So, my first ever Professor Layton story. I have fallen in love with him all over again, and the pairing of him with Emmy. And, needless to say, I was greatly disappointed to see the lack of stories out there! So I decided that if I could not read them I shall have to write some for others to read! No need for everybody to be disappointed.

I am hoping to get a full on story going, similar to the adventures that would be going on in the games, but with a romance in the background. I am not making any promises, as my track record may suggest I am rather useless at keeping my word. But we can live in hope!

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!

Note: Thank you to the wonderful Zilla for the picture now used as the thumbnail. You shall have to read on to find out where it comes from ;)

Professor Hershel Layton was a world renowned puzzle solver, Archaeologist, intellectual and, most importantly, a gentleman. But all of these things did not stop him from getting distracted every now and again. It had been a last minute thing, he would tidy away the mess of books that littered his desk before he left his office for the night, surely it was not a difficult task. And it wasn't, if only one did not end up reading a book almost every time he picked one up. The last time he had looked at the clock on the wall it had been twenty minutes past eleven, not an unusual time for him to leave, if he ever did. But at some point he must have fallen asleep because..

"Professor- Oh! I am so sorry, I never thought you might be asleep."

Hershel leapt to his feet in shock, wincing as his eyes were assaulted by the bright morning sunshine. But his assistant's voice filtered through the haze of sleep and he smiled, shaking his head. "Nonsense. It is my fault. I tend to lose track of time when-"

"You have your nose in a book, I know." She grinned at the sight of a sleepy Professor who was retrieving the book that had fallen from his chest in his haste to rise. He politely stifled a yawn as he placed the now closed book down.

"What was it this time?"

"The art of knapping." He raised an eyebrow when she failed to cover her snort of laughter. "Yes, yes, very funny. Crafting flint into tools."

"I know, Professor, but I could not resist. I brought your mail! I knew you wouldn't retrieve it as, yet again, the box was overflowing. Perhaps you should get another assistant, one who just fetches the mail for you and reads it aloud? Then you could dictate responses and you may actually get somewhere with this pile."

"I must say it seems to grow more and more every day." He settled behind his desk, the kettle gently boiling in the background.

"That is because you barely read any of them. You open one or two and get lost in them, forgetting all about the others which then ultimately get lost amongst the mess you call an office."

"I could take offence to that, Miss Altava."

"Well, did you Mister Layton?"

"That's Professor to you, young lady." He laughed gently and chose the top piece of mail she had brought him. "Would you like some tea?"

"Only if you stop calling me young lady, I am not that much younger than you. I shall make it, you get on with that." She nodded to the letter he had just opened and he gently thanked her. He would have one cup of tea, answer his mail and then quickly dash home to clean up. A gentleman did not go around in yesterday's clothes without having washed, oh no.

He was aware that Emmy began speaking to him at some point but her words were not clear to him, he merely heard a noise beside his left ear. His dark eyes quickly scanned the contents of the letter, lifting the page to read that behind it, then handed it to his assistant.

"So sorry to have ignored you Emmy, but I believe we are needed outside of London." He left his seat to grab his black jacket, ignoring the steaming cup of tea that had been placed upon his desk. "A place named Mespil. Come on, we must pick up Luke! Bring the letter, he shall wish to read it."

Dear Mister Layton,

I hope that this letter finds you well but I am afraid I must do away with all other pleasantries at this time. I am writing you in order to request some help, I am sure this much you have already deducted. Out here in Mespil, the middle of nowhere I assure you, we have heard of your amazing work at Misthallery, not to mention with several other mysteries across the country. My town, well, myself mainly, were hoping you may be able to help us with our own situation.

It started a few months ago with some minor thefts, nothing particularly large. Our local police force, which unfortunately only consists of three men, did investigate but to no avail. Nobody was arrested for the thefts. The items varied from mundane items to more extravagant silverware taken from our village's eldest family, they do not seem to have any connections. So it was simply passed off as petty thievery and as the occurences soon stopped nobody thought much more on it.

But a month after the last theft, almost to the day, the local animals started to go missing. Cats and dogs mainly, they would wander off and just never come home. We have very few cars and other means that could cause a sad demise to such creatures so we were all at a loss as to what was happening. It averaged out as an animal a week for around six weeks until, again, it suddenly stopped.

Finally, two weeks ago, it started again. But this time it was so much worse. People have gone missing. Nobody can explain it, these people just disappear. They have disappeared from all sorts of locations at very different times, the fourth has now disappeared. Our local police force are struggling to find out what is going on, they are not sure if it is all linked but I am no fool, Mister Layton. Something strange is going on in this town and I know of no other person who could possibly help.

Please, help our town. We have no idea what is going on.

Thank you,

Tonetta Merrin

No matter how hard he tried, he could not resist a good mystery.