When Shade returned home from the north of the city, it was half past one in the afternoon. Little Mia, whose life was blissfully free of anything to do all day, had already eaten the premium cat food Shade had left for her and was now lazily sprawled on the windowsill, basking in the sunlight as she napped. Though the sound of Shade coming upstairs woke her, she merely ran over to let him pet her twice. Just as Shade sighed, "This cat is so warm and soft," she jumped back onto the windowsill and resumed her nap.
So, following what Luvia had said that morning, Shade went once more to Belinder Manor in Moon Bay City to visit Miss Belinder. But unfortunately, the witch was not at the manor that afternoon. Fortunately, the maids knew Shade as "the cousin," and told him that Miss Belinder had gone to the City Council for a meeting.
Since she still had business to attend to, Shade planned to return at dusk. In the meantime, he first went to the morgue in Spider Alley, intending to tell the Bloodkin coroner about his visit yesterday to the same-race Bloodkin, Magician Xiao En. At the same time, he wanted to ask for information and see whether Mr. Bernhardt's investigation had made any progress.
Unexpectedly, just as he reached the end of Spider Alley, he saw Mr. Bernhardt emerging from the Spider Inn nearby, his expression still rather unpleasant.
"Good afternoon. I just came from Tolomay's. He's dissecting a corpse, and I strongly advise you not to go in now. Next time, even if it would be rude to refuse, I absolutely won't watch him work again."
Still feeling uncomfortable in his stomach, Mr. Bernhardt did not mind going back into the Spider Inn for a