Across the pond, Artemis Fowl was puzzled. That didn't happen very often or very easily.

He was still a little leery of the whole 'fairy' concept, and of the short man called 'Mulch.' But the CD, the diary, they were obviously his handiwork. And who else would have had the brains to dress it up as a gold medallion on a leather necklace?

So evidently, there were elfin creatures who lived underground that were capable of selectively erasing human memories. That was a little hard to swallow, even if somewhere in the back of his mind there was an odd logic to it. But now, playing with his beloved Cube, trying to take his mind off the elfin creatures, something had him even more baffled.

There was all kinds of crazy electrical and satellite-surveillance activity in, of all places, Williamsburg, Iowa.

Smack in the middle of the United States, in corn 'n cow country. Something very strange was happening here. Something very strange indeed.

Obviously, the thing to do here was to somehow make money off it.

The little man Mulch had promised that the Cube, and his own mind, contained the information that could make both of them rich beyond the dreams of avarice. He just didn't know it yet, Mulch had said, but he would find out soon enough. Certain things would become clear to him.

Could Mulch have been talking about whatever the hell was going on in Middle America?

The chance at money and knowledge was very tempting to Artemis. Mulch seemed to have been on the up-and-up. Yes. With Iowa practically humming with activity, fairies must be involved. There was just no other explanation. Unless of course the cows were up to something. And Artemis Fowl found that highly unlikely.

Iowa. Iowa was the key to the knowledge locked up in his mind.

"Butler," Artemis called to his erstwhile bodyguard, "pack for a short sojourn, will you?"