I can't believe we're at the final chapter for this story, but here it is! The epilogue.

There's more I wish to add, but you are here for the story first, and my notes second, so without further ado...Enjoy! c:


-Epilogue: The Hopkins Twins-

The heavily guarded patrol car soon drove off to Carlisle, while the rest of us returned to Mallowcrest. It was late in the evening by the time we parted ways with our police friends, and the remainder of our group went back to the Inn, where Tamsin was waiting for us, along with two other people.

"Dad!" A mahogany haired man about the Professor's age shouted from his wheelchair. Behind him stood a familiar older woman.

"Gerard?! Carie?!" Jude nearly exclaimed, unintentionally caused the half-awake Zeke and Alfendi to stir, as he sprinted to the porch.

"Dad, Grams! What're you doin' here?!" Cassandra asked once she caught up to her grandfather.

"Oh, we got a call from your cousin, Maisie." Carie explained. "She had the phone on speaker since the whole chase until about an hour ago."

"We heard everything!" Gerard slowly spoke.

"And Gerard insisted on coming, despite travel going against rehab protocol!" Carie added.

"I had to see my boy." Said Gerard, as Jude handed Zeke over to him. "I was so worried."

"I'm okay, Dad." Zeke signed to him.

"The important thing is we're all together again." Jude stated gently, as he and Carie pulled their son and grandchildren in for a hug.

Cassandra, meanwhile, glanced away in the direction of her mother.

"All of us?" She asked, which brought her family's attention to Helen.

Helen stood about ten feet away, but soon slowly walked up to her husband, who now suddenly couldn't bring himself to look at anyone, much less his wife and the mother of his children. The twins looked at each other, concerned, while Jude and Carie gave uncertain expressions as their eyes shifted from their son, their daughter-in-law, then to each other. It was clear to anyone that Helen was more than perplexed by the sight before her.

"Whatever's the matter, Gerard?" Helen asked her husband.

"I'm sorry, Helen…" Gerard barely spoke above a whisper.

"Eh?"

"I thought Deborah was you, and…"

He only got that far before he looked down and began digging his fingertips into his hair. His parents were quick to intervene, in an attempt to get him to calm down.

"What's going on?!" Helen demanded, distressed.

"Dad filed for divorce when she…Deborah was still impersonating you." Cassandra explained to her mother.

"And it was finalized?" Helen asked with hesitation.

"…It was." Her husband regrettably answered.

Once again, Zeke glanced around with that same skeptical look on his face. He then shook his head with a grunt that sounded like an 'uh-uh'.

"Technically, that wasn't actually Mom then." He signed, facing his father, then his mother. "So all you'd have to do is talk to your lawyers to get it all null and void, right?"

Gerard slowly raised his head in realization.

"We could!" He exclaimed.

"Now how do you know what that means, Ezekial?" Helen asked her son, curious.

"We both read a book on law once." Cassandra explained.

"Huh…Well, we'll just have to give them a call once we get the chance!" Helen said, her spirits lifted once more.

"We're gonna take the train home tomorrow!" Cassandra piped up.

"Yes, and apparently they are very fancy." Jude added, quoting his granddaughter.

"That'll be great." Gerard said with sincerity. "I can never stand when my ears pop on a plane!"

"And you never did like to wear earplugs, even while working." Helen fondly remarked.

By the time we all went inside, it was 11:30 according to the clock in the lobby, which hung on the wall opposite of the Hopkins family tree. Certainly not as late as some of our adventures when each one came to an end, but the night in this instance felt equally as long; even I struggled to stay awake while trudging up the stairs, a part of me wishing I could be carried alongside my little brother, who was already sound asleep once more, while resting his head on his father's shoulder until they got to their room. There, Al tiredly opened his eyes as soon as his head met the pillow.

"We're back already?" He asked, mumbling while rubbing his eyes.

"We are." Father said to him, as he helped his son into his pajamas, while assuring the six year old that he didn't miss much since leaving Skafell Pike.

This was all I heard before returning to my room, the same one Cassandra and I shared since we first arrived, and before either of us knew her actual name. I was only surprised to see her and her brother there, as I thought they were going to share with their family, who were provided a room across the hall from us. I voiced as much to her.

"Mom and Dad said it was okay if I rather sleep in here again one more night." She explained. "If you're okay with it, that is."

"Of course it's fine with me!" said I.

"And I'd rather not share with four grownups." Zeke added signing, puffing his cheeks. "Especially Granddad. He snores!"

I couldn't help but give a short laugh.

"You're more than welcome to join us, then, Zeke!" I said to him, much to his satisfaction.

The twins and I all climbed into bed; Zeke on the left, myself on the right, and Cassandra in the middle. We conversed for at least an hour, in spite of our shared weariness.

As we all began to wind down, the Professor peered in to check on us. He must have known we were still up, and I hoped we weren't loud enough to wake Alfendi.

"How is it you three are still wide awake?" He quietly asked us.

"Adrenaline?" Zeke signed.

"Though I think we're about to…" I was about to speak before an oncoming yawn interrupted me.

As I was trying to recall whatever it was I was about to say, I found myself resting my head, both of the twins doing the same just moments later. None of us fought our fatigue, we knew we needed to go to sleep, since we had a train to catch the next morning, and Zeke especially needed all the rest he could get. As Father pulled the quilt up to cover us with, Cassandra suddenly sprung up, throwing her arms around him, which I could tell had caught him off guard.

"Thank you." She barely spoke above a whisper, yet it was clear and distinct. "My dad was right about you all along."

"How do you mean?" The Professor asked her as he politely broke the embrace.

"Dad wanted to write that letter, but he can't even hold a pencil." She explained. "So Granddad wrote it for him. Everything about you that any of us know about, Dad's told us."

I smiled gently, happy for the Professor that he had gained a reputation -and evidently, a following- outside of the country, too. Not that it was ever important to him, mind!

When we finally did fall asleep, it was the most peaceful since this adventure first began. Until the next morning, that is, when my kid brother leaped on to the bed, practically belly flopping on us, jolting all three of us awake at once.

"Alfendi…" Cassandra and I groaned at nearly the same time, while Zeke gave an annoyed grunt.

"Good morning!" The six year old chimed.

"Is he always like this?" Cassandra asked me.

"You would be surprised to know that he isn't." I bluntly stated, recalling many mornings where a still mostly asleep Alfendi would be carried downstairs by his father to the dining table.

After getting dressed, we all head downstairs for on more breakfast at the Hutchinson House. I knew by then that the dining room table was rather large, but with the added expansion leaves, the dining room felt more like a banquet hall. Everybody treated themselves to as much as each could take of the various dishes that prominently stood out in the middle of it all. Many conversations were had, including the one next to myself and the twins…

"Say, Professor." Gerard said, a slight slur ever present. "How would you feel about getting another apprentice or two?"

The Professor didn't answer right away, but as I heard this, I blinked in disbelief. True, Gerard probably didn't know much about Luke, aside from what little may have been mentioned in the newspapers, much less that he had moved away mere months prior; he more than likely didn't mean to be insolent about it, but the way it came off to me sounded as though Professor Layton was just suggested replacing his apprentice and friend. The idea in itself was simply unthinkable!

"Dad…" Cassandra mumbled, seeming embarrassed.

"I haven't considered the possibility." The Professor finally answered. "Perhaps we could return to this discussion once you are fully recovered, and finish your foundation year."

"Oh!" Gerard was taken aback. "I, uh…I didn't mean me. Although…" he shook his head. "I meant the twins."

"Dad, no." Cassandra quietly growled.

"Especially Cassie." Gerard continued, evidently not hearing his daughter. "She's quite fond of you, actually. She's told me before how you remind her of Sherlock Holmes, except that you don't smoke a pipe."

"Dad, please…" Cassandra groaned, the vivid pink on her cheeks spreading to her ears.

Zeke must have been aware of his sister's embarrassment, because he gave his father a shout to stop loud enough to even worry Coco the service dog.

"Don't belabor if he ain't lookin'!" She bluntly snapped, her Brooklyn accent ever more prominent than before. She then looked up at the Professor, though her eyes still glanced away. "But if you're ever in a bind, I could look after Alfendi."

Zeke cleared his throat.

"I mean 'we'." Cassandra corrected herself. "We could look after Alfendi."

"I will look into your services, should I need them." The Professor chuckled.

"Dad, I'm six. I don't need a babysitter." Alfendi said, bluntly.

"Funny, you don't mind when it's your grandparents watching you." His father rebutted.

"That's different." Al kept arguing. "It's Grandma and Grandpa. They're obligated to -on occasion- watch me for two days a week, and spoil me in the process."

Jude and Carie both laughed upon hearing this, as did Tamsin and Roy. Perhaps there was some truth to what Alfendi said, after all…My suspicions were confirmed when Carie told the Professor he would understand one day whenever he had grandchildren, much to Al's disgust and my uncertainty.


Once breakfast was through, and everyone returning to London had packed their bags, we were all checked out by the Bradys.

"You're welcome back anytime!" Moira said to is, smiling.

Before we could even leave the lobby, however, Alfendi gave an exclaimed shout, having recalled something.

"Yesterday evening, Angus said something about his grandpa wanting to sell Esterhollow back. Do you know what that was all about?" He asked.

"Actually…Yes." Tamsin answered with full hesitation. "He bought all that land from her. He had planned to tear down the existing buildings, and build a factory in place of it all. He came by the other day, just to boast about it." She glanced down, frowning. "And to remind me of my illegitimacy, of course, even though our father acknowledged me as his daughter."

"But the good news is that jerk-wad Cain won't be bullying my wife anytime soon." Roy added, with his buff arm around Tamsin. "I 'eard it on the news this morning that 'e and 'is brothers were all arrested for their contributions to that woman's crimes."

"They were accomplices?" Alfendi asked, stunned. "No wonder…"

"Oh, before I forget, Cassie!" Maisie knelt to her little cousin's level. "I'm sorry if I made you nervous when we met. Sometimes I need reminding to respect boundaries, especially with relatives."

"Apology accepted, Maisie." Cassandra said to her. "Just promise you'll try to do better, okay?"

"I will, I promise!" Maisie said with a short laugh as she stood. "We'll see you again soon."

And with one last goodbye to Tamsin, Maisie, and Moira, we departed from the old Hutchinson House, piling into two lorries; half of us in Roderick's, and the other half into Roy's, as they drove us to the bus stop a short walk from the town square. As we all boarded, Helen informed her brother, and her children that they would visit him and the rest of the Kinnaird family in Cricket Bridge once Zeke had fully recovered from his illness. Meanwhile, Roy gave his cousin Jude one more reminder not to be a stranger, and to visit again sooner than twenty plus years! Jude agreed to it, but not without mentioning that his son would need him more at the moment, much to his cousin's understanding and remark that kids come first.

In what felt like half the time it took to arrive, we rode to Ambleside, then to Carlisle, where we waited at the station for about an hour. It was here we saw for ourselves what Roy was talking about before!

"The patriarch of Mallowcrest's most prominent family, Cain Hutchinson, has been arrested as an accomplice in the Feral Thief case." The newswoman called Kate stated. "Here's Jeremy Summer to tell you more. Jeremy?"

"That jerkwad again?!" Cassandra growled.

"Thanks, Kate." The news-reporter said. "Yes, Cain Hutchinson, along with his brothers Abel and Seth Hutchinson, have been assisting Deborah Briarwood, the mastermind in the kidnapping of Ezekial Hopkins, an eleven year old boy with disabilities and son to Helen Kinnaird, would-be heiress to the Kinnaird Wool Textiles Company Limited. I have here with me one of the policemen on the investigation team."

A sudden bark from a certain German Shepherd told us who was being interviewed.

"So, Officer Forrester. Any delicious details you can spare?" Asked Summer, pointing the mic to the good officer.

"All I can say at the moment is greed was certainly the motive in the Hutchinson's part in the kidnappings." He stated. "I can't give out much more than that, since the case is still open."

"That's fine." Summer said. "Any idea if there will be a trial, and when it'll be?"

"Nothing on when yet, but I personally anticipate it." Forrester remarked.

From off-screen, Rocco barked again.

"So does Rocco." He added on the dog's behalf.

The remainder of the news report summarized everything we had investigated over the last few days, and the rest of the hour simultaneously went by fast and slow. The next thing I remember, we were all boarding the train, where Cassie proved her notion to her grandfather about its "fanciness". Zeke had spent most of the ride home sleeping, resting his head on his mother's lap, while Coco the dog laid under the table, sitting up once when she was given some water in a dish whenever lunch was served to the passengers. It was then while Cassie and I were talking that I remembered something I learned about her when we first met.

"Hey, Cassie." I said to her.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"After you, Zeke, and your mother return from Cricket Bridge, would you like to explore Cecil Court with me?" I asked.

"Cecil Court? What's that?"

"It's a short street about 10 minutes from the university. They have all of these antique bookshops." I explained, much to her surprise.

"Are you serious?" She gasped, her mouth agape enough I could actually see an empty space between her front teeth. Her excitement wavered briefly. "But would it be okay if one of our parents tagged along? I'm not sure if I wanna go without a grownup."

"Of course." I said in complete understanding.

"If you girls want, I'll be happy to take you." Helen said.

"Would you, Mom?" Cassie asked her mother.

"Absolutely, a bhobain." Helen smiled.


Zeke got over his illness just over a week later, and was able to join his mother and sister on their reunion and reacquaintance with Helen's family. From what the twins told me when they returned, the family reunion went rather well; they really 'hit it off' with their Uncle Roderick's children, apparently.

By the end of that summer, Gerard had made a full recovery from his stroke. More good news is Zeke was right; after hearing what happened, both Gerard and Helen's respective lawyers got the divorce declared null and void! Their marriage continues to thrive right to this day. In fact, since obtaining his master's in archeology, the pair often travel to dig sites all over the world; but whenever they return to England, they reside with their children and grandchildren over in Regent's Park, or at the Kinnaird Homestead in Cricket Bridge.

Deborah, along with Bramble Hall's staff, was charged with kidnapping, child abuse, and assault. I am uncertain if those were all of the charges, the Hopkins and Kinnairds were more involved than the rest of us, and even now they dislike discussing it.

But that wasn't the end for either Bramble Hall or Esterhollow, which were claimed by Deborah's estranged sister, Nicole, who had been in hiding until her sister's imprisonment. The village has been thriving on agriculture and tourism, and Nicole Briarwood -along with her family and staff- has been doing well for herself. However, unfortunately, we still have yet to find out where the rest of the Briarwood family is, much less what happened to them…

As for the twins themselves, both followed in their father's footsteps studying and graduating from Gressenheller. Unlike their father, however, they both went down different career paths; while Zeke has been content working as an informant, Cassie climbed the ranks of the London Met, and is currently one of the four assistant commissioners of Scotland Yard!

And even while some of us have drifted apart, I still think of the friends I made on that adventure. And sometimes I find myself hoping that one day we'll see each other again, and maybe go on another adventure. Someday.

By the time the story had reached its end, Alfendi was staring off into space, deep in thought.

"Well, you were right, Flora." He finally said. "I don't remember any of that."

"I mean, technically that weren't really you, Prof…" Lucy stated, much to his family's dismay.

"Thank you very much for the reminder, Lucy." Katrielle frowned.

"I wonder what's keeping those two, anyway?" Marina questioned, while little Jonah was playing with her face, clearly trying to break the awkward silence that came with the reminder of my brother's…disorder.

"I'll go phone them and find out." Said I, as I got up from my seat, the exact second the door opened.

"That won't be necessary." A familiar young woman's voice spoke as its owner and her brother walked in.

The Hopkins Twins have grown so much in the twenty-three years I have known them. When we first met, they each came no higher than my chest; now they're both between the Professor and Alfendi in height, leaving me the shortest of the five! Zeke's once chubby build became muscular like his father and grandfather before him, and his short stubbly beard made him even more of an image of his father, maybe even a younger Jude. Cassie's dark circles have faded over the years, though to a trained eye, it's clear they haven't gotten away completely. Her green eyes that were once dull are now bright and cheery. Her complexion is as freckly as it always had been, though she had gained a bit more of a peachy color, how I'm still not entirely sure!

"It's been awhile, Flora." Zeke signed to me.

"Likewise." I responded.

"I hope we're not too late." Cassie stated.

"Not at all." The Professor smiled as he stood. "We saved each of you a seat."

"Thanks." The signed and said in unison.

"And again, sorry we're late." Cassie repeated. "I got held up with work."

"And she's my ride." Zeke signed, nodding his head in sister's direction.

"Not to worry! What kind of work, if you don't mind me asking?" I asked, curious.

"Well, I can't say much right now…" Cassie leaned in as she explained, her voice lowered as she spoke again. "But I've been assigned a very special case. I have a feeling you will all want in~!"

"When you make it sound so juicy, how can I not?" Alfendi rhetorically asked his superior and friend.

Needless to say, everyone else was equally intrigued.

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you, but first priorities!" Cassie started off as she and Zeke each helped themselves to a plate.

And as the twins each had their fill, they shared with us the details they had thus far of a brand new case. All of us grew excited as we listened, myself especially, knowing we were no-doubt destined to go on an epic adventure!

Exactly like old times.

-The End-


And that's this story! After over 50k words, and hours of writing research, it's finally finished. I almost can't believe it!

This was a fun story to write (and I'm sure just as fun for all of you to read!) but now it's time to move on to new stories. As for the bonus chapters, they will still be written, but separately from this main story, and posted exclusively on my Ao3 account. In fact...I may consider posting new stories exclusively to Ao3 from here on out. Though I may change my mind.

Either way, if you are interested, you can follow me at Yoshi_G_teh_First on there.

So...Until we meet again, reviews are always welcome! c: