The maids behind the sofa were dressed exactly like the maid who followed Mr. Stan to find Xia De, indicating that all three maids were brought by the Princess from Yodel Palace.
Mr. Stan gestured for Xia De to straighten his clothes. When Xia De reached for his collar, he surprisingly touched a fluffy paw. He was startled, then realized that Mia was still standing on his shoulder.
The cat had been so well-behaved just now that Xia De had completely forgotten she was still there.
“Is it impolite to bring a cat to a commission?”
Thinking this, Xia De turned his head to look at his shoulder. Mia’s amber eyes were truly pretty.
“You must be good.”
Whispering this, he straightened his collar, and then President Stan introduced Xia De to these “distinguished guests.”
Looking at Angelina Cavendish directly, it was easy to catch traces of Leia and Jialinna on the sixteen-year-old girl’s face. However, the charm of a witch far surpassed that of an ordinary person. Leia was more resolute and decisive, while the Princess before him had too great a difference in temperament from them.
Angelina Cavendish was the girl who was unfortunately injured during the divination; her right hand was currently bandaged. However, no blood was visible seeping from under the carpet or gauze, indicating that it was only a minor, not serious, wound.
Princess Angelina was wearing a blue dress, her hair simply tied back and hanging down her back. Her face had light makeup, and she didn't wear much jewelry. Only the waist of her dress was adorned with some small gemstones, which was not much decoration considering her status.
She was relatively cool towards Xia De, merely nodding in greeting. In contrast, her friends were more enthusiastic towards the Detective with a cat on his shoulder, and someone even jokingly mentioned Jialinna, seemingly recognizing Xia De's identity.
Mr. Stan motioned for Xia De to investigate freely, so Xia De first inquired about what had just happened from the maids and these noble young ladies.
It wasn't complicated. The girls gathered together were playing a divination game by the obviously antique stone table. However, they didn't use the standard tools provided by the Prophet Association but brought their own divination items.
Today, they chose pyromancy, which involved burning a tortoise shell in a brazier. After the tortoise shell cracked from the heat, they would interpret the cracks to try and obtain so-called “guidance from fate.”
This wasn't their first time engaging in such an activity, but this time, the tortoise shell “exploded” just as it was being heated. It wasn't an accident on the scale of a steam bomb exploding, but rather bone fragments from the edge of the tortoise shell flew out after deflagration, unfortunately scratching Princess Angelina Cavendish's hand.
“Sounds like an accident caused by uneven heating of the bone fragments.”
Xia De pondered, then asked:
“Ladies, who suggested this ‘pyromancy’ this time, and which lady brought the tortoise shell and charcoal?”
The giggling girls gave Xia De the answer: both the proposer and the one who brought the items were the Princess herself.
“Besides pyromancy, we originally planned to play with a spirit board reportedly dug up from a graveyard, and perform small rituals from an ancient book bought from a second-hand bookstore.”
The enthusiastic Black-haired lady introduced herself to Xia De. She was the second daughter of Count Solar and looked at Xia De with a very seductive gaze. If Xia De had any intentions of something happening with her, it would likely be very easy.
It wasn't that Xia De's appearance was so outstanding that he could easily win the favor of girls; this should be related to the rumors about him and Jialinna.
“Although unrelated to this accident, it’s best not to try such stimulating games.”
Xia De advised, but seeing no one paid him any mind, he went back to the stone table to examine the brazier that hadn't been removed yet.
The brazier was also made of stone, with a hexagonal opening and clear signs of impact. The outer surface had some symbols that looked like ancient script, but Xia De couldn't decipher them. This was most likely an antique imitation. After touching all the items with his hands, Xia De judged that everything here was of ordinary quality.
He put on the gloves he carried with him, confirmed that the cat on his shoulder was obediently squatting there, looking around. Calculating the time, it was still far from Mia's feeding time, so he confidently used his hand to take the burnt bone fragments out of the stone basin.
The bone fragments still had residual warmth. Xia De wiped off the black ash, examined them, and then gently sniffed them in front of his nose, finding nothing unusual.
“Could it really be an accident? President Stan divined it was just an accident and was worried no one would believe him, so he asked me to investigate?”
Xia De thought suspiciously, then turned to look at President Stan, only to see him with his back to him, talking to two middle-aged men, presumably the Princess’s guards, outside the door.
“He’s not concentrating on observing me for now. Good, Echoes of the Past!”
As the Miracle activated, the girls' voices entered his ears. As Xia De expected, this room was rarely opened, so the human voices from the past 48 hours were only those of the noble young ladies who came to entertain themselves today.
However, those voices did not provide Xia De with further clues. He heard the girls' laughter and chatter during the burning of the tortoise shell, then heard a clear deflagration, followed by gasps of surprise.
“The course of the accident is indeed as they described. If this wasn't an accident, someone could only have tampered with the tortoise shell mid-divination.”
But Xia De was not a highly specialized Detective after all; he had no further way to process the burnt tortoise shell in his hand.
He brought the tortoise shell to his nose to sniff again, but still smelled nothing. Just as he was about to try his luck with “Blood Echo,” the well-behaved cat squatting on his shoulder suddenly imitated Xia De, sticking out her head and sniffing with her pink little nose.
She was probably imitating Xia De's movements, and then, due to her sensitive sense of smell, she was choked by the pungent, burnt smell from the tortoise shell.
“Meow~”
Although Xia De didn't understand cat language, he could hear the dissatisfaction in that meow.
Xia De couldn't help but smile and raised his hand to pet the cat to comfort her, but Mia actually pushed Xia De's hand away with her paw. Xia De's gloved hand was now covered in black ash, and directly touching the orange cat's head would dirty her pretty fur.
“She’s getting smarter and smarter.”
Praising Mia softly, Xia De put the tortoise shell back into the stone basin.
He turned to go find Mr. Stan to announce his investigation results, but then turned his head again to look at the orange cat on his shoulder, self-importantly licking her paws. Xia De returned to the stone table and picked up the tortoise shell again:
“Is there any special smell?”
He wanted to bring the tortoise shell to Mia's nose again, but the cat's small paw directly pushed Xia De's hand away.
“Is there any special smell? Besides the burnt smell, is there anything—”
Even though this cat was very intelligent, Xia De realized halfway through speaking that it was still difficult to make her understand human language. After all, while Xia De was talking, the cat was still licking her paws, completely ignoring Xia De's meaning.
Both cats and dogs have very sensitive senses of smell and can detect odors that humans cannot. A qualified Detective should keep a more obedient dog as a Detective partner, and Xia De believed Mia was also capable enough for such a task as a Detective partner.
Although he couldn't successfully make Mia understand his meaning, Xia De had a new inspiration.
He walked back to the sofa, stood to one side, and cleared his throat:
“Ladies, I think after a small test, I can give you the answer.”
“Hamilton Detective, what do you want to do?”
The girl with long, flowing hair asked with a smile. They didn't think Detective work was a serious matter.
“It's like this: since both the tortoise shell and charcoal were brought by Her Highness herself, if anyone could tamper with them, it must have been done here. And things like black powder that cause deflagration will leave a smell on the hands. Very good, I noticed none of you are wearing gloves, which is very good.”
“Detective, do you mean you want to sniff our hands one by one?”
A bold girl asked, then actually extended her fair hand to Xia De, which caused a burst of laughter:
“Sir Knight, that’s truly ungentlemanly.”
Xia De coughed, indicating he was serious:
“No, my nose isn't sensitive enough. I want my cat to sniff.”
He pointed to his shoulder. Mia immediately extended her paw to touch Xia De's finger, but because her paw was too short to reach, she just sulked there.
“Both cats and dogs have sufficiently sensitive senses of smell, and my cat has undergone standardized, rigorous training, enough to perform tasks that her kin cannot.”
As he spoke, Xia De took the cat from his shoulder. He pinched the back of the cat's neck with his right hand and loosely supported her underneath with his left hand to prevent Mia from falling if she wiggled restlessly.
Mia, with her amber eyes wide, meowed at the human women on the sofa. Struggling, she found Xia De wouldn't let go, so she tried to turn her head and meow at Xia De to express her displeasure.
This sight made the noble young ladies laugh happily again.
“Ladies, please come before me one by one and bring your hands to my cat's nose. If anyone's hand has an unusual smell, the professionally trained cat will surely detect it.”
The “professionally trained” cat's tail was curled, and her body swayed, seemingly finding enjoyment in it.
“Hamilton Detective, I've only heard that dogs have a developed sense of smell, not cats.”
The Golden-haired girl with gold-rimmed glasses on the single sofa to the left said. This was the eldest daughter of Sir Lewis Ludwig, the current Minister of Finance of the Kingdom, and appeared to be the most demure among these noble girls.
Xia De explained calmly, or rather, talked nonsense:
“One theory suggests that cats also have a sufficiently sensitive sense of smell. However, because these cute little creatures are not very obedient, people don't like to train them. But I have professional cat training techniques that have allowed this domestic orange cat to undergo specialized training. Ladies, please extend your hands. As long as there is an abnormal smell consistent with that on the tortoise shell, Mia will surely be able to sniff it out.”
These noble girls actually laughed again, noisily commenting on Xia De's words.
Xia De had originally worried that no one would respond to his call, but unexpectedly, Princess Angelina Cavendish, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up:
“Then I shall go first.”
She extended her hand to Xia De, and the laughter immediately ceased. Xia De also understood that Angelina Cavendish was the absolute leader in this small group. After all, being Leia's younger sister, Princess Angelina didn't seem as naive as Xia De had imagined.
