Three shy raps came from the door.
Demetri looked woefully at his only just acquired sandwich and sighed. Lunch would have to wait.
...Lunch always had to wait 'round these parts.
"Come in, come in," He said, wrapping his pastrami sandwich and returning it to its former home, a brown paper bag, and placed the bag in a drawer in his desk, which was covered rather messily with newspaper clippings, police reports, and autopsy results. The door slowly opened, silent as a mouse. A young lady's head peered around the door.
"I'm not disturbing anything, am I?" She said very shyly.
Why do they always say that? It doesn't matter if they are or aren't, I've got to deal with it right then and there... Police business could never wait. Leaving it unattended, even for one moment, could turn a missing person case into a homicide investigation.
"Please, have a seat," Demetri said, motioning to a chair. The lady shuffled over and sat down at the very edge of the chair, looking far from comfortable. "The name's Demetri Slater, and you are, miss...?"
"Oh, um...Minerva, Minevra Darling." She said, staring at the floor through her glasses. Her appearance seemed somewhat mismatched, as if she weren't used to wearing the formal dress she was in.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance Ms. Darling. Did you have something you wanted to tell me?" She looked out the window sorrowfully.
"I'm...I'm worried." She looked down again, "My...friend. Adella Mabli. We work together. I'm afraid that...she's gone missing." Tears welled up in her eyes.
A missing persons case? Unusual that she would be sent here first.
"Where do you and Ms. Mabli work?" Demetri said, rummaging through his papers for a clean notepad and pencil.
"London. We're both inventors. Freelance, mostly." Freelance inventors. Meaning they were inventors who hadn't invented anything practical yet, and were only mediocre, or inventors who had just began to experiment. London was full of inventors, two ladies just begining the craft were sure to be left behind in the dust.
"London is more than a day's travel from here by carriage, what made you want to come to me?" Minerva became very quiet.
"We really hadn't made anything useful yet, but Adella, she came upon these notes... You see, inventors have been disappearing in London. Nobody big or important, but...little guys, like us, have been vanishing. The Police said there was no proof that someone had be targeting inventors, but...Adella, she found these notes. And then they took her too!" She looked nearly about to burst into tears. Demetri reached for one of his many boxes of tissues, placing it softly in front of her, as he continued to take notes.
London...haven't been there in a while. Not since his good 'friend' took over S.I Unit there.
"My father told me you got him out of a jam a while back. So I came here." She looked down at her hands. That wasn't unreasonable. Demetri, while still longing for his sandwich, was good at what he did, and had gotten many an innocent person out of what had seemed like losing cases.
"I understand, Ms. Darling. But my department is only for investigating happenings dealing with alchemy crimes, or those not of this world, and even if that were the matter, the London P.H.S.I are well-equipped to handle the investigation. I can make a few calls for you, and get a dedicated friend from the branch in London to work on your case." Demetri said, placing down his notepad. He felt bad for Minerva, but leaving Welshpool for a case not in his jurisdiction would leave all the smaller villages and towns in the area without a seasoned S.I. Inspector. In this line of business, you couldn't leave your duties for every damsel in distress, it just wasn't practical.
Minerva kept silent for a little while.
"Adella found something very interesting...but she didn't want to tell me on the phone. Said it would change the science of alchemy as we knew it. I told the police over in London, but I...I just feel that you need to be the one to take this case." Demetri puzzled over those words, debating with himself. He hadn't had a case in a while that one of the lackey's couldn't handle.
"I'll tell you what, I'll call the inspector over there and check out the case. If then I feel it needs my attention, I'll come check it out." She stood up.
"Thank you, Thank you so much Mr. Slater! I know you'll be able to find her!" she bubbled with enthusiasm.
"I'm not promising anything yet, Ms. Darling," he said, waving dissmisivly, "Leave your information with the lady at the door, I'll contact you in the morning if I'm going to take the case." She continued thanking him as he pretended to hurry her out the door, "My father said once you take a case, you don't stop until it's finished, I know you'll find her somehow."
Once the door closed, Demetri sighed. He had a feeling he would be returning to London.