New Case on the Horizon

At first, clanks of two coins were spreading through the café. Sometimes one or both of them fell on the floor to be picked up and thrown into the air yet again. Eugene gave Sylvia brief explanations on how to first flip a coin and catch it between fingers to give space for further feints. Usually, it would take a few hours of trial and error to learn the most basic throw and catch move between one's fingers, but to Eugene's surprise, the gal aced the moves with ease. In five minutes or so, she was able to flawlessly set herself in a position for further twists and rolls of the coin on a palm. Her gesticulations as she tried to copy Eugene's advance movements were hypnotizing. As he was carefully observing, her attempts to overthrow the coin into the other hand to further launch it back, they were disrupted by lady's voice.

"Here is your order, it will be 30 francs."

Eugene first jumped from surprise, then searched out a twenty franc coin in his pocket. Sylvia also threw her coin onto Eugene's palm, which made both Eugene and the café worker excited.

"That was a clean throw!" exclaimed Eugene and worker followed, "You, young lady, has great precision, or perhaps it was by chance?"

Sylvia narrowed her brow, took Eugene's five franc coin that lay down on the table, and flawlessly repeated her trick. The café worker clapped, and Eugene tried to pay for the meal with the exact sum he had on hand.

"Very impressive!" said the woman, took Eugene's pocket change and turned to them one last time before serving another customer, "Enjoy your meal, kids."

Four pies with different fillings and as a result aroma were unequally divided between two people. At least both of them had equal amount of drinks, though Sylvia's cup of tea had slightly longer shadow due to lighting, but Eugene still felt robbed upon seeing the contrast of their respective meals. But as the man took the first bite, his mind stopped producing complaints and was instead melting in sweet bliss. In fact, both of them stuffed their cheeks with soft and delicate pies, however, Sylvia's mouthfuls were not as big as Eugene's, instead she ate them at a faster pace. Not something you would expect from a noble who usually savour their dish. Furthermore, her eyes were shining with the type of excitement one would experience upon achieving their life dream. And here, Sylvia's cheeks were overtaken by a pleasant smile and drowning in blush upon every bite of every pie. Such an ordinary case to experience this type of pleasure!

"You sure have a sweet tooth." said Eugene while being impressed by her enthusiasm. Now not only her cheeks, but also ears had taken the colour of red, and she spoke timidly, "And one should feel guilty of it. If only poisons were exceptionally bitter..."

Afterwards, she continued savouring her dish, and Eugene just smiled wryly and did the same. The image of genius noble woman struck him even more than the taste of the pie, but in the end, she is but a human. After his awe was gone, the man could enjoy the sight of her vulnerability with a smile. Just like in men, sometimes the heart of a woman can be in their stomachs.

And while Eugene was already done with his meal and coffee, Sylvia was still struggling with her last piece of pie, soft looking and white like snow vanilla pie. From the outsiders, she might have been looking bored, but Eugene knew about her reaching the limits of how much she could eat. Eugene still felt lightly peckish, even though delicious, the pies size was not as impressive. And so, Sylvia's struggle confused the man, but he did not say anything, just silently observed her.

Then, suddenly, Sylvia raised her eyes to him, which caused his body to shiver. She bore the expression of regret and fury, that you would not expect from someone eating a pie. As she was glaring at him, Eugene cleared his throat and asked a question, "Is something wrong?"

"Indeed," she said and pushed the plate with the pie towards him, "Now eat it."

"Alright?" agreed Eugene and followed her command. As he dug into the dish, he felt uneasy. Sweetness of pie was tender, however, it could not be said about her intense glare which lead every spoonful of pie into his mouth. At some point, he stopped and asked her.

"If you do not want me to eat it, then we can leave it?"

"No, I command you to eat it." she declared in stern voice.

Still confused, but Eugene followed her command, which resulted in the most awkward dish he had in his life. And after the pie was gone, she remained upset! Eugene could only wish he was able to read minds. He did not know what to say nor how to react, but luckily, her interest was overtaken by the café worker and the customer, who entered the premise after the two arrived.

They were standing near the desk with books and discussing the disappearance of a certain object. The café worker said, "At the time, the place was full of customers. Not that many people would fit in the first place, but still! No one noticed its disappearance."

The other woman wrote some words in her note and asked, "First, you noticed an origami and then realized the absence of the plate, correct?"

"Yeah, even my regulars did not pay attention to the figure, even though we never had any origamis as decoration. Though, I would not blame someone for mistaking it as one."

"What is the ruckus about?" finally barged into conversation Sylvia. Two women looked at her, the younger one with ginger hair and note remained silent, but café worker gladly explained the situation, "It was not yet published in the newspapers, but some kind of thief appeared in our town. He had stolen the silver plate from here!"

The worker pointed at the spot where the ugly saucer resided. Eugene scratched his head and said, "Well, at least you promote some young talent here." but the worker retaliated by saying, "For your information, I am the one who painted it! I am no artist, so this is the best substitute I could offer for this empty spot."

"And what about the origami?" asked Sylvia, looking at the silent woman who was seemingly a reporter. She squinted her eyes at Sylvia, which was a dangerous move on its own, but then she changed the topic completely, "Actually, I think I recognize you lot."

Sylvia narrowed her brows, thus Eugene was the one to overtake the dialogue, "I am no celebrity, but she is a daughter of the la Avise family. Known for their obnoxious demeanour."

Now Sylvia cast her gaze towards Eugene, who immediately raised his hands as if trying to defend his vitals from her burning glare. The café worker laughed from their exchange, but the reporter gasped, put her handbag on the table and took out a newspaper.

"La Avise! I knew it!" she exclaimed and forced the newspaper into Eugene's hands while pointing at the article in the middle, "You guys were the ones who proved the innocence of "Death Surgeon" and revealed the Italian spy, right?"

Even though those memories could trigger bitter emotions in Eugene's heart, he was still standing strong and more so surprised. Not from her words, but rather a picture he saw in the newspapers. It was him and Sylvia at the moment of their exit from bar "Samuel"!

"Holy shit, I am in the newspapers!" exclaimed Eugene while observing the picture that was taken. He was joined by the café worker who also was impressed by this revelation, "Would Never expect a celebrity to dine at my modest place! Wait here, I would like to have your autographs!"

While the middle-aged woman dived into the kitchen in search of a piece of paper and Eugene was busy reading the article, two women were left in the conversation. All the distractions were finally gone and Sylvia spoke.

"I will overlook your lack of manners and ask one more time, what kind of origami was left on the desk."

Her voice was calm, yet intimidating, thus the reporter nodded in compliance and said, "Sorry, I was just happy to meet you two… anyway, it was a black origami reminiscent of a swan. They are left across many places with stolen pieces of art, this thief is known by the name of-"

"Phantom Cormorant." Sylvia interrupted her softly, and her words were met with another nod.