Professor Layton and the Living Dead
Chapter 2: Visiting the parents
"Well, here it is. The home of Doctor Alister.", Layton said as he parked in front of the mansion like house. Luke closed the car door and stood next to the Professor.
"Do you think we could find information about Miss Scarlett here?", Luke wondered, adjusting his hat and satchel. The Professor just shrugged and said, that they just need to find out if they are at the right place. The two made their way to the door and knocked.
"Do you expect a visitor, dear?", a female voice called out from inside as footsteps were heard walking towards the door. Another voice, a more gruff male voice replied that no, he doesn't expect a visitor, but maybe they get information about Scarlett. Not 2 minutes later an elderly woman opened the door and her smile turned to a small frown. It seemed like she had expected someone else and not the Professor and his apprentice.
"It's just Professor Layton, Richard", the woman stated.
"Let him in. He must have a pretty good reason to come here.", the male voice called out and the woman stepped aside, letting the two inside the house.
"Thank you. Yes, we have a reason to be here, Doctor Alister. We want to talk to you about your daughter.", Layton said, tipping his hat to the couple. The couple looked like any normal older couple, the man wearing glasses and looking like a typical experienced medical professional, while his wife looked like the motherly type.
"Lilian, please make some tea for the professor. He will probably be here a while.", the man said, gesturing to the duo to sit down at the table, which they accepted with a 'thank you'. Lilian, the woman, walked to the kitchen and started to make some tea.
"So, what is it you want to know about Scarlett?", the man asked. He seemed to have avoided that topic for a long time, the professor couldn't blame him. It's always hard confronting the painful experiences of the past, he himself knew it better than anyone.
"We hoped that you could tell us about her childhood and the time before she….disappeared.", Layton tried to be delicate, the couple had lost their daughter after all.
"When Scarlett was born, she was a weak child. She was not born prematurely whatsoever, she was just weak. As she grew older, she became more energetic and all, she recovered greatly from that weakness.", the doctor started explaining.
Meanwhile Emmy started her research on the language of flowers. She went around London, going to flower shops and libraries to find out more, but she seemed to always head into a dead end. So naturally, Emmy asked for a complete list of flowers that Scarlett has been gifted by that ghost. Scarlett hesitated at first, but then wrote down a complete list of every flower she had gotten. Interestingly enough, even though every single flower has a meaning relating to love and loyalty, there was no mention of a tulip anywhere. It was curious to say the least since tulips, just like roses, are seen as a symbol of the blossoming feelings of love. Emmy thanked Scarlett, who simply nodded before she took out what looked like a piece of paper. Either it was a photograph or a note or whatever else, but Emmy didn't have the time to find out what Scarlett had in her hands. She said her good-bye and left the hotel room, before heading to the flower shops and libraries again.
The flower shop owners had no idea what the flowers on the list meant, they said that people usually just buy flowers that they think look pretty and would make for a great gift or decoration. So back to consulting books about the flower language it seems. Looking at the list again, there were a few flowers that seemed out of place: Daisies, Forget-Me-Nots, even a sunflower. It was quite peculiar.
Emmy sat down with a book about the meaning of flowers and was surprised that really every single one stood for a part of a relationship, a healthy and well maintained one. For example the sunflower is a symbol of warmth, though not commonly used as a flower for love, it does mean 'I like you', while a Forget-Me-Not means love and loyalty. Emmy decides to take the book with her to the Professor, maybe it would be helpful in finding out who or what that ghost is that is observing Scarlett.
"Thank you for the information, Doctor. I'm sorry to have brought up such a difficult topic for you and your wife.", Layton apologized as he put down his now empty cup of tea, before standing up to leave.
"It's alright, Professor Layton. I guess we just needed some closure. However, I had hoped my lousy son-in-law would show up and apologize for what he did.", Richard stated. Layton got curious. A son-in-law? That was information they didn't have before, it changed the whole investigation. The statement 'what he did' especially left a sour taste in Layton's mouth. Was he the one causing the fire all those years ago, and if so, why did he do it? Well, Luke and Layton said their good-byes and soon rejoined Emmy, who told them what she had found.
That whole case got more and more mysterious with more information they gathered.
