Klein shivered and ran to the door to catch up with the policemen and ask for protection. But as soon as he reached the handle, he suddenly stopped.
That officer talked seriously about it; why didn't they protect me, an important witness or key lead?
Isn't that too careless? Were they just probing me? Or maybe it's bait?
Klein suspected that the police were still secretly "watching" him, observing his reaction.
He slowly opened the door, deliberately shouting with a trembling voice. "You guys will protect me, right?"
Tap, tap, tap… There was no response. The sound of footsteps gradually weakened and disappeared.
Klein turned back to the room and closed the door behind him.
When the sun moved to the west, the clouds on the horizon appeared to be reddish-orange. Tenants in the apartment came home one after another; Klein shifted his focus elsewhere.
"Melissa is almost done with school... When she comes back to cook, it will be after 7:30 pm. She would be starving by then. It's time for her to see what real cooking is!" Klein made an excuse for himself. First, he started the fire, washed the mutton, and took out the kitchen boards and knives before chopping the mutton into tiny chunks.
As for the explanation for his sudden culinary skills, he decided to blame it on the dead Welch McGovern, who had hired a chef who was not good at the Midseashire flavor but also often created his own delicacies and invited people to try them.
Nevertheless, tsk, this is a world with Beyonders; the dead are not necessarily unable to speak. With that in mind, he put the meat into the soup bowl. Then he took out the condiment box and added in a spoonful of salt, half of which had begun yellowing. In addition, he cautiously took some black pepper grains from a special small bottle, mixing them together.
He placed the saucepan on the stove and, while waiting for it to heat up, Klein rummaged for the carrots from yesterday and cut them into pieces alongside the onions he bought today.
When he was done with his preparations, he took out a small can from the cupboard and opened it. There was not much lard left in it.
Klein took a spoonful, put it in the pan, and melted it. He added in the carrots and onions and stirred it for a while. As the fragrance began to pervade, Klein poured all the mutton into the pot and fried it for a while.
After stewing for about twenty minutes, he opened the lid, put the tender peas and cut potatoes in it, and added a cup of hot water and two spoons of salt. He closed the lid, lowered the fire, and exhaled satisfactorily, waiting for his sister to reach home.
After more than forty minutes, some not-so-brisk but rhythmic footsteps approached. A key was inserted and the door opened.
With her bag still in her hand, she stepped in and glanced over at the stove. "You made this?" Melissa asked.
"Are you afraid I'd waste the mutton?" Klein smiled and returned with a question. "Don't worry; I specifically asked Welch to teach me how to cook this dish. You know, he had a good cook."
"First time?" Melissa's eyebrows creased.
"It looks like I'm talented." Klein laughed. "It's almost done. Put your books and veil hat down somewhere."
By the time Melissa had packed her items, washed her hands and face, and returned, a plate of stewed mutton with tender peas, potatoes, carrots, and onions was already placed on the table.
"Come on, try it." Klein pointed to the plate.
Melissa didn't refuse; she picked up a potato with her fork, put it into her mouth, and bit lightly. The taste of the starchy potato and gravy fragrance flooded her mouth.
"Try the mutton." Klein gestured at the plate.
He had tasted it just now and thought it was barely at a passing standard, but it was enough for a girl who was inexperienced with what the world had to offer. After all, she only ate meat occasionally.
Melissa forked some mutton. By the time she realized it, she had already eaten several pieces.
"It's delicious. It doesn't seem like you were doing it for the first time." Melissa looked at the empty dish and praised him with all her heart. Even the gravy was finished.
Melissa opened the cupboard to check the condiment box and other items as per normal.
"Did you just use them?" Melissa was surprised and turned to Klein, holding the black pepper bottle and lard can.
"Just a little. It's the price of a delicacy." Klein shrugged his shoulders.
"Let me cook in the future," Melissa said.
"Um... You have to hurry up and prepare for the interview. You have to think about your job."
The interview was in two days; how could I find the time to make up for it? Klein gave his sister a perfunctory response and began putting on the appearance of studying. Melissa moved a chair over to sit beside him, and she began working on her assignments.
When it was almost eleven o'clock, the siblings bade each other goodnight and went to bed.