Chapter Ten
Part 2 - Case Conclusion
A hard knock was sounded at Ghastly's front door. Ghastly was hunched over a sewing machine when he had heard it, and grabbed his crutches kneeling on the table besides him. He awkwardly slipped his arms through them and limped towards the door. Before he had gotten to it, it knocked again.
"Okay, okay. Patients!" Ghastly grumbled, opening the door.
Skulduggery stood on the threshold with his arm up, about to knock again when Ghastly opened the door.
Skulduggery looked down, seeing Ghastly's crutches. "Hello, hop' along!"
Ghastly rolled his eyes but smiled, walking back through the store, letting Skulduggery get himself inside and closing the door behind him. The two of them settled down in the living area behind the store and Ghastly sat back behind his sewing machine.
"What you're sewing?" Skulduggery asked, sitting himself down on the lumpy sofa.
Ghastly stopped, getting his foot of the pedal and lifted the fabric, which was a jacket. "For Valkyrie, I can't bare that she has been wearing that same outfit since I've been gone." Ghastly noticed that Valkyrie wasn't with them and narrowed his eyes. "Where is she?"
"School."
"School?" Ghastly mused. "And is she happy with the idea of going to school?"
Skulduggery shook his head, smiling, "Not one bit, but I have my charms."
"Yeah, charm of the devil, you got." Ghastly replied sarcastically.
"I was wandering, Ghastly," Skulduggery kneeled forward, turning business-like. Ghastly stopped sewing and turned towards Skulduggery, arms raised.
"Whoa, Skulduggery wandering! I think we should all be concerned." Ghastly laughed.
"I was going to go to the conference, as I have spotted something that could be a clue and I was thinking we could go there together."
"What do you mean by we?" Ghastly raised a scarred eyebrow.
Skulduggery sat back in his seat, "I mean you could maybe join me. Like old times."
"Oh, no!" Ghastly waved his head and carrying on with his sewing, "I remember what happened the last time it was just you and me."
Skulduggery stood up, attempting to change Ghastly's mind. "Come on, you don't have to go to the Warlocks with me. I just thought that you would like to."
Ghastly pretended that he wasn't listening to Skulduggery at all, and said instead, hoping to distract Skulduggery. "Do you think Valkyrie would like the new, super strong material I have giving her on this jacket?" he held it up, rubbing the jacket with his thumb, "My, how science has evolved in the last year!"
Then he paused and looked at his sewing machine sadly with revelation.
"Actually I need a new sewing machine too. This was actually my old man's sewing machine."
"Hey," Skulduggery nudged him, using the advantage. "How about I get you a new one if you come with me today?"
"You pay a hard bargain, Skul."
Skulduggery could've rolled his eyes if he had them, "You know you want to!"
"Okay, okay!" Ghastly excepted defeated. "I'll go with you. As long as it doesn't involve running or sudden movements."
Skulduggery laughed and promised, and he and Ghastly looked at each other. Although Ghastly didn't show it, he was excited that he and Skulduggery were going to do something together after so many years.
Ghastly saw for the first time the extent of the case as he took in the amount of cars in the drive way.
"Wow, I see what you meant."
The Bently pulled in to a spare space underneath a tree. Ghastly stepped out awkwardly with his crutches and hobbled to the vast building. He whistled. "What a place!"
He and Skulduggery went to the door and pulled the chain for the door bell. They were greeted, if that was the word, by the same, sour faced manservant that he and Valkyrie had accounted two days before.
"Here for the conference, sir?" The butler forced the word 'sir' rather sourly out of his mouth, and looked at Ghastly with disgust and horror. Ghastly just grunted to him which stopped him glaring at him immediately.
"Follow me."
Skulduggery didn't need to though as the detectives were holded in the same chamber there were assembled before. The same room where the armours stood still in the corners and the stone fireplace. But this time, a long table was placed in the middle of the room, with the previous comfortable furniture moved somewhere else instead. This time, however, he and Ghastly were one of the first ones to arrive in the room and only Mr Envy, alittle disgruntled by the presences of Detective Hugo Spite and his nameless small, but vicious assistant wearing the bowler hat.
Spite was followed around the room with a rather swooned woman journalist, who wore puppy dog eyes and battered her eyelids to him in hope to catch his attention. But as Hugo was seen as a selfish and vain man, he couldn't stop looking at his own reflection whenever he passed the mantlepeice mirror. The journalist held a small note pad in her hand, quickly scribbling whatever Detective Spite was saying.
Skulduggery drew nearer to hear what exacally was being said as Ghastly hopped behind him.
"So, when I noticed that the death had not been an accident, I figured out that this wasn't just murder but a World Wide disaster that could place every Sorcerer's life in danger. I had to act quickly and with my trusty assistant by my side, I just knew we were going to solve it."
The jouranlist wrote down every absurd word he said with a flirty smile on her face. Skulduggery interrupted Detective and the journalist scribbling.
"You solved it?" Skulduggery was sceptic.
Spite turned around suddenly, a little startled by Skulduggery's sudden arrival.
"Yes!" He cried, far too loudly, "I have."
And with pride he stood up straight and placed his hands on his hips. It gave Skulduggery a picture of him as a less heroic Superman.
Ghastly came across and laughed, "So, you're the 'famous' Hugo Spite are you?"
As Hugo was a head or two shorter than Ghastly, Ghastly came straight to Spite and the height difference was comical. The journalist looked at Ghastly, but not in disgust, as Ghastly was used to been seen with, but with fascination and, Skulduggery wasn't sure, but he thought too a little admiringly.
She came toward Ghastly with her note pad clasped to her bodice.
"So, whats you're story?" She eyed his crutches, but than scanned his big muscles and his scars.
"Well…" Ghastly was taken aback but liked the attention. "Why don't I tell you somewhere more comfortable." And he led the short, curvy journalist wearing a pink skirt suit to a cosy area in the corner. Skulduggery was surprised but happy for his friend. He picked his thumbs up to Ghastly when the journalist wasn't looking. Ghastly winked over the girl's shoulder.
"Well, well,well," Spite muttered, taken a step towards Skulduggery. "Have you solved the case?"
"You know the rules Hugo, opposing Detectives don't exchange imformation of their own, you should know that."
Spite had his hands behind his back and turned around Skulduggery while he said, "No threat, buddy, because I have."
"Oh?" that was all he said.
Spite smiled in triumph. "You see, I am the best detective and I won't be outsmarted, not by a skeleton!" He whispered those words, but Skulduggery could hear the venom in his voice.
Skulduggery smiled, but it wasn't a kind smile. Spite continued.
"I mean, it would been bad to have someone like me to be beaten by someone like you." Skulduggery crossed his arms, and prepared himself to hear what else he had to say. "You know, it would be bad press, and I, as you know, live off it. The lights and glamour. Oh, I thrive from it!"
Then he stuck his finger to Skulduggery, poking him in the chest with his finger.
"What would happen if that had all gone away? What would become of the Hugo Spite? I would be no one and I won't have that spoiled by some ameature skeleton detective."
His face had turned beetroot when he was saying these words. And Skulduggery was most amused.
"So, what have you solved?"
"I will tell you later when everyone else arrives."
Detective Hugo stepped back as Detective Elsa and Theodore entered the room.
"Wow, it's dead in here isn't it?" Elsa stated when she looked around at just a few people in the room.
"Literally." Hugo muttered behind Skulduggery's back, and sniggered.
Elsa came up to Skulduggery, and noticed that Valkyrie didn't accompany him.
She smiled, "You took my advise."
"Of course," Skulduggery admitted, "I knew she had to have a break once and awhile."
Just then, Ghastly and the journalist came at their side. The woman still looked wide eyed and fascinated by him, she held a small type recorder towards him.
Ghastly was in the middle of saying, "…and so I was turned into a statue! When I woke up I didn't have a clue where I was. Seemed only seconds, but years went by."
"Oh, you poor thing." She said.
Before Ghastly could reply, Skulduggery nudged him as Mr Envy took his place in front of the fireplace.
"Please, detectives, sit down at the table." he invited
Once everyone chose a chair and sat down comfortably, Mr Envy continued, with his hands entwining nervously.
"As you can see, not many of the detectives have arrived today. Well, I have some terrible news. It seems that our friends have gone missing."
Everyone except Hugo and his assistant gasped.
"I know this is a shock, and it is clear that who ever is involve with Riddle's murder, they are definitely involved with the missing cases. Forensics have not found any clues about the murder, and, while we still have a handful of you here today, we will solve this case!"
Skulduggery stood up, the picture slips in his gloved hand, "I think I've got something."
Mr Envy looked bleary eyed at the pictures in his hands and nodded.
"That is very welcoming!" Envy whiped his sweating forehead. It was clear he was panicking. Ghastly helpfully drew the projecter that stood in the corner of the room to a blank white wall where Skulduggery stood.
Everyone shifted slightly in there chair to get a better look.
Skulduggery slipped in a slide across the projecter, Ghastly switched the lights off and sat down.
The first image was of the Riddle's office. A dark panelled wall with a spear rack attached on. Inside it was four medieval spears, but there should have been five. There was a gap in the middle of the display where the fifth should have been, but it was empty.
Skulduggery pointed at it, "This is the weapon that killed Major Riddle."
Everyone was silent, deciding over whether they agreed to it or not. Hugo Spite suddenly sounded, "And how do you suppose that then. It might've been like that before the murder."
Skulduggery slided over another picture, and now there was a different picture. This time it was more different. It was divded with two different pictures, side by side. On the left was the bloody wound of Riddle's neck, and on the right, a close up of the spear's sharp blade.
Skulduggery pointed to the jagged edges of the spear's blade, "See the markings?" he asked the spectators, and then he circled his two bony fingers around the wound on the next picture. "It is completely the same as the markings around the flesh wound."
He stopped and looked at everyone.
"Ladies and Gentlmen, this is what killed Major Riddle."
It was silent of a while, until Mr Envy suddenly jumped out of his seat and starting applauding, "Well done, Detective! I knew you could do this!"
Hugo spite grimaced at Envy, and Ghastly stopped Envy from shaking Skulduggery's hand, "Stop, there is still more."
"Ghastly is right, I am not finished."
"Oh?" Envy muttered, "What else have you discovered?"
But before Skulduggery could go on, Detective Spite stood up to catch Envy's attention. "Mr Envy, may I have a chance to voice my conclusion to the case?"
"You will have your go after Skulduggery has had his." Envy waved his hand at him, which made Spite's face go bright red with anger. No one had ever dared to dismiss or even speak so rudely to him before. Reluctantly, Spite sat back down, but not before throwing Skulduggery a look that could've killed him, if he weren't already dead in the first place, that is.
"Right," Skulduggery said, and slidded in a new picture slide. It shown the painted portrait of Jerome Riddle that Valkyrie had taken. Skulduggery pointed to the tattoo on Jerome's arm.
"As you know, Jerome had a significant tattoo on his arm. In this picture the tattoo is clearly on the right arm. But on this one…" he slided another picture in, the picture of the dead body of Riddle, with the close up of the tattoo. "…the tattoo is on his left arm." Everyone sat forwards in their chair, squinting at the pictures and then suddenly realising he was right. Envy gasped, "The forensic detectives missed that." he paused, remembering that the same Forensic Detectives were the ones who were kidnapped and possibly held captive. "Ah, I guess they did found out."
"Does anyone know what this means?" Everyone was silent, but they knew what it meant. "It seems Jerome hasn't been murdered at all. We've been hoodwinked."
"So, what you are saying is…Jerome has been in it all along?" Hugo said.
"Possibly, or held for ransom with the Warlocks or being forced to help them with world domination."
Through out the room discussion, Elsa and Theodore were unusually quiet. They sat in their seats with their heads bowed, and their hands at their inside jacket. It was only with the movement of their arms did everyone suddenly focused on the two and actually realise what was happening.
Elsa and Theodore were at the back end of the table, and mostly submerged in the shadows. But within that, they had heard Skulduggery unfurl the case before their ears, and they looked at each other and decided that their real identities would be revealed.
They reached into their jackets and when everyone was too involved in what Skulduggery had discovered, they took the advantage and when they noticed the movement it was too late.