Chapter 7: Dog's best Friend
Professor Layton's Journal:
Mystery 4: The Body in the basement
Upon arriving in Thomas Barkley's basement, Luke and Flora discovered the body of Sir Ratham's Lawyer, Thomas Barkley. However, there are no signs of an entry wound. How did Thomas die? And who killed him?
Professor Layton, Ross, Emmy & Detective Bryan made it to Thomas' house and Luke guided them to the Basement where Blake and Grady had finished boarding up the hole. Flora and Vivian flanked Thomas's body.
"He's dead?" said Layton, as he and Ross Examined the body, "My word...how can this be?"
"Hard to say, Professor," Said Ross, "But I think we can say he didn't die here." He rose to his feet, and went to check for footprints on the steps.
Just then, they heard voices from down below; they were muffled, and they were running quickly: one voice was running and shouting, the second voice was high pitched and almost out of breath, and the third voice was More gruff and almost breathless as well.
"I'm telling you, This is gonna get us somewhere! I can feel it in my chest hairs!" the shouting voice said.
Then the gruff voice said, "Well, the only thing this is getting us is nowhere! There's nothing here but a dead end, rotten boards, lots of dirt, dim lights and more dirt!"
The high pitched voice then said, "Actually, Inspector, It's earth. I'd say that this was built as a Secret Passageway. At Least, that's what I would say."
"That's what YOU would say?" The Gruff voice replied, "Well I'll tell you what I oughta say to that-" Then suddenly, from out of nowhere, A huge explosion from down under blew the makeshift cover door that Blake made to smithereens, and A Blue Haired Man in his late forties burst from the hole, his Blue chest hairs poking from underneath his suit.
"Inspector Grosky." Emmy rolled her eyes in disgust, " I should've known..." Ross rolled his eyes too.
"The one and only!" He Proclaimed, puffing out his chest. Inspector Chelmey climbed through the door, grumbling, and Barton soon joined him, Grosky's suit was caked in earth and dust, but it seemed he could care less. Chelmey and Barton, on the other hand, obviously fell through the kitchen floor like Luke and the others did, only their clothes were less soiled.
"Luke, my boy. Layton!" Grosky proclaimed in his boistrous voice, "What's the story? what happened here?"
Luke's mouth dropped open, "What?!...How...Emmy, how did he know? he was nowhere near us when Detective Bryan took us here."
Grosky was quick to respond, "What? You think because I'm forty-nine; these ears can't hear as well as they used to?" Before Chelmey could open his mouth; he continued on, "Nope! As soon as Chelmey received that message from the Good Detective here; I quickly traced where it came from and rallied Chelmey and Barton here and ran from Scotland Yard all the way to the wooden house, through the floor and up through the hole right there. A good hour's worth of excersise!"
Layton frowned slightly, He and Emmy had history with Grosky and knew that the man had more surprises and tricks up his sleeve than a Magician. But even so, Chelmey and Barton weren't as fit as the man was, but they were used to it nonetheless.
"Anyway," said Ross, eager to change the subject, "We found a dead body over there," he pointed to Thomas's body, which was flanked by Blake and Grady, their guns at their side, "The man is Thomas Barkley, He's Sir Ratham's lawyer. We found his body only a few minutes ago. He was supposingly killed in another room, and then dragged down here, and when we found him he was buried under a pile of potatoes."
"If you ask me; "said Chelmey, "I'd say he was attacked in his sleep, if he was killed in his pajamas and hidden down here."
"That is possible," agreed Layton, "however, there may be other possibles that we can't rule out. You must admit that, Inspector."
Chelmey knew Layton was right, which somewhat upset him. In the past, Chelmey had always tried to show up Layton on a lot of Layton's cases that he was involved in, as though he thought that he was the better man than Layton. All of Scotland Yard admired Layton and held him in great esteem, but Chelmey was a complete polar opposite from his colleagues, mostly Grosky. Grosky was more Upbeat, spunky and energetic. Whereas Chelmey was more Hard-bitten, deadbeat, gruff and impatient. But he got on well with Layton's companions well, especially Luke. and he knew Layton was a good man and someone to be trusted in any situation.
Emmy had finished photographing the body when Layton turned to Luke and Flora, "Do you have everything covered here?" He asked Chelmey.
Chelmey put a hand to his chin, "Hardly, Layton. But I see your point. Now that the police is here, I think at best you should all go home and rest for the night."
Vivian started to speak, "but..."
"Vivian," Ross said firmly, "he's right. Do not worry though, you'll see us tomorrow."
Layton tipped his hat to the group, "Good night to you all. Come along," And he led Luke, Flora, Vivian, Blake & Grady out of the basement and through the now-unlocked front door of the house, Luke looked up to Layton.
"I don't understand it, Professor. I know is dead, but there's no mark or trace of blood on him. And how do we know that he was dragged down there?"
Layton put a hand to his chin in thought, he didn't really know, "I'm afraid I can't answer that right now, Luke. However this is very interesting...very interesting, indeed..." and he remained that way as they walked away, leaving Blake and Grady behind.
After Layton and the others were out of sight; Blake and Grady walked back to London alone. But as they passed by a bush; it rustled.
Blake and Grady trained their guns on it, "Who's there?" asked Blake, thrusting his gun into the hedge, but then a man poked his head out, and Blake and Grady lowered their guns.
The Man was a tall young man in his early twenties. He had thick black streaked with red, and his Army jacket had more stripes on it, which assumed he was the leader. A slight trace of stubble lined his chin.
"Reid?" Said Blake, "What are you doing here? Were you spying on us?"
"Hardly," he replied in a deep voice, "I was just fooling around." He snapped "What's going on?"
"Well," Said Blake, "Now the Lawyer's dead, even the Police know."
"I thought as much..." Reid Muttered, "Well, they don't suspect a thing, right?" Grady nodded, "Good, let's get some rest for the night. We'll continue tomorrow."
"Continue with what?" asked Grady.
Reid's faced darkened, "What I should've done years ago.
Back at Layton's apartment, Layton was enjoying a book in his armchair when Flora walked over and sat opposite him, wearing a white nightgown and a red dressing gown, all ready for bed.
"Professor?" she inquired, He set down the book and faced her.
"Yes, dear? What troubles you?"
Flora spoke after a minute of silence, which gave Layton great concern, "What do you think Vivian will do? I mean, how will she live now?"
Layton thought to himself, then said, "Well, first of all, If there is a will written by Sir Ratham; She will live according to his wishes."
"Oh...I remember that...Just like what father wished for me before he died..." Flora's voice trailed off, and Layton knew it was time to end the conversation.
"You'd best retire for the night, dear. I'll see you in the morning." Flora nodded, stood and walked into her room and closed the door. Layton poured himself a cup of tea then turned his thought to his book.
The Next morning, Layton and Flora arrived at Ratham Hall, Miss Perry lead them to Sir Ratham's Office, where Vivian, Clark, Brenda, Luke, Clive, Ross & Emmy were waiting.
"Good day," Layton said, the others nodded. Ross stepped towards him.
"Well, it's good to see you up and ready."
"The same to you," said Layton, "What have you learned?"
"Well," said Emmy, "The best chance of learning about what will happen to the Ratham estate is to find Sir Ratham's will. We found the safe behind that picture over there." She jabbed a thumb towards a picture behind his desk, the picture had been removed and a large patch of wallpaper replaced it.
"We waited until you got here so you could solve it," Said Luke, "What do you make of it?"
Layton mused a minute, "Well, this shouldn't take long."
Puzzle 9: Trainspotting
Two Trains are running on a hill side by side. One is passenger train, while the other is a freight train. The passenger train has 16 coaches, and the freight train has 16 freight cars. However, the weight of their loads are making their journeys very slow.
The freight train is carrying logs and other goods. The Passenger train has Passengers and lots of luggage. Given the weight of their loads. Which train will make it to the top of the hill first?
(You know the drill)
The answer then sparked into Layton's head in a flash of neurons. He switched the dial to the train he choose as his answer, and the safe creaked and groaned for a few seconds, then it slowly opened to reveal three shelves each with a pile of papers, Luke pushed to the front where Layton had gathered the top pile of papers, and grabbed the middle pile while Flora grabbed the bottom pile.
"Well done, Professor." Said Luke, He started the rifle through his papers, when a strange key fell from one of the papers. it was a small brass key with the intials JC on it, Ross grabbed the key and examined it meticulously, as if it were a strange jewel they had never seen before.
"Hmm," Said Layton, "All of these papers are old Bank Statements. Luke, what do you have?"
Luke rifled through his papers again, Then stopped with a shudder, "uh...Professor, you'd better see this." He took a paper from this pile and showed it to the Professor. It was older and crinkled than the others, and was written in red ink, not black ink. Layton read the paper which read:
James
I know who you are, who you truly are. I know all your past activities, and you know exactly what I'm talking about.
I can very easily expose you, but I won't. Provided you do something that will shut me up. Pay me 5 Million pounds in cash within the end of the month; You or someone you love will pay the penalty.
BKJ
Layton didn't speak for a long time. When he did speak, it wasn't pretty. "It seems this is a Threat against Sir Ratham."
Clark was surprised, "Is that true, Hershel? Sir Ratham was one of the most respected men of all of London. We can't afford to be wrong."
"He's right, Professor," Said Clive, "If people learn about this and we're wrong; I can't imagine what this could do to your reputation." The others agreed.
"That is true, indeed." said Layton, "So, to take precautions, we will not speak of this until we are sure he was being threated. Is that clear?" Everyone nodded in agreement.
"So what now, Professor?" asked Flora. she was unsure of how to continue.
"Well," Said Emmy, "I think that the next thing to is investigate the key. I think we know where it came from."
"That's right," Said Ross, "Professor, I believe there was an associate of Ratham's who matches the initials, JC. A Mr. Jack Craven, is that correct?"
"why yes," Layton replied, "He has an office at Ratham Industries, he's one of Sir Ratham's Business partners." he turned to the crowd, "Clark, would you and Brenda care to create a diversion to lure Mr. Craven away from the area? If we are to investigate the offices there, none of the employees must know of our business there."
Clark nodded, "Of course, Herschel. As a matter of fact, Brenda and I shall invite him to our place for lunch. That should give you plently of time to find what you need." Brenda nodded as well, and Layton turned to Clive.
"Clive, Can I count on you to Put your reporter smarts to good use?" he remembered Clive's old profession was a reporter for a newspaper which he used to find answers to his family's murder.
"Sure thing, Professor. I'll get right on it."
"In The meantime, Luke, Flora, Vivian and I shall investigate Ratham Industries for any evidence. Come you three, let us be on our way."
They left the area and made their way to the bus stop. They showed their bus passes, Layton asked to get off at the stop near Ratham Industries.
As the Bus rolled on, Vivian shifted in her seat, making Luke turn to face her, "What's your problem?" he asked kindly,
"I'm...just nervous," Said Vivian, "I've never been to this part of London before, especially to find answers about my Father like this."
"Well, one of the greatest parts about a Laytonesque Mystery is you go places you've never gone before."
Vivian seemed to penetrate Luke with her gaze, "And you two have done this several times?"
Flora must've thought she meant her and Luke, because she jumped in with, "Oh yes. And Believe me, the places we've been too are so weird and unknown that you wouldn't believe us if we told you."
Vivian raised a eyebrow, "Really, like what?"
"Like the fact that I was raised in a village inhabited by robots." Said Flora.
"And the time that I solved a mystery at a town that had a man who carried himself like a vampire." added Luke.
Layton Smiled from his seat. He had never heard Flora and Luke so enthusiastic to share their memories about their adventures with him, Especially with someone their own age. He wished that he was as enthusiastic as they were, or more open to share his adventures, But not many people knew of his adventures, of those who knew, they enjoying reading the stories that Luke had sent to a local magazine.
The bus had lurched to a stop, and the bus driver shouted, "Last stop! Everybody out!" Layton stood, and Luke, Flora and Vivian followed suit, as they exited the bus; Layton noticed a man by the gate, and they walked up to the man. He was tall and strong, and he looked more like a bar bouncer than a gate guard.
Layton said, "Excuse me, sir. Could I-"
"Look, man. If you're looking to trouble in here; you're gonna get plenty of it if you don't back off!" he snarled. Layton was pretty taken aback at this, he backed up, a bit unsure of how to continue. Luke walked up to the man, very roughed up by the man's behavior.
"Excuse me, sir, but I think you owe that man an apology."
"And why is that?" the man asked.
"Sir, that man is Professor Layton. the famous puzzle master and Detective. If other people saw this, you'd be shamed for sure!"
The Man's anger diminished, "Uh...Professor Layton? I...didn't know...I'm sorry...I"
"It's ok, sir. But Luke is quite right, I'm investigating the Murder of Sir Ratham, and I need access to Ratham Industries to find out more about him."
The man nodded, "You're right, Professor." He pressed a button and the gate swung open, "You'd better hurry though, I'm to go off duty soon, and my replacement is worse than I am. I'll try to cover of you if he arrives before you're done."
"We will return, Don't worry."
"I'll be waiting for you." He lead them to the front doors of the office Building and handed Layton a key-chain, "Here's my set of keys to the building." and he left.
Layton entered the building with the others on his tail, the lobby was completely deserted. the floor was made of stainless steel, the couches were white leather and each had a glass coffee table before them. a staircase was on the left wing and an elevator on the opposite wing.
"Well, this is quite a place." Said Vivian, "I surprised I've never been here before. Imagine how much money was used to build this place."
"Uhh...I'd rather not go there." Flora said nervously, "Let's just hurry and get out of here, OK." Layton nodded with concern. Flora was right, there was something sinister about the place, he just didn't know want.
Layton stepped into the elevator and rode to the 4th floor, Layton noted that each key had initialed engraved on them that showed the office number and it's corresponding name. They found Craven's office without any trouble, it was a fairly small office with a couch, a coffee table and several souvenirs and statues that decorated the room.
"Wow, what a nice office," Flora commented, "and the couches are so soft." then for emphasis, she sat on one of the couches. which bounced her lightly into the air.
"So, what are we looking for?" asked Vivian, "Where should we start?"
Layton took the safe key from his pocket, "Well, First of all, we should put this key to good use. let's try to find a safe or drawer that this could open."
Luke started looking around Jack's desk. He took the key from Layton and tried it in all the desk drawers, but nothing happened. Flora and Vivian started to look behind paintings and other areas.
Just then, Vivian noticed a big painting behind Jack's desk that looked different from the others. it was bigger than the others, it had no characters on it, it fact, it was a green landscape, complete with a blue sky that stretched for miles. Vivian replaced the painting, and behind it was a small sliver door with a keyhole. Vivian's eyes grew as big and saucers and Layton noticed it along with Luke and Flora.
"Well, that saved us a lot of wasted hours, " Luke commented, "Vivian, would you do the honors?" Vivian nodded, Layton gave her the key, and it fit in the lock like bread in a toaster. The safe opened to reveal some papers and some old photographs.
Luke automaticly grabbed the Photographs and studied them thoroughly, there were very old and dated almost twenty years ago. The first one showed a man of about thirty and younger woman who were cradling a child that couldn't be more than two years old, The man had dark brown hair and a handsome appearance, the woman had brown hair as well and was at least twenty five, and the child's face looked VERY familiar. Who could it be...?
Layton studied the papers from the safe. They included several more bank statements, but these were from different banks, they included one bank in New York, and one in Germany. Layton took note of the statements and wrote about them in his journal.
"Hey Professor," said Flora, "any new leads?"
"Hey Vivian, Who could this be?" Luke called to her. Just then, a scream sounded through the room and the entire group fell silent. after a minute, everything was quiet, But Luke, Flora and Vivian were thoroughly shocked.
"Pr...Professor? what was that?" Flora asked nervously
Layton scratched his chin, "No idea, Flora. But we'd best find out at once. Come you three, follow me."
They followed Layton all the way to the lobby, where a trail of dirty shoeprints made a trail to the staircase. Layton and the others followed it all the way to the basement area. where, standing right in front of them was a sight they never wanted to see:
the Body in front them was none other than...
Jack Craven!