As 669 and Emelia were waiting for their harse cab on the front porch steps, something caught 669’s eye. It was like a glinting of steel in the dark night, near a set of potted firs. He approached the object and saw it was an iron button sewn on a kid’s doll.

The doll was small enough for a child to hold, despite the water and dirt stains on the cloth material, the toy was kept in good condition. Even if the doll was nothing special, just a cloth image of a girl with painted black bob of hair, black button eyes and white gown sewn to the body. Straw was used to stuff the body and give it shape. It was clear this doll was a valuable friend to the child who owned it. The doll’s image reminded him of someone.

“Looks like a girl Reddy bought home, whom he had rescued.” He thought to himself. Many questions began pestering his brain on the matter.

“Emelia. Why would a doll be left here?” He handed it to her for her to inspect.

“Could be one of the servants children were playing on the porch and dropped it as they ran.”

“Can I take it back with me? There’s someone that might be missing it. You might want to come back to headquarters with me.”

“What makes you say that 669?”

“Reddy rescued a girl who had clearly been frightened out of her mind and looked like she had been running for a long time. Her feet were raw and scrapped.”

Emelia nodded.

Shortly afterward, their harse and litter had arrived. They took the moment to rest and regather their energies as the harse drove them back to the Cannon Fodder’s headquarters.

Detective Morse was waiting for them at the barroom with 777 and 789.

“The Miller’s mansion had been infiltrated. The family looked like they had been slain hours before we had arrived. Someone was still at the scene. We chased them but they got away.” Emelia gave her update to her senior.

Detective Morse sighed and examined the notebook she handed him. He read over her findings and details of the area. Especially, the sketch of the young lord’s body.

“Can you clear out some space?” He asked 777.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Reddy rapidly cleared off tables before the detective.

Morse activated a spell to recreate the young lord’s drawing from Emelia’s notebook. A watercolor image of the body was laid out across two tables for everyone to see.

He zoomed in on the forehead where the symbol was: a silver lotus was clear on the forehead.

“The same lotus on the discs we found at Lord Ashton and Marcus’s death scene.” 789 mused at the observation. “So this is a serial murder?”

“Maybe, but the mark is laid different to the other two.” Detective Morse turned his attention to Emelia and 669. “Did you see who attacked you?”

“No. They were concealed in black robes and head mask. No prints or patterns on the material, but 669 managed to tear off a piece of the robe before the assailant fled.” She pulled out the material with her magic and had it hovering midair on a purple cloud-bed for everyone to see.

“Nothing remarkable about the offcut.” 777 rubbed his chin as he stared at the piece.

Detective Morse used his tracing spell to zoom in on the material’s texture. It was woven sackcloth dyed and dried in a recent time period, so the clothing were basically newly worn.

“I’d say whoever you were chasing didn’t wear light armor as a job. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been able to catch a piece of it.”

669 frowned has he recalled the scent of pomegranate he had detected when they were chasing the person.

“There was a trail of pomegranate coming off them. It was faint so didn’t linger for long.”

“Pomegranate?” Detective Morse looked at the hovering piece of material again.

669 nodded, seeing that the man was possibly reaching the same conclusion as himself. He explained to the others that pomegranate was a common fruit that had seeds dried and crushed into fine powder. When treated with another substance, it created a dye to color cloth. A fact that he had learned from a tryst with a wealthy tailor who had long left the kingdom to peddle his wares in other parts of Tesha.

“So maybe someone who works at a tailor or fabric seller?” Emelia piped up.

“Or a clothes' dealer.”

Detective Morse had Emelia reseal the fabric and dismissed the image. It was clear they had a lead to follow on.

“I’ll need your help again, 669. Considering you’re well versed in the fine qualities of young lords.”

669 rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. But it was company business so he had no option but to agree.

The Royal Guards left the headquarters for the night. 669 remembered the doll he had bagged and went to look for Reddy.