Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright: The Frigid Melody

The 7:15 to Aberdeen

Having failed to fit the letter back inside the envelope, Luke decided to read over the missing man's dossier for a third time and left the other papers sitting beside his plate.

"...so this man disappeared in the Scottish mountains?" he asked.

He looked up for a response as his mentor rested his teacup in its saucer on the table between them.

"Supposedly his most recent report to the quote-unquote Outside World was a brief summary of his short-term plan," Layton explained, and Luke scanned through the dossier again to find the relevant data. "He was to proceed to this somewhat isolated village, remain for only a few days and then leave, but a full fortnight passed after that and he failed to make contact with any of the people he was supposed to keep in touch with."

Luke unfolded the map they had been provided with, muttering a quick thanks to the waiter who removed his plate and gave him room to spread it out.

It was a marbled pattern of grey and white, depicting terrain far too rough and rugged for any sensible person to call their home, but call it their home some people apparently had. Thin lines of roads were spread intermittently among the mountains and, in the centre of a rather unnecessary red circle drawn by the map's provider, was a small settlement with a name listed above it:

Fatargan

"It seems, therefore," Layton continued, "that one of those people decided to take matters into their own hands."

Luke tried to follow the one road that he could see leading to this Fatargan place, but it was so winding and thin that it made his eyes hurt. He decided that meant it wasn't worth trying, so he folded up the map and rested it next to the mass of other papers.

"And they decided to blackmail a world-famous archaeologist into finding their friend," he noted, and kept his voice low so that nobody else in the dining car would overhear. "I can understand their motivations, but the methods are questionable, to say the least!"

"From a person declaring themselves a Great Thief," Layton replied as Luke poured himself a fresh glass of water, "I would hardly have expected any different. Not to worry, Luke; I've already contacted Scotland Yard to let them know they should tighten their security."

"Good call, Professor," said Luke. "Although from what I can tell..." He held up the letter. "...this person seems a little misguided on what being a 'thief' actually means."

He opened the letter up to make sure he knew what he was talking about.

"Isn't that term reserved for people who steal physical materials?" he asked. "Like an art thief or a jewellery thief, but even then, they don't normally release their stolen goods to the public. This person seems more like a habitual whistleblower than a thief."

Layton laughed as he reached for the stack of papers.

"Well, I suppose 'Great Thief' is simply a snappier title than 'Great Whistleblower'," he pointed out, and he started trying to fit all the documents back inside the envelope. "It's easy to understand why they would use an alias, given the nature of what they do. If what they've discovered about our adventures is any indication, to expose themselves by name would immediately make them public enemy number one."

"They didn't actually say anything about these places though, did they?"

Luke passed the letter across the table to be stashed away for safekeeping.

"It was just a list of names!" he pointed out. "How do we know that isn't all they found out? Professor, we could be playing right into their bluff!"