Chapter 4 Hawaii (4) Detective Cat, on the move...
As soon as I saw the familiar courtyard, I heard an unusual commotion inside.
Instead of sitting calmly on the porch doing her knitting as usual, Meller, leaning on her cane, shakily went in and out, constantly searching for something inside and in the yard.
He kept muttering, "Ring box, I can't find my ring box... Where did I put it?"
Kara also accompanied the other party to check every corner of the room.
She had seen this ring box several times; it was navy blue, wrapped in flannel, and contained Mrs. Mailer's engagement ring from years ago.
The other party cherishes it very much, occasionally taking it out to reminisce about the past, and then carefully putting it back in its original place.
I searched countless times for the place where I used to keep the ring and the several boxes where I kept my belongings, but the ring box was nowhere to be found.
Kara straightened up, brushed the dust off her pants, and tried to reassure the other person.
"Don't worry, think again if it's been put somewhere else. No outsiders have been here, so it shouldn't have been stolen. It must be somewhere in the house."
No, that won't happen.
Mrs. Mailer shook her head: "I definitely didn't put it anywhere else; it's always been carefully kept in the second drawer of this octagonal cabinet."
A strand of hair brushed against her brow, which was furrowed with anxiety, and she raised her voice: "It must have been stolen by a thief."
Kara rubbed her head helplessly.
The pointless searching and reassurance had been going on all morning. They had searched everywhere, both possible and impossible, even digging under the broad leaves of the taro in the corner of the wall to check.
She understood the confusion caused by the illness, but the other person's symptoms worsened because they couldn't find the ring box, and their emotions were very unstable, making those around them anxious and uneasy.
Kara forcibly helped the other person into a chair, made sure they took their medication, and bent down to say, "Let's look again this afternoon. If we still can't find it, we'll report it to the police tomorrow and let more reliable people look for it, okay?"
After taking the medicine, Mrs. Mailer was somewhat calmed down, but she was still muttering something to herself.
A pair of honey-colored, round eyes on the wall were watching everything intently, and the conversation between the old lady and Kara in the yard was also heard clearly.
Kittens are very sensitive to fluctuations in human emotions and can detect details that most people cannot.
Mrs. Mailer's helplessness was like a fishhook, gently tugging at her heart.
"There's a thief! The thief stole my ring box."
The kitten perked up its ears and asked the system beside it, "Is the ring very valuable, and easy to steal?"
1221: "This house is only so big. They've searched everywhere they could think of, so it's very likely that it was stolen."
Chichi: "I think so too."
The old lady was helped to sit down on a rattan chair in the veranda, but she was still somewhat uneasy.
Unwilling to see the other person fall into anxiety, he said to the system, "I need to find a way to get the ring back."
1221 immediately switched to detective mode.
"Based on our observations and analysis over the past few days, Mrs. Mailer has a simple social life, rarely goes out, and has never worn a ring on her hand or taken it out to wear. We should focus our suspicions on the person who can freely enter and leave this house."
Who could have stolen the ring?
He hesitated for a moment before turning his gaze to the caregiver who was still inside the room putting the pulled-out drawers back in their places.
Then, involuntarily, he crossed the wall, and the image of that unshaven, always angry face appeared in his mind.
These two people are the most likely to come and go from Mrs. Mailer's house, and are also the most likely candidates to make a move.
“Rich and Kara both had plenty of time to commit the crime.”
1221 flew indoors, circled Kara up and down, left and right twice, and returned to Chichi's side: "Reporting to Detective Cat, we should identify the two humans most likely to commit illegal acts and begin an investigation nearby."
A ring is small and easy to hide on your person, but a ring box is different.
A sudden inspiration struck him: "Let's check the nearby trash cans for ring boxes."
The kitten and the ball of light jumped down from the wall and headed straight for all the trash cans on the street. They searched extensively in several trash cans, but found no trace of the ring box. Instead, they got themselves all dirty and smelly.
Chichi jumped out of the last trash can, shook off the fallen leaves covering his body, and the transparent ball of light beside him also shook off the plastic bag that was covering him.
"No, it might not have been dumped here, or it might have been taken away by the garbage truck a long time ago."
Unable to clean its own fur properly, it began to silently ponder the best route to sneak into the neighbor's yard.
"Go next door and see if Uncle Richie is home."
This time, the system was changed to dissuade the kitten.
"Just think how dangerous it was to set foot in Richie's yard last time, let alone this time when you're going to sneak into a human's room to look for something."
"So be quick, be careful."
Chi Chi was very determined: "They can't see you, you go and scout ahead first."
Once the honey-eyed kitten makes up its mind to do something, not even nine oxen could pull it back.
1221 had no choice but to float to a higher position, where its view covered the entire courtyard. It then went under the eaves and observed the interior through the glass window before returning to report.
"No one's home, the window isn't closed properly, you can come in."
Cat Detective, let's get started.
Chichi cautiously jumped onto Richie's fence, first discussing countermeasures with the system: "You keep watch for me, keep an eye on the gate, and distract the parrot. If you spot anything, immediately alert me to retreat, understand?"
1221: "Yes, sir!"
"It's settled then. As soon as I call for retreat, no matter what you find or not, you must run away immediately without looking back."
"receive."
A slow and brief reply.
On his first infiltration mission, the kitten took a deep breath, lowered his body, and silently leaped down from the corner of the wall, landing in the yard of Richie's house, which looked like it had been swept away by a typhoon.
"Report: The parrot is sleeping. We can continue."
There was still a slight fishy smell on the ground, the fresh scent of palm leaves baked by the sun, and the aroma of metal and wood, completely different from the smell of the old lady's house.
The cat's whiskers twitch backward, its pupils dilate in alertness, and its five senses, with smell as the most prominent, are highly focused.
The noisy, talking parrot under the eaves is even more troublesome than the guard dogs.
The kitten tiptoed, its paw pads landing silently on the ground, like a ninja cat, slowly moving behind the palm tree to hide.
A gust of wind blew by, and the stand under the parrot's feet swayed for a moment. The kitten and the transparent ball of light were both very nervous and stood rooted to the spot.
1221 went to check first, and the sound rang directly in the kitten's mind, with a slight tremor like an electric current.
"Safe. The budgie is still asleep and shows no signs of waking up."
Chichi's ears perked up, and he sensed the movement of the air with his beard. He slowly emerged from under the tree, hugging the shadows of the debris at the base of the wall, avoiding the open space in the center, and approached the veranda quickly and cautiously.
Be extra careful when getting close to the parrot stand, and approach the window slowly from behind the budgie.
The gap in the open window was clearly not big enough for a kitten to squeeze through. The window frame was made of heavy wood, the paint was peeling and mottled, and the window hinges were not lubricated.
Chichi merely nudged it with its paw, and it emitted an exceptionally piercing "squeak".
The kitten's tail fur bristled, and it froze in place, holding its breath.
"quack--"
The budgie turned its head, its sharp gaze already fixed on the guilty-looking kitten.
"Fish thief! Catch the thief!"
He tried to reason with the other party, saying, "I'm not a thief, I just came to look for something."
The budgie wouldn't listen to reason, so it cleared its throat and continued to squawk loudly.
1221 started flashing violently, like an alarm light.
"Warning! The parrot has spotted you. Enter Level 1 alert!"
Both sides sounded like loud trumpets, my heart pounded wildly, and I suddenly pried open the window crack and squeezed myself inside.
The parrot stand began to shake violently. The budgie opened its big, beady eyes and flapped its wings a few times, but it couldn't move freely because of the rope tied to its claws. It could only watch helplessly as the kitten went into the house.
"Catch the thief—"
Chichi said to 1221: "You'd better go and distract it, or the neighbors will hear us soon!"
1221 was given a critical mission, so it floated to the parrot stand and revealed itself, using itself as a tool to amuse the birds, waving back and forth in front of the budgies.
Birds are attracted to shiny, glowing things. Upon seeing a moving ball of light for the first time, the budgie's attention was successfully captured, and it forgot to squawk.
He breathed a sigh of relief and finally began to inspect Uncle Richie's inner territory.
The light inside was dimmer than outside, the blinds were drawn, and the acrid smell of tobacco was everywhere. The furniture was all old-fashioned, but it was cleaner and tidier than the messy yard.
"Detective Cat, you need to hurry, I can only buy you so much time!" 1221 said.
After a long period of waiting, they searched every available search engine.
Besides some bulky and sturdy large pieces of furniture, there were also a few rattan chairs in the living room, with Richie's usual clothes draped over them.
As a kitten that has mastered many human skills, Chichi opened all the drawers that could be opened and checked them to make sure there was no trace of the ring or the ring box in the living room.
Then they moved to the bedroom.
Several photo frames hung on the wall above the bed, with the dates of the photos written on them.
I took a moment out of my busy schedule to take a look. The younger version of Uncle Richie was somewhat similar to the current one, with a serious expression and a stern face, but he didn't seem as irritable as he is now.
The person standing next to him is probably his wife and children; other photos hanging there also show them at different times.
However, after a certain year, there were no more updated photos, and no one knows where their former relatives went.
Hesitantly opened the bedside table, and inside was a hand-carved wooden box.
She had a premonition that there must be something precious inside, and her heart was pounding with excitement, but the lock on the outside of the box dampened her spirits.
The kitten pulled open the two drawers below as well, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the key seemed to be there.
Unlocking the door took some effort, and at the same time she heard an emergency call for help from 1221: "I'm almost at my limit, I can't hold on any longer, this parrot keeps pecking at me!"
"You're not afraid of being pecked," Chi Chi said. "Just hang in there a little longer."
Cat paws are not as nimble as human hands, so it took a while to drag the wooden box to the ground with the lock in its mouth, then it held the key in its mouth, aimed it at the keyhole, and tentatively turned it to the side.
The lock opened with a click.
The kitten quickly opened the box, but there was no ring inside. Instead, there was a picture frame made of acacia wood lying quietly.
The photographic paper is slightly yellowed and faded, with a warm tone characteristic of the past. On the left is a man who is younger than the one in the photograph hanging on the wall, with an exceptionally upright posture.
Young Richie was wearing a military uniform, and under his military cap was a spirited face with a smile on his face.
The girl beside him—
It turned out to be Mrs. Mailer in her younger days.
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