Chapter 31: Chapter Thirty-One: A Missing Person's Case
"As I said, it isn't my fault. Someone killed them before I could investigate any further."
Calvin explains the situation and shares what had transpired. Since this is his first-ever request, he wanted to make it a success. However, Lady Luck was not on his side when all the criminals turned into corpses; as they would say, the dead does not speak.
"It matters not. My master had specified what he wanted. That being the case, you swagger your way back and inform me that the said party of criminals are dead and you wanted the rest of the commission? Preposterous!" The butler, who represented his employer, exclaims. "How shameless can one be Mr. Cooper? Having done only half of the work and wanting the full payment? If that is not shameless then I do not know what is!"
The butler then goes into a more detailed rant session. Calvin grows more inclined to just shove this shriveling old man out the door and be done with it. Of course, Calvin knew better and shoving this client out would not make the situation any better.
"It is what it is," He ruffles through his shaggy hair. "They're already dead and won't conveniently come back to life."
"If you won't be giving the other half of the payment then I can only say this where our conversations end."
Calvin gives an ultimatum. Either way he gave them all the information that he could, but will not give any insights that he gained when he collected them. It would seem that the other party knew someone would be sniffing them out so they took action.
"Well then Mr. Cooper, this is where our partnership ends." The butler stands up. "I appreciate the information that you have gathered for us. Now I must be on my way."
He quickly masks his appearance and steps out of Calvin's office. Calvin brings out his cigarettes but notices he had run out. Using his ability, he conjures up a box of new cigarettes. Then taking one out he quickly lights it.
"I'm pretty lucky that my ability is useful."
His mood had taken a small dip after the meeting with his commissioner. He winds down by sitting leisurely and smoking his favorite brand.
"If I'm correct, he should be the personal attendant for the young heiress to the House of Vicarr."
The young heiress is a descendant to the House of Vicarr. A house home to past valiant war heroes. Often beloved by the public and seen as allies of justice. Back when the Arza Republic was still a monarchy, the House of Vicarr held the title of Duke.
"She should be around twelve to thirteen years old this year," Calvin mutters. "She seems to be quite naive."
His cigarette quickly becoming a stump, he discards it into a nearby ashtray that he had made. Calvin organizes all the facts that he has gathered within his head.
"It seems something is going on with the House of Vicarr and its political enemies."
With the current timeframe of the upcoming election, there is a good chance that the House of Vicarr would end up winning the people's votes again. The current one leading this country is the young lady's grandfather. With the rules in place, it seems four terms, each of three years each, is the limit for each person. It is already his fourth and last term, so the next one to take up the mantle would be either her father or her uncle.
"Pretty sure they have a strained relationship," Calvin murmurs.
"The uncle is pretty suspicious," Calvin scratches his stubble. "If so, there's probably some insider stuff they don't want anyone knowing about."
A family feud, a struggle for power or however you want to coin it. A battle of succession seems to be unfolding behind closed doors. Calvin sure did not want to be mixed into the whole debacle if he could help it; he is just a simple detective. It could very likely end up with him making unseen enemies from either faction if he did not tread carefully. The chances that he would be silenced for knowing too much could very well happen. Calvin prepares to light another cigarette when he heard a voice coming from the outside the door to his room.
"Hello? Is anyone in there?"
Calvin raises his head and looks curiously over to his door. From how the voice sounded, it seems to belong to a young girl. He puts his cigarette down onto his desk.
"Come on in, the door's open."
A moment of silence and the door slowly opens as two small figure enters the room. On the top of each of their heads are a pair of cat-like ears. Behind them, a slender and furry tail follows them as they cautiously take one step at a time into his office. Calvin raises his eyebrows. Even though it has been a few months, he still has not gotten used to the strange sight. In this world, some many diverse races and species looked very much like humans.
Two beastmen children, specifically belonging to the race that had feline traits. A little girl and boy, not much older than seven years of age. Both of them having orange-reddish hair. The girl had short bangs and her hair in pigtails while the boy simply had a bowl-shaped haircut.
"C, can you help us?"
The young girl stutters. Her small frame trembling with the boy hiding behind her with his head peaking out. The two were nervous.
"With?"
Calvin asks back. The older of the two, the girl, flinches at his asking. She summons up her courage again to reply to Calvin.
"O, our big sister," She answers. "She-she hasn't come back home yet."
"Hm," Calvin thinks. "How long ago?"
"L, last night." The little girl continues. "She promised she would come back before it got dark."
The girl's expression becomes crestfallen. Calvin could tell that tears were forming at the edges of her eyes. He did not know what to say to comfort these two children who were worried about their older sister.
"She promised..."
Sniffles could be heard from both of them. Calvin inwardly sighs. He could only ruffle his shaggy hair in response to the sniffles gradually increasing in frequency and sound.
"Alright, I can help you," Calvin agrees. "But how did you find out about me?"
"From the lady who gives us bread over there."
She points in a general direction. From the clues given Calvin can surmise she is talking about Carmilla, the one who runs a bread shop a bit further down the street. Carmilla helped Calvin by giving him the leftover bread which did not sell at the end of the day. He had told her if she ever needed some help with things she could find him right where he is currently at.
"Okay, do you know where she went before she went missing?"
"Uh," She thinks for a bit. "Big sister works at the place over there."
She once again points to another location. Once again, Calvin thinks about the general direction and the most likely place where one would work. The Dragon's Roost Inn, a place where adventurers can find a place to sleep and eat for a modest price. A well-known and popular place for adventurers.
"Alright kids, I'll look into it," Calvin tells the two children. "Meanwhile, go back home and wait for your big sister."
He gets up from his chair and grabs his coat hanging behind him. With his back turned from the two, he hears the girl speak up.
"You mean it?" She fidgets. "What about-what about the money?"
"Money?"
"Mmm," She nods. "I heard you needed money."
"Kid," Calvin said. "The time I would extort money from kids like you is when pigs fly."
Calvin having put on his coat walks over and places his hand on top. He then rubs the top of her head and reassures her.
"Don't worry, just head on home. I'll take care of it."
The little girl's face softens at his gesture. She nods and then takes her little brother's hand. They start making towards the door and as if she remembers something she turns back.
"Mister, I'm Anne and this is my little brother Peter!" She exclaims. "Marianne is my big sis' name!"
Calvin simply smiles and nods. With a big smile, she left with light steps along with her little brother that did not say anything in that exchange.
"It's time to start another day of work." He puts a cigarette in between his lips. "Lucky for me I took some coins for myself back there."
With gold coins jingling within his coat pockets, he exits out of his office.
.....
"Ma'am, do you know a Marianne?"
Calvin had made his way on over to the Dragon's Roost Inn. He is currently talking to the proprietress of the establishment. A middle-aged woman with a bit of weight on her. Her face had wrinkles around her mouth and the sides of her eyes. The ends of her mouth arcing upwards; seemingly making it look as if she has a permanent smile on her face. Adventurers often refer to her as "Big Mama" but her real name is Suzy Aftman.
"Marianne? Yes, I do. She works here during the evenings." Suzy informs Calvin. "If you have any business with her, it'd be best if you return near the evenings if you want to see her."
"That's the problem, ma'am. Her younger siblings said she didn't return home last night."
"She didn't go home?" Suzy puzzled. "But I remember she left a little after the sun had set."
"You did see her leaving your establishment, correct?"
"Mhm, yes. I even said goodbye to her as well." Suzy said. "Are you saying is that Marianne has gone missing?"
"So far, from what her siblings have said, yes. That's why I'm here."
Finally, at the starting point, Calving starts with a simple question.
"Does she have any known enemies or people that don't like her?"
"Oh dear, no! She's a sweetheart around here!" Suzy said. "Many of our guests like Marianne. If anything, it might be that she's too popular that's causing her some issues."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it's known that many admirers have tried their hands at winning the young Marianne's heart." Suzy continues. "I mean what young man wouldn't with her personality and looking that pretty."
"It has even gotten to the point in which it has caused some troubles for her."
"Continue." Calvin intrigued. "What troubles are you talking about?"
"Lately, there's been a rowdy bunch of misfits that's been a bit too touchy-feely with some of our young waitresses." Suzy puts on a hardened look. "I had warned them about their behavior but they didn't listen."
"Finally they went over the line and started to assault Marianne when she was working here."
"Luckily, it didn't escalate too far. A couple of high-ranked adventurers put a stop to their shameful behavior and then they were promptly kicked out." Suzy said. "I told them they weren't allowed to be here ever again."
"Hmm," Calvin thinks. "How long ago was this incident?"
"About a four days ago," Suzy said. "Since then, Marianne had told me she felt as if someone was following her every time she returned home."
"I see." Calvin jots down the details into his journal. "To sum it up, you're thinking it's them who are likely to have something to do with Marianne not returning home?"
"Yes, if anybody, it would be them," Suzy nods. "The name of their party is "Serpent's Bite" headed by a man by the name of Wales."
"Okay, I'll head on over to the Adventurer's Guild." Calvin closes his journal. "Thank you for your cooperation ma'am."
"Please," Suzy pleads. "She's a good girl. If they have done something to her, please help her."
"That's what I intend to do." Calvin nods. "Have a nice day."
.....
After that, he headed on over to the Adventurer's Guild. Seeing the bustling activity within the guildhall, Calvin momentarily becomes lost on what to do. Seeing that all staff members manning behind counters, he simply walks on over to the shortest and fastest moving line. It was not until close to half an hour that he finally made his way to the front of the counter.
"Hello, how can I help you?"
An elf with her long golden locks of hair bundled into a bun speaks to Calvin. Her deep blue eyes peer with curiosity at this new face and her long pointed ears quiver slightly.
"Sorry, I'm going to have to take some of your time." Calvin starts. "I'm looking for a party known as "Serpent's Bite". Do you know where I can find them?"
"Serpent's Bite?" She tilts her head. "Wait a moment please."
She then proceeds towards the behind the counter. While waiting, Calvin once again lights a cigarette to have a smoke. The people behind and around him watched curiously. Moments later, the elf receptionist returns with a clay tablet.
"Sorry for the wait, it seems that the party "Serpent's Bite" is unavailable right now." She informs Calvin. "They seem to have recently accepted a D-ranked quest to clear out a horned goblin's nest."
"Do you know when they left?"
"Uh, it seems to have been dated about three days ago when they accepted it so it should be around one or two days since they left."
"Are you for certain that they have left the day before yesterday?"
"No, I cannot be for certain. After all, every party that is registered at the guild has its way of doing their accepted quests." The receptionist shook her head. "If you want to be certain, you can ask the guards at the gates to see if they have documented them leaving the city."
"Okay, I will," Calvin said. "Thank you for the information."
Calvin steps to the side and then walks on out of the Adventurer's Guild. The surroundings were still curious about what the strange middle-aged man had put in between his lips. The puffs of white smoke that exited out of his mouth and nostrils intrigued some of them. They realized he seems to have been smoking but what he was smoking is what they were intrigued about. Other than a select few, they quickly threw the curious man into the back of their heads and continued with their day.
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