good souls, but only act on their darkness side. I didn't know if any of you used your darkness side, or your good side."
"So that's how people are able to do bad and selfish things," Flora said. "Because everyone has a darkness side."
"Exactly," Jai said. "I think these spies were tempted by the allure of the Grounds of Rebirth, and that Vaughan has done a deal with them to allow them to use the Grounds of Rebirth. That is why they are on his side. We must protect the artefacts from the spies. We need a plan."
"I don't think they will attempt to steal the artefacts until the four of them are all together," Bronev said, "so we need a plan of action for when these artefacts are all together."
"Do you know of anyone who is not a true spy?" the professor asked. "We obviously cannot believe the person if they say that they are not spies."
"Emmy, Bronev and Doctor Folley here are definitely not spies," Jai said. "Despite what you all think. And I know that you and your daughter are not spies, professor, and the Triton's here have been victims since the very beginning, so I sincerely doubt that they are spying on the behalf of the man who terrorised them and their son. And Aurora here has been assisting me since the beginning, so she hasn't had time to be a traitor. So that clears everyone in this room. That is all we need."
"We must keep a close watch over all of the artefacts," the professor said. "He may only strike when all of the artefacts are together, but we can't be too careful. Emmy and I will look after one artefact and Bronev will look after the other. Jai will continue to protect the sword. We must not let anyone else touch the artefacts. We cannot be too careful."
"Agreed," Bronev said.
Jai handed one artefact to the professor and the other to Bronev. They pocketed the artefacts.
"So when are we going to get the next artefact?" Emmy asked.
"Tomorrow, I think. It's growing rather late now," Jai replied. "Luckily, I know exactly which artefact we will get next."
"Oh, really? Is that so?" Bronev asked.
"The water idol will be next. The one we spoke about."
"How do you know?" the professor asked.
"The fire idol needs all three of the other artefacts in order to reach its location," Jai explained. "The water idol is the only one left, through the process of elimination."
"I see," the professor said.
"I fear that this one will be even more difficult and dangerous than the last one. If the water idol resides in a public place, then a lot of people will be in mortal peril."
"We will need the entire resistance to evacuate that area if that is the case," Celeste said. "We must set out first thing tomorrow to determine the location of the next artefact and then we will call a resistance meeting to give everyone their instructions."
"Right you are," Jai said.
"Sounds like a plan to me!" Emmy said brightly.
"Tomorrow it is," the professor said.
Jai tapped Aurora on the shoulder and beckoned for her to follow. They left the room and went upstairs into the spare room. Aurora turned to Jai.
"How do you know that we can trust them with the artefacts? Usually you are so suspicious of them—"
"The artefacts are not the most important elements of this situation, the sword is," Jai said. "No one would be able to get anywhere near the Grounds of Rebirth without the sword. I have the sword right here on me at all times, so I know it is safe. As for the other artefacts, well... we will simply have to trust them and let them prove themselves worthy. You seem confident that they are trustworthy, so I will put my faith in them, to see if they fail or not."
"So you're testing them?" Aurora asked.
"Yes. We need to see if they have learned anything from their experiences and we will see if they will learn anything from their experiences with the Grounds of Rebirth. I daresay that they will."
"Of course," Aurora said. "At least you are trying to trust them now, as oppose to earlier."
"I thought them that I could prevent the use of the grounds, but I know now that I cannot. We must let them make their own mistakes, so that they have the opportunity to learn and prevent what is to come from getting out of hand. Do you understand?"
Aurora nodded.
"Good. We must rest. Tomorrow will be busy and we must remain focussed."
"Yes," Aurora said.
"And also, look out for anyone that you may think of as a spy and report them to me," Jai said. "It is essential that I know who they are, so that I can get the wheels turning on a plan of mine."
"You have a plan?" Aurora said.
"Yes," Jai said. "It goes something like this..."