Professor Layton: Conundrum of the Vanishing

Chapter Sixteen

The rest of our heroes and heroines made their way to the mansion belonging to the Bennett couple. Misa raised her hand to the door and knocked. 

Reina opened the door with a smile that was far too sweet for any normal person. Misa considered herself to be an optimist, looking at the glass half full instead of half empty, but even she knew that it was practically impossible to smile as much as Reina did. "Hello there, children! I didn't expect to see you around here so soon. I figured that you would all be asleep still," she told the group. "What can I do for you all?"

"If it's at all possible, we would like to speak with you and your husband briefly. We were wondering if you could answer a few more questions of ours about the case you have given us," Misa told Reina. 

Reina smiled further and opened the door wider so that the entire group could follow her inside. She called out for Randall, her voice echoing throughout the open entryway. Misa noted how much this place echoed sounds. She knew that they would have to talk quietly about the case when left alone so that Reina and Randall didn't hear of their suspicions. Misa wasn't exactly keen on telling Randall and Reina that she suspected them of being responsible for bringing the mysterious men into the town of Bohimika. 

They all sat down on the couches in the living room and looked between each other awkwardly. Misa couldn't help but focus on the never faltering smile of Reina. It made her shudder as much as she hated to admit it. 

Randall came hurrying into the room not long after, brushing off his suit to rid it of any wrinkles or specks of lint not seen to the naked eye. Randall smiled at them all before taking a seat next to Reina. "What is it that you want to know? I'm sure that we can give you at least a little bit of information before you continue your investigation," Randall said, looking between Misa and Kurisu, who sat across from him. 

"We were wondering... Who do you think brought these mysterious men into your city? It's only natural that you would know at least a little bit about why they're here, or at the very least that you have a few theories regarding it," Toya said. She glared at them. Misa shot her a glance that she prayed would make Toya relax, but in the end, her efforts were futile. Misa should have suspected this. Toya could be a rather stubborn girl when she wanted to be, and this was one of the instances where she wanted to be as stubborn as was possible. 

"We don't have any solid ideas as to why they would be here," Reina admitted, looking down. She was still smiling like an idiot when confessing this. "However, we do have a theory or two as to why these agents are here."

Misa frowned and stared at Reina for a moment. It wasn't worth pointing out that Reina had called them agents yet. She needed to get a little bit more information before she could accuse them and not look like a child who had no idea what was going on around her. 

"What are your theories?" Alex asked. He had caught on to what Reina had said and wasn't going to let anybody spill their one good piece of evidence to the enemy. "You said that you have two or so, and I would like to hear them, if that's all fine with you."

"I believe that somebody within the borders of our city called them into the town for their own sick needs. I never would have suspected that somebody here in Bohimika would really ask for people to stalk us all throughout the hours of the day only to sink into the shadows at night," Randall said. 

Reina nodded. "I agree. As preposterous as it may sound, I believe that this is one of the only possibilities for why they would be around here," she said. 

"What if they were being paid a large amount of money and that's why they had the men come in?" Randall asked, tapping his chin in thought. "All of our citizens are loyal, so unless they wanted money, there isn't a reason that they'd let in criminals."

"What's your other theory?" Toya asked. She was starting to catch on as well. As far as Misa could see, everybody understood what was happening by this point. 

"Our other theory is that they took over the city without us knowing and manipulated all the citizens to be the way they are, all shaky and afraid," Reina said. "They didn't get to us, however..."

"If they had tried to take over our city by getting through us, we would have done something to try and get them out. We wouldn't tell our citizens to fear us. We're not that type of people. Unlike some people, such as some rulers in America, we aren't going to do anything too ridiculous just because we have power," Randall told the group with a nod. "

Alex looked between everybody in the group. They all nodded as he glanced at them. Alex then turned to Reina and Randall with a smirk and stood up, clapping slowly and sarcastically. "I find that rather hard to believe, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett," Alex told them. "Even if you try and deny it, you won't be able to get very far since you're making it all too easy for us to point out that you're involved in this case. Even if you aren't the masterminds, you have something to do with the appearance of these men, and I intend to point out what you've been doing."

"And I'll be assisting you," Misa piped in, standing up as well. "Go on and start us off, Alex. It's about time that we unveiled the true sides to these two authority figures."

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i love my new child ailee okay bye

-Digital