The owner of the petite orange cat, Miss Mia Gold, was not at home. Shad stood outside the gate and rang the bell for a long time, but no one came out to open the door.
But the sound startled the neighbor next door, an old lady who walked with a hunched back and wore glasses, with her gray hair neatly combed together, dressed respectably, and wearing silver jewelry on her wrists:
"Who are you looking for?"
She asked with a thick accent, standing in front of the fence that separated her garden from Miss Goddard's.
"Ms. Mia Gold, she asked us to find her cat."
Shade also shook the cat in his arms. The orange cat called lazily, turned over and put its head on Shade's chest. This cat really likes Shade.
Even though the half-year-old orange cat was not heavy, Xia De could no longer bear carrying it all the way.
"It's this, this naughty little thing."
The old woman obviously knew the orange cat Mia, and then she said something that almost made Shade collapse:
"Mia moved out last week."
"Um?"
Fortunately, there is the next sentence:
"Are you the Hamilton detective who was looking for her cat? You're a lot younger than Mia described you to be. Don't worry, she left you a letter."
Then he turned back to his house to get the letter, and when he came back he said:
"There are some banknotes in the letter. Check the wax seal before you open it. Don't let anyone say that someone has touched the money."
The letter was left by Miss Mia Gold to Detective Sparrow Hamilton. The letter mentioned that Miss Gold had to move to a large estate in the countryside on the east coast of the Kingdom of Delarion to live with her parents due to family affairs, so she sold the property here.
But Miss Gold still remembered her cat and the detective who had been commissioned. Without confirming whether the detective had found the cat, she left this letter for the neighbor to keep. If the detective found the cat, he would get the letter:
I can't forget my little Mia, but now it's time to leave Tobesk. Detective Hamilton, if you see this letter, please take in little Mia temporarily and send a letter to the address below. I will pick her up from your office within six months at the latest. By then, I will pay more.
Note: In addition to the original detective fee, there is an extra five pounds note attached to the letter as the cost of temporarily housing Mia. Please don't blame me too much for my mischief.
The orange cat named "Xia Mia" squirmed in Shade's arms and seemed to want to sleep, totally unaware that her owner had left.
"Why... ... "
"I'm allergic to cats, and Mia couldn't find anyone else to take care of the cats, and she didn't expect you to actually be able to find Mia."
The old woman said that she had never seen Sparrow Hamilton and mistook the young detective in front of her for the old one.
"Then I..."
"Just adopt Little Mia for now. When Mia comes, she won't give you less money. Look, she even named the cat after herself."
"You didn't..."
"Mia dictated the contents of this letter before she left. Humph, she and I have been neighbors for so long, can't she give me this kind of trust?"
"Well, I'll post the letter now. Good-bye, ma'am."
Shade had some doubts that the old woman could read minds.
"Goodbye, Detective. Remember, this cat can't drink cow's milk, but can drink goat's milk."
The old woman's voice came from behind, and Xia De's expenses increased again.
Detective Sparrow Hamilton and Miss Mia Gold have known each other for a long time, and this is not the first commission, so Miss Gold gave the detective a lot of trust.
This trust gave Shad an extra job of looking after cats and increased his savings by more than seven pounds. Miss Gold was really generous.
With the remaining money from the pawn of his walking stick, it seemed that Shad would soon be able to collect ten pounds. And if he was lucky enough, Miss Gold would receive the letter and come within a week, and Shad might be able to pay off all his debts for this month.
Because of this good mood, I walked back to St. Teresa's Square with the cat in my arms, and my steps were much lighter. On the way back, I happened to pass by the Silver Parrot Milk Delivery Company that I had visited not long ago, so I went in to ask and learned that they also deliver goat milk.
The salesman who was in charge of contacting Shade even saw that Shade wanted to feed the kittens with goat milk, and therefore introduced him to more cat-raising skills. However, his enthusiasm did not make Shade give in on the money for ordering goat milk. Fortunately, No. 6 St. Teresa Square in the city center was the daily route for the diligent milkmen of the Silver Parrot Milk Distribution Company.
Therefore, there is no need to open an additional route to deliver goat milk specifically to Xiade, so the cost of goat milk is actually less than expected.
Xia De regarded the orange cat "Xia Mia" as his lucky cat. When he left the "Silver Parrot Milk Distribution Company", he was still thinking about being a little more luxurious at noon and eating some better food.
Just as I passed by the old dog lying at the door, the woman's voice, which had not made a sound so far today, finally rang in my mind:
Observe her ring.
He immediately looked up and around, and almost a second later, he saw Mr. Lawrence's mistress, Mrs. Lazoya, walking out of the alley opposite the dairy company and turning in the direction of the silver shop where the fight took place the day before.
She still wore the white pebble ring.
"Is she a man who changes into a woman, or a woman who changes into a man?"
Xia De guessed it in his heart, but he had no intention of following. He valued his life, and since he had decided to give up this commission, he would not change his mind because of curiosity.
If he had the strength of Dr. Schneider or the writer Dorothy Louisa, he would certainly not give up. But people have to face reality, and he accepts that he is still weak.
With a happy mood, he leisurely crossed the street with the cat in his arms and entered the candy store across the street. He pretended to be curious and asked about the price of the small cakes in the glass window. After confirming that Mrs. Lazoya had gone far away with his peripheral vision, he immediately walked out of the store and entered the alley where Mrs. Lazoya had appeared just now.
The alley was not deep, and like most alleys in this steam city, it was dirty and full of odor. A few quick steps and you reached the end, where there were some abandoned pipes piled up, and the surface of the pipes was even covered with a layer of disgusting green moss.
When I went around the pipe, I saw that there was a wall behind it. It was a dead end.
Originally, it should be possible to reach another block from the other end of the alley, but the shop at the other exit arbitrarily expanded its floor space and blocked the alley with the back wall.
"There is an excellent blind spot between these pipes and the wall. Madam Lazoya just walked out of an alley with no exit. Did she complete another 'transformation' by kissing the ring here?"
Xia De thought, very satisfied with his own caution and strong action. Although he didn't dare to follow, it was no problem to investigate what the other party had just done.