"Cleared out?" Yugi repeated.
Billy nodded. "That's right. He said he had to go somewhere and then he just packed up and left."
"Well, that's just great," Joey sighed.
"Did he give any indication where he was going?" Yugi asked.
"Nope," Billy replied. "Grandma Turner tried to ask him for a forwarding address to send his mail to, but he just said to send them to his post office box in town."
"Does that mean that he still might be in the city?" Tea wondered.
"Possibly," Yugi replied. "But on the other hand, it could also mean that he didn't think he'd be getting anything important until he got back. Tell me, Billy, did he pack up everything?"
"Everything," Billy nodded. "Clothes, pictures, magazines, and his secret files."
"Eh, secret files?" Joey repeated.
"What kind of secret files, Billy?" Yugi wanted to know.
Billy shrugged. "I don't know. I always wanted to get a look at 'em, but I never could. He was always one step ahead of me and always managed to pop in on me just when I was about to peek!"
"Could we have a look at his room?" Yugi asked.
"Sure," Billy said, leading them inside. "Hey, are you guys detectives?" he demanded.
Yugi smiled. "In a way," he replied.
"Cool! Can I help you solve your case?" Billy asked eagerly as he led them upstairs.
"You certainly can," Yugi agreed. "Tell us more about Mr. Fielding," he requested.
"What is he like?" Tea wanted to know.
"Really mysterious and pretty grouchy," Billy replied. "Grandma doesn't like him very much, but I think he's cool!"
"Mysterious and grouchy . . . that sounds like him, alright," Joey grinned.
Billy opened a door at the end of the hall. "Here's the room," he announced. "What do you guys expect to find in here?"
"Anything the guy might've forgot to take with him," Joey replied. He looked around at the room, which was stripped almost bare. "Whoa, Billy, you weren't kidding when you said he packed everything," he remarked.
"Yeah," Tristan agreed. "I don't think we're going to find anything in here, Yugi."
"Probably not, but we should still look," Yugi replied, opening a drawer.
After nearly thirty minutes of fruitless searching, they were about ready to give up.
"Is your grandmother here, Billy?" Yugi asked as he shut the closet.
Billy nodded. "Yeah, she's downstairs making dinner. Why?"
"We would like to talk to her about Mr. Fielding," Yugi told him.
"Okay," Billy shrugged. "C'mon."
****
"Bob Fielding?" The bespectacled woman looked up from the stew she was stirring. "He was most unpleasant. I can't say that I'm sad he left."
"Did he ever have any visitors?" Seto asked.
The woman paused. "There was one, a foreign girl. She and Mr. Fielding would go up on the balcony to talk."
"By any chance would she have had long, black hair and red fingernails?" Joey gulped.
"Why, yes," Mrs. Turner said in surprise. "How did you know?"
"Lucky guess," Joey said lamely.
"Did you know her name?" Seto wanted to know.
Mrs. Turner sighed. "Francine or Florence or something like that. There goes my memory again!"
"By any chance was it Fiona?" Yugi prompted.
"Why, yes, it was," Mrs. Turner exclaimed. She smiled. "I may be getting on in years, but my mind is just as sharp as ever. Those were no lucky guesses—you kids are on to something!"
"Yes, we are, Mrs. Turner," Tea admitted.
"Well, I hope I've been able to help in some way," Mrs. Turner said.
"You have, Mrs. Turner," Yugi assured her. He paused. "One more thing before we leave—do you have any idea what they were talking about?"
"Mr. Fielding never told me anything," Mrs. Turner replied. "But I did speak to Fiona. She seemed like a very sweet, but eccentric young lady, but she didn't give any indication as to what she was here for. She did assure me that it wasn't for any kind of romantic reasons," she laughed.
"Well, thank you for all your help, Mrs. Turner," Yugi smiled.
"We'll be sure to tell you everything when we get it all wrapped up," Joey added.
"I would enjoy that very much," Mrs. Turner declared.
****
"Now what?" Tristan wondered as they walked down the street. "This case is just getting more confusing, Yugi."
"You can say that again," Tea sighed.
"Right now I think our best course of action would be to go question Madame Fiona," Yugi announced.
Joey shuddered. "Oh man, do we have to? She'll just be sayin' again that me and Kaiba are gonna pass into the next life!"
Yugi hid a smile. "She's our best lead now. Perhaps Fielding told her where he was planning to go."
Joey sighed. "Oh, alright."
****
Before they even got to the porch to knock, Madame Fiona opened the door for them. "Ah, greetings," she smiled. "You wish to know about Bob, am I correct?"
"You are," Yugi nodded.
"Well, then, by all means, come in," the psychic purred.
Joey gulped as they entered the infamous and now-familiar living room, and then screamed upon seeing a strange wolflike creature sitting on the couch.
"Ah, I see you've met Frank," Madame Fiona said. "He also has happened to stop in to visit me! Frank, say hello to Yugi Muto, Joseph Wheeler, Tristan Taylor, Tea Gardner, Bakura, and Seto Kaiba." She indicated each one as she said their name. "Sadly, Joseph and Seto will not be with us for much longer," she said softly.
"Rrrroarrr," the Wolfman replied, reaching out a paw to shake Joey's hand.
Joey grinned nervously. "Eh, it's nice to meet you too," he said lamely.
The Wolfman whined piteously and went into the kitchen.
"Man, what was that?!" Tristan exclaimed.
"Frank is my third cousin thrice removed," Madame Fiona smiled.
"Oh really? . . . Uh, heh heh . . ." Joey collapsed on the sofa, running a hand through his hair. "Those must be some family reunions you have."
"You are so amusing, Joseph," Madame Fiona purred.
"Returning to the subject we came here about, what do you know about Bob Fielding?" Seto demanded.
"He is not what he seems," Madame Fiona said mysteriously.
"Oh really? What, does he lead another life as Spiderman or somethin'?" Joey said sarcastically.
"He and I are both doing our best to find the Cobra Colony cult and stop them," she replied.
"I see," Yugi said thoughtfully. "Have you had any success?"
"Not much, but a little," Madame Fiona told him. "Bob has gone to a nearby town to follow a lead."
"How come you can't just look into your crystal ball and find out what you want to know?" Joey asked doubtfully.
"It does not always work that way, Joseph," Madame Fiona said. "We cannot always depend on crystal balls to tell us what we want to know. We must also go out and try to find things out for ourselves."
Yugi smiled. "You are different from most psychics I've met."
Madame Fiona smiled too, rather mischievously. "That is not to suggest, however, that I did not try to see in the crystal ball first."
"What town did Bob go to?" Tea asked.
"Cooperstown," Madame Fiona replied.
"Oh, I know where that is," Bakura said.
Yugi smiled. "Good, because we're going to go there." He turned back to the fortune teller. "Did Bob tell you what kind of a lead he'd found?"
"He hoped he had found the meeting place of the cult," Madame Fiona replied. "I was just preparing to journey to Cooperstown myself when you arrived. After all, I don't intend to be left out of the adventure."
"Would you like to come with us?" Tea offered.
"Oh no, that is alright," Madame Fiona said. "I will get there in my own way." She looked directly at Joey, and he could tell that she knew that he thought she was a vampyre. He backed up nervously, right into a door that swung open, revealing a bottomless pit behind it.
"Yaaaaaa!!" Joey grabbed onto the door frame frantically, and Yugi and Tristan ran to help him. When he was safely back on the solid floor, Joey turned to Madame Fiona angrily. "Why in the heck do you have a bottomless pit in your house?!" he demanded.
"It isn't bottomless, Joseph," Madame Fiona told him. "But you really should be more careful."
****
"This is Cooperstown?" Joey said doubtfully as they drove down the small Main Street. "Man, there's hardly anything here."
"That means it should be fairly easy to find Mr. Fielding, if he's still here," Tea commented.
The limo stopped in front of what was probably the only hotel in the town. "We'll go in here and inquire about him," Seto decided.
The chauffeur parked in front and everyone got out.
"Something doesn't feel right," Tea remarked, shivering—and not entirely from the chilly autumn air.
"I know what you mean, Tea," Yugi said grimly. "We haven't seen a single person since we arrived here. It seems completely deserted, and yet . . ."
"It looks as though it was bustling with activity only a few moments before," Seto muttered, narrowing his eyes.
Joey shuddered. "Oh man, I'm gettin' the heebie-jeebies . . ."
They walked up to the door and Yugi opened it. No one was in sight anywhere. "I don't like the looks of this," he remarked.
"You know, I read about a place like this somewhere in Arizona," Tristan said as they headed upstairs to check for life. "Everyone in the town vanished without a trace, and whenever anyone would go to investigate the town, they would find everything all set up like people had been there five minutes ago, but the whole place would be deserted! Then, just a week or so after they investigated the place, the curious travelers would usually disappear without a trace as well, never being heard from again."
"Oh man, now that's all I needed to hear!" Joey grumbled.
Everywhere they went in the town, it was the same thing—they found such things as open books, lights turned on, even food on the restaurants' tables—but no people anywhere.
"I haven't even seen any animals," Bakura said, wide-eyed.
"There's definitely something strange and sinister afoot," Yugi declared.
That's when the old bell in the town's hall started ringing.
"Come on!" Joey said, angry now. "Now's our chance to catch whoever's behind this sick scheme!"
Without another word, the six teens all ran across the street and into the building, all the while hearing the bell's eerie tolls.
"Up this way!" Tristan called, opening a door marked "Bell Tower."
Soon they were at the top, and Seto threw the door open, just as the bell's chimes ceased. They all stopped in astonishment at the sight before them. The bell was perfectly still and silent, and no one was in sight.
"Oh man! There's no way anyone could've gotten out of here!" Tristan gasped. "The bell was ringing right up to when Kaiba opened the door!" He pulled on the cord. The bell barely moved.
Billy nodded. "That's right. He said he had to go somewhere and then he just packed up and left."
"Well, that's just great," Joey sighed.
"Did he give any indication where he was going?" Yugi asked.
"Nope," Billy replied. "Grandma Turner tried to ask him for a forwarding address to send his mail to, but he just said to send them to his post office box in town."
"Does that mean that he still might be in the city?" Tea wondered.
"Possibly," Yugi replied. "But on the other hand, it could also mean that he didn't think he'd be getting anything important until he got back. Tell me, Billy, did he pack up everything?"
"Everything," Billy nodded. "Clothes, pictures, magazines, and his secret files."
"Eh, secret files?" Joey repeated.
"What kind of secret files, Billy?" Yugi wanted to know.
Billy shrugged. "I don't know. I always wanted to get a look at 'em, but I never could. He was always one step ahead of me and always managed to pop in on me just when I was about to peek!"
"Could we have a look at his room?" Yugi asked.
"Sure," Billy said, leading them inside. "Hey, are you guys detectives?" he demanded.
Yugi smiled. "In a way," he replied.
"Cool! Can I help you solve your case?" Billy asked eagerly as he led them upstairs.
"You certainly can," Yugi agreed. "Tell us more about Mr. Fielding," he requested.
"What is he like?" Tea wanted to know.
"Really mysterious and pretty grouchy," Billy replied. "Grandma doesn't like him very much, but I think he's cool!"
"Mysterious and grouchy . . . that sounds like him, alright," Joey grinned.
Billy opened a door at the end of the hall. "Here's the room," he announced. "What do you guys expect to find in here?"
"Anything the guy might've forgot to take with him," Joey replied. He looked around at the room, which was stripped almost bare. "Whoa, Billy, you weren't kidding when you said he packed everything," he remarked.
"Yeah," Tristan agreed. "I don't think we're going to find anything in here, Yugi."
"Probably not, but we should still look," Yugi replied, opening a drawer.
After nearly thirty minutes of fruitless searching, they were about ready to give up.
"Is your grandmother here, Billy?" Yugi asked as he shut the closet.
Billy nodded. "Yeah, she's downstairs making dinner. Why?"
"We would like to talk to her about Mr. Fielding," Yugi told him.
"Okay," Billy shrugged. "C'mon."
****
"Bob Fielding?" The bespectacled woman looked up from the stew she was stirring. "He was most unpleasant. I can't say that I'm sad he left."
"Did he ever have any visitors?" Seto asked.
The woman paused. "There was one, a foreign girl. She and Mr. Fielding would go up on the balcony to talk."
"By any chance would she have had long, black hair and red fingernails?" Joey gulped.
"Why, yes," Mrs. Turner said in surprise. "How did you know?"
"Lucky guess," Joey said lamely.
"Did you know her name?" Seto wanted to know.
Mrs. Turner sighed. "Francine or Florence or something like that. There goes my memory again!"
"By any chance was it Fiona?" Yugi prompted.
"Why, yes, it was," Mrs. Turner exclaimed. She smiled. "I may be getting on in years, but my mind is just as sharp as ever. Those were no lucky guesses—you kids are on to something!"
"Yes, we are, Mrs. Turner," Tea admitted.
"Well, I hope I've been able to help in some way," Mrs. Turner said.
"You have, Mrs. Turner," Yugi assured her. He paused. "One more thing before we leave—do you have any idea what they were talking about?"
"Mr. Fielding never told me anything," Mrs. Turner replied. "But I did speak to Fiona. She seemed like a very sweet, but eccentric young lady, but she didn't give any indication as to what she was here for. She did assure me that it wasn't for any kind of romantic reasons," she laughed.
"Well, thank you for all your help, Mrs. Turner," Yugi smiled.
"We'll be sure to tell you everything when we get it all wrapped up," Joey added.
"I would enjoy that very much," Mrs. Turner declared.
****
"Now what?" Tristan wondered as they walked down the street. "This case is just getting more confusing, Yugi."
"You can say that again," Tea sighed.
"Right now I think our best course of action would be to go question Madame Fiona," Yugi announced.
Joey shuddered. "Oh man, do we have to? She'll just be sayin' again that me and Kaiba are gonna pass into the next life!"
Yugi hid a smile. "She's our best lead now. Perhaps Fielding told her where he was planning to go."
Joey sighed. "Oh, alright."
****
Before they even got to the porch to knock, Madame Fiona opened the door for them. "Ah, greetings," she smiled. "You wish to know about Bob, am I correct?"
"You are," Yugi nodded.
"Well, then, by all means, come in," the psychic purred.
Joey gulped as they entered the infamous and now-familiar living room, and then screamed upon seeing a strange wolflike creature sitting on the couch.
"Ah, I see you've met Frank," Madame Fiona said. "He also has happened to stop in to visit me! Frank, say hello to Yugi Muto, Joseph Wheeler, Tristan Taylor, Tea Gardner, Bakura, and Seto Kaiba." She indicated each one as she said their name. "Sadly, Joseph and Seto will not be with us for much longer," she said softly.
"Rrrroarrr," the Wolfman replied, reaching out a paw to shake Joey's hand.
Joey grinned nervously. "Eh, it's nice to meet you too," he said lamely.
The Wolfman whined piteously and went into the kitchen.
"Man, what was that?!" Tristan exclaimed.
"Frank is my third cousin thrice removed," Madame Fiona smiled.
"Oh really? . . . Uh, heh heh . . ." Joey collapsed on the sofa, running a hand through his hair. "Those must be some family reunions you have."
"You are so amusing, Joseph," Madame Fiona purred.
"Returning to the subject we came here about, what do you know about Bob Fielding?" Seto demanded.
"He is not what he seems," Madame Fiona said mysteriously.
"Oh really? What, does he lead another life as Spiderman or somethin'?" Joey said sarcastically.
"He and I are both doing our best to find the Cobra Colony cult and stop them," she replied.
"I see," Yugi said thoughtfully. "Have you had any success?"
"Not much, but a little," Madame Fiona told him. "Bob has gone to a nearby town to follow a lead."
"How come you can't just look into your crystal ball and find out what you want to know?" Joey asked doubtfully.
"It does not always work that way, Joseph," Madame Fiona said. "We cannot always depend on crystal balls to tell us what we want to know. We must also go out and try to find things out for ourselves."
Yugi smiled. "You are different from most psychics I've met."
Madame Fiona smiled too, rather mischievously. "That is not to suggest, however, that I did not try to see in the crystal ball first."
"What town did Bob go to?" Tea asked.
"Cooperstown," Madame Fiona replied.
"Oh, I know where that is," Bakura said.
Yugi smiled. "Good, because we're going to go there." He turned back to the fortune teller. "Did Bob tell you what kind of a lead he'd found?"
"He hoped he had found the meeting place of the cult," Madame Fiona replied. "I was just preparing to journey to Cooperstown myself when you arrived. After all, I don't intend to be left out of the adventure."
"Would you like to come with us?" Tea offered.
"Oh no, that is alright," Madame Fiona said. "I will get there in my own way." She looked directly at Joey, and he could tell that she knew that he thought she was a vampyre. He backed up nervously, right into a door that swung open, revealing a bottomless pit behind it.
"Yaaaaaa!!" Joey grabbed onto the door frame frantically, and Yugi and Tristan ran to help him. When he was safely back on the solid floor, Joey turned to Madame Fiona angrily. "Why in the heck do you have a bottomless pit in your house?!" he demanded.
"It isn't bottomless, Joseph," Madame Fiona told him. "But you really should be more careful."
****
"This is Cooperstown?" Joey said doubtfully as they drove down the small Main Street. "Man, there's hardly anything here."
"That means it should be fairly easy to find Mr. Fielding, if he's still here," Tea commented.
The limo stopped in front of what was probably the only hotel in the town. "We'll go in here and inquire about him," Seto decided.
The chauffeur parked in front and everyone got out.
"Something doesn't feel right," Tea remarked, shivering—and not entirely from the chilly autumn air.
"I know what you mean, Tea," Yugi said grimly. "We haven't seen a single person since we arrived here. It seems completely deserted, and yet . . ."
"It looks as though it was bustling with activity only a few moments before," Seto muttered, narrowing his eyes.
Joey shuddered. "Oh man, I'm gettin' the heebie-jeebies . . ."
They walked up to the door and Yugi opened it. No one was in sight anywhere. "I don't like the looks of this," he remarked.
"You know, I read about a place like this somewhere in Arizona," Tristan said as they headed upstairs to check for life. "Everyone in the town vanished without a trace, and whenever anyone would go to investigate the town, they would find everything all set up like people had been there five minutes ago, but the whole place would be deserted! Then, just a week or so after they investigated the place, the curious travelers would usually disappear without a trace as well, never being heard from again."
"Oh man, now that's all I needed to hear!" Joey grumbled.
Everywhere they went in the town, it was the same thing—they found such things as open books, lights turned on, even food on the restaurants' tables—but no people anywhere.
"I haven't even seen any animals," Bakura said, wide-eyed.
"There's definitely something strange and sinister afoot," Yugi declared.
That's when the old bell in the town's hall started ringing.
"Come on!" Joey said, angry now. "Now's our chance to catch whoever's behind this sick scheme!"
Without another word, the six teens all ran across the street and into the building, all the while hearing the bell's eerie tolls.
"Up this way!" Tristan called, opening a door marked "Bell Tower."
Soon they were at the top, and Seto threw the door open, just as the bell's chimes ceased. They all stopped in astonishment at the sight before them. The bell was perfectly still and silent, and no one was in sight.
"Oh man! There's no way anyone could've gotten out of here!" Tristan gasped. "The bell was ringing right up to when Kaiba opened the door!" He pulled on the cord. The bell barely moved.