Chapter 8 - Tension

Flora woke with a start. She rubbed her eyes, yawning, and wondered where the shouting was coming from. She looked at her alarm clock, sat on the bedside table of one of Bronev's spare bedrooms, and saw it was eleven o'clock at night. "What the hell is going on out there...?"

She got out of bed and followed the sound of the arguing. It was coming from the room the professor and Emmy were sharing.

"So you don't suspect that I'm lying to you?"

"No, Emmy."

"Or that this is all my fault?"

"No, Emmy!"

"Then why are you leaving?!"

"Emmy, my dear-"

"DON'T SWEET-TALK ME!"

"Emmy, this isn't your fault, I know that as well as you do, but I'm going away to gather information on Andrea's past to find out where she might be now, that's all!"

"But what has her past got to do with anything? What the hell will that tell you, Hershel?"

"Well, it might actually explain why she's torturing us like this."

Emmy glared. "Where are you even going?"

The professor stared at his feet.

"Do you even know?" she asked exasperatedly.

"Yes," the professor sighed, "But I don't know if you really want to know..."

Emmy stared at him incredulously. "This is obviously big, and it concerns our son, and you don't think I want to know? Really?"

"It's late, and I'm leaving rather early, so I should really finish packing and get some sleep-"

"Why are you leaving, professor?"

The professor and Emmy turned to see Flora staring at them from the door way. She looked scared and upset.

"You explain. Maybe you can make more sense of this than I can, Flora." Emmy got up and stormed out.

"Emmy..." the professor got up after her and grabbed for her hand, but she shrugged him off and carried on out the door and down the stairs. The professor ran after her and Bronev exited his bedroom and followed.

The professor caught up with her and grabbed her shoulder.

"Get off!" she stopped in her tracks, turned around and pushed him away from her. "I'm sick of this, Hershel! I'm sick of everyone lying to me and leaving me! You think this is easy for me? Don't you think I've felt like packing my bags and running away a million times before? And have I? No! So what gives you the right to up and leave us when we clearly need you?" she choked, tears starting up in her eyes.

The professor tried to pull her into a hug but she pushed him away again.

"Me and Flora, we need you right now, Hershel. I need you. I love you, Hershel."

The professor stared at her sadly. "I love you too, Emmy. But I need to go, my dear, I need to find out what this is all about."

"Where are you going?" Bronev asked warily.

The professor sighed heavily.

"Tell us Layton. Because if you don't, I'll go and track you down anyway. We'll all know eventually, so just tell us."

The professor sighed and look awkwardly at down at his feet.

"You know what? I really don't care what you do right now. If you want to go, just go. I'll call you when I find our son."

"Sleep in my room tonight, Emmeline. I'll follow you up in a moment."

Emmy ran past the professor without looking at him and hurried upstairs.

Bronev turned to Flora. "You ought to go back to bed, my girl, it's late. I'll talk to him." He cocked his head to the professor.

"Okay..." Flora turned and ran upstairs too. She entered the professor's room and rummaged through his bag. She eventually found what she was looking for - the professor's boarding pass for his flight the following morning. She went back to her room and shut the door, locking it. She reached under her bed and grabbed her rucksack, which she had used to bring some essential belongings to Bronev's house after the press started hounding them. She opened the wardrobe and shoved all her belongings in the bag, zipping it up. She then turned to her laptop, switching it on and logged onto a flight comparison site to book a flight on the same plane as the professor. She saw that there was one on the same plane and at the same time as the professor and smiled, satisfied. "If the professor thinks he's going to a foreign country on his own in the state he's in, he's got another think coming..."

"Why are you doing this to her, Layton? Why do you insist on hurting someone you clearly love?"

The professor hesitated. "... I'm going to Prague."

Bronev frowned. "Why?"

"When I was at Scotland Yard today, I read Chovanek's file. It said that he had been convicted of crimes against young girls in Prague, and I think Andrea was one of them."

Bronev's eyes widened. "That's why you wouldn't tell Emmeline?"

"Precisely. She has only recently gotten over what she knows he's done... Who knows how she could react to something like that?"

"But why did you even look at his file?" Bronev asked. "Surprisingly enough, I wouldn't have suspected Chovanek to have played any part in this."

"Chovanek has broken out of prison," the professor said.

Bronev froze. "That's impossible. He is a top security prisoner. He's under every kind of watch imaginable - drug watch, suicide watch, strip searches - you name it. Bloom told me," Bronev added as the professor gave him a questioning look. "And anyway, if someone that notorious is walking the streets, don't you think the general public would have been warned of such a thing? I've been keeping an eye on all the news reports and evening papers, and there's been no mention of a break out."

"Then Scotland Yard must be trying to cover it up," the professor deducted. "After all, if what you say about their security measures is true, then how would it make them look if it got out that he broke out?"

Bronev nodded. "Fair point. Where do you think he went?"

"I'm not sure," the professor admitted. "But we can't be sure if he wants to harm Emmy. After all, they have been getting on a lot better recently. He has no reason to harm Emmy."

"That never stopped him before," Bronev pointed out darkly. The professor nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, I want to investigate in Prague to see if I can't get Andrea's real name. Her file was nearly empty bar her most recent crimes, which leads me to conclude that Andrea McIntyre isn't her real name. If I check a few records and speak to a few sources, I should be able to get a name and track her down."

Bronev nodded. "I shouldn't have doubted your skills, Layton. But do you still think Emmeline is hiding something?"

The professor shrugged. "Emmy is acting strangely around me. I admit that it is justified, what with everything that is happening, but nevertheless I must investigate."

Bronev sighed and nodded. "I will talk to her, but I can assure you that she has nothing left to hide from you."

"I'll figure that out in Prague," Layton nodded. "I just hope you're right."