Chapter Two

It wasn't long before most of the rest of the group learned about the disturbing phone call to Johnson. And, Seto discovered in annoyance when he tried to find out more, they were pretty much at a dead-end; the call had come from a payphone.

"Do you think it was some creep hired by Dr. Raven's lawyer?!" Crump exclaimed in indignation.

"I think it's a possibility that can't be ignored," Seto said. "In any case, it probably has some relation to this trial. It would be too much of a coincidence otherwise."

"But there's nothing we can do about it," Crump said in disgust.

"Not at this point, beyond driving out to the payphone and asking if anyone paid attention to who used it," Seto grunted.

"Hey, maybe someone would," Crump hoped. "I mean, payphones aren't in big demand anymore."

"New Orleans is probably a lot like New York," Joey said. "All kinds of weird or downright crazy stuff happens and people don't pay any attention to it!"

"I'm afraid that's not far off," Evangeline said. "I don't think you'll learn anything at the payphone. Anyway . . ." She looked at the address Seto had written out. "That's clear across town. By the time you'd get there, I doubt you'd find anyone who was there when the call was made."

"Nuts," Crump grumbled.

". . . Let's think about something else," Johnson said, trying to gather his composure. "Why don't we have the tour of the estate?"

"Are you sure you're up to it?" Nesbitt frowned.

"I'd like to get my mind on something else," Johnson said.

"Alright then," Evangeline said slowly, still not convinced it was the best idea. "Let's try it."

The mansion was fascinating, with three complete levels in addition to a basement and an attic. The rooms were all lushly furnished and decorated with both the old and the new. Reupholstered couches and chairs from the 19th Century were placed alongside desks with the most modern of computers and televisions.

"It's like stepping into the past while not leaving the present," Téa said in awe. "This place is so special. You must be so proud to have an important part of your heritage preserved like this!"

"I was so glad everything was still in such good condition when I came here to look around," Evangeline said. "It needed a little dusting and airing out, but that was all."

"I'll bet Snakes would love this place too," Serenity whispered to Duke.

"He might," Duke whispered back. "Who knows, maybe he was even right here in this house back in the day. After all, Lector's great-great-grandfather was his business partner in New Orleans."

"Did you tell him we were coming back here?" Serenity asked, her eyes wide.

"I did, but he didn't think he could get off work in L.A. to come along or meet us here," Duke said. "Although maybe that was just an excuse. It would probably be weird coming back to a place that used to be home but isn't anymore."

"Especially when everyone you knew back then is dead now," Serenity said softly.

"Exactly." Duke twirled a piece of hair around his finger. "Snakes told me once that he feels like he belongs to two eras at the same time. He still loves certain things about the past, like men's fancy clothing, but he likes the technologies and conveniences of the present."

"Do you think we should tell Mr. Lector about him sometime?" Serenity wondered.

"I don't know." Duke frowned. "I've wondered about that myself. It might be something that both Lector and Evangeline would want to know and benefit from knowing. Snakes could tell them so much about their family in the 19th Century, and that might be a comfort after how badly their family in the present screwed up. But maybe Snakes wouldn't want to talk so much about that time in his life. I guess I should talk to Snakes before we'd say anything to Lector."

"Yeah, you're right," Serenity agreed. "That's only fair."

They snapped back to attention as Evangeline explained that there were even secret passageways at various locations throughout the house.

"I know Démas and I each loved to explore and try to find them all," Evangeline said. "I'm still not sure either of us ever did!"

"Was the basement original?" Seto wondered. "I didn't think it was usual for houses this old to have them."

"There was a food cellar and a wine cellar," Evangeline said. "Those were later expanded into a full basement."

The grounds were also beautiful. French doors in the downstairs study opened to an incredible sight. Oaks and willows covered the extensive yard, as well as hedges that went around the full perimeter of the property and also diverged to snake around small sections. Flowers in bloom decorated many areas, and as they walked deeper into the backyard, the sound of running water could be heard.

"This is so gorgeous," Serenity said. "It's more like a park than a yard!"

"The yard was probably my favorite part," Evangeline smiled. "I used to pretend it was the Secret Garden and I'd have it all to myself . . . until I found a special friend to share it with." Her expression clouded. "However . . . there was a part of the yard I tried to avoid. . . ."

"Why's that?!" Joey demanded.

"My great-grandmother told me there was something wrong with the little pool that's just beyond the fountain," Evangeline said.

Lector grunted. From his expression, he had heard the same story and had never believed it, but he would let his sister tell it.

They were arrived at the fountain now, a mysterious white marble cast of a young girl pouring water from a jug. Her eyes were pupilless, as many statues were, making her expression seem eerie and dead. The trees above waved, and the scent of water grew stronger. Up ahead, the surface of the pool lightly moved.

"My great-grandmother said there was some kind of creature in the pool, a siren," Evangeline explained. "She said it preyed on anyone who got too close, and it would always hit them where they were most vulnerable. The pool is a lot deeper than it looks on the surface. I guess if the stories are true, there must be bodies in there. . . ."

Joey recoiled in horror. "What?!"

"Sirens are those things that trick sailors and other people into coming to them in the water," Crump said. "They all get hypnotized by the siren's song and beauty and forget about everybody they care about and just plunge right in and drown."

"That's freaky," Mokuba shuddered.

"That's nonsense," Seto said flatly. "Anyone who gets taken in by something like that and lets themselves forget about everything that really matters is pathetic and weak."

"This siren sounds different from the sirens of legend," Ishizu remarked. "Instead of only appealing to men with the promise of base desire, they target each person individually with their personal weakness."

"Exactly," Evangeline said. "Well, I was usually too scared to go beyond this point." She stopped walking at the fountain and gripped it with her hands. "But one day I decided I really wanted to know what was in the pool. I went closer and closer, right up to the edge, and looked in. I didn't see anything."

"Sirens traditionally only get men," Crump said.

"My great-grandmother didn't say this one followed the rules," Evangeline said. "I saw the water start rippling and I started to hear whispering. I got out of there as fast as I could."

"You were probably just making things up in your mind," Seto said.

"Maybe," Evangeline said. "But I never went back there any more! Angelique and I both loved this fountain, though, so when we moved in we got it going again. We just don't go past this point."

"I'm sure not going to either!" Joey exclaimed.

"Heh," Seto smirked.

"What about a family cemetery?" Yami Bakura wondered. "I know a lot of old houses have those."

Joey looked ready to cry at that thought.

"Well . . ." Evangeline hesitated. "There is one connected to the property. It's not very big. But it's nice because unlike with the cemeteries in town, people can just stay in their tombs and not have to be removed after a year and a day."

"That's really sad," Serenity said.

Evangeline nodded. "It has to be that way in the city because of lack of space. All the old bones are gathered at the backs of the tombs and new bodies are brought in."

Téa looked a little grossed-out herself at that. "That's awful."

"I bet the ghosts aren't happy about it either!" Joey exclaimed. "They probably haunt all the cemeteries in town because of it!"

"I'm sure they knew before they died how it was gonna be," Tristan pointed out.

"We always preferred using our private cemeteries," Evangeline said. "I'll show you the cemetery here. . . . It's over this way." She started walking towards the hedge.

Everyone followed.

Crump looked awkwardly to Lector. "I guess before all the trouble with your family, you would've been put in one of these family cemeteries if anything happened to you. . . ."

Lector nodded. "I even saw the tomb. It was in this cemetery." He looked to Crump. "But I would rather be in Domino City now."

Crump relaxed. "That's good to know. Of course, we'd better not need that information for a long time!"

Lector certainly hoped not.

They reached the hedge and Evangeline took a large, antique keyring out of her dress pocket. Parting the hedge at just the right place, she inserted one of the keys into a lock and pushed a door covered with hedge inward.

"That's handy," Tristan said.

"Yeah. You can't even tell that's a door," Duke added.

"This really is like the Secret Garden," Evangeline said. "But Great-Grandmother wouldn't let me play in here."

"Why would you want to?" Mokuba looked around at the tombs, tensing with the knowledge of what they were. They all looked so old and likely full of history, but he wasn't crazy about this kind of history. He might not actually be as scared of ghosts as Joey, but he still wasn't thrilled about the supernatural. He was even less excited after all the close calls many of them had had with death.

"I was never really scared of this place," Evangeline said. "Everyone here is family. Back then, I thought I could trust family." She wavered and looked away.

"We both did," Lector said quietly.

They wandered through the small cemetery, looking at the tombs from the outside. Evangeline made no motion to unlock any of them, for which many of the group were grateful. But near one of the tombs she paused and bent down. "That's funny."

"What?!" Joey demanded.

"This little statue was knocked over." She held up a small statue of a woman with her head bowed in mourning.

"It looks like it could fall over easy," Joey said.

"It never has. It's always been fixed right here, on this ledge by the door." Evangeline set it back. "In fact, it's always been screwed down. Somebody had to have loosened it!"

"Is there any other way to get in here?" Atem asked.

"Supposedly there's a secret passageway from the basement that leads here, into one of the tombs," Evangeline said, "but I never found it."

"Nor did I," Lector said.

"So why would anybody unscrew a statue on a tomb?" Duke frowned.

"I don't know," Evangeline said. "But it didn't happen while the property was vacant; Angelique and I checked everything when we moved in, including that!"

"Were you out here any other times recently?" Yugi asked.

"Yes," Evangeline said slowly. "I came out two nights ago and it was still in place then."

David cringed. "Okay. That's . . . really spooky."

"Maybe Angelique did it?" Mai suggested.

"She'd have no reason to." Evangeline frowned. "I'm going to go to the tool shed and get a screwdriver to fix this right now." She started towards the gate.

"Where's the tool shed?" Duke asked. "I don't remember passing it."

"It's up closer to the house," Evangeline said. "We would have passed it on the way back. I'll just be a couple of minutes." She hurried out.

"I'll go with her," Lector said. "I suppose it's nothing to worry about, but I don't like it. If Angelique didn't do it, then someone else was on the property in the last forty-eight hours and did it. And there's the phone call Johnson got."

"You think making a statue fall down is part of their threats?" Crump blinked.

"I don't know," Lector said. "Right now, we don't know much of anything!" He chased after his sister.

"Why don't we all leave?" Joey exclaimed. "There's no reason to stay in here!"

"Maybe there's some more clues around," Duke shot back. He walked around the immediate area, but only turned up the missing screws in the grass.

"If we're thinking someone did this who was up to no good, the statue probably should have been dusted for fingerprints," Seto grunted. "Of course by now it's covered in Evangeline's."

"And maybe she wouldn't want to get the police out here because someone unscrewed a statue," Marik said, folding his arms. "They might not even take that seriously."

"Combined with the threatening phone call, they might," Seto said.

Johnson backed up, fumbling to straighten his tie. He hadn't even thought about calling the police in on the phone call. They would of course want to know what the caller said, and what they meant, and then there would be an investigation and he would go to prison. . . .

On the other hand, could he even really say he was doing all he could to turn his life around if he didn't confess to all that he had done? Even if he hadn't sent innocent people to prison, he had pulled so many illegal stunts in court. He had justified it with so many different excuses—that he couldn't win if he didn't do it and he needed to win, that the people he was lying about were crooked anyway and it was the only way to get something on them, that if all the dishonest lawyers were stopped and put away, there would be very few lawyers left. . . .

Gansley looked to him in concern. "Johnson, are you alright?"

"Do we have to call the police?" he said weakly.

Seto frowned. "I guess it's up to you and to Evangeline," he said.

"Oh, I don't want to call the police for this," Evangeline said as she and Lector returned with the screwdriver. She hesitated. "And I guess calling the police would be awkward for you, wouldn't it, Mr. Johnson? Father told us what he found out about you and the others."

"I'm sure he did," Johnson sighed. "I'm not like that anymore, but I'm hoping I won't get called as a witness in court. . . . And I don't want to explain my past to the police. . . ."

Evangeline quickly screwed the statue back down. "Then I hope you won't get called either," she said. "I feel like anyone who's truly changed should be able to just get on with their life. Anyway, you could do more good out of prison than in it."

"I suppose," Johnson said as he uncomfortably cleared his throat.

xxxx

Nothing else strange happened that evening. Everyone returned to the mansion, and when Angelique arrived with dinner for them all from her restaurant's kitchen, they shared a hearty meal. It was a good way to forget their problems for a while and just enjoy their trip. Once it came time to go to court the next day, it would likely be far less enjoyable.

"I hope they won't ask Yami any awkward questions," Bakura worried. "I didn't stop to think about it, but if we're asked about his age or something like that, we'll have to say he's 21 like his I.D. says."

"Why would anyone ask about my age unless they have reason to doubt it?" Yami Bakura grunted. "And how could they doubt it unless they know the truth?"

"I suppose that's true," Bakura said slowly. "Oh, and Yami, you'll have to stay in your Egyptian form since that's what's on your I.D. and your license. And that means you'll have to keep your shirt closed in court."

"I know, I know," Yami Bakura said in annoyance. ". . . Cat!" he exclaimed as Oreo stole a meatball off his plate.

Angelique was amused. "There's plenty for everyone," she assured him.

Crump looked to Lector. "You're one of the main ones who'll have to testify, Buddy," he worried. "Are you okay with that?"

"Not particularly, but since it has to be done, there isn't much I can do about it," Lector retorted.

"Mokuba will no doubt be called on to testify too," Seto frowned. He didn't like that, and he knew Mokuba didn't like it, but the boy would do what he had to do.

"And Joey and Tristan will have to talk about how Dr. Raven put them in the cemetery in open coffins," Bakura said.

"Wait, are both trials tomorrow?" Téa cringed. Just one was overwhelming enough.

"I guess that depends on whether Dr. Raven's lawyer asks for a continuance," Johnson said.

"He's been stalling all along the way," Seto said in disgust. "A continuance would be just the kind of move he'd try next."

"At least the state can point out the incredible expense of getting us all out here," Johnson said. "Unless the judge is being paid off, he should really deny a continuance on those grounds."

". . . So what's a continuance?" Joey finally asked.

Mokuba sighed. "Postponing the trial, usually for some dumb reason."

Joey went red, mortified that a ten-year-old kid knew that when he didn't. "Oh."

"There are legitimate reasons for continuances," Johnson interjected, "but it's true that it's an infamous trick of shady lawyers."

"I guess you used it a lot then," Seto grunted.

"Sometimes," Johnson said, "although generally I preferred going to court."

"Well, that makes sense," Joey snorted. "You were a prima donna."

"Joey," Serenity chided.

Gansley actually looked a bit amused. "He always did enjoy performing in court." Sobering, he added, "Something I hope is still true. You won cases for me without having to resort to your tricks. You're a genuinely good lawyer, Johnson."

Johnson ducked his head, a little embarrassed but touched as well. "I'll be the legal advisor on our project, if we ever get it going. And if I'm not in prison. I hope I'll still enjoy it."

Lector looked sadly at his friend. Johnson had a great deal to worry about on this case, more than Lector had even initially realized. It was a complicated matter, and while Lector knew that Johnson did need to make up for the wrongs he had done, they had all committed sins. Lector hoped with all his heart that Johnson would not have to go to prison, both for Johnson's own sake and because Lector didn't want to be without him and knew the others felt likewise. But he was worried about more than that. What with the strange phone call, he feared that someone might try to kill Johnson. Or maybe they planned to try to kill everyone around him while leaving Johnson alive to suffer through it. There were so many horrible possibilities.

Just what were they getting into by coming back here?

xxxx

Even though everyone had to get up early for court, it was difficult to go to sleep, both because of everything that had been happening and because their bodies were still on Pacific Time. After endless tossing and turning, Joey finally got up in aggravation. Tristan had actually dozed, he noted in some envy and irritation, but there was little hope of that for him, at least for a while.

Muttering to himself, Joey shuffled to the door and opened it. Maybe he'd go see if anyone else was awake and out of their rooms. Or maybe he'd just walk around a while. He could always find a quiet corner and play Disney Heroes on his phone or something.

He knew it was a mistake to come out as soon as he stepped into the hall and heard a rustling noise. Still, he really didn't want to believe it was the talked-of ghost. "Yugi?" he called quaveringly. "No, wait, Yami Bakura? That's you, isn't it? You're just trying to freak me out."

Well, he certainly wasn't about to get scared off by a trick Yami Bakura was playing on him. He took a few steps towards the sound. It seemed to be coming from the end of the hall. There was an old trunk under a window there, filled with assorted pictures and knick-knacks from bygone eras. And as he drew closer to the trunk, a translucent figure began to materialize, bending over the open lid and going through the contents.

"This is just a trick," Joey told himself. "Just a trick. . . . I mean, it has to be. . . ."

The figure straightened and looked to him. A woman with long, dark hair and wearing a white dress, just like Evangeline had described. . . .

Of course, Joey did the only logical thing under the circumstances.

"Ghost!" he screamed, and fled back the other direction.