Artemis Fowl awoke with a start. He had been dreaming about some of his previous adventures with the ex-Captain of the Lower Elements Police, Holly Short and the kleptomaniac dwarf, Mulch Diggums. In particular, he had been dreaming about last years adventure with Opal Koboi. The nefarious pixie had tried to kill himself, Holly and Foaly the Centaur. She also had one more person on her hit list, which was Commander Julius Root but unfortunately, she had managed to kill him. Holly had been blamed for his death but after it was proven that she had not killed him, she quit from the LEP. Luckily though, they had all managed to get Koboi captured and she was now spending a lifetime behind bars.
Artemis was shaken from his thoughts by a loud beeping noise. He knew immediately what it was. Last year, Holly had given him a fairy communicator so they could stay in touch and she often used it to ask his advice on cases since her and Mulch had teamed up to be private detectives. He scrambled out of his bed and made his way over to his safe. He retrieved the communicator and opened. Holly's face filled the screen but it was not smiling as it usually was. She looked up into Artemis' deep blue eyes and sighed. Artemis immediately could tell there was something wrong.
'What wrong, Holly?'
'There's been a report of two people who have been murdered in Ireland last night, quite near to your house.'
'Why are you telling me this, the police should be handling it?' He gazed at the fairy's face for a moment, looking deep into her hazel eyes.
She sighed again. 'They didn't die of natural causes, Artemis. It looks like they were electrocuted and fried at the same time. This is definitely something magical.'
'Ah… So you want me to have a snoop about to see what I can find out. Am I correct?' He raised an eyebrow by a fraction.
'Yeah, if it's not too much trouble.'
'No it's fine. Is there anything else I need to know?'
'Yeah, when the police searched the couple's house, they found loads of magical objects like talismans and stuff and also, when they searched through the guys papers, they found out that his name was…' There was a ruffle of paper as Holly checked the name. 'His name was Mr Alan Bryson. Does that name ring a bell?' Holly looked up just in time to see the youth turn paler than he normally was. 'Artemis, are you alright?'
'Uh… yeah. Sorry, yeah I know the man.' Artemis turned away from the screen as he went to sit on his bed but he still her the elf's next words.
'How did you know him?'
'He used to be one of my old councillors that I made retire. My Mother made me go and see them in the hopes that they could make me normal, if you can believe that.' Artemis sighed and rubbed his forehead as he continued. 'I don't know why but that old man got further than the rest and understood more than just assigning a problem to be fixed.'
Holly kept silent and could almost see remorse and regret in Artemis' pale features and blue eyes but then it was gone and he was his usual self. 'Could you take a look around then, or will you get distracted by the fact that you knew the man?'
'No, I can do it and I'll try my best to keep my emotions out of the affair.' He combed an arrant stray of his long raven hair thoughtfully but didn't say what was on his mind. 'OK, I'll let you know what I find out and I'll call you in a couple of days.'
'All right, but keep me up dated. Also, be careful, Artemis, we don't know what force did this. Bye for now.' Holly cut the connection and the screen went blank. Artemis was left by himself, his thoughts chasing themselves inside his mind.
Eventually he got up and got dressed. When he went downstairs for breakfast, he was not wearing one of his usual Armani suits, but was wearing jeans and a black short sleeved T-shirt. As he entered the kitchen, Butler looked questioningly at his charge's attire but passed no comment. It was not like Artemis to wear normal teenage clothing unless he had to. But then again, Butler couldn't be sure since his charge had changed so much over the past couple of years. He was no longer the cold hearted child he had been who's only thought was for gold but was now more caring and thoughtful towards people. Butler placed a plate full of food in front of Artemis and the youth began to eat. Once Butler had settled down with his own meal, Artemis began to inform his bodyguard of the task Holly had entrusted to him.
'Holly rang on the communicator a while ago.'
'Ah, I thought I heard you talking to someone, what did she want?'
'She wants us to do some digging into the background of Mr Alan Bryson. You remember him don't you?'
'Yes, he was one of the councillors who retire on you behalf, wasn't he?' Butler looked into his charges face with a questioning look on his features.
'Yes. She wants us to do this because Mr Bryson was murdered last night, along with his wife. Apparently, they didn't die of natural causes so Holly wants us to figure out how they died and why they were killed.'
'Fine, when should we go and have a look? I doubt you'd be able to get near to the crime scene though.'
Artemis smiled and it was as if vampire fangs sprouted from his mouth. 'Don't worry about that, I'm sure we can get in if you persuade the officers that will undoubtedly be around. If that fails then I can unleash my knowledge on forensics on them and prove that I could be of some help.'
'Right, when should we go?'
Artemis checked his watch. It was nearly ten o'clock. 'I think we should get going now. If we're lucky, there won't be many officers. I'll go grab my coat.' Artemis left the room and met Butler at the front door. They both set out in the Bentley and they were soon on the road, heading towards what had been Mr Bryson's house.
Author Note: Hope you liked that chapter. If you think it could be improved let me know, I welcome all criticisms and praises. Let me know what you think. Bye!