Hello, readers. I just want to say how pleased I am two write my tenth chapter of TPAOEC. I also want to thank those who have taken the time to read this story.

Guest - Thank you. I'm so glad you are enjoying it. You also the second person to review this story which I'm very happy about. No offence Djinn. I do enjoy seeing your reviews, but it's nice to see others as well.


Chapter 9: The Spectre Becomes Clear

Barde Manor Reservoir

"So, how many houses have you stolen from?" Luke asked curiously as the group walked across the deteriorating manor grounds.

Edgar gave Luke a half smile, "Why don't you guess," he challenged the young boy.

"Don't turn it into a game," Emmy sighed in frustration, "I though you said you regret your past actions?"

Edgar turned his smirk towards Emmy, "I said I regret becoming a criminal and not doing enough for... for Agatha. Stealing from rich people is very fun. Kinda like a sport," he explained casually.

Emmy sighed again, "You are really something, pig," she said, making Edgar laugh.

They found the Barde children on the small dock; looking out over the reservoir again. The Barde children turned their heads when they heard soft footsteps approach. Edgar expected Arianna to start shouting again for them to leave like last time. However, she maintained a neutral expression on her pale face as if she had expected them to come back.

Arianna sighed as Layton walked up to them, "Mr. Layton..." the young girl greeted plainly.

"I have it worked out," Layton said, "I know what the Spectre is, and who is controlling it with the flute."

Arianna looked down for a moment. When she looked up again, she had a small smile on her face. It was a fake smile nor a proud smile. It was a smile of reluctant defeat and of relief. It was if she had kept an exhausting secret that she didn't want to be revealed, but, now that it has been uncovered, is free from the secret's burden.

"I understand... I knew it was only a matter of time," she said, "Please. Follow me, then."

Arianna led the group onto the dock where they stood looking out at the reservoir.

"Are you sure about this?" Tony asked his sister.

Arianna only gave her brother a look of reassurance before reaching into a bag she had kept in her dress pocket. She took out an clay object with a round body with four holes on the side and a mouth piece. Edgar had no doubt that this was the Spectre's flute that they have been looking for. It would seem Arianna did have it all along.

"What's that?" Luke asked Arianna as she made her way to the end of the pier, "Some kind of...flute."

"It's more of an ocarina than a flute," Edgar mumbled. No wonder why they couldn't find it, they were looking for the wrong bloody instrument.

Emmy elbowed his ribs and told him to shut up.

Once Arianna reached the end of the pier, she placed her lips around the "flute's" mouthpiece. She began to play the same hauntingly beautiful music that would play whenever the Spectre would appear. The music echoed across the reservoir sending a small shiver down the listeners' spines.

Once she stopped playing, silence fell across the landscape. All they could hear was the lapping of the cold waters and the whistling of the wind.

Edgar, who was not a person to miss an opportunity, was about to make a joke or witty remark to break the tension when he saw something happening to the water in the middle of the reservoir. The tide in the area stopped suddenly before it began to vibrate and ebb. The water started to rise and erupted in a shower of water droplets.

That's when Edgar noticed it wasn't the water that was doing this.

There was something breaking through water.

It was enormous. Three times as big as Edgar with a slick blue body, a large fish-like tail and two flippers that pushed its way to the shore. Its eyes are round and it's mouth was wide. It reminded Edgar of a seal or walrus (without the tusks) but significant larger.

"What is that!?" Emmy cried out in shock.

"It's...a monster!" Luke shouted.

"It's so adorable!" Edgar uncharacteristically squealed.

And it was. The "Spectre" squeaked like a dolphin and gave a wide bright smile at the sight of the Barde children. It rapidly approached the dock creating large tidal waves which shook the pier. It squeaked in joy again as it lowered its head for the Barde children to pet it. It nuzzled them lovingly, but due to its size almost knocked the children back a couple of steps. They didn't mind as they giggled and hugged its large head.

Emmy turned to Layton," Professor...is this the Spectre?" she asked curiously.

Arianna turned to look at the group, "This is our good friend, Loosha," she introduced, "She comes from an ancient race. Isn't she beautiful?"

Edgar chuckled as he approached them.

"She sure is," he answered with a bright smile, "May I?" he gestured to Loosha, asking permission to pet her as well.

Arianna seemed reluctant at first, but Loosha gave her an encouraging nod. Edgar walked up to Loosha and starting petting her on the head as well. Loosha didn't seem to mind Edgar as she continued making squeaking sounds.

Arianna kept an eye on Edgar. She thought that he was lying about his concern for them. They had been isolated by the town for so long that they she wasn't expecting any support. But now that she could see that Edgar was petting Loosha without a hint of malice, she could see that he was genuine in his concern. Edgar, despite his rough exterior, was somebody she and Tony could trust.

Edgar, meanwhile, was in awe of the large marine animal. He had never thought that things like Loosha existed and he was rather spellbound by her. He couldn't help, but think that Agatha would of liked to meet her. However, as Edgar was petting her, he couldn't help but notice some scratchers on her flippers and on her sides. He wondered where she got it from.

"So, this is the reason why you didn't want us around," Edgar deducted as he turned his attention to Arianna, "you wanted to protect Loosha."

Arianna nodded guiltily, "Yes, I'm sorry for being so mean to you. I thought you were pretending to care about Tony and me to get to Loosha. We have been so alone that when you asked if we were all right, I thought the worst of you. I just wanted to protect those who I love. I'm not sure if you would understand," she explained, trying not to meet his eye.

Edgar looked at Arianna.

It would seem they had very similar lives.

Edgar placed a comforting hand on Arianna's shoulder making her look up.

"I understand, Arianna. Tony and Loosha are the only family you got. They're more precious than anything in the world."

She nodded still unable to look at him in the eye.

"However," Edgar continued, "since you know that we care about you and your family, maybe it's time to start trusting people. That way you won't have to feel alone anymore."

Arianna looked up at him and smiled in understanding.

"Anyway," Edgar said changing the subject, "What is Loosha?" he asked curiously.

"I'm not quite sure," she admitted, "although, I think she's one of the last of her kind," Arianna sadly explained as Loosha raised her head to reach her full height.

"Wait," Luke said, "so, why were you making Loosha attack the town?" he questioned in confusion. Was she actually annoyed with the town.

Arianna shook her head, "I wasn't," she denied firmly.

"Loosha is not the Spectre," Layton told the group, "The real Spectre is something far worse."

Edgar frowned, "Then we're no closer to solving this case then."

"Not necessarily, Edgar," Layton countered making Edgar raise a inquisitive eyebrow.

"Loosha was actually protecting Misthallery from the Spectre," Layton explained walking up to Loosha, "Could Loosha destroy buildings with her flippers?" he asked pointing to one of her scratched flipper.

"And these scratches on her body," Layton continued, "These injuries were sustained while fighting with the real Spectre."

Loosha cooed sadly as she waved her hurt flipper,

"So...what is a Spectre?" Luke asked in confusion.

"And why does Arianna have that flute?" Emmy questioned further.

"Do you think we can do this over breakfast?" Edgar asked. He hasn't eaten since last night.

"Now, just slow down, you three," Layton calmed down his group, "Allow me to explain."

But before Layton could speak he was interrupted by Arianna.

"I wanted to stop the fighting," she stated sadly.

Realising Arianna wanted to explain, he allowed her to continue.

Arianna took a deep breath, "Playing the flute is the only thing that calms Loosha down. When Loosha appeared, Tony saw the town being destroyed from the towers her," she nodded at the tower connected to the manor, "He told me everything. And so I played the flute because I didn't want her to get hurt."

"And that sound carried through the pipes to every part of the town..." Layton deduced.

"That's right," Arianna agreed.

"Arianna, it's time you told us the whole truth," Layton said.

The young girl looked down, fiddling nervously at her dress sleeve. She glanced at Edgar who gave her a comforting smile and it relaxed her to explain everything about what they did and what happened to the town.

Edgar wanted to listen, but a rustling of leaves caught his attention. Turning his head away from the dock he didn't see anything but mist rolling across the garden. It was about to pass it off as squirrel or something when the wind move the mist away for just a second. A second was all it took for Edgar see the twenty of so men dressed in a blue uniform he has hated for so long. That shade of blue will always haunt him. He also noticed the two large barrels of a launcher poised on a police officer's shoulder.

'It's aimed at Loosha!' Edgar's instincts screamed at him.

"PROFESSOR!" Edgar shouted as the launcher fired a net over Loosha causing it to squeak in surprise. Under the weight of the net, Loosha fell on to the shore with a heavy thud.

"What are they doing!?" Arianna cried as Layton and Edgar ran to the trapped Loosha.

They stopped when they saw the man responsible. Jakes walked out of the mist with his usual sickening grin on his fat face. Behind him came the rest of Jake's men each holding a wooden battle.

"Jakes!?" Layton called out in surprise, "What is this!?"

"For God's sake, can't you be normal obese person and just die from a stroke!?" Edgar quipped, noting the police officers sneaking up behind him.

Jakes chuckled as he placed a foot over a struggling Loosha.

"I caught the Spectre!" he declared, "Turns out it was just a big ol' ugly dinosaur," he said before giving an ugly laugh.

"Takes one to know one," Edgar quipped again, causing Jakes to grunt in annoyance.

"And this here is the witch what was controlling it," Jakes pointed at a distressed Arianna, "and Scotland Yard's most wanted," he said pointing at Edgar, "three for the price of one," he joked.

"Peace is restored and everyone lived happily ever after!" Jakes finished with an chuckle.

"Chief Jakes, the real Spectre is not...this creature," Layton tried to convince the chief, but Jakes smirked evilly.

"You shut yer trap, Layton! You're just lucky I don't throw you back behind bars...you here?" Jakes threatened, "Take them away!"

At his request, a team of officers winched Loosha and dragged away from the reservoir. Edgar managed to dodge the officers behind him and was about to fight the rest off, when he noticed that two officers were carrying Arianna away.

"Stop! You can't do this!" Arianna cried out as they carried her away.

Edgar looked towards the others and saw that were restrained from intervening by the police. Edgar sighed, he didn't want to leave Arianna alone and so he surrendered. As the officers were restraining him, he saw that Emmy was thinking of beating the police to get to him. He caught her eye and shook his head at her. At her confused look, he nodded his head towards Arianna who was being carried through the garden. Emmy nodded in understanding and didn't resist.

Edgar looked on eyes on the Layton. He seemed calm despite the police holding him back. Layton nodded at him and Edgar understood him. They will meet up later.

Somehow.

Edgar, being escorted by two officers, stopped in front of Jakes. The chief gave him a proud smirk.

"Look like I caught London's most notorious criminal twice in under a day. This must be-"

Edgar spat directly in Jakes' eye, causing him to cry out in pain and stop his bragging session.

"Looks like I turned you into Two Eyed Jakes," Edgar quipped smugly as the chief wiped the spit from his eye.

"Get him out of here!" Jakes shouted as the officers escorting Edgar hurried him across the garden.

As they took Edgar out of the gates, Edgar saw Arianna being put in the back of a police van while Loosha was still trapped inside the net. He thought they were going to put him the van as well, but the officers stopped just outside the van and waited.

"Arianna," Edgar called out to the distressed girl, "it will be fine. I'll be coming with you to the station so don't worry. Layton and the others will sort it out. I promise," he reassured.

Arianna seemed to calm down, comforted by Edgar's words. She took a seat in the police van and waited patiently. Edgar smiled at her cooperation before Jakes voice caught their attention.

"Actually, there's a change of plans," Jakes informed smugly, it would seem he had already removed the spit from his eye, "you are going straight to a London. I don't want you to spend a second more in my village," he said.

"We've informed Scotland Yard and you'll be meeting Inspector Grosky as soon as he gets back from Dublin. Looks like your time is up, boy."

However, instead of looking defeated or begging for mercy, as Jakes was expecting, Edgar stared back him with a lazy smile. The threat of being arrested had unfazed him. It put Jakes on edge, not use to being challenged this way.

"You really think I'm afraid of Grosky and Scotland Yard," Edgar said, "I only ran because I had nothing left and I needed to save my own skin. I had no...raison d'etre, no reason to stay. I'm afraid that it is you that's time is up, Jakes. If you had stopped me yesterday or any day before that, then maybe I would be more afraid. However, you overlooked one minor detail. I will stop an nothing to protect the Barde children, Layton, Luke, Emmy, Loosha from your oversized clutches and from whoever is actually pulling your strings."

At that last sentence, Jakes was taken aback.

"What's wrong?" Edgar continued mockingly, "Did you think I was stupid enough to think that you were doing this all by yourself? Whoever it is, send them a warning. I will not stop no matter how many times you arrest me and lock me away. I will always escape and I will be coming after you. I will do anything for the people I care about."

Edgar and Jakes stared down each other. Neither cracking under the pressure. Jakes eventually lost the battle as he took a step back. Unnerved by the Edgar's determination.

Edgar had never been more serious in his life.

"That's what I thought," Edgar said victoriously with a grin while Jakes and the other officers around gulped nervously. However, Arianna stared at him in awe. It has been such a long time since anybody had cared for them. She couldn't help but shed a small tear.

Meanwhile Loosha had stopped struggling to listen to the conversation. Despite her appearance, she was an intelligent creature and was glad that there were humans that cared in the world. She could feel how the teenager's ambition to save the ones he cared for. Arianna and Tony couldn't have chosen a better friend.

"Wait a minute..." Edgar in sudden realisation, wearing a bemused expression, "did you say Grosky was in...Dublin? Last time I heard he was in Newcastle. Are you saying he crossed the Irish Sea?"

Jakes also looked confused. He turned to the nearest officer with a questioning look. The officer checked the file he was holding before nodding in confirmation.

"How is that idiot an inspector?" Edgar mumbled in annoyance. Is this really Scotland Yard's finest?

'That ruined the moment,' Arianna and Loosha internally deadpanned.

"Whatever," Jakes said "take them away!" he ordered his men.

The police van doors were shut, cutting Edgar's view of Arianna.

"Edgar!" Arianna cried as she was driven away.

"Arianna, you'll be fine! Trust me!" Edgar shouted before she couldn't hear him anymore.

As they dragged Loosha away, Edgar turned to her.

"Don't worry, Loosha! I'll help you too! Just hang in there!" Edgar shouted as he was dragged by the officers towards the town.

Jakes stood there, grunting in annoyance at what Edgar said.


Jakes made sure to make Edgar's arrest as much as spectacle as possible. The officer's escorting him paraded him through town, making sure everybody got a good look at Jakes' great achievement. They went through the Grand Plaza where the tourist shaped the photos. They passed Paddy's restaurant, the hotel and eventually past the market where every resident of Misthallery, from Mimi to Aunt Taffy, got a good look at Edgar.

However, Edgar never liked to give people satisfaction, especially to people like Jakes. Instead of cowering in shame, he held his head up high, smiled and said hello to people he knew. He posed for pictures tourist took of him. He even frequently made jokes like 'they really take littering seriously here,' and 'I was only borrowing the bank safe, honest' much to the displeasure of the officers and the amusement of the crowds.

Edgar was done with hiding, done with running and, most of all, done with people telling him what to do.

And he has never felt any better.

The Misthallery residents were not happy with Edgar being arrested. They didn't know what he was accused of, but they knew that Edgar was a good person. Mischievous, but good. Some of the residents began to protest by getting in the way or throwing insults at the officers. Aunt Taffy even threw some hard sweets at the officers. Edgar didn't know they cared so much.

Eventually, the disgruntled officers managed to get Edgar out of the village and into the back of a police van. Edgar sighed as he got comfortable in the cold van. He looked around and tested the door, but to no use. Edgar assumed the lock was on the outside, but it was too late to do anything because by the time he unlock it he would have to throw himself out of a moving vehicle. Something he wasn't terribly keen on.

Edgar leaned against the wall of the van and placed his hat over his eyes. He heard the van roar to life as the officers escorting him took him back to London.

Well they would, if it wasn't for the large banging noise as something collided with the van.

It was followed by a cry of pain and the police van instantly came to a halt. He heard the officers climb out the van and inspected the person screaming about their leg being broken.

"What the hell is going on?" Edgar muttered since their were no windows he could use.

However, his attention was drawn towards the van doors as they began to unlock.

"Your doing it wrong," came a voice from outside, "let me try Wren."

"Shut up," came a second voice, "I know what I'm doing, Socket."

"Guys, please don't fight now," pleaded a third voice.

That's when he head the lock open and the van doors swung open revealing Wren, Socket and Badger.

"Hey, cutie," Wren said quietly with a wave, "we've come to save you."

Socket and Badge waved as well, but didn't want to catch the officers' attention.

Edgar was surprised by this, "What? Why?" he asked quietly as he jumped out of the van.

"We'll explain later," Socket whispered.

"Roddy and the others are distracting the police," Badger continued.

Edgar nodded as he snuck around the van and behind the police.

"Ow my leg, my leg! It's broken! Another pain to my horrible life!" Roddy acted lying on the ground and clutching his leg.

The officers looked nervous, no doubt worried that injuring a kid would go on the permanent record.

"You hit my friend. How could you," Crow pretended as he tended to Roddy while Scraps, Marilyn, Gus and Louis stood nearby in false horror.

"We need to call an ambulance!" Louis cried out.

"This is police brutality," Marilyn shouted at the panicked officers.

"Yeah! We could have you...arrested?" Gus added unhelpfully.

"Look kid, I didn't see him," one officer defended holding his hands anxiously.

"Yeah," the other officer agreed, "beside it doesn't look broken."

That's when they felt a hand being firmly placed on their shoulders.

"Oh, I don't know," Edgar said grinning at the officers as they turned to look at him in horror, "it looks bad to me."

The last thing the officers remembered before Edgar knocked them out were the smirking faces of the children who fooled them and one single thought.

'We don't get paid enough for this.'


Edgar, assisted by the Ravens, placed the knocked out police into the back of the van. He locked it and threw the key over his shoulder.

"Well, that's sorted," he said to himself as he dusted his hands.

He turned to the Ravens who were, for some reason, staring at him eagerly.

"Thanks for the rescue," Edgar said, "but why did you help?"

Crow took a step forward, "Well, I have an informant who travels to London from to time. He tells us about a master thief going around and stealing from London's elite," he explained, "and we heard some rumours from around town that err..." Crow trailed off, uncharacteristically sheepish.

"Yes?" Edgar asked slightly worried about where this going.

It was Marilyn turn to speak, "We wanted to know if you were the master thief," she blurted out.

Edgar blinked a couple of time before sighing.

'Well, might as well,' he thought.

"Yes. Yes I am," he admitted.

He did not know what to expect from the Ravens when he said that.

Betrayal.

Hatred.

Anger.

However, Edgar was not expecting for their to light up in awe and for them to start chattering in excitement. It was as if they had just met their favourite celebrity.

"Oh my goodness! It is really you!" Crow cried.

"This is so cool!" Badger shouted loudly.

"Scotland Yard's most wanted was right in front of us and we didn't even know!" Gus spoke in awe.

"That just makes you even more amazing," Marilyn sighed dreamily with a wide smile.

"There are many pains in my life, but this isn't one of them," Roddy said happily.

Wren held her arm up in the air, "How many rich houses have you burgled?" she asked.

"What's the most valuable thing you have ever stolen?" Socket asked before a stunned Edgar could respond.

"Hey, I asked first!" Wren shouted at her brother.

"But my question is more interesting!" Socket shouted back.

"Okay, okay!" Edgar said trying to calm them down, "let me get this straight. You are not appalled by me being a thief?" he questioned.

"Are you kidding!?" Crow said, "Your a legend! A modern Robin Hood, who rob from the bourgeoisie! And you haven't been caught by the fuzz in years! If you have told us who you were we would of done everything you asked no questions asked."

The rest of the Ravens nodded in agreement.

Edgar was speechless. There are actually people who look up to him and are inspired by him.

'Probably not for the best of reasons,' Edgar admitted internally, 'but I take it.'

A thought struck Edgar.

"Wait a minute," Edgar said, "do you have the information the Prof asked for?"

"Of course," Crow said pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket and giving it to Edgar.

"I took the liberty of marking them down on a map of Misthallery," Crow pointed as Edgar inspected the paper.

Before the Spectre appeared last night, Layton asked for traps to be set up by the Ravens for the Spectre. The traps were set up at every intersection in town, meaning that, on the night, every time the Spectre passed an intersection it would set off a trap. Crow had marked all the traps that were sprung by the Spectre on the map. Using the sprung traps, they could see the route the Spectre took and track it down.

After looking at the map for a couple of seconds, Edgar smiled.

"I need a volunteer," Edgar requested to the eager-looking Ravens.

"What do you need?" Crow asked.

"I need somebody to find the Prof and tell him to head to the East side of town. I will meet them there."


East Misthallery

Edgar stood outside the gates of an old factory. It was a big ugly building made of red brick and metal cooling towers and cranes. Like the rest of the Lower Town, the factory was run-down and was already starting to rust. He remembered Luke mentioning it a while ago, but he wasn't listening at the time.

He talked to tall elderly man with dark skin, grey balding hair and beard. He wore a small pair of sunglasses and a white and red suit. His name was Sebastian who used to work there before it was closed down and was left unemployed.

According to Sebastian, the factory used to make steam cars before shutting down due to the amount of pollution it made.

However, curiously enough, Edgar could see the lights were on in the main building despite it being a abandoned. Sebastian said that he has spotted a person going in and out of the factory and have been hearing the sounds of machines working. Something is definitely going on in the supposedly abandoned building.

"Edgar!" a voice called out to him.

He turned to see that Luke running towards him followed by Layton and Emmy.

"Hey," he called back as they approached, "escaping police custody twice in one day. That's got to be some sort of record."

"How did you escape?" Emmy asked curiously.

Edgar smirked, "Turns out the Ravens are fans of me," he explained, "they helped me."

"I see," Layton said, before turning his attention to the factory, "So this is where the Spectre is hiding," he mused.

"According the traps and Crow's map," Edgar handed the map to Layton for him to inspect, "it must be."

Layton hummed in agreement.

He caught the others up on what Sebastian had told him.

"Interesting, so it would seem there is more to this Spectre at first glance," Emmy said.

"It would seem so," Layton said, "did Sebastian tell you about an entrance into the factory?" he asked Edgar.

"Yep," Edgar said, "there's a back entrance. We need to find Staircase Bridge. I think it was the boarded up bridge that you passed on the way here. There is a passage underneath that we go through, skirt the woods, and we're be inside the factory wall," he explained.

"Sebastian was kind enough to lend me his old key," Edgar continued as he flipped the key in the air and caught it.

"Excellent work, Edgar," Layton complimented, "let's go. Arianna and Loosha are depending on us."

And with that they set of to find the passage.

Luke turned to Edgar, "Are the Ravens really fans of you?" he asked.

Edgar shrugged, "Crow called me a legend and the modern Robin Hood. Can't blame them of course," Edgar smirked.

Emmy rolled here eyes, "Great. An Edgar Cipher fan club is the last thing we need, " she grumbled, "your ego is already at critical capacity."

"Hey I didn't make it," Edgar lazily defended himself before adopting a humour filled grin "maybe I could teach them some of my techniques."

"I know you are joking about teaching them," Layton piped up, "but please don't actually do it," he pleaded wearily.


Inside The Factory

The group had followed Sebastian's directions and made it into the old factory. It wasn't to difficult to break in since, like the rest of the building, the security was run down. The factory was in a worse state then Edgar first thought. It was warehouse after warehouse of rusted pipes, torn down walls and broken equipment The floors were littered with debris fallen from the roof and a few plants had grown through the large cracks in the concrete.

Despite its state of disarray, Edgar could see that there was evidence of recent activity. He could even hear some machines working further into the factory.

Some places were too dark for them to get through safely. Meaning they had to take a lot of diversions.

They eventually came across a room with a working conveyer belt carrying miscellaneous pieces of metal into what Edgar assumed was the incinerator. That's when they spotted somebody looking over a large machine. It was a short elderly man with brown hair and moustache. He wore a mustard yellow hat and jacket.

The man turned towards them as they entered the room.

"Huh? Who are you!?" he asked in surprise, "How did you get in here!?"

Layton was about to answer when the man started grumbling to himself.

"Ah, phooey! What do I care, anyway? I'm just an old fool, forced against my will into making wild contraptions for a bunch a crooks," he mumbled as he kicked a big of metal on the floor.

"Crooks?" Luke asked, "Contraption? What sort of...contraptions?"

The old man looked up at Luke, "Machines that shoot great plumes of smoke into the air, machines that crawl on many legs-" he stopped suddenly.

Realising he had given away information he probably shouldn't of have, he tried to redeem himself.

"Err, I mean...machines that do boring, everyday stuff, like make toast. Y'know... toast machines" he said, clicking his fingers to remember what they were called.

"Do you mean toasters," Edgar suggested whilst rolling his eyes.

"That's the one!" the old man shouted in realisation before he continued.

"I've been sworn to silence. Don't tell a soul about what I said, ok? And don't you say anything about those hoodlums causing havoc in town with their secret plan."

"Uh...what secret plan?" Luke asked with a sympathetic smile. It would seem that this man isn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

"The one I didn't tell you about!" the old man shouted, "Don't you see I'm jeopardising my job not telling you all this!"

...

...

...

...

"Are you...alright? Mentally?" Edgar asked in concern.

The man sighed, "I used to be the boss of this place," he admitted as he sat down on a nearby metal box.

Layton took a couple of steps towards the man, "It was my understanding that the factory was shut down. Why are you still here?" Layton asked.

The man didn't answer him, "Are you one of them?" he asked "They said I couldn't say a word to anyone. Under no circumstances can I say that this place is being used to make steam machines, they said."

"Steam machines?" Edgar repeated.

"No! Don't you get it!? That's exactly what we're NOT doing here," the man said put emphasis on the 'not', "I'm also not allowed to say that we're making other devices too."

Edgar finally understood him now. He was actually trying to help them without getting himself in trouble. Edgar thought it was a bit unnecessary since they were the only ones here, but he was complaining. Much.

"If I told you anything I will get in trouble. I'll never tell you that door over there will answer all your question," he said pointing to the door on the far side of the room.

Layton smiled and tipped his hat slightly, "I understand. Thank you for your time, sir. Perhaps you should take a break for the day," he suggested.

The man ignored him again, "Who are you!? How did you get in here!? There's nothing here!?" He shouted at them before turning back to his machine.

They decided to leave him and go through the door he didn't tell them about.

"Strange man," Edgar muttered out of earshot of the mechanic.

Walking through the door, they entered another large warehouse. However, this one was different from the other ones. On the far side of the room was a giant red metal door which filled up the entire wall.

"I guess this is what he was talking about," Emmy remarked as they made their way to the door.

Edgar spotted a lever to the side of the door and approached it.

Placing a hand on it, Edgar turned back to the others.

"Ready to crack the case?" he asked.

Luke gulped in slight fear which Emmy noticed.

"What's the matter, Luke? Afraid?" she teased the boy.

"No!" Luke sharply responded before he calmed down, "I mean...no, of course not."

Emmy giggled at Luke's reaction before she turned her attention back to the door.

"I love how exciting this all is!" Emmy said.

Layton chuckled, "Stay calm, both of you," he then turned to Edgar, "let's go."

Edgar nodded, "Open Sesame!" he shouted as he pulled down the lever.

A loud mechanical roaring sound echoed throughout the warehouse. Slowly the red doors slid to the sides, kicking up some dust in the process.

Luke was the first to enter with Layton, Emmy and finally Edgar following.

That's when they saw it.

Luke gasped.

"What is that?" Emmy questioned.

"Bloody hell, you don't think that's..." Edgar added in shock.

"Indeed," Layton said, "That beast is the infamous Spectre."


Unknown Place

We return to the candle lit library. Jakes walked into the room and began speaking to the mysterious figure.

"Everything's ready," Jakes informed the figure, You sure you want to go?"

"Why, of course," the figure replied finishing his cup of tea, "I wouldn't miss it for the world. I have been waiting patiently for the perfect moment to make my grand entrance."

He stood up from his armchair, "The final act belongs to me."

Taking a cape from seemingly nowhere, he put it over his shoulders. The movement of the cape extinguishing the candelabra and plunging the library into darkness.

"Hershel Layton...I hope you're prepared to play your part," the figure said to himself as he made his way to the door.

Chuckling lightly, he exited the library.


And another cliffhanger for you readers to enjoy. I hope you liked this chapter. I thought it was a bit short. I did cut out a lot from the original game.

Anyway, big announcement. I'm going to be starting a fourth story after this chapter is published. I'm thrilled to start a new story. I've been thinking about it for a while now. Be sure to keep an eye out.

Next Time: The case is solved.