Chapter 6

"At Ryme City Police Headquarters"

Having heard of what transpired, I could only think of the idea that the threat made against Pan Am flights from Frankfurt to the United States was not a hoax after all. But, why would a Pan Am flight from London go down unless Flight 103 originated in Frankfurt? Could someone have targeted a direct Pan Am flight from Frankfurt and instead be forced to switch to the ill fated Flight 103 via London?

20 minutes after I received the call from Lieutenant Hoshida, I arrived at the Ryme City Police Headquarters only to be met by several Ryme City Police Officers.

"Detective," said one of the officers. "Lieutenant's waiting."

"Why are you guys here?" I asked.

"One of the Embassy staff is here," answered the other officer. "Sitting with the Lieutenant now."

Grunting, I proceeded into the station and there sat the loo and a man in a dark suit that was in his mid 30's.

"Harry, thanks for coming in on short notice," said Hoshida, getting up to greet me as I walked in. "This is Frank Buxton from the US Embassy in Tokyo."

"Detective," he said, shaking my hand. "I trust you've seen the news reports."

"I have, sir," I answered, sitting down. "A Pan Am jet over Scotland goes down. But, I can't help but wonder if it's too early to jump to conclusions yet."

"Well, judging from the threat that was made two weeks ago to our embassy in Finland," explained Buxton. "We can't rule it out entirely that the Pan Am jumbo was bombed and considering the fact that 25 students from the Pokemon League Academy were on board, it's very likely."

Taking a deep breath, I absorbed what was said and waited for the next bit of information to come out.

"Um, Mr. Buxton," I said, adjusting my glasses. "Did any more reports come out of Scotland while I was on my way over?"

"The reports are that Flight 103 went down over a small town called Lockerbie, just on the border with England and Scotland. A petrol station was hit as was a neighborhood within Lockerbie called Sherwood Crescent. We also can't rule out the possibility of ground casualties as well."

"My God," I whispered. "What about survivors?"

"We're not sure, but it's likely that no one survived," sighed Mr. Buxton. "But because there were Pokemon trainers on board, this is a matter for you guys. However, it's my understanding that a Howard Clifford was arrested here not too long ago?"

This was a surprise, why would Roger Clifford be brought up? He created that gas that mind controlled Mewtwo and any other Pokemon from that lab I was investigating at the time of my accident.

"What does he have to do with what's going on in Scotland?" I asked.

"An early hypothesis is that an explosive Pokemon under his mind control gas was placed in a suitcase and acted as a bomb."

"Hold it, hold it," I interrupted, waving my arms to stop him. "With all due respect, Mr. Buxton, why would Howard Clifford smuggle an explosive Pokemon on board a plane if he's already in prison awaiting trial for what he did a few months ago? I saw him in handcuffs."

"With all due respect, Harry," reminded Yoshida. "You were stuck inside your Pikachu, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, but it doesn't make sense. Unless, of course, Howard was contracted by someone like Team Rocket to help carry out an attack against a Pan Am plane. But why?"

"He was probably trying to pay for his legal fees, for one thing," remarked Yoshida. "But there are also two types of Pokemon that are known to explode…Voltorb and Electrode. One of the two could have been brainwashed to act as a bomb using the R gas."

Just then, another thought came into my mind, a thought that was somewhat familiar.

"Wait a minute," I said, looking over to my Lieutenant. "Do you remember that Air India flight that went down over Ireland? The one that killed 329 people?"

But it seems like Buxton knew what we were talking about.

"And the bombing that was intended for an Air India flight leaving Tokyo that killed two ground workers, Detective. It seems to me that this may have been a similar incident if it's a bombing. But, we can't be sure."

Just then, the phone rang and Yoshida answered it, not being prepared for what he heard next.

"Hello, this is Yoshida?" he answered, his eyes widening in shock. "What?! When?!"

He then passed the phone over to me.

"It's Tim. He says that there are reports coming out of Greece about a suitcase in Athens."

Immediately, I spoke into the phone.

"Tim, what's going on?" I asked.

"I saw your note on the fridge," Tim answered. "But, there's something coming out of Greece about a pair of Electrodes found in a suitcase at the Athens airport. Apparently, it came off of a Middle Eastern Airlines flight and was destined for a Trans World Airlines flight to New York via Rome."

"From Beirut?" I asked. "Tim, are you and Pikachu dressed?"

"Yeah, why?"

"See if you can both get down here to the station as fast as you can. This might be a criminal case with what's going on in Scotland right now."

I quickly hung up the phone and realized along with Yoshida, the gravity of the situation. A Pan Am plane going down and then a suitcase bound for a TWA Flight that was intercepted. All the makings were there of a terrorist attack brought on by Team Rocket.

"Yoshida, what are we going to do?" I asked, seemingly dumbstruck by the news we got.

"I'll tell you what you're going to do," said Buxton, looking at all three of us in the eyes. "You are going to Pan Am headquarters in New York, both of you and yes, you as well, Pikachu. I want you both to follow up on the threat that was made back on December 5th and see if Pan Am followed up on the threat made against them or not."

"With all due respect, Mr. Buxton," Tim said. "Shouldn't we be questioning Howard Clifford? If he is involved in this accident..."

"For all due respect, young man," Buxton countered. "He is my witness for the time being. I will be heading to the Ryme City Prison later this morning to question him."

Both of us gave each other a stare and could only wonder just what was going to follow up in the early part of this investigation. First a bombing over Scotland and a discovered bomb in Greece and somehow Howard Clifford was involved?

It just didn't make sense to me.