Detective Bliss: Little Orphan Alice

1. finding a case

"Porter!" Bliss called around the house. "Mom, where's Porter?"
"I don't know, honey! Try tracking some clues he left behind!" her mom replied with a chuckle.
Bliss smiled and began to search for clues. Bliss was seven years-old at this time. She always dreamed of becoming a detective when she grew up, and her mom supported her. It seemed impossible, but Bliss was determined and her mom believed in her.
At age four, she already started to get an interest in detective work. Particularly because of her father. He was a detective and solved many mysteries and went on many adventures. Bliss wanted to follow in his footsteps. He passed away a year later in a fire. He was at the brink of solving a mystery when the fire started burning the house down. They don't know the details, just that he saved some people from the fire, yet never made it out himself.
"Found you!" Bliss said as she looked behind the living room sofa.
"Oh dear, Miss Bliss, you have found me again. Would you like to work on your detective skills some more?" Porter said as he straightened out the wrinkles in his clothes.
"Sure! Hey, let's work on disguises today!" she said eagerly.
Porter is a stiff, yet kind and orderly man. He was like their butler, yet a very close friend of the family. He looked after Bliss and took care of her when Mrs. Daye was too busy with her work. Mrs. Daye was a writer, so she would often be busy writing books in her study room.
Porter and Bliss would spend lots of time together, so he would help her improve her detective skills by teaching her new things everyday. When she got the basics, he'd help her get better at it.

A few years later, Bliss got much better than she was before. Porter then started finding cases for her to solve. She wasn't an expert yet, of course, so he chose easier cases for her. Through time, he'd give her harder cases, and she was still able to solve them. She truly had her father's passion inside her.

Bliss was thirteen years old now. Porter received the newspaper and looked for a new case.

"Miss Bliss, I've found a new case for you."
"That's great! What is it this time?"
"A young girl, age seven, has run away. They've already contacted the police, yet they haven't found her yet."
"Age seven. What's her name?"
"Her name is Alice."
"No last name?"
"It seems she's an orphan, Miss Bliss. She ran away from the orphanage."
"Oh, I see. How can a girl that young sneak out of the orphanage?"
"Well, I assume she took advantage of her size and was able escape without anybody noticing."
"Hmm...I guess she could've. So where do you think she would go?"
"I suggest you think from an orphan's point of view to solve this case, Miss Bliss."
She paused for a moment, then got her coat and went outside.
"Thanks, Porter. I'll catch you later. If mother asks, tell her I'm working on a case."
"Will do, Miss Bliss."

Bliss walked around town as she began thinking of where Alice might be.
"If I was an orphan, where would I go? There are all kinds of places an orphan could go. She's only seven, so...maybe she got treated badly and wanted to escape? Or maybe she wanted to search for her parents. Well, I'll go to the orphanage to find out more about her."
There was one orphanage in their area, so Bliss made her way there. As she stood in the front, she could see how easily the young girl could've escaped. There were many windows that looked freely open and broken vents big enough for her to fit through. The orphanage didn't have much security and looked very poorly, as if they just wanted a place to keep the orphans and didn't care much of their protection.
"If they could so easily escape," she thought, "then why didn't any of them leave just like Alice did?"
But her question was answered as soon as she walked inside. She saw some orphans sitting down, with a mournful look in their eyes. The look of a child that's been abandoned. Bliss let a tear fall down her cheek as she looked at the orphans. "They have no home. No family. No where else to go, except this place." she thought. Then she wiped her eyes and went to the front desk.
"Hello, I'm Bliss Daye, and I was wondering if you could kindly give me some information on a young girl named Alice. It was mentioned on the newspaper that she ran away."
"Oh, yes, little Alice. She went missing two nights ago. She's seven years-old so it's dangerous for young girl like her to be gone that long. We called the police after 24 hours, but they haven't found her yet."
As the lady talked, Bliss wrote down everything in her "Solver Book."
"What was your name again?" the lady asked curiously.
"Bliss Daye."
The lady looked amazed then asked, "Was your father Lewis Daye?"
"Yes, he is." she replied with a smile.
"Wow, so your his daughter! I heard around that there was some young detective taking cases, but I didn't know it was Lewis Daye's daughter!" the lady said, still amazed.
Bliss gave a sincere smile at her, "Yes, this is one of the biggest cases I've had so far. I'm a young detective, but I gain more knowledge through each case."
The lady took a good look at her. "I see it now. You really have a passion your work, just like your father. You have his smile, too."
Bliss blushed a little. "Thank you."
The lady jumped up a little, remembering why Bliss was there. "Oh, right! You wanted some information on Alice!" she started whispering, "To be honest, I'm not really supposed to give out detailed information, but since you're Lewis Daye's daughter, I'll let the rules slide a bit."
Then she started going through Alice's information on her computer. Bliss started writing on her Solver Book as well.
"Okay, Alice's mother came to the orphanage while Alice was still a baby. Her mother's name was Carley Howe. I don't have much information on her, but she does have another daughter named Emilie. Emilie was her first child, probably about your age by now."
"Do you know where I can find either of them?"
"Sorry, I don't have that information."
Bliss gave a disappointed sigh, then remembered something. "Thank you so much for helping me. Don't worry, I'll find Alice."
"I believe you can." she said with a smile.
She returned one and headed out the door.