9 years after unwound future

Chapter one

"Hello, Professor!"

A lump came to Professor Hershel Layton's throat; he couldn't believe how much the boy had grown. The small, innocent child with a fervent curiosity in his eyes had been replaced with a tall, strapping college student. "Luke" he said with a smile, the two embraced.

"It's good to see you!" Said Layton, he gestured to a chair, "Please, sit down."

"How have you been?"

"Busy" replied Luke, "what with college and all, but exams are finally over! And you?"

"I've been better" he replied quietly. The truth was he was not well at all, he had injured his leg recently in a fall and it wasn't healing properly, the doctor had said that if it didn't heal up he would need to start using a cane, but for now, he was managing without it.

Luke was about to say "what happened" but instead heard shouting outside

"Professor LAAAAAYTON!" Someone shouted, the two men covered their ears. "What a ghastly sound…" remarked Luke.

The door burst open and a thin young woman rushed inside. "Good morning Professor!"

"Good morning, Jessica" said Layton as pleasantly as he could, "what brings you here?"

"The hall porter was distributing the mail" said Jessica, handing him several crumpled envelopes, "I was already on the way up so I thought I'd take it off his hands!"

He took the envelopes from her, trying his best to keep his face neutral. "Thank you Jessica" he replied, forcing a smile.

She smiled and skittered out.

Luke gave Layton a quizzical look, raising one eyebrow slightly. Layton chuckled lightly, "Jessica moved into the flat three doors down a few days ago, she's trying to make a good first impression I imagine."

Luke nodded, "my first impression of her is; she's a little eccentric but she means well."

"You wouldn't be far off there." Layton shuffled through the mail, bill, bill, advertisement for a life insurance company; his eyes fell on the one envelope that had a return address on it, a very strange return address.

77 Osborne Lane,

Beckenham

You'll find out soon enough

Luke peered over his shoulder, "'you'll find out soon enough'?" Muttered Luke,

"Have I taught you nothing Luke?" Teased Layton, "a gentleman doesn't read over another's shoulder!"

Luke laughed, "Sorry." Luke nudged Layton's shoulder, "come on, open it!"

Layton carefully opened the envelope, removing the letter inside, he read it out:

Dear Professor Layton,

Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to read my letter!

I am writing to you because something terrible has happened in my town; several strange happenings have occurred in this town. The police have written them off as accidents, but I know otherwise.

At the bottom of the page is a puzzle, much like what you'll have to face here, explaining who I am. I hope you can solve it.

I'm sure you're very busy, but if you can find time to help a scared woman we'd be much obliged. The address on this envelope is not my house, but if you go to that town and ask someone for me they'll know where to find me.

- 5,17,18,19,16,8,7

Layton's brow furrowed at the seemingly random string of numbers. "5, 17, 18, 19, 16, 8 and 7?" He muttered. The fifth letter in the alphabet was E, but if he went by placement in the alphabet the result was E, Q, R, S, P, H, G. EQRSPHG? He thought, gibberish.

"What do these numbers mean?" Muttered Luke, his eyes caught the periodic table of the elements on display in the corner of the room. "Of course!" Luke rushed over and pulled the plaque from the wall. "Let's try using the periodic table." Said Luke,

Layton's lips curled into a smile, clever, he thought. He picked up a pen, "5; Boron, B." He scrawled a curly letter B onto the letter under the corresponding number, "17, Chlorine, Cl." He wrote "Cl" next to the B,

"18, Argon, Ar," "19, potassium, K," "16, sulfur, S," "8, oxygen, O," "7, Nitrogen, N." He looked down at his handiwork and smiled with satisfaction; the letters formed together to read BClArKSON.

"B. Clarkson." Layton read, "very good Luke."

"I learned from the best." Replied Luke, quickly grabbing his bag,

"Where are you going?"

"What are you waiting for? Let's go pay this, Ms. Clarkson a visit!" Said Luke, "come on, it'll be just like old times; Professor Layton and his apprentice solve a puzzling mystery!"

Layton couldn't help but smile; he stood up and followed Luke to the door, trying his best to disguise his limp.

…

The Laytonmobile chugged along the bumpy road; they had discovered that Beckenham was not a very well-known town. They had already gotten lost three times on the way there, and had to ask for directions. "We're here" said Luke, pointing out the window, a shabby sign on the side of the road read "Welcome to Beckenham" in crooked black letters; they could see the lights shining from inside the houses.

"This must be the place," muttered Layton.

They drove slowly down the road, looking for street signs in the near darkness, they finally found Osborne lane and turned right.

75, 76, 77! He thought, he opened the door of the car and stepped out. Luke felt as shiver go up his spine as he got out of the car; something about this town gave him the heebie-jeebies. He couldn't explain exactly what it was about the town that creeped him out; maybe the lack of streetlamps? Maybe the dead trees and lack of birds? Or perhaps the fact that their destination was an old, stone church with a graveyard stretching all the way around it?

"Let's go" said Layton, opening the metal gate in front of the church. Luke felt a shiver go up his spine; it was definitely the graveyard. Most of the headstones in front of the church were in awful shape; worn with age, cracked, and covered with cobwebs, add the fact that it was dusk and it was the perfect opening setting for a bad horror movie. Professor Layton gripped the wooden door knob to one of the tall red doors and pulled it open slightly, only to find that there was a chain lock on the other side and he couldn't open it all the way. He shut the door and knocked several times. He could hear the sound of footsteps, click, click. The lock came undone and the door swung open revealing a tall, pale man of around thirty five. The white collar around his neck identified him as a priest.

"Hello" he said pleasantly, he caught Luke eyeing the metal chain which now touched the floor "please excuse the lock; we had a robbery two years ago." He gestured to the sanctuary, "of course if you've come here to say your prayers, you're welcome to…"

"I'm afraid not, Reverend…?"

"Michael Crane" he replied, "If I may ask, what is your name?"

"My name is Hershel Layton, and this is my assistant, Luke Triton."

"Professor Layton" he replied, nodding his head slightly, "I've heard of you; what brings you to our little town?"

"Do you know of a, Ms. Clarkson living around here?" Asked Luke,

He gave Luke a quizzical look, as if confused, "Beatrice? Yes…" he replied "I knew her; why do you ask?"

"We received a letter from her yesterday, she asked us to come here and ask someone about where to find her." Replied Luke

"What?"

Layton took the letter from his pocket and handed it to Crane, "She wished for us to investigate some 'strange happenings' in this town."

Crane furrowed his brow, reading the letter several times, he looked up at them, "you're absolutely sure you received it yesterday?"

"Of course we are" said Luke, his patience wearing thin "could you tell us where to find her?"

"I don't think you understand." Replied Crane, "Mrs. Clarkson is dead."

…

The three stared at each other for what felt like a long time. "…Dead?"

Crane nodded gravely, "yes, three weeks dead, I performed the funeral service." He shook his head, "poor woman."

"What happened to her?" Asked Luke,

Crane bit his lip, "…according to the police it was natural causes…"

"You don't believe them?" Said Layton,

"I don't think anyone in the village does." Replied Crane, lowering his voice, "there were just too many coincidences."

"What sort of coincidences?"

"Her husband Wallace died a mere two days earlier, we ended up burying them in the same coffin" he pointed to the slip of paper in Layton's hand, "the puzzle on that sheet? It was found crumpled in his left hand, written in dripping red ink."

"A clue pointing to the next victim," said Luke, nodding his head.

"The police assumed it was some sort of calculation, but no one believed it, and now poor Beatrice is dead." He sighed.

"How did she die?" Asked Layton,

"I don't know" replied Crane, "no one knows for sure. But I think you should talk to the man who lives on the hill over there, he's the one who found the body."

"What's his name?"

"… David Renaldi or, David Reynolds or something like that" replied Crane, "I've only met him once, and he barely ever comes down to the village. The only person who sees him on a regular basis is his maid, Kymma; I don't think he likes visitors so you'd best be careful."

Layton nodded, "good to know."

"Well then, good day to you," Said Crane before shutting the door and locking it once more.

Luke and Layton turned around and walked away from the church, "he sure does like to run his mouth," Said Luke.

"He seems like a nervous fellow." Said Layton,

"Maybe he had something to do with the murder…" Muttered Luke, thinking aloud

"If it was indeed a murder, Luke" pointed-out Layton, "just because no one in town believes that it was natural causes doesn't mean it was murder, we need to gather more evidence first. In the meantime let's go visit this 'Mr. Renaldi.'"

"Good idea." Said Luke, the two of them hopped back into the car and drove through the town and up the hill.

…

The house certainly wasn't the most inviting place on earth. It wasn't a mansion, but it was slightly larger than average, it was painted white with a black roof and black shutters. A garden of white roses which was adequately tended sat in front of the house, and a cobblestone driveway which was in need of repair stretched down to the road. Layton and Luke stepped out of the car and knocked on one of the tall, wooden doors.

A short young woman answered the door, "hello." She said,

"Hello," replied Layton, "you must be Kymma."

"Yes, are you here to see Mr. Renaldi?"

"If this is a convenient time…?"

"Oh no, it's fine, Mr…"

"Professor Hershel Layton"

"And my name is Luke Triton." Added Luke,

"Mmhmm," said Kymma, looking the two up and down, "he's in the library, please follow me."

"Thank you."

Kymma turned on her heel and led them through the house, her red curls bouncing behind her. Faded portraits lined the hall, Luke's eyes landed on a family portrait of a man, a woman, and a teenager who he assumed was their son, a son who was now fifty four. Kymma stopped at the end of the hall and opened the door, "Mr. Renaldi?" She asked, opening the door just a crack. "You have visitors."

"Send them in." Grunted a voice from inside,

Kymma opened the door and let the two inside. Luke's jaw dropped when he saw who it was sitting there. His grey hair was now streaked with white and he wore a pair of half-moon glasses to disguise his face, but he could tell almost immediately who this man really was, and his name was most certainly not David Renaldi.

"Renaldi's" eyes widened, "Kymma" he said, not taking his eyes off of Luke and Layton, "leave us."

Kymma's eyes narrowed, she glanced at him, then at Luke and Layton, and then slowly walked out, shutting the door behind her.

"Dimitri?" Asked Luke, staring at the man before him agape,

"Hello Luke," he said, "I wish I could say it's good to see you both, but that would be a lie."