Holden led Elliandra to the tavern, which had been thoroughly cleaned by the police department''s cleanup crew. The blood spatter on the wall was gone, reminding Holden how grateful he was that he was able to take pictures of the crime scene earlier. He then led Elliandra into the cellar where he found the magic barrier blocking his way.


    Elliandra took one step into the room, and she immediately knew where the barrier was. She walked over to the barrier with confidence. It was a relatively intricate barrier, far too complex for a simple dispel stone to undo, but Elliandra was able to dispel it in under a minute.


    She looked at Holden with a triumphant gaze. “Huh. Easy. You’re welcome. Could’ve saved you some eye drops and a dispel stone if you brought me in from the onset.”


    “I’d rather not have to pay you a commission every time I work a case,” Hilden said. He drew both daggers on his hip and made his way through the passage the barrier had been concealing.


    “That cheapskate attitude is going to cost you one day.”


    “Yeah, just like your childish behavior.”


    Elliandra followed behind Holden as he made his way through the passage. She was smiling at first, until they stumbled upon a room that contained dozens of cages. The moment Elliandra stepped into the room, she was able to sense lingering fey magic in the air. Elves descended from the spiritual creatures known as the fey, which allowed them to sense their presence, or identify places where several fey have gathered. This room appeared to be one of those places, and judging by the small cages and the small bowls full of glowing powder scattered throughout the room, fey were once held in captivity here.


    Elliandra tugged on Holden’s sleeve. “Holden, I think someone was keeping fairies in here.”


    Holden looked around at the small cages. He then dipped his fingers into one of the bowls of powder and smelled it. It had a sweet scent, and its texture certainly felt like fairy dust. Holden had to admit that is what it looked like. There weren’t very many creatures small enough to fit in some of these cages, and fairies made the most sense since they were often trafficked and forced to produce fairy dust, a potent magical material that had many kinds of uses, which is left behind in small portions every time a fairy uses magic. It required a fairy to use at least a dozen spells to produce enough fairy dust that could be used in one elixir like the eye drops Holden used.


    Holden had acquired his eye drops using legal means, but there was a black market for fairy dust because of how valuable and versatile it was.


    “How many fairies do you think were in here?” Holden asked.


    “It’s hard to tell,” Elliandra said. “Judging by the amount of fey magic I’m sensing, probably a dozen. Maybe more. Magic can dissipate over time, so it could’ve been much denser at some point. Who knows how long it’s been since they were here?”


    Meow! The black cat appeared out of nowhere once again, startling both Holden and Elliandra. It stood on top of one of the larger cages on the floor. The cage was large enough to hold something like a large dog, and the cat started rolling around and rubbing all over the top of it.


    Holden took a deep breath to calm down his rapid heart rate. “It’s that cat again. It always scares me like that.”


    Elliandra walked up to the cat. She held out a finger, and the cat sniffed it. It then began rubbing all over Elliandra’s hand.


    “Aww,” Elliandra squealed with excitement. “You cait-sith are so cute.”


    The cat meowed once again.


    “You’re welcome,” Elliandra said as if the cat were thanking her. She then started scratching the cat’s chin. “You’re such a handsome boy, aren’t you? Yes you are.”


    Holden tilted his head in confusion. “What are you doing to the cat?”


    “It’s not a cat. It’s a cait-sith. And he’s cute.”


    “He’s a what? And why are you talking to it?”


    “He’s not an ‘it’, he’s a ‘he’. And he is a cait-sith. They are a type of fey that looked like cats. You probably can’t see it because you can’t use magic, but there’s a blue gem on its forehead. And it’s able to talk, too.”


    The cat meowed as if to acknowledge what Elliandra was saying.


    Holden looked closely at the cat’s forehead, wondering if there really was a gem on it. He tried touching it, but all he felt was fur.


    Holden continued stroking the cat’s forehead, but turned to talk to Elliandra. “There’s no gem on this thing''s forehead. Is this some kind of practical joke?”


    The very next moment, Holden heard a male voice say something. “I am not a thing.”


    Holden turned his head. His eyes went wide when he saw a blue gem on the cat’s forehead. The gem felt real enough when he ran his finger over it, but Holden was still in disbelief.


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    “Would you stop petting my forehead?” The cat asked. “It''s demeaning.”


    Holden’s jaw dropped. “Wha-?”


    “What do you mean ‘what’? Is a talking cat really that surprising? There are people who can create fire with their fingertips, but you find a talking cat baffling. Stupid human. I’ve been trying to talk to you for so long. But you just stand there like an idiot gawking at me like I’m some kind of dumb animal. Idiot. Stupid. Moronic.”


    “He can understand you now,” Elliandra said, cutting off the cait-sith in the middle of it mocking Holden.


    The cait-sith hunched it’s back in surprise. “Oh. He he. I’m just joking, human. I don’t think you’re an idiot. You’re a very smart human. In fact, the smartest human.” The cait-sith froze as Holden stood up and started cracking his knuckles. “Uhm meow.”


    Holden picked the cait-sith up and pinned it against the wall. “Alright little kitty. Enough with the snarky attitude. You know something, don’t you? A bunch of fairies were locked up in here, and now another fey is roaming around. That can’t be a coincidence.”


    The cait-sith widened its eyes, hoping its cuteness would be enough to earn Holden’s sympathy.


    Holden just shook his head. “Your cute, cat eyes crap isn’t going to work on me. I’m not really a cat person.”


    “You’re so heartless. How can you not love my kitten face.” The cait-sith tried making its eyes wider to no avail. It just contained staring at Holden, but eventually gave up. “Alright. I see this isn’t working. I’ll tell you everything you need to know. You just need to stop being so rough with me.”


    Holden put the cait-sith back on the large cage he was originally standing on. The cait-sith then began explaining everything he knew about the tavern owner''s murder. “Alright. For starters, there were around a dozen fairies trapped in cages in this very room before.” The cait-sith then tapped the cage it was standing on with his paw. “Plus, a large dog thing in this very cage here.”


    Elliandra tilted her head and looked at the cait-sith. “They had a coin-sith? Really?”


    “Yes. Indeed. It was smelly, slobbery, ugly, and stupid. Just like your friend here.” The cait-sith then pointed at Holden.


    “Cat,” Holden said. “I’m real tempted to put you back in that cage.”


    “Anyways,” the cait-sith continued ignoring Holden’s idle threat. “We had all been scheming to escape from this place. And one of us was fortunate to make it out. But the one who escaped wasn’t a fairy. She was a pixie.”


    “A pixie!” Holden said. “I think I can already see where this is going.”


    Pixies were a type of fey often confused for fairies because of their similar appearances. Fairies greatly resemble humans, while pixies skin tones could be various other colors like blue, red, or even purple. Fairies were also benevolent while pixies were anywhere from mischievous to outright malicious.


    “It’s as you think,” the cait-sith said. “When the pixie escaped, she knocked out the big minotaur with sleep magic. She then used telekinesis to lift the hammer and crush the tavern owner’s skull, leaving the minotaur to take the blame.”


    “What happened to the other fey that were trapped here?”


    “The pixie did let the rest of us out, only on the condition that we help her wreak havoc around on our captors.”


    “And who were your captors?”


    “Aside from the tavern owner, I’m not really sure. The pixie was the only one who knew anything about anyone else being involved since she had been held in captivity the longest.”


    “What you said is pretty troubling,” Elliandra said. “I doubt the tavern owner was the only one involved in trafficking fairies. That means there’s more to this than just a murder.”


    Holden sighed. “My only job is to prove the innocence of Durik, the minotaur accused of murdering the tavern owner. Anything else will be left to the police department.”


    Elliandra put her hands on her hips. “You have a point. We’ll have to present this information to the captain of the local precinct.” Elliandra then sighed. “I guess that means I’m stuck with you for the rest of your investigation. I need to be there personally to verify the legitimacy of whatever evidence you gather that might pertain to this trafficking ring.”


    Holden grinned at her words. “Perfect. Now I can make use of your magic. That’ll save me a lot of time, money, and resources.”


    “Don’t forget about me,” the cait-sith said. “That tavern owner kept me, and my friends trapped. I want to make sure everyone knows what he was up to.”


    Holden nodded his head, then raised his eyebrow. “That reminds me. Why aren’t you helping the pixie get revenge? You said you were friends with the coin-sith, dog-thing, so why are you hanging around here?”


    “Because pixies are crazy and untrustworthy. I thought it would be better to try leading the inspectors toward the truth. But they just brushed my claims away. I was hoping that Alwin guy would be more open, but he just said he had other business to attend to. The man didn’t even give me a chance to speak.”


    “So, I was your last option?”


    “You’re chopped liver. Hardly a suitable meal, but better than nothing.”


    Elliandra laughed. “There’s no better way to describe him in my opinion. Regardless, you’re the detective, so you’re in charge.” She then sat up and stretched her arms. “So, what’s next, boss?”


    Holden took a moment to think. “Elliandra, you said we need to present this information to the captain? There’s no guarantee that he’ll listen. Alwin and the first inspector ignored the cat.”


    “We got to try. It’s our best option right now.”


    “Alright. I guess you’re right. What do you say, cat? Are you up for this?”


    The cait-sith nodded his head. “I am up for this. And could you think of something to call me other than Cat? It’s really demeaning.”


    “You never told us your name,” Holden said.


    “I don’t have one. So, one of you should give me one. Preferably the lady over there. She’ll probably put more thought into it. You’ll just give me something even more demeaning than Cat.”


    Elliandra twirled a lock of her hair while she started thinking of a name for the cait-sith. She wanted to think of something that reflected his personality. The cait-sith was snarky, sarcastic, blunt, and ill-tempered. However, nothing she came up with seemed to fit, so Elliandra decided to use another criteria. “Oh. I know. How about Sable.”


    Both the cait-sith and Holden looked at each other and frowned.


    “Sable just means black,” Holden said.


    “Maybe you should pick,” the cait-sith added, hoping Holden could come up with something better.


    Holden looked at the cait-sith intensely. Various names poured into his head, along with the meaning each name carried. Emmet, which meant ‘truth‘. Aldrich which meant ‘wise ruler’. Even Enigma, which meant ‘mystery’. All of these names and many more popped into Holden’s head, but none of them quite fit his overall impression of the cait-sith. Eventually, Holden snapped his fingers after settling on one name. “Fred. We’ll just call you, Fred.”


    The cait-sith and Elliandra stared at Holden in disbelief. The cait-sith then made the decision itself. “I think I’ll just go with Sable.”