Miss Mia Gold, the owner of the small orange cat, was not at home. Shard stood outside the gate and rang the bell for a while, but no one came out to open the door.
However, the noise alerted the neighbor, an elderly woman with gray hair neatly combed and wearing glasses. She was well-dressed and had a silver bracelet on her wrist.
“Who are you looking for?”
Her accent was heavy as she stood by the fence separating her garden from Miss Gold’s garden.
“Miss Mia Gold. She asked us to find her cat.”
Shard shook the cat in his arms. The orange cat meowed lazily and turned its head against Shard’s chest. It really seemed to like Shard.
Even though the half-year-old orange cat wasn’t heavy, carrying it around for a while was starting to wear Shard out.
“It’s him, the naughty little thing.”
The elderly woman clearly knew the little orange cat called Mia and then said something that nearly made Shard collapse:
“Mia moved out last week.”
“Hmm?”
Luckily, she continued:
“Are you the Hamilton detective looking for her cat? You’re much younger than she described. Don’t worry, she left you a letter.”
She turned back to her house to get the letter. When she returned, she said:
“There are some bills in the letter. Check the seal before opening it so no one can say the money was tampered with.”
The letter was left by Miss Mia Gold for Sparrow Hamilton, the detective. It mentioned that Miss Gold had to move to a large manor on the East Coast of the Kingdom of Delarion to live with her parents due to family matters, so she sold the house in Tobesk.
But Miss Gold hadn’t forgotten her cat or the detective she hired. Without confirming if the detective had found the cat, she left the letter with her neighbor. If the detective found the cat, they could get the letter:
[I can’t forget my little Mia, but it’s really time to leave Tobesk. Detective Hamilton, if you see this letter, please temporarily take care of Mia and send a letter to the address below. I will come to your office to pick her up within six months at the latest. By then, I will pay more for your trouble.
P.S. Besides the original detective fee, there’s an additional five pounds in the letter as expenses for temporarily taking care of Mia. Please don’t be too harsh on my little rascal.]
The orange cat called “Little Mia” squirmed in Shard’s arms, looking like it wanted to sleep, completely unaware of its owner’s departure.
“Why?”
“I’m allergic to cats. Mia couldn’t find anyone else to help look after her cat, and she didn’t expect you to actually find Little Mia.”
The elderly woman explained, mistaking the current young detective for the original Sparrow Hamilton since she had never met him.
“So I just”
“You should temporarily adopt Little Mia. When Mia comes, she won’t shortchange you. You see, she even named the cat after herself.”
“Didn’t you”
“Mia recited the contents of the letter before she left. Humph, we’ve been neighbors for so long. Can’t she trust me with something like this?”
“Alright then, I’ll mail the letter right away. Goodbye, ma’am.”
Shard had a suspicion that this elderly woman might be able to read minds.
“Goodbye, detective. Remember, the cat can’t drink cow’s milk but can drink goat’s milk.”
The elderly woman’s voice came from behind, adding another expense to Shard’s list.
Sparrow Hamilton and Miss Mia Gold had known each other for a long time, and this wasn’t the first case between them. So, Miss Gold had a lot of trust in the detective.
This trust added another task for Shard to take care of the cat, and his savings suddenly grew by more than seven pounds. Miss Gold was indeed generous.
Including the remaining money from pawning the cane, Shard seemed close to gathering ten pounds. If he was luckier and Miss Gold received the letter within a week and came over, Shard might be able to pay off all this month’s debts.
Feeling cheerful, Shard walked back to St. Durand Square with a light step and the cat in his arms. On his way back, he passed by the Silver Parrot Milk Delivery Company he had visited not long ago and went in to inquire. He found out they could also deliver goat’s milk.
The salesperson who liaised with Shard even saw through his intention of feeding the cat with goat’s milk and introduced him to more tips on raising a cat. However, their zeal didn’t make Shard relent on the price of goat’s milk. Fortunately, No. 6 St. Durand Square was on the usual route for the diligent milkmen of the Silver Parrot Milk Delivery Company, so no extra cost was needed for a separate delivery.
Thus, the expense of goat’s milk turned out to be less than he had expected. Shard considered the orange cat “Little Mia” his lucky cat, and while leaving the “Silver Parrot Milk Delivery Company,” he thought about having a more indulgent lunch.
Just as he passed by the old dog laying at the entrance, the woman’s voice, which hadn’t spoken until today, finally rang in his mind:
[Observe her ring.]
He immediately looked around and saw Mrs. Lassoya, Mr. Lawrence’s mistress, coming out from an alley opposite the milk company. She turned towards the direction of the silverware shop where a fight had occurred the other day.
She was still wearing that white cobblestone ring.
“Is she a man turned into a woman or a woman turned into a man?”
Shard wondered to himself, having no intention of following her. He valued his life, and since he decided to give up on this client, he wouldn’t change his mind out of curiosity.
If he had the powers of Doctor Schneider or the female writer Dorothy Louisa, he would certainly not give up. But one must face reality, and he accepted his current weakness.
Feeling delighted, he carried the cat and casually strolled through the street, entering the candy store opposite. Pretending to inquire about the prices of small cakes in the display window, he confirmed with his peripheral vision that Mrs. Lassoya had walked away before quickly leaving the store and entering the alley from where Mrs. Lassoya had just emerged.
The alley was not deep, dirty, and filled with unpleasant smells, typical of most alleys in the steam city. A few quick paces to the end revealed piles of discarded pipes, some covered in disgusting green moss.
After bypassing the pipes, he saw a wall—it was a dead-end alley.
One should have been able to reach another street through the alley, but the shop at the other end had expanded its area, blocking the exit with a back wall.
“This spot between the pipes and the wall is an excellent blind spot. Did Mrs. Lassoya transform by kissing her ring again here?”
Shard thought, feeling satisfied with his cautiousness and strong decision-making. While he dared not follow Mrs. Lassoya, investigating what she had done earlier seemed entirely feasible.
