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"I'm Alfendi Layton. Inspector Layton around here. But please don't feel obliged to stick to formalities when you address me."
— Alfendi on meeting DC Lucy Baker, Layton Brothers: Mystery Room

Inspector Alfendi Layton is the title character and deuteragonist of the spin-off game, Layton Brothers: Mystery Room and its manga adaptation, Layton Brothers: Mystery Room Perfect Crime Puzzle. He is Professor Layton's son,[1] and works as an inspector for New Scotland Yard's Mystery Room department.

Profile[]

Appearance[]

Alfendi has yellow eyes, fair skin, a rather long pointed nose, stubble on his chin and burgundy/wine hair.

Four years prior to the events of Mystery Room, Alfendi wore a dark gray suit and had his hair shorter.

During the game, Alfendi wears a striped blue and red sweater with a long white coat, as well as red and white sneakers on his feet. He seems to keep newspapers or blueprints in his pockets all the time. He keeps a long dark blue coat (as shown in the case selection screen), but apparently only wears it if he's not working (shown during denouement and credits of the game). When his "Placid" state is fronting, his hair is hung back in a low ponytail shape behind his neck, its color resembling a wine purple, while it dangles in a long, deep crimson fringe when his "Potty" state fronts, with his eyes barely visible. During his brief appearance in Layton Mystery Detective Agency: Kat's Mystery-Solving Files, Alfendi is depicted having a shorter nose compared to his first appearance.

He is considerably tall, as compared to other characters, he was often much taller than them. He's even a whole head taller than his partner, Lucy Baker.

Only read this section after finishing the game! Click to skip spoilers.

Personality[]

Although Alfendi's original personality is unknown, according to Hilda Pertinax, who worked alongside him for an extended amount of time, said original personality was much closer in similarity to his later "Potty" persona, although it is unknown in what details the two differ from one another.

Following the intense and traumatic events at Forbodium Castle, Alfendi fell into a coma. While in that coma Justin is revealed to have attempted to brainwash Alfendi into forgetting that night. Alfendi disputes that this was the cause of his perceived split personality. (Referred to by Lucy Baker as "Placid Prof and Potty Prof"). "Potty" (named by fans as Al) is closer in personality to who he was before the shooting while "Placid" (named by fans as Fendi) is much more laid back. Fendi is seen more often leading Lucy to believe he was always like that. Sometimes when Al leaves control back to Fendi it causes Fendi to appear unwell (as seen in Cases 2, 3 and 4).

Al is shown to be obsessed with the perfect crime, has a short temper and often threatens to cut people's tongues. His depiction of gruesome crimes as a work of art unnerves people around him. He's rude, immature, sarcastic and gets quite mad when you get the wrong piece of evidence in a case. He's shown critiquing and threatening people with violence. The kind of guy you wouldn't mind pinning a murder on. Florence Sich phrased it as Lucy Baker would be safe as long as a criminal was around for him to direct his anger and immaturity at. If not, run. Later it's shown he is not violent and in fact never has been. He's never carried out any of his threats. Al turns out to have no social skills and it's a wonder he bagged Hilda Pertinax who clearly does. He is shown to respect when people stand up to him, appreciating when Lucy Baker does.

Fendi on the other hand is laid back, calm. In the words of Hilda Pertinax, "quiet, considerate, even meek". He still loves crimes though, in the manga when Lucy Baker asks him why does he say he solves cases he replies that he enjoys puzzles. Indeed in the game he's shown to be single minded when it comes to a case focusing on nothing else but its solution. He is polite, mature, a little rude if you bring him the wrong evidence and implied to be a slightly worse detective than Al. As seen in Case 2 (A Bungled Burglary) where he gets stuck on the wrong pieces of evidence. He dislikes going out (possibly because of being shot). Generally quite a down to earth guy you wouldn't pin a murder on.

Both sides of Alfendi enjoy ready made food as that neither of them cook. They are both into women indicated by Alfendi's ex girlfriend Hilda Pertinax and the way he pockets a magazine of some swimsuit models. Neither of them show particular care towards their health, they spend most of their time in the office and are seen to be eating significantly less than Lucy Baker. They both enjoy Lucy Baker's company and are willing to risk their own life to save her. Fendi does when he gets kidnapped by Diane Makepeace as she threatened to blow up Lucy Baker's house, or a hospital or a school. Alfendi is not shown to have any friends after the Forbodium incident so him and Lucy fall into a close bond. Al and Fendi both seem to be aware of what the other does while in control of the body and share the same memories except when it comes to Forbodium Castle where Al remembers what happened and Fendi doesn't.

Many fans have diagnosed Alfendi with Dissociative Identity Disorder (also abbreviated as DID), but this theory is never confirmed in canon.

Plot[]

Layton Brothers: Mystery Room[]

In the past, Alfendi Layton was studing to become a policeman alongside Hilda Pertinax, who would eventually becoming by far the most successfull member of their class by becoming an Interpol investigator. Despite the two of them constantly bickering with one another like cats and dogs, the two grew closer, eventually starting a romantic relationship with one another.

A troubled past[]

Four years prior to the beginning of the events of Layton Brothers: Mystery Room, Alfendi began investigating the case of the mysterious Jigsaw Puzzle Killings, an internal name given to a series of homicides that had reached a whooping headcount of 26 victims in less than a year, with each subsequent murder increasing in violence and gruesomeness with the next one, so much so that Scotland Yard had been forced to keep the matter completely hidden from the public eye, as not only widespread panic would have otherwise erupted across London, but also to prevent any possible wannabe copycat to further muddle the investigations. With no discernible pattern whatsoever, the most vital and sole evidence connecting these seemingly separate murders, were a series of connecting Jigsaw puzzle pieces, with one of them purposely left at each scene of crime for mysterious reasons. Investigating alongside Alfendi were his partner, detective Justin Lawson, Commissioner Barton himself, and Hilda herself.

One of the murders he worked on while on the case, was the case of homicide of a millionaire. Unfortunately, some vital evidence disappeared before they could be investigated, and as such, Alfendi was unable to solve the crime.

Nevertheless, thanks to his brilliant mind, Alfendi got closer to the truth, eventually concluding that Keelan Makepeace, one of the suspects for murder of the rich man, had to be the one responsible for the physical execution of the Jigsaw Puzzle Killings homicides. However in a reckless move, while his collegues were still prepating, Alfendi went ahead to Keelan's hiding place, Forbodium Castle, without any backup.

The official version of the events that then happened there was as follows:

Justin, Hilda, and Commissioner Barton, all rushed to the scene in a hurry, but as soon they arrived, they heard a gunshot, and decided to split up in order to quickly find them; Justin was leading the charge, as he proclaimed to having visited Forbodium before, and suggested for the Commisioned to prowl the castle grounds, and for Hilda to take the Central Tower. A few minutes later, while the Commisioner was searching the castle grounds in front of the main gate of the castle, and Pertinax was exploring the top floor of the Central Tower of the castle, they both heard Justin shouting from the roof of the East Tower for Alfendi to not shoot anymore and to stand down. While the Commisioner could only see Justin leaning from the East Tower from his lower position, Hilda was instead able to glimpse at the scene from the slit windows, seemingly seeing exactly what Justin would later descibe as Makepeace and Alfendi, both on the rooftop of the West Tower, guns trained on each other, with Keelan holding his right side in visible pain, while Alfendi was closing in to the cornered man while deviously grinning, his gun pointed squarely at Makepeace, the latter too injuried to try to properly fight back. In reality, Pertinax wasn't able to see Layton at all, but in the state of panic she was, she became sure she did.

Allerted by Lawson about the location of Alfendi and Keelan, the Commisioner headed to the West Tower from the ground floor, but eventually found the way towards the rooftop blocked, forcing him to begin to hack at the door with an emergency axe, delaying his arrival. Meanwhile, while he was occupied by the door, both Justin and Pertinax began moving towards the West Tower, Hilda forced to descend the entire Central Tower due to all the connecting doors leading to the western one being blocked with the exception of the ground floor one, while Justin had to descend the roof of the East Tower from the external woodden stair. Just as Hilda had reached the bottom of the West Tower, and Justin the end of the external stairs, two more gunshots rang into the air. After finally breaking the door down, the Commisioner together with Hilda were the first to arrive on the scene, findind both Alfendi and Makepeace in pools of blood, the former barely alive due to a shot in the chest, Lawson joining them soon after. Everything seemed to point out that Layton had shot Keelan in the head in cold blood, only for himself having also been shot in retaliation.

However, this was not what truly had happen:

That first shot that was heard was in truth the gunshot that had hit Alfendi in the chest, causing him to instantly pass out and collapse, entering a coma. While he was laying unconscious, Lawson saw the scene from the East Tower, but instead of calling for help, he lied, creating a hoax by falsely shouting out for Alfendi to put down his gun, misleading both Hilda and the Commisioner. This is because, unbeknownst to everyone, Lawson was in truth all along, for reasons unknown, the one enabling the actions of Keelan to continue, the two of them having also planned beforehand how Makepeace should have acted during their raid at Forbodium Castle. Like they had planned, Keelan, after shooting Layton, began acting as if he had been shot in his right side, making it look like Alfendi had instead shot him, tricking the witnessing Pertinax, who had been directed to the Central Tower for this exact reason, Lawson scream being the final touch to complete the false premise in Hilda's mind.

Following the charade, Lawson, then quickly, and rather recklessly, crossed over the tiny ledge on the outside of the Central Tower, climbing along the ivy vines that grew along it, in order to reach the West Tower from the East one. Once he was on the West Tower's roof, Lawson picked up the gun of Alfendi and then, much to the killer surprise, shot Makepeace two times, once in the left side, then in his head, ending his connection with the Jigsaw Puzzle Killings and pinning Makepeace's death on Alfendi, before fleeing the scene the same way he came from. However he hadn't realized to having erroneously shot the wrong side of Keelan, creating an inconsistency with what Hilda had seen. He also couldn't bring himself to finish of Layton, a dear friend of his, and instead left him alive.

Thanks to the speedy aid from the Commisioner and Hilda, Alfendi Layton miraculously survived his injuries, albeit barely.Despite Hilda having come to belive in the charges, finding herself unable to trust him anymore, she, the Commisioner, and, at least apparently, Lawson, all worked tirelessly to clear Al from the charges, but the investigation turned out to be a disaster, with evidence continuing to stack up against him; furthermore, all of their hopes were suddlently and completely crushed by the confession of guilt from an Alfendi Layton none of them knew at all. As it turns out, during Alfendi's recovery in the hospital, while at his bedside, Lawson secretly attempted to hypnotise him in his sleep to influence his memories of what had happen, but due to his lousy job, he instead accidentally became responsible for Al's multiple personality disorder, creating the "Placid" persona, who became the main identity of Alfendi. While this suited Lawson for the moment, since once he awoke from the coma, Placid Alfendi immediately confessed to the crime just as planned, Justin became however afraid that the original persona of Al, "Potty" as he would later be nicknamed, would eventually reveal the truth, so he began keeping a close eye on Al for signs of recovery.

Placid confessed to the crime, but on the other hand, Potty had no recollection of shooting at Keelan and refused to talk due to his suspicions of having been framed; as a result of this unusual situation, the death of Keelan, and as such the Jigsaw Puzzle Killings case as whole, couldn't be declared solved, and as such remained opened for the next few years. Furthermore, due to the strain put on it by both the confession of murder, the mistrust, and the newfound split-identity disorder, Alfendi's relationship with Hilda fell apart, her feeling as her Alfendi was gone for good; the two grew distant from one another, with Pertinax deciding to dedicate herself whooly to her work, although Alfendi, even in his Placid persona, still held feelings for her.

Case 001 (The Hand Sandwich)[]

Alfendi was first introduced here.

Alfendi entered his office, the so-called Mystery Room, while the newly promoted rookie detective constable, Lucy Baker, was practicing her dramatic pointing pose, Alfendi suddenly chiming in by telling her "it's an unlikely deduction". He told Lucy that she doesn't need to feel the pressure of formally addressing him, but to his dismay she called him "Prof", which he finds inappropriate due to his father Hershel being an actual professor. He haven't decided if he'll take in Lucy as his permanent assistant, so he gave her a case- an opportunity to prove her worth to him while at the same time introducing her to his reconstruction device which eliminates all need to exit the office to investigate crime scenes. After Lucy succeeded in solving the case, he asked her to be his assistant on "a more permanent basis".

Case 002 (The Bungled Burglary)[]

This is the first time where Lucy discovered about Alfendi's personality disorder.

While confronting the culprit, Lucy and Alfendi found themselves in trouble after forensics debunked their theory about the clock hands being the weapon as they found no traces of blood in it. Things were about to go downhill, but Potty saved the day. He showed up in time and was able to reveal the true murder weapon, succeeding in proving the culprit guilty. Lucy compared his personality disorder to of Jekyll and Hyde. Florence Sich, the forensic that requested the case also warned Lucy about the dangers of being alone with him, telling her that she'll "rip her drip and run like the wind" if she finds herself alone with Potty Prof.

Case 003 (A Murder Staged)[]

Justin Lawson assigned Alfendi and Lucy to solve a high profile case which involved a famous actress murdered during a play.

Much like before, when Placid was unable to get the culprit to confess, Potty steps in, although using threats and rather, sharp remarks, was able to get him to confess. Lucy later told Justin of Potty's violent tendencies, in which Justin later replied to ask her to report to him if he started mumbling unusual names and unfamiliar places, on the quiet.

Case 004 (The Walking Corpse)[]

Dustin Scowers asked Alfendi and Lucy to solve a murder, which involved his brother as he was arrested on the suspicions of murdering Dr. O'Logie.

Alfendi was shown to be quite skeptical and disbelieving of supernatural things, often disagreeing with the culprit about demons and anything of the sort. Like previous cases, Potty ends up having to step in in order to get the culprit to admit to their crimes. Dustin later informed Alfendi that Mariana Etista, one of the suspects that the police was supposed to bring in for questioning on the suspicions of masterminding the murder, turned out to be a fake identity, or as Dustin referred to her, "a total enigma". This information later would play an important part in the next cases.

Case 005 (The DJ's Swansong)[]

'Sniffer' Hague, a detective working under Justin Lawson assigned Alfendi and Lucy to solve a radio show host's death after he died during airing.

The culprit often purposely misspelled his surname to irritate him, to which, as predicted, angered Potty Prof. This is one of the rare cases where Alfendi had to solve a multiple murder case (case 009 does not count because one of the victims died years prior, his case was only being reopened).

Justin Lawson made an appearance in the Mystery Room once the case was closed, searching for 'Sniffer' Hague, his subordinate, and instead finding Lucy and Alfendi. Asking once again if the latter had any "incidents" lately, he was then surprised by the sudden emergence of Potty, shocking him that Layton could change between his two personas so easily. Potty began taunting Lawson about their past partnership, and the location of their last face-to-face meeting, which Lawson responded in tone declaring that Potty's refusal of telling the police what he knew happened there, was the cause of the case still not being closed. Potty still played dumb, which propted Lawson to shoo him away; Potty once again taunted that Lawson knew exactly where he could found him, and that he would always be free for his old partner at any time, before becoming once again inactive.

Returning to his Placid persona, Alfendi was then harshly scolded by Lawson for his recklessness in wanting to deal with his seemingly unhinged "brother" on his own, arrogance he maliciously implyed to be stemming from being the son of such an esteemed father. Since Al was still sure of his decision, Lawson backed down, whishing him all the best while also warning Placid that things could turn against him.

Lucy asked her partner an explanation for the conversation that had just unfolded, but Alfendi opted to withdrew said information for the moment, nevertheless reassuring Lucy that, if she would stay as his assistant, she would inevitably come to know what it meant sooner or later.

Case 006 (Kiss Goodbye)[]

The commissioner himself, Barton, stepped in for this one and personally assigned Alfendi and Lucy to solve quite a shocking murder where the upper echelon of a feared mafia family, the Agonnis, were found murdered in a warehouse. The commissioner privately asked Lucy to keep a close eye on Alfendi, as he knew that the experience would awaken unpleasant memories. And indeed, much to the shock of Alfendi, the massacre that had taken place at the mafia warehouse at Merseyshore Docks turned out to be a continuation of the Jigsaw Puzzle Killings, as not only each of the deaths that had occured on the site was more or less a copycat of the first four homicides of the murder spree of four years prior, but four new puzzle pieces were left on the scene.

This is the only case where Alfendi and Lucy did not immediately figure out the identity of the culprit, rather only solving the method of murder, as they only found one suspect/witness (who is innocent). The culprit herself was later identified, but not in the same case.

Shortly after, Commissioner Barton privately met with Alfendi in his office to congratulate for the job well done, only for Potty to emerge, unnerving the commissioner. Potty fully revealed to the police chief that the connection of the case to the Jigsaw Puzzle Killings was far from a coincidence, expecially because the four new pieces that had been left on the scene, were all part of the same mysterious puzzle the other ones were; even more unnerving the puzzle's picture was now almost complete, with only two pieces, and as such two more future victims, missing.

Case 007 (The Mystery Rooms)[]

Hilda Pertinax, the old friend and flame of Alfendi's, requested this particular case.

This case is a special one, as Alfendi had to actually step out from his office and investigate the actual scene, unlike previous cases where Alfendi and Lucy were able to solve cases via the reconstruction device. This case is also the only one, out of all nine cases, where Alfendi didn't solve a murder-related case, rather to go after an escaped culprit. This is where Alfendi was able to identify the culprit behind case 006 and the true identity of Mariana Etista from case 004, Diane Makepeace, the daughter of Keelan. However Diane is able to evade capture thanks to a secret passage leading to a dismissed underground railway, giving Alfendi and Lucy the slip for now.

Case 008 (Ham and Cheese)[]

Alfendi received an invitation from Diane, instructing to go alone under Diane's threat that she'll detonate a bomb in a nearby school, hospital or Lucy's home if he does not follow what she says, to the place her father once called home, Forbodium Castle. As such he went ahead alone to the location.

Lucy, alongside Hilda was also lured at the castle, then trapped in a locked room alone with a trick, forced solve a grim reconstruction of a case to save her collegues as well as her own lives. Meanwhile, Alfendi finally reached Diane, but upon seeing her having Lucy trapped, he was forced to stand down and be captured. Alfendi was then held hostage by her, and forced to watch Lucy solving the case, to which he later praised Lucy as a job well done.

Said case was the one connected to the Jigsaw Puzzle Killings, that Alfendi was unable to solve in the past due to the disappearance of some vital evidence, which Diane mistakenly took as confirmation that Alfendi was the past collaborator of her father. She was then planning to shot Alfendi dead in the head, leaving the final jigsaw piece next to him, having previously left the second to last one in the pocket of the murdered agent. However, Layton was saved by the timely arrival of Lawson, who instead shot her in the temple.

Case 009 (Good Cop, Bad Cop)[]

This is the final case of Layton Brothers: Mystery Room. This case is quite extraordinary, as it puts Alfendi as both the suspect and investigator.

After Lucy had been subsequently released from captivity by Diane, she heard a gunshot from a room above, only to find Alfendi tied up and blindfolded with a dead Diane laying in her own pool of blood. Before could comply with Alfendi's pleads to be freed, Hilda caught up and warily asked him to drop the gun, then she harsly questioned Alfendi's involvement in this. With no other appearant possible culprint, Hilda was quite sure that it had to have been Layton who shot Diane. Just as soon as she had managed to somewhat convince Lucy that Alfendi was guilty, she attempted to arrest him when Potty suddenly showed up, with him assuming control for the majority of the case. Justin arrived later, and to Hilda's distaste he gave Alfendi a chance to defend himself.

This case, is where the truth of about Alfendi's real personality was revealed by Hilda to Lucy.

Potty pointed out the various incostintencies in both Diane's and Keelan's murders, having previously swiped the case file of four years prior from Justin's desk, such as the gunshot wound in the temple of Diane, the discrepancy between wich side of Keelan was shot, and the impossibility of Hilda actually witnessing him cornering Keelan, arriving at the conclusion that the culprint of these two cases had to be the one and the same, and that culrint could only have been Justin Lawson. However, when faced with the conundrum on how he would be able to move himself from the East to the West Tower, Potty lost steam, allowing Placid to resurface. Much to the dismay of Lucy, Placid was quite sure of the veracity of his memories, and once again confessed to the murder of Keelan. However, following a pep talk from Hilda, Lucy got her confidence back, and, now backed up by Pertinax, who also had come to belive in Justin's guilt, Lucy was able to point out the Ivy vines. With his horrible memories proven false, Placid gladly teamed up with Potty and Lucy to take apart the last of Lawson's excuses.

Justin finally gave up, admitting to not having in him to finish off Layton or watch him getting killed, as well as confessing in his role as supporter, then killer of Keelan, as well as killing Diane mostly out of paranoia. He however refused to elaborate as to why he got involved in the whole mess in the first place, simply saying "let's just say some bad people were getting a little too powerful", leaving the mystery behind the jigsaw pieces open.

Following the incarceration of his former friend, Alfendi eventually was able to get a private meeting with Justin, during which he was able to discovered of how his disorder came through, much to the chagrin of both personas. Lucy later took him outside the office and encouraged him to ditch his paperwork and go outside for a while.

Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy[]

In the last Case Coda of the game, Letter to a Friend, Katrielle writes a letter to Lucy, mentioning Alfendi and his ongoing work together with Lucy.

Layton Mystery Detective Agency: Kat's Mystery-Solving Files[]

In the last moments of the final episode, Alfendi and Lucy are seen entering Katrielle's office at the Layton Detective Agency, the reasons for the visit left unsaid.


Spoilers end here

Images[]

Trivia[]

  • Lucy Baker refers to him as "Prof" due to his role as a teacher to her, a new detective. Alfendi on the other hand, finds it slightly inappropriate due to his father being an actual professor.
  • Out of all of Layton's children, Alfendi is the only one whose backstory with and relation to the professor remain unknown. It is similarly unknown if, unlike Katrielle Layton, he too is adopted or is instead related to Layton by blood.
  • In the ending of the game we see Barton talking to a person on the phone and then confirming himself to be Professor Layton who asks to keep an eye on Alfendi and take care of him for the time being. It is unknown why the professor did not stay by Alfendi's side as he did with Kat.
  • The full scope of Alfendi's relationship with Lucy is often questioned by many characters, finding the close bond between the two somewhat suspicious. At one point, Roscoe Strapping referred to him as "frigid Fendi". Dolly Hollerday also did the same, but instead of questioning Alfendi, she questioned Lucy.
    • He has also referred to Lucy as "my dear Lucy" twice on Case 003 and Case 007, which raised more questions about his relationship with her. However, this could be just a reference to Sherlock Holmes' famous phrase, "It's elementary, my dear Watson".
  • It is mentioned in Alfendi's profile in Case 9 that he is 29 years old.
  • The first time Lucy witnesses "Potty Prof" fronting in the course of the game, she compares Alfendi's shift in personality and demeanor to Jekyll and Hyde, a common literary inspiration for the idea of split personalities.
  • Alfendi's two personalities are a reference of a common trope in media known as "good cop, bad cop" in which two police officers interrogate a suspect: one passively, and another aggressively. In the game, he switches from his "good cop" to "bad cop" when the suspect is getting difficult to interrogate. This trope is also outright used as the title for the ninth and final case.

References[]

  1. ^ LEVEL5 VISION 2011 Recap - LEVEL-5 International America
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