The next morning Yomiel called the Good Detective's house to inform him of my surprise visit, and arranged for a suitable time for the Good Detective to come and collect me. About two hours later there was a knock on the door, and it was with some anxiety that Yomiel went to answer it. I couldn't say I blamed him – the last time these two men had met, Yomiel had nearly lost himself to bitter loneliness and hatred. While that fate had been erased, the painful memories still remained. But he opened the door nonetheless, and politely greeted the Good Detective.
"Sorry to make you come all this way," said Yomiel. "I would've brought him over to you myself, but I don't have a car."
"That's fine," replied the Good Detective. "I'm just pleased to hear the little fella's safe."
He noticed the Fiancée standing in the middle of the living room.
"Oh," Yomiel took her by the hand and brought her over to the door. "This is Sissel – my wife."
"Sissel, eh?" the Good Detective looked towards me, "What a coincidence."
"Pleased to meet you, Sir," the Fiancée bowed slightly,
"Since you've gone to all the trouble to come here," Yomiel continued, "could I perhaps offer you a coffee or something?"
"Oh no, I couldn't possibly trouble you…"
"It isn't any trouble at all," replied the Fiancée with a smile. "I know our home's a little shabby, but you should at least rest a while before you head back home."
"Well," the Good Detective grinned. "When you put it that way, how could I refuse?"
The Fiancée went into the kitchen to prepare the refreshments while Yomiel sat on the couch, and the Good Detective sat on the armchair across from him. I sat myself on the floor between the two of them. With the Fiancée preoccupied, the two men now felt it safe to drop their façade.
"It's been a long time," said the Good Detective quietly. "How have you been?"
"We have our up and downs, but truthfully I've never been happier."
"You sounded serious on the phone."
"Sissel came here to ask me to pass on a message to you, about your case."
Good Detective leaned forward slightly, turning his head towards me. "Sissel knows something?"
I mewed as a way of confirmation.
"He says really important," Yomiel looked anxiously towards the kitchen, where the Fiancée was still busy with tea and coffee. "But it's not something I want to discuss here…"
"Yes, of course. Here," he took out a pen and a business card, scribbled something on the back and handed it to Yomiel. "I think this a suitable time and place for us to 'accidently' bump into one another."
There was a moment of uneasy silence.
"I'm sorry you have to get involved in this," said the Good Detective finally.
"It's ok," replied Yomiel. "It's the least I owe you two for giving me a second chance."
At this point the Fiancée came in with a tea tray and the two men went back to pretending they didn't know each other. They engaged in a little polite small talk for a while, but once the Good Detective had finished his tea, he picked me up and made his way to the door.
"Well, thank you for everything," he chortled. "But I don't want to overstay my welcome, so I suppose this is goodbye."
"I hope we didn't take up too much of your time," said Yomiel.
"Nonsense, I had a lovely time," the Good Detective stepped out the door and into the hall. "I wish you the best for the future, both of you."
"It was a pleasure, Mister Jowd," said the Fiancée.
As the door shut behind us, my sharp ears picked up the Fiancée's voice; "It's strange, but I think I've the name Jowd somewhere before…"
Lynne and Missile had come over for another visit when the Good Detective and I got back. Once again, I was glad for Missile's company and felt obligated to fill him in on my progress.
"Yomiel will be meeting with Jowd later to pass on what I know so far," I told him. "My main problem now is if Jowd can actually make use of this information."
"You can help him out, right?"
"Yeah, but since Jowd's got no core, communication is going to be hassle. I don't want Yomiel getting dragged into this mess. Besides, I have no idea where to look next, anyway."
"What about that ghost you saw last time?"
"That would be nice, but I have no idea where that guy disappeared to. It's not like he's just gonna drop outta the sky or somethi-"
"HEEEEEEELP!"
The sudden cry caught the attention of me and Missile, but the humans didn't even seem to notice. Not to mention that crusty voice was vaguely familiar…
"No way," I said to myself. "It couldn't be."
I jumped up and dashed outside to towards the front door, nearly tripping the Little Lady on the way, with Missile in hot purist.
"Daddy, Sissy's running away again and Missile's gone with him."
I knew I was in big trouble for this, but I simply couldn't let this opportunity pass me by. Outside, I scanned around frantically for where the voice scream had come from, but couldn't sense anything. Then –
"Somebody HELP! Get me down from here!"
Right above me! I looked upwards towards the sky but all I could see was a crow flying overhead… but wait, was that-? Yes! Something in its beak! On a hunch I swapped into the Ghost World.
It was a fair distance off, but there was no mistaking that distinctive blue flame, or that bossy tone of voice.
Missile slid to a stop beside me. "What is it, Sissel?"
"It's him!" I cried ecstatically, "The Ghost from the murder scene! He's here!"
"Really? That's great!" Missile yipped with glee. "But um, how're gonna get him if he's way up there?"
My hopes were smashed like a ceramic vase hitting a concrete sidewalk.
Meanwhile, Lynne and the Good Detective had caught up with us, panting and out of breath.
"What has gotten into you two?" Lynne scolded as she lifted me up. "Especially you, Sissel! I don't wantcha hanging around my dog if you're going to be a bad influence!"
"I uh, guess it must be this warm weather…" replied the Good Detective, but I was sure he had figured that I was following a lead on the case.
"Wait a sec," Missile yapped suddenly, "Sis, take another look!"
Indeed, the crow seemed to be struggling in midair – unbelievable! The Toon-Faced Ghost was putting up a fight, manipulating whatever was it had possessed to try and scare off its captor. Finally the bird gave in and released its grip, and the possessed item began to plummet to the ground about a few blocks from where I was standing, its resident ghost shouting obscenities all the way.
"Hold on!" I called out, flailing madly to get free of Lynne, and scratching her face in the process. "I'm coming for you!"
I leapt out of Lynne's arms and landed on all fours on the sidewalk, running like crazy towards where the item had fallen.
"Wait for me!" yapped Missile, hot on my tail.
"Hey! Get back here, you two!" fumed Lynne. "What is up with them today?"
My feline athleticism served me well here, turning tight corners and leaping over fences with ease. Poor brave Missile, on the other hand, was not built for such strenuous activity and struggled to keep up, I even heard the poor little guy slam into a trashcan at least once or twice.
I was getting close; I could feel it in my gut. I reached the final corner, turned it and-
Oh fudge.
It was Toon-Face all right, stuck inside an old pair of false teeth sitting just a few inches away from me. But in that dead-end alleyway was a pile of overflowing trashcans, covered in packs of mean-looking alley cats. And who do you think would be at the top of the pile, his one good eye glaring right at me, his dirty orange tail swishing madly in disapproval?
Once again, I had stumbled into Outlaw's territory, and he was pissed. He stood up, daring me to take just one step further. The other cats surrounding him hissed and spat, their tails erect and their fur on end.
"Isn't anyone going to help me?" wailed the false teeth. "This place stinks!"
I swallowed hard, braced myself and tried not to think about Outlaw's massive bulk. I focused my attention on the teeth in front me and…
I leapt. He leapt. I got the teeth. He got my tail.
I beat at Outlaw with as much ferocity as I could muster, and by sheer luck I managed to get my tail loose from his iron jaws. I didn't waste any time and, with the false teeth held tightly in mine, fled for the exit just as the other cats started to come after me. I nearly slammed into Missile on the way.
"Don't ask, just RUN!" I yelled to him.
Missile took one look at the surge of ferocious felines and that was enough for him.
Once again, I found my undersized body letting me down as Outlaw and gang slowly gained on me, and Missile wasn't faring much better. If the cats caught me, I at least had the Temsik fragment to preserve me, but Missile wouldn't stand a chance.
"Missile!" I called out to him. "I'm gonna throw you something, it's real important! Grab on to it and get home as fast as you can!"
"Right!"
"Are you insane?" screamed Toon-Face. "You can't just toss me around like a chew-toy!"
I ignored him, and tossed my head towards Missile, letting the false teeth go as I did. They flew over towards Missile, the ghost cursing all the way. Missile's little legs bounded with all their might, it wasn't much but it was just enough! He snapped up the teeth and held on for dear life as he slammed face-first on to the pavement. Despite this mishap, he was back on his feet and making the wild dash for freedom. Missile may not be the most graceful of creatures, but he certainly made up for it in pure spunk.
I on the other hand, turned on my tail and started running headlong towards Outlaw and the alley cats. Missile stopped for a second, hesitant.
"I'll be fine, just go!"
It was with some reluctance that Missile obeyed me.
Now it was just me and the cats. I rammed headlong into Outlaw, knocking the wind out of him. I skidded to a halt and jumped around to face him, hunched over and spitting like mad. Outlaw picked himself up and slowly started advancing towards me, his posse of alley cats forming a tight circle around me from which there was no escape, even if I used my Ghost Tricks. I took a gulp of air, closed my eyes and braced myself for the inevitable beating…
It was night-time when I finally managed to drag my sorry carcass back home. It was true that I had not suffered any physical damage, but my fur was dirty and dishevelled, and I was mentally and emotionally exhausted.
I pawed at the door weakly and was answered by the Beloved Mother. She took one look at me and shook her head.
"Well what do you expect, if you're going to keep running away like that?"
I just sat there, hanging my head.
Beloved Mother sighed and stepped aside so I could make my way in. I shuffled in miserably, hoping that when Missile had got home the teeth had not be instantly thrown away, or at least the ghost had enough sense to move on to something else in the house.
I was in luck. As I flopped into my basket brooding over my ruined dignity, I was approached by the Good Detective who took something out of his coat pocket.
"Missile passed this on to me before Lynne took him home," he whispered. "It's obviously of some importance if you rushed out like that."
He placed the item in the basket beside me – the false teeth. I prayed to the powers that be that Toon-Face was still there, and that he was feeling more cooperative this time around. Thankfully when I entered the Ghost World, there was that contrary little flame dancing around madly, although its attitude hadn't improved.
"What are you moping about for?" he griped. "You look like you've got it pretty well made for a flea-bitten hairball."
I rolled my eyes, trying my best to ignore the crabby spirit and get some well deserve rest. Toon-Face on the other hand may have forgotten who he was, but he sure hadn't forgotten how to complain. He complained about everything – about having to share sleeping quarters with a cat, about how Missile had drooled on him during the rescue, even about the Good Detective's and Beloved Mother's choices in interior decorating. He went on all night and well into the morning.
This guy had better have been worth the effort.