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“Someone here masterminded a scheme even more awful than yours, Dimitri.” The professor walked with his back turned to the room. “And that person is there!”
He spun around, pointing directly at Clive.
Was this it?
“I think you’re mistaken, professor. ”
Was the professor finally going to stop him or help him? Would he find that perfect solution Clive hadn’t thought of, that brilliant solution which would hold Hawks to the law without weaselling his way out?
“No, there’s no mistake here. And there’s no hiding it anymore, Luke. Or should I call you Clive?”
Clive’s eyes widened. He knew . He was going to stop him. He was going to find that brilliant-
“It took some time to put together the pieces of your plan. But when I finally understood it all, the sheer evil of it sent a chill down my spine.”
His stomach dropped.
Evil .
The sheer evil of it.
He was going to stop him but he wasn’t going to help . He wasn’t interested in stopping Hawks as well, he was only interested in stopping Clive . This whole charade had all been for naught.
“Wh-what is he talking about, Clive?” The pawn mumbled a question.
Clive ignored him, Dimitri was of no concern to him anymore.
The professor kept his focus on Clive, ignoring Dimitri’s question.
“You kept your true intentions hidden from everyone, Clive. Even your partner, Dimitri.”
“What are you saying, Hershel?” Dimitri pleaded . It was tiring to listen to.
“...” Clive let the facade drop a small amount. He let his face drop from confusion to blankness. What role was the professor about to cast him as? What part is he to perform now?
“Clive was aiming for revenge on a massive scale, and you were nothing more than a pawn, Dimitri.” The professor finally answered Dimitri’s question.
“Tremendous work, Professor. You’ve found me out.”
Pay attention to me . Not that fool. Recognize me !
“Stop speaking in riddles, Layton!” The police inspector interrupted. “What’s this all about?”
“Clive, you lived next door to the lab that exploded 10 years ago.” The professor matched his gaze, keeping level eye contact. The both of them ignored the room around them, the police, the scientists, Luke and Flora, they were all background elements. “You were just a child then. That blast demolished half of the building you lived in. Reports indicate that 10 people were killed in the explosion, two of whom were your parents. It must have been a terrible shock. In the span of a few seconds, you lost your family and your home. When the initial shock wore off, it was replaced with anger. You became obsessed with exacting revenge on those who had wronged you.”
So were YOU ! Clive wanted to yell. I KNOW you were obsessed with uncovering Claire’s killer. I have him right here, what don’t you understand!? Her sister is helping me, why won’t you !?
Rather than express that, rather than play into the professor’s hands, rather than seem anything less than composed, Clive just shifted his weight and put a hand to his chin.
“You were lucky enough to be adopted by a kindly woman in her golden years, Constance Dove.” The professor began his explanation. What was the purpose of this? Clive knew all this, why was the professor bothering to explain all this to people who trusted him. If the professor told them that Clive was the villain, then that was the end of the discussion. “Miss Dove’s extreme kindness was only matched in scale by the enormous fortune she possessed. You two lived quite happily as a family for a time. Sadly, it wasn’t to last. Miss Dove departed from this world five short years later, leaving her fortune to you. Before long, you graduated secondary school and took a part-time job at a prominent newspaper. Considering your sizable inheritance, I don’t think you took the job for pocket money. You were searching for something. Using the newspaper’s resources, you finally hunted down the man responsible for your misery. You knew that both Bill Hawks and Dimitri Allen were responsible for the explosion. Armed with this information, you concocted a plan to avenge your parents. First, you befriended Dimitri and convinced him to resume his research on the time machine. Then you used your inheritance to set up this elaborate facsimile of London.” How could the professor be so close but so far from the whole truth. The facts he shared weren’t wrong but what about all the help he received from the other victims of Hawks? What about the fact the professor knew first hand what happened when trying to touch Hawks’ reputation through legal means? “With your stage in place, you used your contacts in the press to find the best scientists in the country. After all, you would need quite a bit of help to complete this time machine. You then proceeded to lure these brilliant men into your trap. However, unbeknownst to Dimitri, most of your staff were not working on the time machine.” Ah. Yes, that. The scientists were mostly blameless but Dimitri was not. Clive needed insurance that Dimitri would be held accountable for something and if that involved framing him, then so be it.
“W-what?”
Dimitri seemed incapable of full sentences, he mumbled words of confusion after explanations like a babbling idiot.
He didn’t get it. The professor didn’t get it at all. How could he be so wrong? Was he that distracted by the woman who looked uncannily similar to his deceased love?
“Clive had secretly reassigned many of the scientists to a different project. You might think of it as his pet project.” Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong wr-
“We don’t have all day, Layton!” The inspector, yet again, interrupted. His purpose was to assist with evacuation, why wouldn’t he shut up and wait for his purpose in this charade to roll around? Becky was poised at the stairs leading to the Thames Arm, ready to pull Chelmey along to the evacuation plans once he left the restaurant. “What was the second project?”
“A weapon designed to cause destruction on an unimaginable scale.”
Correct. Regardless of its purpose, the mobile fortress was nevertheless a weapon.
“A weapon?! Is this true, Clive?”
Oh. That was rich . As if the time machine wasn’t a weapon to cause destruction on an unimaginable scale. As if Allen was innocent in all this. As if he were some clueless bystander.
It was laughable .
And so he laughed.
“And I thought scientists were supposed to be observant!” He couldn’t hold back his feverish anger anymore. “While you focused on your machine, I had a different goal. Though some may call it revenge, I prefer to think of it as justice - over single-minded scientists and corrupt politicians.” With every word, he tried to convey his sheer disdain and disappointment for everyone in the room. He thought the professor of all people would understand. He was sure he would understand. He was sure he would help Clive find another way. But no. He was simply the villain of this adventure.
“What are you saying, Clive?” Dimitri asked with that usual grating tone of confusion. The stupid man never understood, he was so very easy to fool.
“Enough explanations! Let me show you.”
And so the villain he will be if that is what it takes to complete this farce.
He grabbed Flora’s arm and tugs her along.
Time to kick off the final act.