Three days had passed since Farry first came to the agency. In other words, today was the last day before the commission ended.
Bres and Qiao Anni were in high spirits, since the day they would finally get rid of this annoying pest was right around the corner. Farry, on the other hand, was in a terrible mood.
“I’ve got no inspiration at all…”
Even just from the sound of his voice, you could tell he was dejected.
“What’s the matter, Mr. Farry? So this is the so-called life of a detective?”
Bres said, a hint of schadenfreude in his voice.
“But… isn’t this too boring? No thrilling cases, no exciting adventures, nothing! In the two days I’ve been here, all we’ve done is find two dogs and a cat, and fix a neighbor’s broken lightbulb! What kind of detective work is this?”
“This is the most common situation, Mr. Farry,”
Qiao Anni said.
“Even though public safety here is really shitty, that doesn’t mean there’s a thrilling adventure every day.”
“Is it just that I came at a bad time?”
“Hmm, you could say that. Having no cases at least means this area has been pretty peaceful lately—no bad things happening—”
“You little bastard, give me back my wallet!”
“X, are you doing this on purpose!”
Before Bres could finish, shouting and sounds of a scuffle came from outside the window.
“…No particularly big bad things happened.”
In the Lower City District, this level of commotion probably counted as just fooling around.
Bres picked up the coffee Qiao Anni had just brewed and took a sip, then his whole face scrunched up.
“Uh… Qiao Anni, you didn’t add any sugar at all?”
“No? You said you wanted something to perk you up, so I made you the purest black coffee?”
“You little…”
Bres grabbed the sugar bowl and added several sugar cubes to his coffee before stopping.
“Adding that much, it’s practically sugar water.”
“You have no taste.”
Farry watched the two of them bicker and sighed.
“Looks like today will be spent in idleness too…”
Hearing that, Bres and Qiao Anni both turned around and stared at Farry with peculiar expressions.
In many places, there is a superstitious saying: you must never say things like “It’s so quiet today” or similar words, or else you’ll definitely run into bad luck or be swamped with work.
Many people sneer at this saying, after all, it’s just a casual phrase—how could it change what’s about to happen externally?
But superstitions become popular for a reason.
The neighbor, Ms. Laila, was once again standing at the door, gasping for breath—this time she had burst through it.
Because there really are too many coincidences in the world.
“N-no good! I, I I I I…”
“Slow down, Ms. Laila. Did your Milk run away again?”
Farry even started to imitate Bres’s manner to comfort Laila.
“No! It’s my husband, Oliver!”
“Oliver? What happened to him?”
Bres immediately became alert.
A missing person was a different matter from a missing pet.
Qiao Anni helped Laila sit down on the sofa.
Once Laila had calmed down, she began her story.
“Oliver, my husband, you both met him the day before yesterday, right? We even ate together at the same table.”
“My husband works at a nearby food processing plant. He usually doesn’t get back until late at night. Days like the other day when he got off early are as rare as a holiday for us. Otherwise we wouldn’t have opened that bottle of wine… Sorry, I digress.”
“Oliver usually doesn’t come home until late. Occasionally he stays overnight at the factory. Even when he stays, he calls the next day to let me know, so I usually don’t worry.”
“The night before last was the same. I didn’t wait for him to come back; I just went to bed. When I got up early the next morning, I didn’t see him, so I thought he’d spent the night at the factory.”
“But… but it’s been this long, and he hasn’t called even once. Even when he stays out, he always calls to let me know he’s safe! That’s when I felt something was wrong. I called the factory today, and the foreman said he clocked out and went home that very night! He also said Oliver didn’t come to work yesterday or today! That’s when I realized he might be missing…”
After finishing the gist of the story, Laila was overcome with grief and began to sob quietly.
Qiao Anni said nothing, just rubbed her back.
At some point, Bres had taken out a notebook and was scribbling something in it.
“Ms. Laila, did your husband show any unusual behavior before he went missing? Anything different from usual?”
“No, he was no different from usual…”
“How were his relationships normally? Did he have any friends?”
“I think… he probably didn’t have any friends. He’s a man of few words, and I never heard him mention any workmates he was close with at the factory.”
“I see. Understood.”
During the pause in Bres’s questioning, Farry chimed in.
“Um, didn’t you plan to contact the police first or something?”
Laila looked at Farry on the table with tearful eyes.
“Police? What would I call the police for?”
“Isn’t it normal to contact the police first in this kind of situation, and only turn to civilians if that fails?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. What use are the Nightless City police? They hum and haw in front of the counter, scribble down some nonsense, say ‘We’ll do our best,’ and then drop it. I’d rather come straight to Mr. Bres than go to them!”
Farry was at a loss for words.
Bres just chuckled twice on the side.
It was the truth.
The inefficiency and terrible attitude of the Nightless City police, especially in the Lower City District, was a fact that even Olivia couldn’t refute.
Rather, improving this situation was precisely the goal she was working toward.
It’s just that the goal was a bit far off.
Bres tucked the notebook into his chest.
“Alright, Ms. Laila. Can you tell me the factory’s location? I’ll go to the factory first to ask around.”
Laila stammered out an address.
“Got it. I’ll do my best to complete your commission. Please wait at home for my news. Qiao Anni?”
Qiao Anni immediately helped Laila to her feet and escorted her back next door.
Seeing the two leave, Bres immediately began to pack his gear.
Guns, emergency medicine, listening devices, a portable computer… These items, which Farry had seen no trace of just a few days ago, were constantly being pulled from the corners of the agency and strapped onto Bres.
“Wow.”
Farry had a premonition that this time would be the genuine ‘case’ he had been seeking.
“Are you ready, Mr. Bres?”
Turning around, Qiao Anni, who had finished seeing Laila home, was already standing at the door.
However, her attire was no different from usual.
“You want to ask why I’m not bringing anything?”
Qiao Anni seemed to see through Farry’s thoughts.
She held up the small bag in her hand.
“This is enough.”
“This is—”
Qiao Anni put a finger to her lips and smiled mysteriously.
“You’ll know when the time comes.”