The owner of the small orange cat, Miss Mia Gold, was not at home. Shade stood outside the gate, ringing the bell for quite a while, but no one came to answer the door.
The sound of the bell, however, attracted the attention of the neighbor next door. A stooped elderly woman wearing glasses, her gray hair neatly tied back, and dressed in fine clothing, approached the fence that separated her garden from Miss Gold's.
"Who are you looking for?" she asked in a heavy accent.
"Mia Gold," Shade replied. "She hired us to find her cat."
He held up the orange tabby in his arms. The cat lazily meowed and nuzzled closer to Shade's chest. It had grown quite fond of him. Though the kitten wasn't heavy, after carrying it for so long, Shade's arms were beginning to tire.
"So it's her, the little rascal," the elderly woman remarked, clearly recognizing the kitten. Then she said something that nearly made Shade collapse in frustration:
"Mia moved away last week."
"What?" Shade responded, bewildered. Fortunately, the woman continued.
"Are you Hamilton, the detective she hired? You're much younger than Mia described, but don't worry. She left a letter for you."
The woman turned back toward her house to fetch the letter. When she returned, she added, "There's some money in the letter. Before you open it, check the seal to make sure no one's tampered with it."
The letter was from Miss Mia Gold, addressed to Detective Sparrow Hamilton. In it, she explained that due to family matters, she had to move to a large estate on the eastern coast of the Delarion Kingdom to live with her parents. She had sold her property in Tobesque but hadn't forgotten about her kitten or the detective she'd hired. The letter left with the neighbor was to be given to the detective if he found her cat.
"I'll never forget my little Mia," the letter read. "But it's time for me to leave Tobesque. Detective Hamilton, if you're reading this, please take care of Mia temporarily. Send me a letter at the address below. I'll come to collect her within six months at the latest. I'll compensate you further when I do."
There was an added note, stating that five pounds in cash were enclosed with the letter, intended to cover the expenses of caring for Mia until Miss Gold could return. The letter also asked Shade not to be too harsh on her mischievous little kitten.
The orange tabby, known as "Little Mia," squirmed slightly in Shade's arms, looking like it was ready to nap, unaware that its owner had left the city.
"Why..." Shade muttered, trailing off.
"I'm allergic to cats," the elderly neighbor explained. "Mia couldn't find anyone else to take care of her, and she didn't expect you to actually find the kitten."
"Then I..." Shade began.
"Just take care of her for now," the woman said. "Mia won't forget to pay you. Look, she even named the cat after herself."
"You didn't..."
"Mia told me about the letter before she left. Hmph, after being neighbors for so long, don't you think I've earned that trust?"
"Alright, I'll send the letter. Farewell, ma'am," Shade said, still skeptical of how the elderly woman seemed to know so much.
"Farewell, detective. Remember, the cat can't have cow's milk, but it can drink goat's milk," she added, as if it were an afterthought. And with that, Shade's expenses grew once again.
Sparrow Hamilton had apparently known Miss Mia Gold for a long time, which was why she trusted the detective so much. This trust now extended to Shade, leaving him with the task of caring for the kitten. On the bright side, Miss Gold's generosity meant Shade had suddenly found himself with over seven pounds, a significant boost to his savings.
With the money he had pawned from his walking cane and the funds from Miss Gold, Shade realized he was getting close to the ten pounds he needed. If he were lucky, Miss Gold might even receive his letter within a week and come back to retrieve Mia, allowing Shade to pay off all his debts for the month.
In this buoyant mood, Shade walked back to St. Derland Square, holding the kitten, his steps light and quick. On his way back, he passed the Silver Parrot Milk Delivery Company, which he had visited not too long ago. He stopped inside to inquire and learned that they also delivered goat's milk.
The clerk who assisted Shade quickly deduced that he intended to feed the kitten goat's milk, enthusiastically sharing tips on raising cats. Though the advice didn't reduce the cost of the goat's milk, Shade was pleased to hear that the St. Derland Square location was on the delivery company's regular route, meaning there wouldn't be any extra charge for the deliveries.
With the orange tabby now seen as his lucky charm, Shade left the milk company in high spirits, thinking about how he could indulge in a nicer meal for lunch.
As he passed an old dog lying outside the shop, a voice that hadn't spoken all day suddenly echoed in his mind:
"Observe her ring."
Shade immediately looked around, spotting Mrs. Lasonya, Mr. Lawrence's mistress, emerging from an alley across the street and heading in the direction of the silverware shop where the altercation had occurred just a few days prior.
She was still wearing the white stone ring.
"Is she a man who turns into a woman, or a woman who turns into a man?" Shade mused to himself. He had no intention of following her. He valued his life too much and had already decided to drop this particular case. He wouldn't change his mind out of mere curiosity.
If he had the power of Dr. Schneider or Miss Dorothy Luyssa, the writer, maybe he wouldn't have let it go. But Shade was well aware of his current weakness, and he had accepted it.
In a cheery mood, Shade carried the kitten and leisurely strolled across the street, entering a candy shop. Pretending to be curious about the price of the cakes in the glass display, he used his peripheral vision to ensure that Mrs. Lasonya had walked far enough away before he left the shop and entered the same alley she had just exited.
The alley was narrow and typical of the steam-filled city—filthy and full of unpleasant odors. After just a few steps, Shade reached the end, where several discarded pipes lay in a heap. The pipes were covered in a layer of disgusting green moss.
Rounding the pile, Shade saw a wall. The alley was a dead end.
The alley had once led to another street, but a shop had illegally expanded its property, blocking the exit with a rear wall.
"This pile of pipes and the wall create the perfect blind spot," Shade thought to himself. "Mrs. Lasonya emerged from this alley with no exit. Could she have transformed again by kissing that ring?"
Satisfied with his cautious yet quick actions, Shade felt a sense of accomplishment. Though he was unwilling to follow her, investigating what she had done was a different matter entirely.