Shade smiled and shook his head, missing them dearly as well:
"In other words, Detective Sparrow and the informant known as 'Big Mouth Sparrow' exchanged intelligence on Kalas Mountain once every few years. It seems this 'Big Mouth Sparrow' was quite extraordinary. Such a secret meeting place, such a long interval between meetings—that was over a decade ago. I wonder whether they had remained in contact in recent years."
As Shade pondered this, he picked up the photograph tucked inside the notebook again:
"So Detective Sparrow had also been to Kalas Mountain, merely because of work. A coincidence? No, I never believed in coincidences. It is best not to form assumptions in advance, but I still believe that Detective Sparrow's repeated visits to Kalas Mountain were absolutely connected to me."
The "her" beside his ear suddenly spoke gently:
So, you want to find that "Big Mouth Sparrow"?
"Yes."
With his free hand, Shade gently stroked the little cat's head beside him, narrowing his eyes slightly:
"I cannot let anything connected to Kalas Mountain slip away. I understand agents' affairs quite well now. Detective Sparrow would not have left any clue pointing to the identity of such a secret informant. I would even wager that not even Gray Gloves headquarters necessarily knew such an informant existed."
He set down the photograph, picked up Little Mia, and walked to the study window, looking out at Tobesk's nightscape:
"I can only ask Margaret to investigate which sources supplied the Gray-headed Eagles' top-secret intelligence concerning Delarion over the past several decades. No, even Margaret probably cannot investigate that easily. Should I rely on divination? Divination also requires foundational information; divining from nothing has a high chance of error. But if Margaret can uncover even the vaguest clue, perhaps Miss Belinder and Luvia can divine