Part 1: Lady Dahlia's Letter

This whole first update is in video format for one reason or another. I highly recommend that you watch it!

See that name? Yeah, no. We need a good one that is no more than 10 characters long.

?: The things we saw that day in the village became a secret we would have to keep from everyone for the rest of our lives. Because, you see...

[Music: The Adventure Begins]


Let's meet our main characters.

Now these mini-cinematics happen occasionally and for those that just want to see these I'll link the relevant part of the video accordingly.

[Music: Silence]



And, strangely enough, this is (I believe) the only time in the first game wherein a scene with voice acting is shown in this way. Every other time, it's given a full video because important things are usually happening.

: Luke, my boy, do you really think I would take on such an ordinary request as that? Oh, no! This is an altogether unique and exciting situation, and it has piqued my intellectual curiosity. But I suppose it would be best to explain the case before we arrive at our destination.



: Shortly after his death, his will was disclosed. The contents of it were fascinating, to say the least.



I'm sure it goes without saying, but this is A Big Deal.



: But in the end, everybody came back empty handed. It turns out that no one had even heard of such a treasure existing until its mention in the will.
: Wow, that's some puzzle, all right.
: Quite. Augustus Reinhold staked his entire fortune just to create one more puzzle before his death. What a perplexing individual. I Wish I could have met him while he was still alive.
: It certainly sounds like you two would've got along, Professor! By the way, just what is this Golden Apple anyhow?



: But, Luke, I can't shake the feeling that this matter is linked to some larger mystery. Something huge.
: Aha! Is that your famous intuition at work again, Professor?
: Mm. Well, our first step is getting to town.
: This is all so exciting!



: Ha ha! Oh, Luke, you know as well as I do that I am no detective. Augustus Reinhold's wife, Lady Dahlia, has asked me to investigate the situation. It seems she came across my name by chance when reading an article about me in the papers.
: And you immediately decided to take her up on her request?



: If you say so, Professor...
: We should be nearing the town by now. Look at the map in the envelope and help me with directions.
: Right you are, Professor!



: Lady Dahlia seems to have given us a test. We'll need to decipherthis map in order to find the village. She wants to see if we're capable of cracking the mystery surrounding the Reinhold fortune. Care to give it a go, Luke?
: A puzzle like this should be no problem for the apprentice of the great Professor Layton.
: Very well then, Luke. I'll leave this one to you. Think of it as a warm-up for things to come.



As a general rule, "picarats" here are just a metric for how difficult a puzzle is. It's not perfect, by any means, but if you can earn more it's technically meant to be harder than one worth less. You'll never get any worth less than 10 and the average highest you'll see for most of a common playthrough is about 40, maybe 50.

[Music: Puzzles]



Naturally, being the first puzzle of the entire series this one is really, really easy. Unlike Layton, however, I'll be handling this one myself but rather than just solve it immediately I gave anyone watching the video the change to do it themselves first too. And for anyone that wants the hints to this, and any future puzzles, I'll spoiler tag them so they're there for those who want them and those who don't can just skip past.

1. You can use the stylus for a whole lot more than just circling the answer, you know. Try tracing a path from any village on the map to see if it connects to any other village. Try it a few times until you are confident you have the right answer. Then just tap the Submit icon.
2. Still stumped? Try tracing paths backwards, so that you start from a village and work your way back. This will make it easy for you to see if any other villages are connected to the one you selected.
3. Just look for the village that's not connected to any other. In other words, any village that's connected to another can't possibly be the right answer. If you take a look at the map, you should be able to see any connections between villages with no trouble.










Yeah, yeah, my circle's terrible, but as for my answer?






And just in case you get it right by pure guess work, the game will... sometimes... explain its logic to you in the solution. Other times, it'll leave you guessing with just a generic "You did it!" message.

[Music: Silence]



: Right you are. We should see it on the horizon any moment now.
: Huh? Professor, do you mean to say you've already worked out the village's location?
: Ha ha ha! I'm afraid I couldn't help myself. A basic puzzle like that is easy enough to solve with a glance. Anyhow, you'd best gather your things, Luke. We've arrived.




And just what is it Luke's looking at? Find out here!









Or down here. It's a wonderful view of the whole town!

[Music: About Town]



: And we're stuck on the outside. What should we do, Professor?
: Oh, look over there! There's a man standing on the otherside of the river. Maybe he can help us.



Maybe he can, but there's a few other places we can check out first...



In fact, whilst only one of these does anything plot relevant, we have three things to look at. We'll start with the car.



: But of course. Much as I adore the contraption, it is just a car, after all.

If we inspect Layton and Luke...

: It appears this drawbridge is the only way in or out of the village.

Nothing fancy there, unfortunately, so let's go speak to the man who's relevant here.



: Hrmph! You've got a lot of nerve!
: We received a letter of invitation from Lady Dahlia. I don't suppose that changes things, does it?
: From Lady Dahlia? Well then, I'd love to lower the bridge for you, smartypants...



: There's all these infernal slots I could put the crank in, but I ain't got a clue which one to use... Hrmph! So, brainbox, you got any idea which one is the right one?



It's imaginatively titled, alright. 15 picarats means it's very, very slightly more difficult than the first one but it still shouldn't give you any trouble.

[Music: Puzzles]




1. First, get a good, long look at the shape of the crank. How is the central axle shaped? Are the little protrusions around the edges of the crank triangular or square? Next, look at where those funny shapes stick out on the crank. Starting to make sense?
2. While you need to pay attention to the actual features of the crank and slot, you also need to remember that the shape of the slot is a mirror image of the crank. That's right, you have to stare at the crank straight on and then look for the slot that mirrors it.
3. The central axle on the crank has five sides. There are three shapes attached to the main axle, one triangle and two squares. One of the small squares sits right on top of one of the central axle's five corners, while the other two shapes sit flush on two sides of the axle. All right, now you have everything you need. Don't forget that you need to flip the crank's shape when searching for the slot!

Oh and I did mean "you" in the literal sense. I need to know the solution to this before we can proceed any further!