"Hey, look at this!" Bakura exclaimed. He and the other boys had been searching in Thorton's house for quite some time and hadn't found anything important yet, but now Bakura was certain he had an important clue.
"What did you find, Bakura?" Yugi asked.
Bakura, who was reading over some old emails that Thorton had dumped in the trash can, held one up. "Listen to this! The sender is Richard Byrnes!"
"Byrnes?!" Joey repeated in disbelief. "What the heck does he want?!"
"Listen!" Bakura held the paper up and read loudly and clearly, "'Thorton, your time is running out. I know you squealed and now you're going to pay!'"
The other boys were silent, staring at each other and then at Bakura. "Oh man!" Tristan exclaimed. "It sounds like blackmail or something!"
"Exactly what I was thinking," Yami Yugi said grimly, appearing in the room. "We need to show this to the police immediately."
"But what the heck would Byrnes be blackmailin' Thorton about?" Joey asked, throwing his hands into the air in frustration.
"Maybe Byrnes is involved in the kidnappings and Thorton found out," Yugi suggested.
"I think you're probably right, Yugi!" Bakura exclaimed, digging deeper into the trash and finding more old emails from Byrnes. "These are all threatening letters," he declared, "and the first one is dated from a few weeks ago . . . I believe around the time when Mara's mother vanished!"
"Whoa," Tristan breathed.
"Thorton must have ran away to hide from Byrnes," Yami Yugi deduced.
Yugi nodded. "Yeah, but what did Byrnes mean when he said that Thorton squealed? I thought that Thorton didn't tell anything to the police."
"Perhaps Byrnes thought he did," Bakura mused, "or maybe it wasn't the police Thorton told. What if. . . ." He paused. "What if it was Maureen he told?"
"Maureen?" Joey said doubtfully.
Bakura nodded. "Or what if Maureen found out by accident, but again, Byrnes thought Thorton had told her? Then both Thorton and Maureen would be in danger!"
"Yeah, that's true," Joey agreed. "And hey, Maureen didn't show up for work today! Maybe she was running off to hide with Thorton!"
"I don't know about that," Yugi said slowly. "Maureen doesn't seem like the type to run and hide. For now let's just call the police about these letters and keep looking for more clues." He paused. "And I'm afraid that we'll need to make another trip to Jim Eiffel Furniture."
Joey groaned. "Oh man!"
"I just thought of something," Bakura said, blinking. "We never did find out who turned that stereo on. Maureen never said that she had. What if it wasn't her?"
"You mean maybe someone else was in there with us?!" Joey gasped. "This is gettin' freaky!"
Yugi nodded as he picked up the phone to call the police. "And I'm afraid that time's running out," he added grimly.
****
Seto was down in his computer room, preparing to attempt to hack into Del Vinci's computer system. He had introduced Mara to the plainclothesmen a few minutes ago and she had shakily told them about what she'd heard the men saying. They were sending some officers out to find Del Vinci and question him, but Seto was conducting his own investigation as well. He couldn't just stand idly by. He knew that time was running out for his brother . . . and fast.
"I hear Mokuba's been kidnapped," the computer exclaimed when she'd been booted up.
"That's right," Seto told her, "and we don't have a moment to waste. I want you to hack into Del Vinci's computer and find out what he's up to these days."
"Del Vinci?" the computer gasped. "The Mafia don?"
"Yes. Mara heard Mokuba's kidnappers mention that name." Seto typed a few commands into the keyboard. "And hurry," he ordered. "There's no telling what they might do to my brother!" His eyes narrowed in anger and despair as he was again tormented with horrifying images of Mokuba being tortured.
"You got it!" the computer chirped, and began breaking through the security barriers. "We're in!" she declared moments later.
"Great." Seto stared at Del Vinci's desktop information. "Nothing here," he said in frustration, not that he'd really expected to find something out in plain sight. He clicked on the Windows Explorer icon, bringing up all the documents on the hard drive. One file, curiously labeled "Troublesome People", caught his eye and he clicked on it.
Up came pictures of many different persons. Most of them Seto didn't recognize, but then he caught sight of Mara's mother and a man who was probably her father and he gasped.
"Apparently this file has photos of everyone Del Vinci considers in his way," the computer remarked. "I think you'll find these at the bottom very interesting as well."
Seto scrolled down to the bottom, where the recently-added pictures were. His eyes narrowed upon finding photos of himself, Yugi, and all the others—even Mokuba! "Del Vinci must give these lists out to his henchmen so they know who's on his wanted list!" the boy cried in anger.
"That's right," a cold voice said behind him, and Seto whirled around to find a plainclothesman that he didn't recognize.
"Who are you?" Seto demanded.
"Your executioner," the man hissed, raising his gun.
****
Tea, meanwhile, had thanked Mai for her help and had told her the latest of what was going on, at her request.
"Mokuba's been kidnapped?" Mai was horrified. "That's awful!" She looked at Tea pointedly. "I thought you weren't going to get involved in any more mysteries."
"We weren't," Tea sighed, shaking her head. "This one just kind of . . . crept up on us."
Mai went over and picked up a stray animal from the floor. She looked at it, blinking suspiciously.
"What's wrong, Mai?" Tea asked, confused. "It's just an ordinary teddy bear."
Mai shook her head. "Actually, it's not so ordinary, hon," she replied. "Look at this eye." She held the bear up for Tea to look at. "Don't they make stuffed animals' eyes out of plastic these days?"
Tea came closer. "You're right, Mai," she exclaimed, touching the eye. "This feels like glass!"
"It's not glass either." Mai took hold of the eye and pulled it out. "It's a diamond."
"What?!" Tea stared in disbelief.
"I think we may have just uncovered a jewel-smuggling ring," Mai mused.
****
Meanwhile, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Bakura had called Gabrielle. She had come out to investigate, taken the emails as evidence, and then had gone through the rest of the house with a group of officers. Not finding anything more, she decided to see what was happening at Jim Eiffel Furniture.
"Can we come too?" Joey asked.
Gabrielle sighed. "It could be dangerous," she objected.
"Hey, this whole case is dangerous," Joey shrugged. "We've come through it this far, and now we've gotta help catch the bad guys!"
Gabrielle crossed her arms. "Alright. You may come with us," she relented. "But you must be careful."
"Hey, aren't we always?" Joey grinned, just as he nearly fell through the laundry shoot.
"Always," Tristan said, rolling his eyes.
****
When they arrived at Jim Eiffel Furniture, there didn't seem to be anyone around.
"Man, how do they even get any customers?" Tristan remarked.
Gabrielle went straight to Byrnes' office with her fellow officers and knocked on the door. "Mr. Byrnes! It's the police. Open up!"
There was no answer, and Gabrielle ordered two policemen to break the door in. "Stand back," she told the teens, who reluctantly complied.
When the door was thrown open, the officers rushed in and looked around. No one was in sight, but Byrnes' desk was bare and the file with the pictures was gone.
"Man, he's skipped!" Joey cried in irritation.
"Not for long," Gabrielle growled, pulling out her cell phone.
"Come on," Tristan directed the other boys, "let's look around for clues."
Yugi nodded. "We'll split up and look around," he said, and he and Joey peeked into the office again. "Can we help in here?" Yugi asked.
"Sure," Gabrielle said, gesturing around, "but don't disturb anything."
****
"Man, this place is huge!" Tristan remarked.
"It certainly is," Bakura agreed. He blinked, bending down to look at something strange on the floor. "What on earth . . ."
Tristan, who was busy opening up cabinets and looking for possible clues, started in surprise at Bakura's sudden exclamation. "Bakura? What'd you find?" Not receiving an answer, he turned around. "Bakura? . . . Hey, where are you?!"
Bakura was gone!
****
Mokuba was feeling light-headed. He had been in the safe for hours, and he didn't know how much longer he could hold out.
He was remembering old times playing with Seto . . . times in the orphanage, when the other kids would be so mean and Seto would be defending his brother. . . . One time, some of the major bullies had ganged up on Mokuba and had started beating him just for fun. Mokuba had screamed for Seto, and then suddenly his brother had been there, ready to take on every one of the tough kids. He had punched, kicked, and hit all of them, and had taken quite a few hits himself. Mokuba had been terrified that Seto would get hurt terribly, and indeed, his brother had taken quite a beating, even though he had come out on top. He had sent every one of those bullies running in fear and then he had helped Mokuba to his feet.
"Oh big brother! You're hurt!" Mokuba had cried, seeing that Seto was bleeding.
Seto had smiled down at him. "I'm fine, kid. I couldn't let you get hurt." Then he had collapsed to the ground and passed out. Mokuba had only been four or five at the time, and he had been certain that his brother had died.
Mokuba shuddered now, remembering the horror of the moment. As he sank deeper into this strange state that was almost between life and death, the ghosts of the past seemed almost real.
The nurses at the orphanage had taken Seto's battered body and carried him into the infirmary. Every time Mokuba had tried to ask if his brother was alive, he had been brushed off abruptly, but finally they had allowed him in to see Seto.
The older boy had been laid on a bed, his body covered in bandages soaked red with blood. The nurses had said he was sleeping, but Mokuba hadn't been sure. Fearfully he had climbed up next to Seto and had taken his hand. "Seto," he had sobbed, "I love you, big brother!"
Seto had opened his eyes then and smiled. "And I love you, kid," he had rasped.
"Thank you for saving me, big brother," Mokuba had said, his eyes shining.
"I'll always be there for you, Mokuba," Seto had replied, squeezing his brother's hand.
In the present, Mokuba's eyes filled with tears. "Seto, where are you now, big brother?" he wailed. "I need you, Seto!" It was getting harder and more painful to breathe now, and Mokuba knew he couldn't stay awake much longer.
****
Back in the furniture store, everyone was combing the area for Bakura. No one could find the silver-haired boy anywhere and they were all very worried.
"How did Bakura disappear?" Yugi asked.
Tristan shook his head. "I don't know. He was just suddenly gone!"
"I knew you kids shouldn't have come," Gabrielle sighed.
****
Joey, meanwhile, was looking through the bedroom section when something caught his eye. Curiously he went over to one of the display beds, blinking in confusion.
"Bakura?" he said in disbelief.
The missing boy was laying in the bed, asleep!
"What did you find, Bakura?" Yugi asked.
Bakura, who was reading over some old emails that Thorton had dumped in the trash can, held one up. "Listen to this! The sender is Richard Byrnes!"
"Byrnes?!" Joey repeated in disbelief. "What the heck does he want?!"
"Listen!" Bakura held the paper up and read loudly and clearly, "'Thorton, your time is running out. I know you squealed and now you're going to pay!'"
The other boys were silent, staring at each other and then at Bakura. "Oh man!" Tristan exclaimed. "It sounds like blackmail or something!"
"Exactly what I was thinking," Yami Yugi said grimly, appearing in the room. "We need to show this to the police immediately."
"But what the heck would Byrnes be blackmailin' Thorton about?" Joey asked, throwing his hands into the air in frustration.
"Maybe Byrnes is involved in the kidnappings and Thorton found out," Yugi suggested.
"I think you're probably right, Yugi!" Bakura exclaimed, digging deeper into the trash and finding more old emails from Byrnes. "These are all threatening letters," he declared, "and the first one is dated from a few weeks ago . . . I believe around the time when Mara's mother vanished!"
"Whoa," Tristan breathed.
"Thorton must have ran away to hide from Byrnes," Yami Yugi deduced.
Yugi nodded. "Yeah, but what did Byrnes mean when he said that Thorton squealed? I thought that Thorton didn't tell anything to the police."
"Perhaps Byrnes thought he did," Bakura mused, "or maybe it wasn't the police Thorton told. What if. . . ." He paused. "What if it was Maureen he told?"
"Maureen?" Joey said doubtfully.
Bakura nodded. "Or what if Maureen found out by accident, but again, Byrnes thought Thorton had told her? Then both Thorton and Maureen would be in danger!"
"Yeah, that's true," Joey agreed. "And hey, Maureen didn't show up for work today! Maybe she was running off to hide with Thorton!"
"I don't know about that," Yugi said slowly. "Maureen doesn't seem like the type to run and hide. For now let's just call the police about these letters and keep looking for more clues." He paused. "And I'm afraid that we'll need to make another trip to Jim Eiffel Furniture."
Joey groaned. "Oh man!"
"I just thought of something," Bakura said, blinking. "We never did find out who turned that stereo on. Maureen never said that she had. What if it wasn't her?"
"You mean maybe someone else was in there with us?!" Joey gasped. "This is gettin' freaky!"
Yugi nodded as he picked up the phone to call the police. "And I'm afraid that time's running out," he added grimly.
****
Seto was down in his computer room, preparing to attempt to hack into Del Vinci's computer system. He had introduced Mara to the plainclothesmen a few minutes ago and she had shakily told them about what she'd heard the men saying. They were sending some officers out to find Del Vinci and question him, but Seto was conducting his own investigation as well. He couldn't just stand idly by. He knew that time was running out for his brother . . . and fast.
"I hear Mokuba's been kidnapped," the computer exclaimed when she'd been booted up.
"That's right," Seto told her, "and we don't have a moment to waste. I want you to hack into Del Vinci's computer and find out what he's up to these days."
"Del Vinci?" the computer gasped. "The Mafia don?"
"Yes. Mara heard Mokuba's kidnappers mention that name." Seto typed a few commands into the keyboard. "And hurry," he ordered. "There's no telling what they might do to my brother!" His eyes narrowed in anger and despair as he was again tormented with horrifying images of Mokuba being tortured.
"You got it!" the computer chirped, and began breaking through the security barriers. "We're in!" she declared moments later.
"Great." Seto stared at Del Vinci's desktop information. "Nothing here," he said in frustration, not that he'd really expected to find something out in plain sight. He clicked on the Windows Explorer icon, bringing up all the documents on the hard drive. One file, curiously labeled "Troublesome People", caught his eye and he clicked on it.
Up came pictures of many different persons. Most of them Seto didn't recognize, but then he caught sight of Mara's mother and a man who was probably her father and he gasped.
"Apparently this file has photos of everyone Del Vinci considers in his way," the computer remarked. "I think you'll find these at the bottom very interesting as well."
Seto scrolled down to the bottom, where the recently-added pictures were. His eyes narrowed upon finding photos of himself, Yugi, and all the others—even Mokuba! "Del Vinci must give these lists out to his henchmen so they know who's on his wanted list!" the boy cried in anger.
"That's right," a cold voice said behind him, and Seto whirled around to find a plainclothesman that he didn't recognize.
"Who are you?" Seto demanded.
"Your executioner," the man hissed, raising his gun.
****
Tea, meanwhile, had thanked Mai for her help and had told her the latest of what was going on, at her request.
"Mokuba's been kidnapped?" Mai was horrified. "That's awful!" She looked at Tea pointedly. "I thought you weren't going to get involved in any more mysteries."
"We weren't," Tea sighed, shaking her head. "This one just kind of . . . crept up on us."
Mai went over and picked up a stray animal from the floor. She looked at it, blinking suspiciously.
"What's wrong, Mai?" Tea asked, confused. "It's just an ordinary teddy bear."
Mai shook her head. "Actually, it's not so ordinary, hon," she replied. "Look at this eye." She held the bear up for Tea to look at. "Don't they make stuffed animals' eyes out of plastic these days?"
Tea came closer. "You're right, Mai," she exclaimed, touching the eye. "This feels like glass!"
"It's not glass either." Mai took hold of the eye and pulled it out. "It's a diamond."
"What?!" Tea stared in disbelief.
"I think we may have just uncovered a jewel-smuggling ring," Mai mused.
****
Meanwhile, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Bakura had called Gabrielle. She had come out to investigate, taken the emails as evidence, and then had gone through the rest of the house with a group of officers. Not finding anything more, she decided to see what was happening at Jim Eiffel Furniture.
"Can we come too?" Joey asked.
Gabrielle sighed. "It could be dangerous," she objected.
"Hey, this whole case is dangerous," Joey shrugged. "We've come through it this far, and now we've gotta help catch the bad guys!"
Gabrielle crossed her arms. "Alright. You may come with us," she relented. "But you must be careful."
"Hey, aren't we always?" Joey grinned, just as he nearly fell through the laundry shoot.
"Always," Tristan said, rolling his eyes.
****
When they arrived at Jim Eiffel Furniture, there didn't seem to be anyone around.
"Man, how do they even get any customers?" Tristan remarked.
Gabrielle went straight to Byrnes' office with her fellow officers and knocked on the door. "Mr. Byrnes! It's the police. Open up!"
There was no answer, and Gabrielle ordered two policemen to break the door in. "Stand back," she told the teens, who reluctantly complied.
When the door was thrown open, the officers rushed in and looked around. No one was in sight, but Byrnes' desk was bare and the file with the pictures was gone.
"Man, he's skipped!" Joey cried in irritation.
"Not for long," Gabrielle growled, pulling out her cell phone.
"Come on," Tristan directed the other boys, "let's look around for clues."
Yugi nodded. "We'll split up and look around," he said, and he and Joey peeked into the office again. "Can we help in here?" Yugi asked.
"Sure," Gabrielle said, gesturing around, "but don't disturb anything."
****
"Man, this place is huge!" Tristan remarked.
"It certainly is," Bakura agreed. He blinked, bending down to look at something strange on the floor. "What on earth . . ."
Tristan, who was busy opening up cabinets and looking for possible clues, started in surprise at Bakura's sudden exclamation. "Bakura? What'd you find?" Not receiving an answer, he turned around. "Bakura? . . . Hey, where are you?!"
Bakura was gone!
****
Mokuba was feeling light-headed. He had been in the safe for hours, and he didn't know how much longer he could hold out.
He was remembering old times playing with Seto . . . times in the orphanage, when the other kids would be so mean and Seto would be defending his brother. . . . One time, some of the major bullies had ganged up on Mokuba and had started beating him just for fun. Mokuba had screamed for Seto, and then suddenly his brother had been there, ready to take on every one of the tough kids. He had punched, kicked, and hit all of them, and had taken quite a few hits himself. Mokuba had been terrified that Seto would get hurt terribly, and indeed, his brother had taken quite a beating, even though he had come out on top. He had sent every one of those bullies running in fear and then he had helped Mokuba to his feet.
"Oh big brother! You're hurt!" Mokuba had cried, seeing that Seto was bleeding.
Seto had smiled down at him. "I'm fine, kid. I couldn't let you get hurt." Then he had collapsed to the ground and passed out. Mokuba had only been four or five at the time, and he had been certain that his brother had died.
Mokuba shuddered now, remembering the horror of the moment. As he sank deeper into this strange state that was almost between life and death, the ghosts of the past seemed almost real.
The nurses at the orphanage had taken Seto's battered body and carried him into the infirmary. Every time Mokuba had tried to ask if his brother was alive, he had been brushed off abruptly, but finally they had allowed him in to see Seto.
The older boy had been laid on a bed, his body covered in bandages soaked red with blood. The nurses had said he was sleeping, but Mokuba hadn't been sure. Fearfully he had climbed up next to Seto and had taken his hand. "Seto," he had sobbed, "I love you, big brother!"
Seto had opened his eyes then and smiled. "And I love you, kid," he had rasped.
"Thank you for saving me, big brother," Mokuba had said, his eyes shining.
"I'll always be there for you, Mokuba," Seto had replied, squeezing his brother's hand.
In the present, Mokuba's eyes filled with tears. "Seto, where are you now, big brother?" he wailed. "I need you, Seto!" It was getting harder and more painful to breathe now, and Mokuba knew he couldn't stay awake much longer.
****
Back in the furniture store, everyone was combing the area for Bakura. No one could find the silver-haired boy anywhere and they were all very worried.
"How did Bakura disappear?" Yugi asked.
Tristan shook his head. "I don't know. He was just suddenly gone!"
"I knew you kids shouldn't have come," Gabrielle sighed.
****
Joey, meanwhile, was looking through the bedroom section when something caught his eye. Curiously he went over to one of the display beds, blinking in confusion.
"Bakura?" he said in disbelief.
The missing boy was laying in the bed, asleep!