“Yeah!” she cried. “Liam stole my kitty cat!”
I pulled a leather notebook from my trouser pocket and flipped it open to take notes. “What’s your kitty cat’s name?”
“Her name is Beef Stew. She’s brown with spots, like beef stew,” the little girl explained carefully.
I noted the description, fighting a smile. “And who is Liam?”
“My stupid brother.” She crossed her arms and pouted.
I looked up from my notes, wondering how her brother had stolen her cat. “Is Beef Stew a real kitty cat?” I asked.
“She’s real!” she insisted.
I assumed her indignation meant Beef Stew was a plush. “What’s your name?” I asked.
“Lilly.”
“Well, Lilly, I’m going to find Beef Stew for you. How old is she?” I asked.
“My gramma made her for me when I turned five. I’m eight now,” Lilly said, counting on her fingers. “So she’s… four?”
Definitely a plush. “Very close. She’s three,” I said. “Now, where and when did this happen?” I poised the pencil over the page and waited for her to speak, but she suddenly became very withdrawn, watching me with her chin lowered.
“Is Liam in trouble?” she asked softly.
“Of course not. I’m only here to help,” I said, smiling warmly.
It took me a few hours to track down Beef Stew, but only because Lilly was lost and couldn’t find her way home. As a Ladiall Force officer, I couldn’t let this girl wander the city streets alone. I wanted to find her kitty cat, but it was a bigger problem that she didn’t know she was lost.
Finally, we came across a panicked woman holding a spotted brown cat plush, scanning the streets. I took Lilly’s hand and approached the woman, who thanked me profusely for finding her daughter. Lilly was only concerned about her reunification with Beef Stew, but she was just as grateful.
When I returned to headquarters to give Commander Decker the daily report, she looked at me like I was a moron.
“You spentthree hoursreuniting an eight-year-old girl with her teddy bear?” she asked with lowered eyebrows.
“Cat plush. And no, not exactly. She was lost,” I explained.
“Why didn’t you bring her here?” Commander Decker asked.
I hesitated. “Okay, yes. Part of it was the search for Beef Stew. I was doing my duty to serve the community by recovering a young girl’s missing property.”
Decker rubbed her brow with one hand and sighed. “Sterling, sometimes I think the city is too big for you.”
“In what way?” I asked.
“There is crime all over Ladiall, but you are so eager to helpeveryonethat you can’t prioritize what’s important.”
“Beef Stew was important to Lilly.”
Decker pursed her lips and dropped her hand to frown at me. “I’m sending you on a case in the deep country. If you can’t focus on thecrime,I will have no choice but to demote you.”
“Demote me?” I hadn’t done anything wrong. In fact, I had helped someone, and she wanted to punish me?
“It shouldn’t be a problem for you. It’s a simple case, and you solve cases all the time,” Decker said.
I didn’t understand why she felt the need to threaten me, but she was right. I had many cases under my belt. “Yes, Commander.”
Decker reached for a few papers and tapped them against the desktop to straighten them out. “You ever heard of Fibbersnap Inn?”
