Winnie climbed the stairs, her steps slow as she reached the second floor.
She spotted Lorien standing outside a door.
"Did you find anything?"
Found a ghost, not a missing child.
Lorien shook his head.
"There is a corpse here—belonged to the homeowner. Looks like he's been dead for a while."
"What?!" Winnie's eyes widened.
"Was it murder?"
"No."
Lorien deliberately omitted the ghostly details.
"As far as I can tell, it looks like natural causes."
He stepped aside, allowing Winnie to peer inside.
The corpse lay motionless on the bed—long decayed, but still vaguely recognizable as a man in his early thirties.
Winnie sighed.
"Poor guy. Died alone, and no one even noticed…"
Lorien raised a brow.
"What, you think someone noticing would have brought him back to life?"
"…Uh."
Winnie froze.
"I… guess not?"
"Exactly." Lorien smirked.
"If there's anything to regret, it's dying so young. But dying unnoticed? That's not much of a tragedy."
Beside them, the ghostly Bensonnodded in agreement.
"Finally! Someone who gets it!"
Finding the Boy
A moment later, Aaron arrived upstairs.
After a brief explanation, he examined the corpse, then said:
"We should focus on finding the missing boy first. I'll notify the precinct to come collect the body."
Hearing that his corpse would be taken away, Benson exhaled in relief.
"Finally!"
Having his body cremated sounded much better than worrying about it rotting away or turning into a zombie.
Just two days ago, Benson had wandered back to his old law firm—
Only to realize no one even noticed he was gone.
With no one to talk to, he reluctantly returned home.
"By the way." Lorien suddenly spoke up.
"I found some clues about Walter."
"What?" Winnie blinked.
"After finishing his job, he left with another kid—a street orphan, probably."
Winnie frowned.
"How do you know that?"
Lorien casually waved a hand.
"Just a little scene analysis."
Don't ask too many questions.
If in doubt, just blame it on "deductive reasoning."
"Oh… right." Winnie muttered, though she didn't sound convinced.
Aaron, however, nodded knowingly.
"If that's the case, he might have joined a gang of street orphans."
A Gang of Orphans?
"A gang?" Winnie frowned.
"Yes," Aaron explained.
"Just like the Forty Lunatics is a gang made up entirely of female thieves, the Orphans' Mutual Aid Society is an underground group comprised solely of street kids."
"Survival alone is too difficult in the slums. Sooner or later, people form groups for protection."
"That's why gangs are so common in East London."
"I had no idea…" Winnie murmured.
"So what now?"
Aaron adjusted his gloves.
"I know where their hideout is."
The Orphans' Hideout
Despite being called a "gang," the Orphans' Mutual Aid Society was far from criminal.
Compared to other East London syndicates, they were practically model citizens.
Even the Forty Lunatics, a gang of all-female thieves, had looted entire department stores—
Whereas the orphans…
At worst, they demanded fair pay from their employers.
If a boss refused, they would retaliate—
Not with violence, but with mischief:
Throwing garbage at their houses, keeping them awake at night, or pulling other childish pranks.
Even that, however, was selective.
For example—
When they found out Benson was a lawyer, they left him alone.
Not because of some moral code—
But because they didn't want to end up in jail.
Of course, that also meant they barely made money.
With twenty members crammed into a few cheap rental rooms, they were barely scraping by.
Finding Walter
Lorien and the others approached the landlord for information.
The man seemed happy to cooperate and led them upstairs.
"These are the rooms."
The landlord pointed at three doors.
"They've been renting 212, 213, and 214 for a little over a month now."
Lorien nodded, then glanced at Winnie.
She stepped forward and knocked.
Bang, bang.
After a moment of silence, a hoarse voice called from inside:
"Who is it?"
"It's me," the landlord answered.
The door cracked open—
And a pair of wary eyes peeked out.
When the boy saw Winnie's uniform, his expression changed.
Bang!
He tried to slam the door shut—
But Aaron was faster.
He stuck out a hand, blocking the door with ease.
The kids inside weren't strong enough to fight back—
Aaron pushed the door open effortlessly.
"Shit—cops!"
Two boys panicked and jumped back—
But the other kids remained unmoved.
Their clothes were ragged, some barely more than stitched-together scraps.
They stared silently, their expressions empty.
Reassurance
"Relax," Lorien stepped inside.
"We're not here to cause trouble."
"We're just looking for a missing boy—his name is Walter."
"We won't take him away by force," he added.
"It's his choice whether he wants to leave."
Two of the older boys exchanged looks.
Then, one of them spoke up.
"Who's asking?"
"His father," Winnie said softly.
"He came to the precinct looking for him."
The boy scoffed.
"Yeah, right."
"That guy doesn't give a damn about Walter—he just lost his meal ticket."
Lorien wasn't surprised.
"So Walter is here, then?"
The boy hesitated, then nodded.
"Yeah."
"He just joined us recently, but everyone here likes him."
He turned—
And motioned for a small, trembling figure to step forward.
Walter shuffled closer, visibly nervous.
Bruises and burn scars covered his arms—
His wide eyes darted frantically between them.
"I-I… don't want to go back."
"Can I stay?"
The older boys stepped forward protectively.
"We haven't done anything wrong."
"We just make sure people pay what they owe."
Lorien remained silent.
His job was done.
The rest was up to the detectives.
Winnie hesitated.
"We—we're just here to check on him."
"If he's okay, then… that's all."
The lead boy frowned.
"Then you can go."
"Walter's fine here."
Then, Aaron spoke up—
For the first time since entering.
"Want me to have his father arrested?"
The boys froze.
Winnie's eyes widened.
"Wait—what?!"
Aaron shrugged.
"It's not difficult."
"Child abuse alone is enough to lock him up for a while."
Walter flinched.
Then, shook his head quickly.
"N-no need for that…"
Winnie, meanwhile, bit her lip—
And silently cursed Walter's scumbag father.
To be continued…