I have nothing to say, so...


Flora and I made it safely back to town, but we were tired. We ended up having take a little detour where the path had been destroyed by the explosion. By the time we returned, it was already midday. "What do we do now?" Flora asked. "We wait until tonight. Then we get our answers."

The two of us had a bite to eat at the cafe, but unfortunately Ailsa wasn't there. She was on her break and according to another waitress, was out with her boyfriend. "I wonder what he's like?" Flora said as she ate. "I bet he's tall and handsome." I shrugged as I continued to eat me my food. "You're so unromantic," Flora pouted. "Ailsa's boyfriend is at least better than you." I was a bit offended by this, but I tried not to show it.

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?" Flora asked suddenly. I wasn't sure what my romantic experiences had to do with anything, especially considering all that had happened today. "No," I answered truthfully. "Romance isn't really my forte."

"I doubt you'd know romance if it hit you square on the head," Flora giggled. "That's not fair!" I retorted. "I've seen plenty of romance. I've just not interested in it myself."

"Tell me all about it," Flora demanded with a smile. "I want to hear all about this." I was a bit taken aback by Flora's openness. She had been so nervous and worried lately that it was hard for her to enjoy herself. When she was comfortable, her true personality showed. It seemed to be a bit more... outgoing than I had remembered. Perhaps some time with the Professor had gotten her to open up a bit.

"Well," I said, starting to get ready to impress her. "There was the time with Anton and Sophia, that was a bit of a depressing one. And then there was Randall and Angela, that one had a happy ending. There was also the Professor and Claire, but let's not talk about that. See I've had more than a few brushes with romance."

"Weren't all of those during investigations with Professor?"

"Maybe," I replied. "Why does it matter?" Flora sighed and set down her fork. "I really should give up on you," she said. "You're hopeless." I wasn't quite sure what she meant, but she stood up and looked ready to leave. "We should head back to the inn before tonight," she said. "It would be good to get some rest."

As Flora wanted, we returned to the inn and took a short nap. Before we knew it, night was approaching. When we were about to leave the inn, we were stopped by Aggie, who was wondering where were off to. We told her we were going to the beach. Flora said she wanted to try swimming at night. "Have fun you two," Aggie said, waving us off. "Be safe." I felt a bit bad lying to her, but I didn't want to reveal what we were doing.

Flora and I headed to the alley and arrived there before the girl. It was a getting a bit annoying to keep thinking of her as "the ghost girl", and I hoped she would tell us her name. There were still a few people roaming the streets at this hour and I hoped none of them would find us suspicious. After a bit of waiting, the ghost girl appeared.

"Thank you for meeting me," she bowed. "No, thank you," I replied. "We don't even know your name to properly thank you."

"I'm Isabella," the girl said. She looked tired, but was trying to stay awake for us. "I just want you both two know that once I tell you the things I know, you will be in danger."

"We're willing to take that risk," I reassured her. "So, please. Tell us everything you know about the Professor and about yourself. Why are you pretending to be a ghost?" Isabella took in a deep breath and began her story.

"I suppose I should start from the very beginning. My full name is Isabella Pemberton, the mayor's daughter." This was already valuable information. She was the baby in the picture. "My mother was very sick when I was born and my birth only made things worse. She died only a few months after I was born."

"I'm sorry," Flora said. Isabella gave her a small smile and continued on with her story. "Papa knew my mother's death was inevitable and he was distraught with it from even before I was born. That's why he kept me a secret. No one in town knew that I was born. Papa pretended like I was a stillborn, that I never existed. I was Papa's burden, a painful reminder of my mother. He said I looked just like her. Because of this, I never left the mansion. I didn't want Papa to suffer the consequences if I was discovered. He also never left, but for different reasons. His life had become gray and he could hardly do anything. He barely finished all his duties as mayor. The only light in both of our lives was my grandfather. He lived in the mansion too and helped Papa as best he could. Grandfather would always play or sing with me. He even taught me how to paint."

"Were those your paintings we found in the mansion?"

"Yes," Isabella nodded. "Also living in the mansion were my Uncle and his son. My Uncle was a bitter man. Papa beat him out for mayor and he never got over it. But when Grandfather was around, he seemed to calm Uncle's anger and we could all be a family, at least a little bit. And then my Grandfather got sick and was bedridden. I stayed by his side at every minute. I couldn't bear to see him go. I was only 7 at the time. Only a few days before his death, Grandfather called me to his room and told me he had a secret to tell me. He told me hidden somewhere in town was a great treasure. He said the treasure was something that would make me truly happy. I remember being excited and asking him where it was. He laughed and told me that he couldn't make finding it too easy. That would take out all the fun. Grandfather said it was in a magical hidden location. He said that if you sang nearby, the land would sing back. Then my Grandfather was gone, just like that." Poor Isabella suffered so much tragedy, but I wasn't sure what all of this had to do with the Professor. Still, I listened close to her story.

"Once my Grandfather died, my Uncle left the house. I never knew why. I thought Papa couldn't get any worse, but he did. He was a shell, void of emotion. I never saw him smile. That left me and my cousin, Ned. Ned seemed to have inherited his father's hatred. He never liked me and bullied me often. He and I managed to live life comfortably off Papa's money from working and some money Grandfather left behind. Around a year ago, I was painting a picture of the treasure land my Grandfather told me about. I had never been able to search for it, but it had always been in my mind. Ned found me painting and asked me what I was doing. I told him what Grandfather had told me. That was when things turned to trouble. Ned became obsessed with the treasure. My Grandfather was extremely wealthy when he was young and Ned believed that this treasure consisted of riches beyond our wildest dreams. He wanted it so bad. That's when he sent me to search for it. He told me only I could find it since I was the only one who had heard about it straight from Grandfather, but I refused to search for it. I didn't want to risk exposing Papa. One morning, I went downstairs and found Papa bound and gagged in a chair with Ned right behind him, knife in hand. I was terrified and Ned told me that if I wanted Papa to be okay, I had to find him that treasure."

"That's awful!" Flora exclaimed. "If only we had known earlier... We saw Ned today." It was obvious that Ned had lied to us. There was something more sinister about him that I had imagined. "Ned didn't want anyone else to find out about the treasure, so he sent me to search for it at night. The only way I knew to search was to sing and pray that the land would sing back. This was the only clue Grandfather gave me. Ned put Papa in the basement, treating him as a hostage. He promised no harm would come to him if I found the treasure. I searched for months, but found nothing. I was afraid I would be caught, but fortunately, an old town legend was enough of an explanation to satisfy the townspeople. I was simply a ghost, drifting through the night. I became desperate. I needed help, and by accident, I dragged your friend, Professor Layton, into all of this." My ears perked up at the mention of the Professor.

"I had read about him in the paper. An article mentioned that he had solved many mysteries and helped many people. I secretly sent a letter to him, asking for help. I pretended to be concerned about the ghost haunting the town, but I hoped he could find this treasure. I didn't think he would actually come, but he did and for a while I was hopeful. But then Ned found out and he knew that I had asked the Professor to come here. The Professor had just barely started his investigation when Ned ambushed him and took him hostage."

"The Professor wouldn't just let himself be taken like that!" I protested. Isabella looked like she was about to cry. "It's my fault," she said. "Ned confronted the Professor and pretended to hold me hostage. He said that unless the Professor succumbed to him, he would hurt me."

"And the Professor couldn't let a lady be hurt like that," I sighed. "So he gave in." Isabella nodded. "Now Ned had two prisoners and I still hadn't found this treasure. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't go to anyone for help otherwise Ned was going to hurt Papa. And then you two came and I was afraid you would be dragged into all of this too. I didn't want anyone else getting hurt." Isabella was sobbing now. She was gripping her dress so tight that her knuckles were white. Flora gave her a hug and tried to console her.

With all this new information, I began to formulate a plan. All of the mysteries had been solved, except for one, this treasure. If we could find it, we could save the Professor and Isabella's father. "We need to find this treasure," I told Flora and Isabella. "We can save your father and the Professor."

"I don't know where it is," Isabella explained. "I've searched for so long and found nothing."

"No, we'll find it," I told her. "Flora and I will start searching in the morning. We know someone who might be able to help us. You should go get some rest." We thanked Isabella for all her help and then she disappeared into the dark. I felt bad for her. For an entire year, she had lived in fear with her father's life on the line.

"What are we going to do?" Flora asked. "Ned is dangerous. If we aren't careful, the Professor could get hurt."

"We need to stay calm. I want to talk to Millie in the morning and see if she can help us. An outside opinion could valuable. Then we're going to call the police."

"The police?" Flora asked. "If Ned finds out the police are coming, won't he hurt the Professor and Isabella's father?"

"Not if we're careful. I have someone in mind to call. They'll help us." Flora reached out and grabbed my hand. She gave it a squeeze and gave a deep breath. "Do you think we can do this?"

"Definitely," I said. "We're going to put the lid on this puzzle once and for all."

"You sound so brave and handsome when you say things like that..."

"What?"

"Nothing," Flora smiled. "Let's go back."


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