Miss Mia Gold, the owner of the small orange cat, was not home. Xia De stood outside the fence gate, ringing the bell for a long time, but no one came out to open the door.
However, the sound startled the next-door neighbor, an old woman with a stooped posture and glasses. Her gray hair was neatly combed and gathered, she was dressed respectably, and wore silver ornaments on her wrist:
"Who are you looking for?"
Her accent was heavy as she stood in front of the fence between her garden and Miss Gold's garden and asked.
"Miss Mia Gold. She commissioned us to find her cat."
Xia De also swayed the cat he was holding. The orange cat let out a lazy meow, then flipped over and pressed its head against Xia De's chest. This cat really liked Xia De.
And even though the half-year-old orange cat wasn't heavy, after carrying it all the way, Xia De was already starting to feel it.
"Oh, it's that naughty little thing."
The old woman clearly knew the orange cat, Mia, and then said something that almost made Xia De collapse:
"Mia moved out last week."
"Huh?"
Fortunately, there was a next sentence:
"Are you Hamilton Detective, who is looking for her cat? You are much younger than Mia described. Don't worry, she left a letter for you."
With that, she turned and went back into her house to get the letter, and as she returned, she said:
"There's some cash in the letter. Check the wax seal before you open it, so no one can say the money has been touched."
The letter was left by Miss Mia Gold for Sparrow Hamilton Detective. The letter mentioned that Miss Gold had to move to a large estate in the countryside on the east coast of Delarion Kingdom to live with her parents due to family matters, and thus sold her property here.
But Miss Gold still remembered her cat and the Detective she commissioned. Without confirming whether the Detective had found the cat, she left this letter for her neighbor to keep. If the Detective found the cat, he could receive this letter:
"I can't forget my Mia, but now it's truly time to leave Tobesk City. Hamilton Detective, if you see this letter, please temporarily take in Mia and send a letter to the address below. I will pick her up at your office within six months at the latest. At that time, I will pay more compensation.
P.S. In addition to the original Detective fee, there are an extra five pounds of banknotes with this letter, as expenses for temporarily keeping Mia. Please do not be too harsh on my little mischief."
The orange cat, named "Mia," squirmed in Xia De's arms, looking like it wanted to sleep, completely unaware of the fact that its owner had left.
"Why..."
"I'm allergic to cats, and Mia couldn't find anyone else to look after her cat, and she didn't originally expect you would actually find Mia."
The old woman said. She had never met Sparrow Hamilton and mistook the young Detective in front of her for the original Detective.
"Then I..."
"You can temporarily adopt Mia. When Mia comes back, she won't shortchange you. You see, she even named the cat after herself."
"You didn't..."
"Mia dictated the content of this letter before she left. Hmph, I've been her neighbor for so long, can't she trust me that much?"
"All right, I'll go mail the letter now. Goodbye, madam."
Xia De somewhat suspected this old woman could read minds.
"Goodbye, Detective. Remember, this cat cannot drink milk, but it can drink goat milk."
The old woman's voice came from behind him, and so Xia De's expenses increased by another sum.
Sparrow Hamilton Detective and Miss Mia Gold had known each other for a long time, and this was not the first commissioned case, so Miss Gold had great trust in the Detective.
This trust gave Xia De an extra job of looking after a cat, and instantly boosted his savings by more than seven pounds. Miss Gold was truly generous.
Adding the remaining money from pawning his cane, Xia De seemed to be able to gather ten pounds very soon. And if he was luckier, Miss Gold could receive the letter and rush over within a week, and Xia De might even be able to pay off all his debts for this month directly.
Because of this good mood, his steps were much lighter as he walked back to Saint Delan Square with the cat. On the way back, he happened to pass by the Silver Parrot Milk Delivery Company, which he had visited not long ago, so he went in to ask and learned that they also delivered goat milk.
The salesperson who dealt with Xia De even saw through Xia De's intention to feed the kitten goat milk and, as a result, introduced him to more cat-raising tips. But his enthusiasm did not make Xia De compromise on the cost of ordering goat milk. Fortunately, No. 6 Saint Delan Square, located in the city center, was a daily route for the diligent milk deliverers of the Silver Parrot Milk Delivery Company.
So there was no need to open up an extra route or detour specifically for Xia De's delivery, which meant the cost of goat milk was actually less than expected.
Xia De regarded the orange cat "Mia" as his lucky cat. As he left the "Silver Parrot Milk Delivery Company," he was still thinking about being able to splurge a little at noon and eat something better.
Just as he passed the old dog lying by the door, the woman's voice, which had not made a sound until today, finally rang in his mind:
"Observe her ring."
He immediately looked up and around, and almost a second later, he instantly saw Mrs. Lasoya, Mr. Lawrence's mistress, emerge from the alley opposite the milk company and turn in the direction of the silver shop where the fight had occurred the day before yesterday.
She was still wearing that white pebble ring.
"Is she a man who turned into a woman, or a woman who turned into a man?"
Xia De speculated, but he had no intention of following her. He valued his life, and since he had decided to give up on this commission, he would not change his mind out of curiosity.
If he had the power of Doctor Schneider or the Writer Miss Dorothy Louisa now, of course he would not give up. But one must face reality, and he accepted that he was still weak.
With a pleasant mood, he leisurely crossed the street with the cat and entered the candy store opposite. He pretended to be curious and asked the price of the small cakes in the glass display case, and after confirming with his peripheral vision that Mrs. Lasoya had walked away, he immediately walked out of the store and then entered the alley where Mrs. Lasoya had just appeared.
The alley was not deep, and like most alleys in this steam city, it was dirty and filled with peculiar smells. A few quick steps brought him to the end, where some discarded pipes were stacked, their surfaces even covered with a layer of disgusting green moss.
And only after going around the pipes did he see that behind them was a wall; it was a dead end.
Originally, one should have been able to reach another block from the other end of the alley, but the shop at the other end's exit had arbitrarily expanded its footprint, effectively blocking off the alley with its back wall.
"Between this pile of pipes and the wall is an excellent blind spot for vision. Mrs. Lasoya 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 caution and strong initiative. Although he dared not follow, investigating what the other party had just done was no problem.