As they entered the market, Chichi's head began swiveling nonstop.
Left.
Right.
Left again.
Plastic bags rustled in people's hands, and handcart wheels clattered over the ground. Price tags hanging from the ends of the market tents swayed in the wind.
Every time, Chichi's ears twitched.
“Chichi.”
Boss called her in a low voice.
Chichi flinched.
“Yeah?”
“Look ahead.”
“I am.”
That was what she said, but her eyes were following the handcart wheels that had just passed by.
Garam let out a small laugh.
“You promised earlier.”
“I know.”
“What was it?”
Chichi didn't answer.
Kkami answered for her.
“Don't get sidetracked.”
“I didn't.”
“Not yet.”
Chichi shot Kkami a look, then deliberately turned her head straight ahead.
The inside of the market was more complicated than Garam had expected.
He slowed down and scanned the area.
He still couldn't be sure whether the piece of red ribbon and the yellow thread they'd found earlier had really fallen from the stuffed toy.
But he couldn't ignore them, either.
They overlapped with the route from the playground to the market, and both were colors similar to the stuffed toy.
For now, all they could do was check what came next.
“Let's ask people first.”
Garam took out his phone.
The yellow rabbit in the photo was still smiling with its red ribbon around its neck.
Kkami naturally stepped in front of Garam.
“Looks like you'll need me again.”
“Yeah.”
“Add to my reward.”
“I already said I would.”
“The job got bigger.”
Garam looked down at Kkami.
Kkami looked completely unapologetic.
“Fine.”
Only then did Kkami raise his tail, looking satisfied.
Asking people around the market proved more difficult than expected.
“A yellow rabbit stuffed animal?”
“Hmm.”
“You mean yesterday?”
“I don't think I saw one.”
The same kinds of answers continued.
There were so many things in the market to begin with.
Yellow fabric was common, and red ribbons weren't unusual, either.
Unless someone had made a point of remembering it, it would be difficult to recall a small stuffed animal passing by.
Still, with Kkami beside him, it was easier to start conversations.
“Oh my, aren't you pretty?”
“Look at that white fur on his chest.”
“Doesn't this cat get scared of people?”
Kkami approached only as much as necessary.
If someone's hand seemed likely to linger too long, he took a step back, but he didn't leave until Garam finished asking his questions.
Garam spoke in a quiet voice.
“You're really good at this.”
Kkami answered just as quietly.
“Finally seeing me properly, are you?”
“Don't get too full of yourself over one compliment.”
“My tail was already held high.”
Garam didn't say anything more.
It was when they reached the snack stall that it happened.
The middle-aged woman who saw the photo narrowed her eyes slightly.
“Wait a second.”
Garam immediately straightened.
“Have you seen it?”
“I don't know about the stuffed animal itself.”
The woman looked at the phone screen again.
“But around yesterday evening, there was something that color hanging off the back of a car.”
Garam paused.
“The back of a car?”
“Yeah. A little truck.”
“Do you remember what kind of truck it was?”
“Was it white?”
The woman thought for a moment.
“It looked like one of those trucks that carries produce crates.”
Boss immediately raised his head.
Garam kept asking questions.
“Do you remember exactly how the yellow thing was attached?”
“Not really.”
The woman roughly shaped it with her hands.
“Something was dangling and swaying in the back. Something like cloth.”
“Did you see any red, too?”
“I think there might have been.”
It wasn't a certain memory.
But it matched the clues they'd found so far.
Garam bowed his head.
“Thank you.”
“Are you looking for it?”
“Yes.”
“I hope you find it.”
“Thank you.”
Once they had moved a little way from the shop, Boss spoke first.
“It could've been a truck.”
Garam nodded.
“Yeah. The odds are looking better now.”
Kkami asked, “Then what about the yellow thread on the fence earlier?”
“The stuffed animal might've snagged on something on the truck and torn.”
Garam paused, then added, “But it's not confirmed yet.”
Boss had no disagreement with that.
Goro looked around.
“If it was a produce truck, it might have gone to the loading area in back.”
“Let's go.”
Garam started forward.
At that moment, Chichi whipped her head around in a completely different direction.
Jingle.
A small metal ornament hanging beneath a shop awning swayed in the wind.
Chichi's eyes sparkled.
Boss said, “Chichi.”
“…I know.”
Chichi turned her head back with tremendous effort.
Garam laughed.
“Good job.”
“But I'm really curious.”
“Later.”
“Will it still be there later?”
“Probably.”
Chichi looked back one more time.
But this time, she didn't follow it.
There was a narrow space behind the market where goods were loaded and unloaded.
Crates and plastic baskets were stacked here and there, and several small trucks came and went.
Garam kept to the edge so he wouldn't block the way.
Goro disappeared almost instantly.
Garam looked around.
“Goro?”
Boss looked toward a pile of crates.
“There.”
Only after looking closely for a while did they catch a brief glimpse of the tip of a black tail.
“He really is invisible.”
Kkami said, “That's what you call sneaking in.”
“Can't you do that?”
Kkami looked at Garam.
“Why would I hide?”
“…Fair point.”
Apparently, Kkami found the question fairly insulting.
Chichi darted around the loading area.
This time, Garam didn't have to tell her to check beneath the crates and between the vehicles.
Then she stopped.
Something had rolled across the ground.
A small bottle cap.
Chichi's body moved reflexively, then stopped halfway.
Garam watched without saying a word.
Chichi looked at the bottle cap, then at Garam.
“I won't go.”
“I didn't say anything.”
“I know.”
Boss gave a small nod.
Whether it was praise or not was debatable.
A little later, Goro emerged from between the crates.
“I checked one truck.”
Garam asked, “Find anything?”
“There are red threads caught on the metal hook in the back.”
“Red threads?”
“Yeah.”
Garam followed Goro.
It was a small white truck.
Several very short red threads were caught on the end of a metal hook at the back of the cargo bed.
Garam took out the piece of ribbon he'd put in a zip-top bag earlier and held it close.
The colors were quite similar.
Boss examined them, too.
“Think it's the same?” Chichi asked.
Garam didn't answer right away.
“Similar.”
“Then this is the truck!”
“Not yet.”
Garam's words made Chichi fall silent.
“Let's ask the owner.”
Garam checked with the nearby shops and found the truck's owner.
When Garam showed him the photo, the produce seller first tilted his head in confusion.
Then he checked the back of the truck and raised his eyebrows.
“Looks like something got caught here.”
Garam asked, “Did this truck pass through the alley near the playground yesterday?”
“The playground?”
“The road leading in from behind the market.”
“Oh, yeah, I went through there.”
The shopkeeper nodded.
“I went to pick up some goods yesterday evening and came back that way.”
“Did you feel anything catch on the truck?”
“Not at all.”
That made sense for a small cloth stuffed animal.
Garam asked again, “Where did you park after coming back to the market?”
The shopkeeper pointed toward the alley outside the loading area.
“I parked over there for a bit, then brought it in here.”
Boss's gaze immediately turned in that direction.
Garam followed his eyes.
“Thank you.”
After thanking the shopkeeper, Garam turned back to the cats.
“I think we've pretty much got it.”
Boss said, “Yeah.”
The alley after the playground.
The piece of red ribbon and yellow thread found there.
The truck traveling in the same direction.
The red threads caught on the back of the truck.
And the market vendor's testimony.
Garam slowly pieced it together.
“When it fell out of the bag, it might not have landed on the ground. It could've caught on somewhere at the back of the truck.”
Goro said, “Then it came all the way to the market.”
“And it might have fallen off here.”
Boss looked toward the alley where the truck had stopped for a while.
“That way.”
Chichi had already turned around.
“I'll check first!”
This time, no one stopped her.
“But if you see anything strange—” Garam said.
Chichi shouted as she ran, “The stuffed animal comes first!”
Garam smiled a little.
“You're learning.”
Kkami said, “How long do you think that'll last?”
“Maybe a day.”
The alley where the truck had stopped for a while connected to the residential neighborhood behind the market.
Chichi reached the end of the alley in an instant.
“It's not here!”
Then she ran to the other side.
“It's not here either!”
Boss didn't move around as broadly as Chichi did.
He slowly searched the area, using the spot where the truck had stopped as his reference point.
Goro checked places that were difficult for people to inspect, like beneath walls and under cars.
Kkami stayed beside Garam.
Garam thought for a moment, then took out his phone.
“I'll have to ask Gramps.”
Kkami asked, “Already?”
“If someone picked it up here, it'll be hard to find it from traces alone.”
“True.”
Garam called the bookstore.
People didn't call a closed bookstore in the first place.
And Gramps was smart enough to know that a call to the bookstore could only be from Garam. If Garam needed to contact Gramps urgently while he was staying put at the bookstore, he could call there.
Garam had once told him that if he tapped the receiver with his paw, he would be able to hear Garam's voice.
Garam didn't know whether Gramps would still remember that, but there was only one way to find out.
After several rings, the call connected.
“Why?”
Gramps's slow voice came through.
“Gramps. You remember how to answer the phone?”
“State your business. Is this another favor?”
“Yeah.”
“You're working an old man too hard.”
“You were asleep until a minute ago.”
A brief silence followed.
“Who told you that?”
“You sound like you just woke up.”
Gramps didn't respond.
Garam got to the point.
“Ask the cats in the neighborhood behind the market if any of them saw a yellow rabbit stuffed animal between yesterday evening and today.”
“What does it look like?”
“Yellow cloth, red ribbon around its neck. One ear is slightly folded, and it's about the size of two adult palms.”
“Where?”
“Near the loading area behind the market.”
Gramps seemed to think for a moment.
“Got it.”
“Thanks.”
“Reward.”
Garam closed his eyes.
“Fine.”
“Make it something good.”
“I said fine.”
“The kid knows how to talk big.”
Garam's eyebrow twitched.
“Come by and fix this receiver properly.”
“Sure.”
When Gramps's voice stopped coming through, Garam pressed the end-call button.
Kkami asked, “He called you a kid again, didn't he?”
“Yeah.”
“He's right.”
“You be quiet, too.”
Garam didn't know exactly how Gramps's network operated.
He probably passed the message to one of the cats that came and went around Garam Bookstore.
That cat would pass it to a cat in another alley.
Then that cat would spread it somewhere else.
Only Gramps knew how much the story changed along the way.
Still, it worked.
About thirty minutes later, a mottled cat Garam had never seen before appeared on top of the alley wall.
Chichi spotted it first.
“They're here!”
Garam looked up.
The mottled cat glanced at Garam once, then looked toward Boss.
Then it gave a short meow.
Garam understood the words perfectly.
“Gramps sent you?”
The mottled cat answered again.
Yesterday evening.
After a white truck passed by, a yellow object had fallen into the street.
The cat had also seen a man who worked security nearby pick it up.
Garam asked, “Do you know where he went?”
The mottled cat looked down the alley.
A small parking lot behind a convenience store.
Toward the security booth nearby.
Chichi immediately turned around.
“Let's go!”
This time, Boss didn't stop her.
“Let's go.”
Garam ran, too.
There was a small security booth in the corner of the parking lot.
A middle-aged man sat in front of it with a chair beside him.
Garam stopped a few steps away.
Something was lying on the chair next to the man.
Yellow.
Red.
Chichi said in a small voice, “It's there.”
Garam saw it, too.
It was the yellow rabbit stuffed animal.
One side of the red ribbon around its neck had been torn, and there was a little black smudge on its back.
Its right ear was still folded.
Garam slowly approached.
“Excuse me.”
The man looked up.
“Yeah?”
“Did you happen to pick up that stuffed animal yesterday?”
Garam pointed to the chair.
The man glanced at the rabbit.
“Oh, this?”
“Yes.”
“I found it lying in the street over there yesterday.”
The man picked up the rabbit as if it were nothing important.
“I was going to take it to the market office, but it got too late.”
Garam showed him the photo on his phone.
“This child is looking for it.”
The man looked at the screen.
He compared the rabbit in the photo with the one in his hand, then nodded.
“That's the one.”
“May I take it?”
“Sure. As long as it gets back to its owner.”
Garam accepted the stuffed animal with both hands.
“Thank you.”
“Don't mention it.”
The man waved a hand.
“Looks like the kid really missed it.”
“Yes.”
Garam looked down at the rabbit.
It wasn't as damaged as he'd expected.
Only part of the ribbon was torn, and there was a little dirt on it.
Garam gently straightened the folded ear with his finger.
Chichi hopped up from below.
“Let me see!”
“No.”
“Why?”
“You might get it dirty.”
“I'm clean.”
Kkami said, “You? The one who just walked all over the market floor?”
“You walked all over it, too.”
“I was careful.”
Goro said quietly, “Neither of you washed your paws.”
The two of them turned to look at Goro at the same time.
Goro didn't seem bothered at all.
Boss looked at the stuffed animal once and said, “It's over.”
Garam smiled.
“Yeah.”
Chichi raised her tail.
“We found it!”
This time, no one told her to be quiet.
When they returned to Garam Bookstore, Gramps was still sprawled in the armchair.
When Garam opened the door, Gramps opened one eye.
“Find it?”
Garam held up the yellow rabbit.
“Yeah.”
“Knew you would.”
“Really?”
“No.”
Gramps closed his eye again.
“If you hadn't found it, you'd have had to keep looking.”
Garam gave a hollow laugh.
“What kind of answer is that?”
“Exactly what I said.”
Garam returned the receiver Gramps had pushed toward him with his paw to its proper place.
Chichi ran over in front of Gramps.
“I found it really fast!”
“Did you find it by yourself?”
Chichi fell silent.
“Boss helped, too.”
“Good.”
“Goro did, too.”
“Good.”
“Kkami, too.”
“Then you all found it together.”
Chichi thought about that for a moment.
“Yeah!”
And she was satisfied again in an instant.
Garam placed the stuffed animal on the counter and carefully wiped the dirt off with a clean cloth.
He couldn't repair the torn ribbon completely.
But he could tie it temporarily so it wouldn't come undone.
Before long, a small shadow appeared outside the glass door.
Jingle.
The door opened.
The child nearly ran inside.
“Did you find it?”
Instead of answering, Garam held up the rabbit from the counter.
The child stopped.
“……Bunny.”
Garam approached and held out the stuffed animal.
“See if it's yours.”
The child's two hands carefully accepted it.
One side of the ribbon was a little shorter, and there was a smudge on its back.
But the child recognized it immediately.
“It is.”
The child's voice trembled softly.
“It's mine.”
The child hugged the rabbit tightly to their chest.
For a long while, they said nothing.
Garam didn't rush them.
Kkami watched quietly from the windowsill.
Boss sat beside the door, while Goro peeked out from beneath a bookshelf.
Chichi would normally have rushed over first, but this time she sat quietly at Garam's feet.
Even Gramps had opened his eyes in the armchair.
The child sniffed once.
“Thank you.”
Garam shook his head.
“I didn't find it by myself.”
The child's gaze turned to the cats around them.
“The cats?”
“Yeah.”
The child looked a little puzzled.
Naturally. It would be hard to believe a story about cats roaming through the market, gathering information, and tracking down an item.
Garam didn't bother explaining further.
“We all found it together.”
The child looked at the cats one by one.
Then they rummaged around inside their bag.
A small bag of cat treats emerged.
Chichi's eyes sparkled.
Kkami straightened slightly, too.
Boss pretended not to care, but his ears twitched.
Garam accepted the bag of treats.
“Thank you.”
The child smiled.
“I'm even more thankful.”
Just before leaving, the child stopped.
“Excuse me.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you really find anything here?”
Garam thought for a moment.
His eyes fell on the old paper posted on the glass door.
Cat Detective Agency.
We find lost or treasured things.
“Not anything.”
Garam answered.
The child's eyes widened slightly.
“We might not find it.”
“But we'll look as far as we can.”
Garam smiled a little.
“If it's something precious.”
The child hugged the rabbit tightly again.
Then they nodded brightly.
“Okay!”
Jingle.
The door closed.
Garam watched through the glass door for a moment.
After walking a few steps, the child checked the rabbit in their arms again.
Then they disappeared at the end of the alley.
Chichi spoke first.
“Treats.”
Garam turned around.
“I know.”
“Now?”
“After you wash your paws.”
Chichi looked at her front paws.
“I don't wash my paws.”
“I know.”
Kkami jumped onto the counter.
“My share is separate.”
“Why?”
“Do you have any idea how many people I had to deal with today?”
Boss said, “I found the way.”
Chichi immediately added, “I ran a whole lot!”
Goro briefly added, “I found the trail, too.”
Garam looked at the four cats in turn.
“You'll all get some.”
From the armchair, Gramps said, “Mine, too.”
Garam turned around.
“You stayed here the whole time.”
“Without my network, you wouldn't have found it at the end.”
Garam kept his mouth shut for a moment.
He couldn't argue with that.
“Fine.”
“Make it something good.”
“I said fine.”
Garam took the case notebook from beneath the counter.
Today's date.
The client's name.
The item they were looking for.
Yellow rabbit stuffed animal.
Beneath that, he wrote a single word in pen.
Complete.
He looked at the word for a moment, then closed the notebook.
The spring sunlight outside had gradually shifted toward orange.
Beneath the old Garam Bookstore shop sign, a sheet of paper fluttered lightly in the breeze.
To some people, it was just an old cloth stuffed animal.
But to someone else, it was a gift they could never receive again.
Garam understood that difference well.
“All right.”
As he stood, Chichi came running first.
“Treats?”
“Yeah.”
Kkami followed at a leisurely pace.
Boss stood up with an annoyed look on his face, and Goro had already made his way toward the treat cabinet.
Gramps spoke last.
“Kid.”
Garam turned around.
“What?”
“You did well today.”
Garam looked at Gramps for a moment.
Then the corners of his mouth lifted just slightly.
“Then don't call me kid.”
“That's separate.”
“…Take it back.”
Chichi let out a cry that sounded almost like laughter, while Kkami turned his head away altogether.
Garam ended up laughing, too.
And so the first case of spring at Garam Bookstore came to an end.
The same sentence still hung on the old glass door.
We find lost or treasured things.
Until someone else opened the door.