Mr. Death in the Steam World

The office is actually in a pretty good location, facing the street and getting sunlight. The location is decent, and it can be considered the city center.

But in reality, business was dismal; not a single person pushed open the door for four or five days.

Kansas City may be large, but there aren't many people willing to hire private investigators, let alone a newcomer who has just opened a business and has no reputation.

Moen wasn't in a hurry. With Professor Pip's grant as a safety net, money wasn't what worried him now.

He hasn't harvested any new life these past few days, and now he has about ten days left to live.

It's not long, it's not long, it's not short.

If he doesn't take the initiative, and time runs out, he'll have no choice but to harvest rats and other things to prolong his life.

Although accumulating white essence little by little is not bad, having experienced the power of blue essence, how could he be content with simply harvesting ordinary lives?

Moen sighed, closed his notebook, stood up, and walked to the window.

The streets of Kansas City were bustling with people, and horse-drawn carriages rumbled over the cobblestones.

He turned around and looked at Clara, who was hunched over her desk doing her homework.

Through Professor Pip's connections, Clara finally received the education she deserved and entered the University of Kansas Junior High School.

As long as I study hard in the future, getting into the University of Kansas is just around the corner.

Just as he stretched, preparing to experience the workload of junior high school students in this era, the doorbell rang.

Finally, some business is coming in!

Moen jumped up and rushed downstairs. Standing in front of the door was a middle-aged woman with a worried expression.

She was about thirty years old and wearing a faded gray dress.

There were signs of mending at the cuffs, bandages wrapped around the fingers, and oil stains remaining under the fingernails.

She looks like a female worker on an assembly line in a factory.

Moen immediately put on a smile and gestured for him to proceed.

"Hello, ma'am, welcome to the Marcus Detective Agency. Please have a seat."

The middle-aged woman sat down in the chair, her hands gripping the straps of her handbag tightly, clearly very nervous.

"My name is Martha Coleman." Her voice trembled slightly. "I...I'd like to ask you to help me find someone."

Moen nodded and took out paper and pen from the drawer.

"Finding people is one of our firm's main services. Please tell us, the more details the better."

The photo shows a little girl who is about seven years old, with chestnut curly hair and unusual amber eyes.

"This is my daughter, Lily."

Martha's voice began to choke up.

"She...she went missing at Wonderland Park three days ago."

Moen picked up the photo and examined it carefully for a while.

Did you call the police?

"I reported it." Martha nodded. "But the police have been searching for three days and haven't found any leads."

"They told me that all they could find out was that Lily went into the mirror maze at the amusement park and never came out."

"But...but they cleared out and checked the maze that afternoon, and there was nothing inside."

At this point, Martha could no longer control her emotions and covered her face, sobbing.

Moen frowned; this didn't sound like an ordinary missing person case.

"Is the police still searching?"

"They said...that they would keep looking."

Martha's voice carried a hint of bitterness.

"But I know those incompetent guys have definitely given up."

"They said my daughter might have gotten lost on her own and been abducted by human traffickers, and told me to go home and wait for news. Those bastards!"

She looked up, her eyes red-rimmed.

"But Mr. Marcus, I can't wait. I can't sleep every night. Every time I close my eyes, I see my daughter..."

"I've really run out of options, that's why I've come to you... Maybe you can help me, right?"

Moen was silent for a moment.

"Ms. Coleman, I need to know more."

"Did your daughter go alone that day?"

Martha wiped away her tears and tried to calm her voice.

"Yes, it was a Saturday, and I had to work overtime, so I couldn't be with her."

"Lily always wanted to go to Wonderland, so I gave her some money and let her take the public carriage there by herself."

At this point, her voice began to tremble again.

"I...I should have gone with her. I shouldn't have let her go alone..."

“Ms. Coleman,” Moen interrupted her, “this isn’t your fault. Did Lily say anything strange before entering the maze?”

Martha paused for a moment, then thought back carefully.

"Yes... I remember now, before Lily entered the maze, she turned around and said something to me."

"What did you say?"

"She said a lady in a red dress said she would take her to see Mr. Rabbit."

Martha's brow furrowed.

"I didn't pay attention at the time, thinking it was just cartoon characters in the park interacting with the children."

"But later I went to the park staff to confirm, and they told me that no employee wearing a red dress came to work that day."

"Is there anything else unusual? For example, did you find anything at the scene?"

Martha hesitated for a moment, then carefully took out a playing card from the inside of her handbag.

"I found this at the exit of the mirror maze."

"After Lily disappeared, I went back and searched many times, and this was the only thing I found."

Moen took the playing card; it was the Ace of Hearts.

The back of the playing card had a line of small print: "Time's almost up, time to keep the appointment."

The moment his fingertips touched the playing cards, the Death Note, which had been dormant in his mind for a long time, suddenly opened automatically, and a line of blood-red text appeared in his consciousness.

"Containment artifact traces detected, Level: 5."

Moen's eyes lit up.

After the Flower of the Other Shore incident, he carefully inquired about the knowledge of containment objects from Professor Pip, including the classification of containment objects.

In short, Level 5 is the safest, and Level 1 is the most dangerous.

Since he was able to handle the Level 4 Flower of the Other Shore under such difficult conditions, with a little more preparation, handling a Level 5 containment object shouldn't be a problem.

This is definitely not an ordinary missing person case.

Moen calmly placed the playing cards on the table and asked in as calm a tone as possible:

"Ms. Coleman, have any other children gone missing at Wonderland Park in the past week?"

Martha paused,

"I think... I think I heard other parents say that two or three children had also gotten lost in the amusement park, but they were all found. I didn't pay much attention at the time, but now that I think about it..."

Her face grew even paler.

Moen closed his notebook and nodded solemnly to Martha.

"Ms. Coleman, I'll take this case."

Martha suddenly raised her head, a glimmer of hope flashing in her eyes.

"Really? You're really willing to help me?"

"But let's get this straight."

Moen held up one finger.

"I can't guarantee that I'll find them, nor can I guarantee that they'll be alive."

"I can only assure you that I will do my best to investigate."

"That's enough, that's enough."

Martha nodded vigorously.

"And your fee..."

"The fee is calculated on a daily basis, one gold pound per day, excluding food, lodging and transportation. An additional five gold pounds will be charged if the person is found."

Moen quoted a price slightly lower than the market price.

Martha hesitated for a moment, then took out a worn-out wallet from her handbag and emptied out all the money inside.

A few crumpled banknotes and a few coins, totaling less than two gold pounds.

"I... this is all I have right now."

Her face turned bright red.

"But I can get an advance on next month's salary, I can—"

"Just pay a deposit in gold pounds first."

Moen interrupted her.

"As for the rest, it's not too late to give them to me once you find someone."

He could tell that the female worker was at her wit's end.

Martha paid the money with profuse thanks, left Lily's photo with Moen, and then left the agency.

Before leaving, she stood at the door and glanced back at Moen.

"Mr. Marcus, please, you must find her."

"Lily is my only family, I can't lose her too."

Moen nodded without saying anything more.

After the door closed, he let out a long breath and looked down at the photo in his hand.

The little girl's smile was innocent and pure, her amber eyes reflecting the light, making her look adorable, though she was still a little less beautiful than Clara.

"Red dress, Mr. Rabbit, mirror maze, Ace of Hearts..."

He muttered to himself,

"Is this leading people to Alice's Wonderland?"

"Brother, finally a case has come knocking?"

Clara had run downstairs at some point and was leaning on the stair railing looking down.

"Yes, it's a missing person case. You'll have to take care of dinner yourself; I have to go out for a bit."

Moen went over and patted her head.

"Sweetie, I'll bring you something delicious when I come back."

"Then come back soon and be careful."

He responded and pushed open the door, stepping into the night.

It is, after all, a containment object. The essence obtained after harvesting it should at least be of blue quality, right?