Chapter 27: Meeting Lasoya Again

Miss Mia Gold, the owner of the small ginger cat, was not at home. Shade stood outside the iron gate and rang the bell for quite a while, but no one came to open it.

The sound, however, disturbed the neighbor next door—an elderly woman who walked with a stoop and wore spectacles. Her gray hair was neatly combed and gathered, and she was dressed decently with silver ornaments on her wrists.

"Who are you looking for?" she asked in a heavy accent, standing before the fence that separated her garden from Miss Gold’s.

"Miss Mia Gold. She commissioned us to find her cat."

Shade gave the cat in his arms a little shake. The ginger cat let out a lazy meow and turned to press its head against Shade’s chest; the cat really seemed to like him. Although the half-year-old ginger cat was not heavy, Shade was already starting to feel the strain after carrying it all the way there.

"Oh, it’s that little rascal," the old woman said. She clearly knew the cat, little Mia, and then uttered a sentence that nearly made Shade collapse: "Mia moved away last week."

"Huh?"

Fortunately, there was more: "Are you Detective Hamilton, the one she hired to find the cat? You are much younger than Mia described. Don't worry, she left a letter for you."

She turned and went back into her house to retrieve the letter. Upon returning, she added, "There is some cash in the envelope. Check the wax seal before you open it, and don't tell anyone that someone has handled this money."

The letter was addressed to Detective Sparrow Hamilton by Miss Mia Gold. In it, she explained that due to family matters, she had to move to a large estate in the countryside on the east coast of the Delarion Kingdom to live with her parents, and thus had sold her property here.

However, Miss Gold had not forgotten her cat or the detective she had commissioned. Not knowing if the detective would actually find the cat, she left the letter with the neighbor, to be given to him only if he succeeded.

[I cannot forget my little Mia, but it is truly time to leave Tobesk City. Detective Hamilton, if you see this letter, please look after little Mia for the time being and send a letter to the address below. I will come to your office to collect her within six months at the latest. At that time, I will pay you additional compensation.

Note: In addition to the original detective fee, I have included five pounds in paper currency with this letter to cover the expenses of taking care of Mia temporarily. Please do not be too harsh on my little troublemaker.]

The ginger cat, referred to as "little Mia," squirmed in Shade’s arms, looking as if it wanted to sleep, completely unaware that its owner had left.

"Why..."

"I am allergic to cats. Mia couldn't find anyone else to help her look after it, and she honestly didn't think you would actually be able to find little Mia," the old woman said. She had never met Sparrow Hamilton and assumed the young man before her was the original detective.

"Then I..."

"You should just adopt little Mia for now. When Mia comes to collect her, she won't pay you any less. Look, she even named the cat after herself."

"You aren't..."

"Mia dictated the contents of this letter before she left. Hmph, I have been her neighbor for so long; surely she can trust me with this much?"

"Alright, I will go send the letter now. Goodbye, madam." Shade felt a bit suspicious that the old woman could read minds.

"Goodbye, detective. Remember, this cat cannot drink cow's milk, but it can have goat's milk." The old woman's voice drifted from behind him, adding yet another expense to Shade’s list.

Detective Sparrow Hamilton had known Miss Mia Gold for a long time, and this was not their first commission, which was why Miss Gold placed such great trust in him. This trust left Shade with the job of looking after the cat and increased his savings by over seven pounds; Miss Gold was truly generous.

Combined with the money left over from pawning his cane, Shade seemed to be close to reaching ten pounds. If he were luckier and Miss Gold received his letter and arrived within a week, he might be able to pay off all his debts for the month.

Because of this good mood, his steps were much lighter as he carried the cat back to Saint Deran Square. On the way back, he happened to pass by the Silver Parrot Milk Delivery Company, which he had visited not long ago. He went in to inquire and learned that they also delivered goat's milk.

The clerk who assisted Shade even guessed his intention to feed the kitten with goat's milk and offered him more tips on raising cats. His enthusiasm, however, did not make him lower the price of the goat's milk. Fortunately, 6 Saint Deran Square, located in the city center, was on the daily route of the Silver Parrot Milk Delivery Company's diligent deliveryman.

Therefore, there was no need to create an extra route, so the cost of the goat's milk was actually less than he had imagined.

Shade began to view the ginger cat, "little Mia," as his own lucky charm. As he left the Silver Parrot Milk Delivery Company, he was already thinking about treating himself to something better for lunch.

Just as he passed by the old dog lying at the entrance—a dog that had not made a sound all day—a woman's voice finally resonated in his mind:

[Observe her ring.]

He immediately looked around, and a second later, he saw Mrs. Lassoya, Mr. Lawrence’s mistress, emerging from the alley across from the milk company. She turned toward the direction of the silverware shop where the fight had taken place the day before.

She was still wearing that white pebble ring.

"Is she a man turned into a woman, or a woman turned into a man?" Shade wondered, but he had no intention of following her. He valued his life; since he had decided to give up on that commission, he would not change his mind out of curiosity.

If he had the power of Dr. Schneider or the writer Miss Dorothy Louise, he certainly wouldn't give up. But one must face reality; he accepted that he was still weak.

With a pleasant mood, he walked leisurely through the streets with the cat and entered the candy store across the way. Pretending to be curious, he asked about the price of the small cakes in the glass display case. Once he confirmed with a glance that Mrs. Lassoya had walked far away, he exited the store and entered the alley where she had appeared.

The alley was not deep, and like most alleys in this steam-powered city, it was filthy and filled with foul odors. A few quick steps brought him to the end, where some discarded pipes were stacked, their surfaces covered in a layer of disgusting green moss.

Rounding the pipes, he saw that behind them was a wall; it was a dead end.

Originally, one should have been able to reach another block from the other side of the alley, but the store at the exit had expanded its footprint without permission, blocking the alley with its back wall.

"Between this pile of pipes and the wall, there is an excellent blind spot. Mrs. Lassoya just walked out of an alley with no exit; could it be that she completed another 'transformation' by kissing the ring here?" Shade thought, quite satisfied with his caution and his strong initiative. Although he did not dare to follow her, investigating what she had just done was perfectly fine.