Liar, Liar, the Mage's Desire Vol. 3 (Return of the Oumeno)

Shuichi Saihara, Where Are Ya? (12)

    Kokichi and Himiko climbed all the way down until they ended up on the floor of a tunnel. Because the tunnel was narrow, Kokichi had to reach behind him to hold Himiko's hand.

   "Stay close," Kokichi whispered. 

    "Okay," Himiko whispered back. They proceeded forward until they came to a door with light coming out from underneath. Cautiously, Kokichi opened it before peeking inside. The room looked the exact same as when Shuichi had first seen it, though, the only difference was that the sacks all over the floor were now gone. Kokichi and Himiko walked inside.

   "Hm...so this must be where the Barracuda guy goes to turn the electricity off," Kokichi said, eyeing the fuse box. "Bessie and Barty would know where to find this room, since this is their lighthouse."

   "So, it's definitely one of them?" Himiko asked. Kokichi rubbed his chin in thought.

   "Can't say for sure, yet, Himiko," he mumbled. He looked around the room at the computer, the staircase on the other end, and at the tools leaning against the walls. A sly grin curved across his face. "Well, well...what do we have here?" he said, walking up to one of the tools. He picked up a drill. "This looks like it could be used for drilling holes in boats, don'tcha think?"

   "Oh, my! So, it was Barty that did that!" Himiko exclaimed. "After all, he's a construction worker, so he'd know how to use a tool like that, right?"

   "Maybe!" Kokichi replied, putting the drill back down. 

   "Nyeh...Kokichi! Come look at this!" Himiko said, pointing at the computer screen. Kokichi walked over to her and leaned forward to peek at the screen. 

   "What's up, Monkey Buns?" he asked. On the screen was an open email.

   "It looks like Barty wrote an email to someone with the initials P.G.," Himiko said. 

   "I see," Kokichi replied with a sneaky grin and raising a brow at Himiko. "Hmm...I wonder where we saw those initials." Himiko's eyes lit up.

   "Nyeh...the back of Ivana's jacket earlier today!" she said. 

   "You got it!" Kokichi said. "Let's see what the email says." They both peeked at the email from Barty, which read:

   They're onto us. We need to move fast! Bring the drill back by tonight. We've got to get these nosy kids outta here ASAP. With them outta the way, the lighthouse should be ready to go now that the storm season has passed.

   "Nyeh? What do they mean that the lighthouse should be ready to go?" Himiko asked Kokichi. Kokichi shrugged.

   "I'm not sure," Kokichi replied. "But Barty isn't the one who drilled the hole in that O'Malley guy's boat, it was Ivana."

   "How do you know?" Himiko asked, scratching her head. "P.G. could be anybody. Maybe Ivana had someone else's jacket on."