Holden and Sable made their way to the apartment of their first suspect, which was located on the east side of Chrimoria. The suspect’s name was Samual Howe. Samual and Randy had a long standing rivalry. Even though the two of them were writers for the same publishing house, there was a competitive streak between the two of them for who was the most successful author. In reality, it was hard to guage who was the better author, since the difference in terms of book sales was negligible between the two of them.


    Holden and Sable arrived at the suspects apartment. Holden knocked on the door, but there was no response. He then put his ear to the door, listening intently for any sounds coming from within the apartment.


    “Does seem like anyone’s home,” Holden said. “Can you teleport inside?”


    Sable scoffed. “I’ve told you a hundred times. I need line of sight, and there can be any solid objects in the way.”


    “What if you were looking through a hole? Could you peek under the door into the apartment, and teleport from there?”


    Sable was about to rebuke him, but stopped. The cait-sith hadn’t considered that before. When Sable thought about it, it seemed theoretically possible. “I don’t know if it’ll work. I’ve never tried it before.” Sable curiously looked underneath the door. He couldn’t see much , but it was enough. Sable used minor teleportation, appearing on the other side of the door. “Well, that’ll be useful. Now how to let the human in?”


    “Don’t worry,” Holden said. “I got my lockpicking tool on me. Just need you to confirm the coast is clear.”


    Sable scanned the room for any signs someone was here. It was a small living area connected to a kitchen and dining area. There was a desk withstacks of paper in the corner of the living area, a couch at the center, a small dining table near the kitchen, and a door that lied just beyond. It was the only other door in the room besides the front door to the apartment.


    Sable quietly ran over to the door, and looked beneath it. He teleported though, arriving in a bedroom where there was a man sleeping on the bed. Sable quickly teleported back into the living area, then made his way back to the front door where he informed Holden that he had seen Sam sleeping in the other room.


    “I’ll be in there in a sec,” Holden said. He then used his lockpicking kit to break into the apartment. The first thing he noticed when stepping inside was the papers scattered on the desk in the corner. Holden made his way over to it, looked through the stacks in hopes of finding Randy’s manuscript. The papers were all pieces of a manuscript, but not the one they were looking for.


    “Murder, Love, and Mystery,” Holden said, holding up the first page of Samuel Howe’s manuscript in hand and reading the title aloud. “A murder/mystery about a male and female detectives who started out as partners. The duo hates each other at first, but as they get wrapped up in a mysterious murder involving the city’s mayor, the two start to fall madly in-love.” He then tossed the manuscript back on the desk. “I’m not sure if this will sell. Then again, I’m not much of a mystery fan.”


    “^You’re a detective,” Sable said. I figured you’d love a good mystery.”


    “That’s like saying someone should love romance just because they’re married. Besides mystery novels frustrate me. They’re not a reflection of reality. It’s like most mystery writers don’t understand what real detective work requires.”


    In the midst of their conversation, the bedroom door creaked open. Samuel Howe walked out rubbed his head and groaning as if he were hung over. The man didn’t even notice Holden and Sable’s presence until he flopped onto the couch.


    “What the-. Who are you?” Samuel asked Holden, still not aware of Sable’s presence, since the cait-sith was beneath his line of sight.


    “This is awkward,” Holden said, scratching the back of his head. ”We’re a couple of PI’s.”


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    Samuel Howe started looking around once Holden said the words ‘we’re’ expecting to find another person in the room with him. However, the only thing he saw was Sable, albeit the cait-sith looked like an ordinary black cat to him. “What? Why’s there a cat in here?”


    “The cat is my associate,” Holden explained, much to Samuel’s bewilderment.


    “You work with a cat? Can you talk to animals or something?”


    Holden chuckled at the man’s question, while Sable scowled. His hatred for being treated as a regular house cat caused the cait-sith anger. “Holden, would you tell him that I’m a cait-sith so he can understand me already?”


    Holden shook his head. “Don’t worry about the cat. Right now, I’m the only one you need to focus on. I’m looking for a stolen manuscript. I think it was titled Fractured Memories.”


    Samuel clicked his tongue when he heard the title. “That’s the novel Randy was working on. So, somebody stole that nitwits manuscript. Ha serves him right.”


    Sable gave the man a knowing look. “What makes you say that?”


    Samuel turned to Sable, only hearing a meow rather than any actual words. “What’s the cat meowing for? Can you get it out of here? I’m not really fond of pets.”


    Sable growled at the man, only to shriek when Holden picked him up. “I’ll put him outside so we can talk.” Holden then placed Sable down in the hallway, closed the door behind him, and continued his conversation with Samuel, while Sable scratched and shouted from the other side.


    “Anyways, Mr. Howe,” Holden continued. “I have to ask you a few questions.”


    Samuel crossed his legs and scoffed. “Is that why you broke into my apartment? To ask questions?”


    “I did knock. But you didn’t answer.”


    “So, PI’s really do skirt the law like in novels. How quaint. I should contact the police, but this has given me some inspiration for my novel.”


    “I think the only thing that’s quaint here is how casual you’re acting, despite the circumstances. You realize you’re being accused of stealing a rival author’s work. One would think you’d be a little nervous, especially since I just broke into your house.”


    Samuel snuffed his nose at Holden. “Are you kidding me. I know I’m innocent, so I have nothing to worry about. We might be rivals, but I’d never stoop so low as to steal his work. Whatever I write is far better then the garbage he comes up with.”


    “You say that, yet in terms of sales you two are about equal,” Holden pointed out. “Also, according to Randy, this manuscript was his best work yet. He was actually raving about how it was going to put him ahead, especially since you’ve been having writer’s block lately.”


    Samuel raised an eyebrow. “What are you suggesting? That I stole his manuscript because I was jealous? I might be in a rut, but even my worst work will outshine his. The only reason our sales are neck and neck is because I can’t shine under such a small publishing house like RavenEye.”


    Holden had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Samuel Howe seemed like the typical narcissist. Always blaming others for failure, while accrediting his own success to his own efforts, while diminishing any contributions anyone else might’ve made. A narcissist like him could lie to their own mother without a shred of remorse, making them more difficult to read.


    “You really believe that, don’t you?” Holden asked, unable to catch any signs of Samuel lying. “Why haven’t you sent any of your manuscripts to larger publishing houses? Irene and Eloquence has a printing press here in Chrimoria.”


    Samuel huffed. “I have. But those narcissistic jerks wouldn’t know good literature if you hit them over the head with a best-selling title.”


    “You mean they’ve rejected every manuscript you’ve sent them, right?”


    Samuel didn’t confirm or deny Holden''s theory. He just turned his head and started at the wall, waiting for the question he knew was coming.


    Holden smirked at Samuel’s deflection. He had managed to catch onto another potential motive. “That sounds like another motive. Your work couldn’t get you into one of the larger publishing houses, so you decided to steal your rival''s work, then submit it as your own.”


    “I know what you’re doing here,” Samuel said. “And it’s not going to work. I didn’t steal anything. You can even look through my desk if you want.”


    Holden looked Samuel directly in the eyes. There were no signs of deception once again, so Holden just sighed. “No need. I already did.”


    Samuel’s eye suddenly brightened up. “So, you saw my manuscript then? What do you think of the concept? It combines love, sexual tension between male and female co-workers, and the feelings of comradely that develop between two people who who end up overcoming various challenges and dangerous situations together. It has love, which will appeal to many female readers. And also action for the men. It’s brilliant, isn’t it?”


    “Yeah,” Holden said, scratching his head, keeping his true feelings about it from Samuel. “It’s definitely unique. Good luck with it, by the way. Though, if you do hear anything, I’d ask that you please let me know. You can find my office in West Chrimoria over on Aldermen Way.”


    “Hmm, a PI and a cat on Aldermen Way. You must be quite the character. May even be worthy of being my muse in my next novel.”


    “Uhm, thanks , I guess.”