'Are you serious?' Kevin coldly humphed.
'He was forced to wait for four hours. Now he has to endure getting stuffed inside the sling bag?!'
Kevin's tail was raised high up in the air. Some of his fluffy fur stood up. He glared at Lawrence, viciously cursing him with grumbling meoww meoww!
But Lawrence seemed unfazed. He held the struggling black and white dumpling in his bosom. He skillfully stuffed him inside without a sound and flung the sling bag onto his shoulder.
"Meeeooowwwwwrrrrrr!!!!"
Kevin is howling inside the bag. His extremely sharp claws dug into the cloth. The scratching of the cloth fibers was sharp and Kevin could not stay put inside the bag. His soft firm belly is tumbling around the bag scratching and hissing at every side.
"Meeoow meeoow meeoowr!!!"
'You ungrateful servant!'
"Meeeoowr meow!"
'Let this master out!'
'I waited for you without complaints. And this is how you repay this master for his benevolence?!'
"Meeowr?"
A small round opening suddenly came to Kevin's darkened sight. Instinctively, he was really uncomfortable being trapped so Kevin raised his head towards the opening and pop out with his fluffy head and cute round jade eyes.
In a span of a few minutes, while he was forced inside, Lawrence had brought him outside. Bright sunlight greeted his eyes, making Kevin blink.
"Meowr?" He looked left and right.
"Happy?" Lawrence's voice echoed above him. Kevin looked up to see Lawrence's thin lips slightly arc upward. His eyes were soft and gentle even if there was an obvious amusement lingering in his raised brows.
"Meow,"
'What?'
"Meow, meowwr,"
'Well, this seems comfy enough.'
Kevin wiggled around and found that the sling bag fit his body so well. And the discomfort earlier disappears.
Wonder why that is?
Because cats liked enclosed spaces to fit themselves in?
Lawrence has a destination in mind. Despite the wide backyard with lush bushes and soft bermuda grass, he kept his sight straight to the courtyard a few meters away.
There was a white pavilion where his mother and her friends would get together for a beautiful star-gazing night.
A few meters away is a two storey apartment duplex used solely for servants to turn themselves into the night. Lawrence continued to scratch the small dumpling's chin as he made his way to the servant's sleeping quarters.
He had noticed while he was sitting in the living room, that about three of the maids had identical bandages wrapping their necks.
It wasn't quite noticeable at first because of the thick collar of their uniforms, but the particular maid who served the tea bent down in front of him, Lawrence caught a red small spot of blood and the white bandage.
When he scanned the files of the first and second victims, he was able to see a link between them.
It wasn't their backgrounds or their circle of acquaintances, it was the places they've visited.
The first victim and the second victim were patients of Elson Hospital.
The Elson Hospital was owned by Lawrence's mother's family.
Of course, the police had inquired about this matter and Lawrence's mother informed them that she had no idea. Because the hospital was managed by her family, and the family business no longer involved her after her marriage to Mr. Wilson.
The police disregarded that link and continued to look for more.
But Lawrence decided to follow that link. He traced the sightings of the victim noted by the police investigators and used the original owner's memory to recall where his mother had been.
And four days before the first victim went missing, she had dined in the five star restaurant beside her jewelry store. According to the waiters in the restaurant, she booked a private room but they were not able to remember who came in with her. Not only that, the separate corridor for the private rooms does not have CCTVs for the privacy of their VIP clients.
And Lawrence remembered that on that peculiar day, the original owner ran into his mother going out, saying she would meet someone. The desserts she brought back for him that day are the famous delicacy of that five star restaurant.
And the second victim has a run in with his mother too. She claimed she and her husband will frequent the theater but for the last ten years since the theater was built, she only started to visit the theater a month after the second victim was released from the hospital.
Too much coincidence?
Lawrence knew this kind gentle and polite stepmother of his had something on her sleeves.
But whatever it was, it had nothing to do with the matter of maidservants having bite marks on their necks.
For now, he should investigate the servants first while he still has time to roam around.
Lawrence went inside the servants' quarters using the backdoor. The two storey apartment duplex has six common room residences with an area of 240 square meters.
The furniture seemed rather old and weary. There was a soft fabric sofa, with a thick carpet and a small table. Unlike the common living room that has tv, there's only a radio and a vase on the shelves opposite the sofa.
The dining room was clean and neat with a bunch of table mats and a simple vase at the long table.
Lawrence raked his around the house, before crunching up his nose.
There was a thick strange scent mixed with the aroma of air fresheners. Lawrence tried to follow the strange scent but it was hard. The air fresheners were placed in every corner of the room, making it hard to detect where the strange smell originated from.
Lawrence climbed up to the bedrooms on the second floor and opened one of the bedrooms.
It was empty. Aside from the single bed, the single cabinet and the curtains in the window there was nothing in the room. All plain white.
Lawrence moved on to the second room.
A soft click echoed, just as he was about to step inside, a shadow obscured his path.
Dangling in the ceiling is the body of the servant who served him tea earlier in the living room.