Chapter Three

"Gansley?"

"Gansley, are you alright?"

"He must've tripped on that rug or something. I knew that was a dumb place for it."

Gansley growled under his breath as consciousness returned. Three of the other four were standing over him, confused and concerned. Suddenly he felt humiliated as well as angry.

"I did not trip on that rug," he retorted. He pushed himself to his knees and grabbed his cane. "Someone hit me from behind."

Crump stared in bewilderment. "Why would anyone do that?!"

"Most likely to keep me from overhearing any more of the bizarrely concerning conversation one of your maids was having on her Smartphone," Gansley informed him.

"Yeah?" Crump still looked unconvinced. "What was she talking about that was so concerning? Changing her uniform to some other style?"

Gansley rolled his eyes. "As if anyone but you would be concerned about that." He pushed himself to his feet while supporting himself with his cane. "No, at first she was merely discussing how she disliked not having full run of the house anymore, now that she was once again regulated to being a servant upon your return. Then she said something about not talking about a certain subject if we were around to get suspicious. I don't know what she meant. She also said if Seto Kaiba became involved, he would solve whatever it was sooner than we would."

"Now that is just insulting," Crump growled. "Which maid was it? I'd like to fire her. After I find out what she was talking about, of course."

"I believe it was Cora," Gansley said. "But it would be better to keep her under surveillance and see if she leads us to the truth, rather than just firing her. It's highly unlikely that she would simply tell you what's going on."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Crump frowned. "But I don't get any of this! First Lector thinks Kaiba's butler is delivering threatening notes, and now Cora is mixed up in some mysterious plot that we won't like and unknown people are knocking us out?!"

"That about sums it up, I'd say," Lector grunted. "Are you badly hurt, Gansley?"

"I'm alright." Gansley gripped his cane, his eyes flashing. "But I won't stand for this having happened. When I find out the explanation and who did this, they will regret it." He grimaced, raising a hand to the offending spot.

"You're bruised," Johnson noted.

"I'll get you an icepack," Crump volunteered, heading for the stairs.

"What brought all of you out here anyway?" Gansley wondered.

"We heard a thump," Johnson said. "You hitting the floor, I'm sure."

Gansley sighed and slumped against the wall while trying not to make it look like he was slumping against the wall. "But apparently Nesbitt didn't hear anything."

Lector frowned. "He could've already fallen asleep." He didn't like the tone to Gansley's voice.

"He could have," Gansley agreed.

"You don't seriously think Nesbitt had anything to do with this." Johnson frowned too. "Just because he's not so enthusiastic about our project?"

"No, not really," Gansley said. And he meant it; he was sure Nesbitt was trustworthy. He couldn't really feature Nesbitt being the one to have hit him. For all of Nesbitt's reluctance, he obviously cared about the others or he wouldn't have given up his life trying to protect Lector.

"Then maybe you're thinking he was hurt too," Lector realized.

Gansley nodded. "We should try to find him and make sure of it."

"Hey," Crump called just then, "Nesbitt's downstairs."

The others came to the head of the stairs. "Why?" Gansley asked.

Nesbitt walked over, looking embarrassed to have been caught. "I was trying to see if there was anything I could come up with to make designing penguin rides more palatable," he mumbled. He frowned in concern. "Crump says you were hurt."

Also embarrassed, Gansley averted his gaze. "Yes."

"Well, I didn't hear anything or see anything suspicious," Nesbitt said. "Just that maid Cora stomping down to the kitchen, but she's always in a bad mood."

"She's not in the kitchen now," Crump reported. "She must have gone out the back way." He came up the stairs and handed Gansley the icepack.

Gansley took it and held it to the offending spot. "There's not much we can do tonight. We'll just have to be on guard for whatever might happen in the future. This is only the beginning, and probably just the first of many 'accidents.'"

That was not a pleasing thought.

xxxx

Domino City was completely blanketed in snow that night. Everyone awoke to a winter wonderland, a sight that thrilled the kids and left the adults in varying moods.

Mokuba was absolutely delighted. "This is awesome, Seto!" he exclaimed as he ran downstairs and looked out every window. "We should totally have a snow day and make snowmen and snowforts and all kinds of cool stuff!"

Seto smiled at his excitement, but looked to the open laptop on his desk. "There's a lot of work that needs to get done today, Mokuba," he reminded.

Mokuba made a face. "You're not really going in with all the snow around?"

"I was going to work remotely," Seto said. "I'll try to be finished before dark, but maybe Marik could do some of those things with you until then."

"Marik's not a big snow fan," Mokuba sighed. But he knew Marik would be willing to come over regardless, so he took out his phone to call.

Seto frowned at the laptop screen. The work really was important, but so was Mokuba. There wouldn't even be all this work if Seto hadn't wanted to give Mokuba a better life. But Mokuba wasn't happy when Seto was rarely around, or when he was so occupied with work.

"I'll try to be done by lunch," he amended.

Mokuba beamed. "Okay!"

xxxx

As it turned out, Marik was very willing to come over, but first he needed to help Ishizu with a little matter at the museum. So while Mokuba waited, he went outside to just enjoy the snowy day. It wasn't falling at the moment, but the sky was overcast and threatening to send more snow upon them. Mokuba played in the yard before deciding to take a little walk. Marik was unlikely to show up on his motorcycle in this weather, so he would probably bring one of the family vehicles. Mokuba would go out ahead and catch him earlier down the street.

He hadn't really planned to walk to Lector's house, but somehow he found himself in front of it after a short journey. He blinked in surprise as he surveyed the yard. Lector didn't seem to be home, so he was likely with the others somewhere else.

But . . . if he wasn't home, who was trying to get into his mailbox? It wasn't the mailman. . . .

"Hey!" Mokuba yelled, running forward. "What are you doing?!"

The person turned. It was a tall man, disguised with a coat, hat, and long scarf. Without warning they dug out whatever object was in the mailbox and threw it directly at Mokuba. Shocked, the boy yelped and only barely managed to leap away in time. A small explosion threw snow in all directions as it landed.

"A bomb?!" Mokuba shrieked, looking up from where he had fallen in the snow.

"Mokuba?!" Suddenly Lector appeared in the middle of the chaos. He was also wearing a hat and coat, and stared at the intruder in angry disbelief. "Just what are you trying to do?!"

The person pulled their hat low over their eyes and turned, running through Lector's yard and over the stone gate. Furious, Lector ran after them. But just as before, when he reached the wall, the footprints stopped. He rocked back, gawking at the snow.

"Lector?!" Now Mokuba was running up to him. "Where did he go?!"

"I don't know!" Lector gestured at the snow. "Somehow he managed to vanish into thin air!"

Mokuba stared. It was bizarre, but he was more shaken up about what the mysterious person had been doing. ". . . That guy was trying to put a bomb in your mailbox!" he burst out. "Then he just turned and threw it at me!"

"It didn't look bad enough to do any serious damage, so it must've been another warning," Lector snarled. "But to throw it at a child - !" His eyes flashed.

"I'm okay," Mokuba said. "What do you mean, 'another warning'?! And where did you come from, anyway? I thought you weren't home. . . ."

"I wasn't," Lector said. "I was taking a walk from Crump's house. And . . ." He sighed. "Well, I'd say it's not anything for you to get involved in, only now it looks like you are involved in it. Someone threatened all of the Big Five last night. Now this!"

"That's awful!" Mokuba exclaimed. "What are they threatening you about?"

Lector sighed in resignation. "They called me a warmonger and said we'd all suffer."

"Uh oh." Mokuba frowned.

Lector peered at him. "You don't have any idea who's behind this, do you?"

"No," Mokuba quickly said. "Not positively." He shifted. He didn't want to say something that could get an innocent person in trouble. But he had to admit that the bomber's coat had seemed familiar. And combined with the knowledge that they were apparently upset about the original direction of KaibaCorp, Mokuba couldn't help but be put in mind of a specific person. Still, he couldn't really believe that person would stoop to putting bombs in mailboxes, or throwing them at him, even if they weren't strong enough to cause fatal damage.

Lector frowned. "You're thinking of someone. I can tell."

"Yeah. . . . But I'm really sure he wouldn't do something like this!" Mokuba turned to go. "I'll talk to him myself and see what he has to say." He ran off before Lector could reply.

xxxx

Marik was just turning onto the Kaibas' street when Mokuba got back to the right block. He hurried over to his friend, who was pulling up in the family van. Marik looked out the window in surprise. "Mokuba?"

Mokuba ran up to the door to greet the Egyptian boy. "Hey, Marik," he said. "We've got a problem."

Marik tensed. "What happened?"

Mokuba climbed into the passenger seat, explaining everything in the privacy of the van. "And what really bothers me is that the more I think about it, the more that coat looked like something I've seen Alister wear. But I know it couldn't be him!"

Marik frowned. "We should still talk to him."

"I want to," Mokuba agreed. "I didn't want to say anything to Lector, because I was afraid the Big Five would get on the warpath and figure it was absolutely Alister."

"Someone could be trying to deliberately frame Alister," Marik said. "Does your brother know about any of this?"

"No. I just learned it myself," Mokuba said. "So can we go talk to Alister?"

Marik nodded. "We can go right now."

xxxx

Alister was still asleep when Mokuba and Marik pulled up at the bikers' house. He grunted, rolling over as the sound of the knocking roused him from his state of inertia. Taking the pillow away from his ear, he listened to the conversation at the front door and struggled to wake up.

"I'm really sorry to come so early in the morning, Raphael," what sounded like Mokuba Kaiba was saying, "but . . . um, it looks like somebody might be trying to frame Alister for threatening some guys who used to work at KaibaCorp when . . . when it was a weapons manufacturer. . . ."

"What?!" Raphael exclaimed.

That was Alister's thought too. He leaped out of the bed and came to his doorway, heedless of whatever wild state his hair was currently in. Valon was also emerging from his room, his star-shaped spikes even more adventurous than usual.

"What is this?" Alister demanded. "Why does it look like someone's trying to frame me?"

Everyone jumped.

"Well, maybe it's just a coincidence," Mokuba said haltingly, "but I thought maybe it was a deliberate frame because . . . well, the coat this guy wore looked a lot like yours, and I mean, yours are custom-made or something, aren't they? So they're completely unique."

Alister frowned, folding his arms. "I think you'd better take this from the top."

Mokuba sighed, shifting his weight. "Well . . . if you studied all about the original KaibaCorp, you probably know about the Big Five, right?"

Alister's expression twisted in repulsion. "Yes, I know about them. And I know they're back. I'm not happy about it, but I can't make it my personal crusade to go after every person who supports making weapons and war. At least I know now that your stepfather didn't cause my town to be massacred or my brother killed, so I've tried to let go of most of my hateful feelings towards the company and its employees."

"He has, too," Valon spoke up. "Oh, he was in a right bad mood when he heard about the Big Five coming out of their comas and being around again, just on the grounds of them supporting war in the first place, but he never had plans about hurting them."

"I don't know that I trust they're going to stick to something harmless like building a penguin sanctuary, so I'll keep an eye on them," Alister said. "But that's all."

Mokuba smiled in relief. "I was really sure that's how you'd feel." He sighed. "Well, and about the threats. . . . Someone brought Lector a note calling him a warmonger and threatening the whole group, and then today, somebody tried to put a bomb in his mailbox. I caught them and they threw it at me!"

Alister stared at him. "And this person was wearing a coat like mine?!"

"Yeah." Mokuba clenched his fists. "So I'm really worried about you, Alister! Somebody might want to make it look like you're behind this and cause the Big Five to come after you! I didn't tell Lector that the coat looked like yours because I wanted to warn you first."

Marik hesitated, but then added, "If it wouldn't be any trouble, we would like to see your coats. Someone may have even stolen the one in question from you."

Alister frowned, his eyes flickering with suspicion. "Or maybe you want to see if the one in question is wet and has been out in the snow."

"Marik!" Mokuba squealed in dismay.

Marik just folded his arms and looked back steadily at Alister. "That's not unreasonable, is it?"

"Of course it's unreasonable!" Valon snapped. "Alister said he didn't do it, so that should be that!"

Raphael narrowed his eyes. "It makes sense that they wanna be sure. If things ever escalate to the point that the police show up, they wouldn't back down just because Alister says he didn't do it."

Valon didn't look placated, but Alister nodded. "Come on." He led the two guests down the hall to his room and opened the closet door. "Go ahead and look."

Mokuba bit his lip, uncomfortable with the search. But he pushed through the hangers of coats, studying each one for its intricacies. His stomach dropped when he touched one that definitely felt damp.

Marik frowned at the way the child stiffened. He reached over, taking the coat off the rack and holding it out. "Is this the one?"

Mokuba looked down. "It really looks like it, but . . ."

"I wasn't wearing it," Alister insisted. "I haven't worn it in several days."

"But it couldn't still be wet from several days ago," Marik pointed out.

"No, it couldn't." Alister looked around the room, deeply frowning. "The only other possibility is that someone got in and stole it right out of my closet and then brought it back."

"Without you or the others even waking up?" Marik frowned too.

"I know it sounds ludicrous, but it's the only explanation!" Alister went over to the window, swiping his fingers across the sill. "There's no evidence that they came in this way. . . ."

Valon and Raphael were at the doorway by now. Valon's eyes flashed. "So what're you gonna now?!" he demanded. "Call the cops?!"

"No!" Mokuba exclaimed. "I still don't think Alister did this!"

Marik checked the pockets of the coat and pulled out a small scrap of paper. "There's an address written on this. . . ."

Alister took it. "It looks like my handwriting," he admitted, "but I have no memory of writing this down!"

Mokuba stood on tip-toe to see it too. "Oh no," he whispered. "It's Lector's address. . . ."

For the first time, Alister looked downright sick. "I swear I didn't do this," he said, falling back. He had no further arguments he could give.

"Of course he didn't!" Valon cried, shaking a fist.

Raphael frowned even more deeply. "So what really are we gonna do?" he wondered. "Somebody's done everything possible to set Alister up for a fall."

"We're gonna make things right!" Mokuba insisted. "I'm sure my brother knows a hand-writing expert. He can prove Alister didn't write this!"

"That wouldn't prove I didn't throw the bomb," Alister said.

"I know you didn't!" Mokuba cried. "I promise I'll prove it!"

"And will you be able to keep the Big Five from finding out about this?" Raphael asked. "If somebody wants Alister framed this bad, you can bet they'll make sure the Big Five find out."

"Then I'll just have to solve it before they do!" Mokuba replied.

Marik finally had to smile a bit. Mokuba was completely determined. There was definitely something touching in that. And he knew his friend wouldn't give up. Maybe Mokuba actually would manage to prove it. He just hoped Mokuba wouldn't put himself in danger doing it.

"We'll both work on it," he said. He wanted to know the truth himself. And he certainly wanted Mokuba kept safe. If he was involved, he would try his best to look out for the boy.

"Thank you," Alister said quietly. "I can't imagine why someone would do this to me."

"We're gonna find out," Mokuba promised.

xxxx

Seto was still hard at work on his laptop when a knock came at the front door. He barely processed it, not bothering to look up until shadows fell across the doorway. Then he stared. "What the . . . ?!"

"Mr. Kaiba, Mr. Lector wants to see you," Velma announced, gesturing to the former vice-president of KaibaCorp. "He insisted when I said you were busy."

"It's important, Mr. Kaiba," Lector told him.

Seto grunted. "Alright. Come in and shut the door." He pushed his chair away from the desk as he beckoned Lector inside. Velma scurried out, pulling the doors shut after her.

Lector came over to the desk. "Mr. Kaiba, I'll get right to the point. Do you know where your butler was last night?"

Seto stared at him. "No, I don't. Is there a reason why his whereabouts should concern me?"

"I think so. Someone wanted to meet me on a street corner last night. They were late, and when they finally bothered to show up, they gave me this." Lector took a manilla envelope out of his coat and handed it to Seto. "I couldn't see him very well under the heavy scarf he was wearing, but he looked a lot like your butler."

Seto opened the envelope and slid the piece of paper out. His eyes flickered as he read it, and when he looked up again, flecks of anger and annoyance were clearly visible within them. "And just why would my butler deliver this to you?" His voice had gained an edge.

"I don't know, but I want to find out. And after this morning, you should too. If you really care about your little brother, that is." Lector took the paper back.

That brought Seto out of the chair so fast he almost knocked it over. "What? What happened this morning?!"

Lector stared at him. "Mokuba didn't tell you yet?!"

"What about Mokuba?!" Seto boomed.

"Somebody was putting a bomb in my mailbox," Lector told him. "Not a serious one, but bad enough. When Mokuba tried to stop them, they threw it at him!"

Seto went sheet-white. "Where is he now?!"

"He ran off saying he wanted to talk to somebody about it before telling me who he suspected," Lector said.

"Well, he hasn't come back here," Seto said. "You mean you think Hobson did this too?!"

"No. Whoever did this wasn't Hobson," Lector replied.

Seto stormed to the doors. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this right now. If Hobson knows anything about it, he's going to be sorry!" He threw open the doors, only to find Velma nervously dusting a table nearby. "Where's Hobson?!" he practically bellowed.

Velma jumped a mile. "He . . . he should be down the hall in the library," she stammered.

Seto headed there without a word, Lector trailing after him. But when Seto threw open the library doors, they could only stare in disbelief.

Hobson was nowhere to be seen. The window, however, was standing wide open. The snow, which had started up again, was swirling inside.

Seto ran over to look. "There's no footprints!" he cried in disbelief.