We told Humpty Dumpty about our mission as usual, and it took him quite a while to process what was happening. "Just a moment…"
"You're saying he's Robin Hood?!" he exclaimed, pointing at the man sipping his wine. "You really do like hanging out with troublemakers, don't you?"
"And also! The man over here is the great Sherlock Holmes?!" He sounded even more surprised than when he saw Robin. "Sir! I'm a huge fan! May I have your autograph?!"
"It would be my pleasure," said Holmes humbly, whilst I was surprised to learn that Holmes was that famous—even though I'd never heard his name before.
Holmes glanced in my direction, still smiling, "It's only natural that you don't know me; that's because you'd rather watch Chaplin films than read the papers, wouldn't you?" he said.
Hearing that, I couldn't deny it and focused on the warm milk in my hand, "Don't arbitrarily read people's minds" I muttered before sipping the milk.
Humpty himself had gone stiff after taking it all in. "Four Fables are sitting in front of me… I feel like a star being guarded by bodyguards," he mused.
"Bodyguard?" Alice repeated, glancing at Humpty, who now looked bigger than ever. "You'd be better off losing some body weight."
At that, Robin nearly choked and tried desperately not to burst out laughing. "Yes, why have you put on so much weight?" I asked—and it seemed to shatter Humpty's heart into a million pieces.
Hearing that, Humpty's mood immediately plummeted. "My stall went bust because no one was interested in buying... I was really stressed out, so I ended up closing the stall and spending my time just getting drunk, eating and lazing about," he began confiding; I hadn't expected him to end up like this.
After Holmes took a sip of his soda, he began to speculate, "And then you found your passion again and started working here?" Hearing that, his mood became much more positive.
"Yes! Just as the great detective suspected!
"You're exaggerating; I'm sure White thinks the same."
"My name is Red"
The conversation was then interrupted when we saw Humpty looking at a customer far behind us—I couldn't help but follow the direction of his gaze and saw a man with a blue beard—yes, truly blue.
The man was flirting with a woman who was objectively beautiful. The woman actually seemed pleased to be flirted with and was playing along with him. "Info" I signalled to Humpty.
"I've only been working here three days, but from what I've heard, every woman he's flirted with and taken away—no one's ever seen them again." Humpty's information immediately made our suspicions grow.
"Is that all?" I asked, just to be sure.
"That's all," said Humpty, nodding.
We watched as the man led the woman he'd been flirting with out of the bar; we all finished our drinks in one go and placed them on the counter. "Thank you, Humpty," said Alice before tossing a coin as a tip for the information.
We started following him from behind; from inside the alley, Robin leapt upwards—assisted by Alice's card—and watched them from above.
Holmes himself pretended to be an office worker who just happened to be walking in the same direction as them. Alice was also on top of the building, leaving me below to give chase in case anyone ran off.
They entered an alleyway, and Holmes stopped to try to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"Hey, are you going to do it here? You like taking risks, don't you?" said the woman in a sassy tone.
"Oh? Of course not, I know a good spot," said the man, and a sound was heard from inside the alley; instantly, Holmes pretended to walk past whilst glancing towards the alley—his feet came to a halt.
The alley was completely empty, not a soul to be seen, as if they had never been there at all. "Everyone, come here, please. You'll definitely want to see this," said Holmes. Alice cast a wind spell to ensure Robin's safe landing, using the same method for herself.
I simply needed to run in and see what Holmes had spotted; we were all surprised to find it was nothing more than a narrow alley. I ran into the alley and was stopped by a dead end. "Where have they...?" I muttered to myself.
"Maybe that man has some sort of Everafter that makes him invisible?" Robin speculated, and it seemed Holmes had the same assumption though he looked unsure.
I shook my head and replied, "That's impossible because if it were, I should still be able to smell alcohol." Hearing that startled both Robin and Holmes.
"Are you some sort of tracking dog, then?"
Before I could respond to Robin's taunt, Alice had already stepped in front of me. "No, he's Mother's pride and joy, a tracking human." Only she knew if that was a taunt or a compliment.