ASN: Hi, it's me! Lessa is not here right now-
AN: Well, actually she is, but she shouldn't be…
ASN: *continues blithely* Because she is freaking out about her ACT test. Which is tomorrow.
AN: I haven't really studied! *insane laughter*
ASN: *pause* Right. Anyway, here the new chapter…
Chapter 34
Dinner was long and tedious; it consisted of an entire hour filled with veiled comments and witty responses. About halfway through, Angeline gave up trying to encourage pleasant conversation and let her husband and Mr. Badeau have at one another.
"So, how long have you been trying your hand at currency trading?" Badeau pressed. "I know that earlier you were occupied with…other enterprises."
"Oh," Artemis Sr. responded, "I've been dealing in currency for a while now."
Angeline would sigh, Simone would frown, and Artemis Jr. just tried to stay out of the conversation. It didn't always work.
"So, Artemis, I hear you are quite an artist." Badeau started, smiling a little too brightly at the teen.
"I do paint, Inspector, but I have very little talent." Artemis said shortly.
Badeau smiled again, moving in for the kill. "So what do you paint? Still life? Portraits? Modern? Classical? Renaissance?"
Artemis looked up. "I paint whatever I can get my hands on." he said calmly. "I have experimented in many genres."
Badeau looked hard at the boy. "And what genre would copies of famous masterpieces be under?"
"That is not a genre, sir, copying is a study. An exercise of skill and technique."
"And do you 'exercise' often?" Badeau asked.
"An artist does not simply pick up a pen or brush and create. Study and practice are necessary in art as in any other pastime." Artemis said firmly.
Badeau, for once, wasn't quite sure how to continue. It was hard to catch someone in a lie when he was telling the truth...just not all of it.
Angeline smoothly changed the subject by asking Juliet to serve dessert. Artemis picked at his torte, wishfully hoping that Badeau was finished with his polite interrogation.
"So, you were the head of the family while your father was imprisoned and your mother was...indisposed, is that correct?" the inspector asked with genuine curiosity.
Artemis scowled slightly as he gave the cake a last, violent jab and looked up. "Yes, that is true." the teen said shortly.
The Inspector smiled. "Well, it looks like you did a pretty good job, doesn't it?" Everyone was riveted on Badeau, including Juliet and Butler standing by the door. The inspector's grin widened. "After all, the Fowl fortune managed to regain its billionaire status within a year after the Murmansk business. That's quite a feat for a boy of twelve."
Artemis continued to look at him impassively, but there was a new look in the boy's eyes. Wariness, and maybe even a slight dread? Badeau managed to repress the gleeful grin that threatened to jump to his face. The kid WAS hiding something.
"And, perhaps the most intriguing incident of all," the Inspector continued softly, "Was when the Fowl Swiss vaults received a sudden, mysterious arrival of a half ton of-"
He was cut off by the sound of something smashing in the kitchen. The Butlers, who had been listening quite apprehensively to the conversation, disappeared into the kitchen with deadly silence. The five continued to sit silently around the dinner table, waiting tensely for the report.
Juliet came back in with a loose-limbed grace. "It's nothing. I left a window open in the kitchen and it blew something over." she announced, watching them relax slightly. She moved closer to the Fowls at one end of the long table. "Butler's going to make a quick check of the grounds just to be sure." she whispered. The adults nodded, but Artemis frowned slightly as suspicion rose in his mind. If something was wrong, then Juliet would be the one checking, now that Butler was older. That meant that they knew exactly what had caused the crash. His eyes narrowed.
"Well, that was exciting." Angeline said with a smile as she rose from the table. "Juliet, would you mind getting Simone's bags and bringing them down? Go help her, Artemis." she ordered rather than suggested.
Artemis usually would have resented being ordered, but such was his relief at escaping the conversation that he followed Juliet without a word. His father took special note of that little fact.
"Simone, dear, we've so enjoyed having you here." Angeline continued, sweeping the girl into an embrace. The girl returned it with genuine feeling as they walked towards the front door.
Badeau knew he had been outmaneuvered as he saw Butler pull up with his rental car and leave the motor running. He turned to smile artificially at Fowl Sr. as Artemis and the girl came down the stairs carrying his daughter's luggage. "Thank you for watching my daughter. It's been...informative."
Artemis Fowl Sr. smiled back at the inspector. "We enjoyed having her. I'm only sorry that you two wasted your time."
Badeau, who had been walking down the stone steps, flinched at that last remark and half-turned. "Until we meet again." he said with a look in his eyes that contradicted the polite smile he wore. He opened the car door for his daughter, then looked back up at the Fowls standing in the front door.
Fowl Sr. put his hand on his son's shoulder, matching the Frenchman glare for glare. "I look forward to it."
Artemis allowed himself a small sigh of relief as he watched the taillights of Badeau's car disappear into the dark. His father, his hand still on the boy's shoulder, steered him back inside. Angeline and Juliet walked off together towards the dining room. Artemis started to head upstairs to confront an interfering fairy when he realized his father's hand still lay heavily on his shoulder. He looked up. His father was gazing down on him with a dreading suspicion.
"A half ton of what?" he asked.
Artemis froze, his mind racing. "What?" he asked, mentally kicking himself for such an asinine remark.
Artemis Sr. sighed deeply. "I never asked about how the finances had changed." he said softly, talking to himself. "I never asked how the fortune had been restored so quickly." His gaze fell once again on his son, who was even paler than usual. "How did they?"
Artemis could not meet his father's eyes and looked instead at the polished wooden floor.
"Was it legal?" Artemis Sr. asked. Artemis took a deep breath and looked back up at his father.
"Most of it."
His father's voice got even lower. "Would I have...approved?"
Artemis unaccountably found himself staring at the floor again.
"My father, though some of his ventures were undoubtedly illegal, was…is…a noble man. The idea of harming another creature would be repugnant to him."
"So, what happened to you?"
"I...I made a mistake." Artemis found himself repeating.
His father said nothing, but when Artemis looked back into his eyes, he saw the disappointment there.
"A mistake." Artemis Sr. repeated. Artemis nodded, keeping his gaze on his father.
"It's not going to happen again." His father said rather than asked. Artemis winced at the thought of Holly's reaction.
"No, it will never happen again." he assured his father, jaw aching in memory.
"Good. I don't like sparring with suspicious Interpol inspectors over dinner. Ruins the digestion." His father said, more lightly, and removed his hand from the teen's shoulder. Artemis nodded and moved towards the stairs. His father's light cough stopped him.
"A half a ton of what, Artemis?" he asked again. Curiously.
Artemis turned to his father, face carefully impassive.
"Gold." he said softly, and continued up the stairs a little more quickly than usual.
Artemis Sr. stared up at his retreating son and sighed deeply.
"He never does anything by halves, does he?" he asked the world wearily.
"No." Angeline emerged from the next room and stood next to him, watching Artemis go. "That's why he reminds everyone so much of you."
AN: Aren't we good? Say we're good!
ASN: Modest, no. But good. I think.
AN: Modest? We Neptunians know nothing of modest.
ASN: Riiiiiiiight. Anyway, go to bed. You have to get up early.
AN: At 8 in the morning. Why do they do these tests so early. They KNOW no one is awake and functional at… at..
ASN: *helpfully* O dark hundred? As opposed to 0800?
AN: *blank stare*
ASN: I was trying to make you laugh.
AN: *blank stare*
ASN: Oh go to bed.
Artemis felt his usual smirk slide onto his face. True, things could be better, but…Simone had left, and his father was probably going to ignore his activities for a while, which meant he could finally get some work done without anyone prying into his business. He opened the door to his study and stopped.
There was an elf going through his computer files.
ASN: Well, people, the story is winding down.
AN: We counted it all out, and there are only 4 CHAPTERS LEFT!!!
ASN: And all the readers burst into tears.
AN: *grins* And start sending in ideas for sequels.
ASN: Uh, no. Wait until the fifth book comes out. I mean, what's left?
AN: We could do an A/H…
ASN: *screams loud and LONG*
AN: Or not.