Chapter 433 - IT WAS AYUMI (1/2)

Thirty minutes later, Akira walked out of the bar. She left a few crisp notes beside the glass of water on the counter to thank the bartender for his help. She could see that he had already seen through her act even though he did not say anything.

It was expected. Her acting skills were not top-notch, especially without a lot of preparation. And people in the service industry were quite experienced with reading people after dealing with countless customers daily.  ​​

Fortunately, the bartender was not a problematic person. He was cooperative from the get-go, so he did not force her to deploy hard methods to find out the information she needed.

After hearing the story, she understood the reason he had also come to a quick conclusion about her pretence. Apparently, Kaito had claimed to be a crime journalist with a lot of dangerous enemies. The bartender overheard the matter while serving drinks.

Regrettably, he did not hear the rest of the conversation since it turned into hushed whispers. According to him, it was better not to know too much. The bartender did not know anything about the identity of the person Kaito met.

However, he had given her an indispensable clue.

When Kaito left the bar, the man kept drinking for a long time. As the bar closed, he ordered a car to take him home because he was too wasted. The information seemed vague and useless to the bartender, but Akira knew it would give her a break.

She might need to dig through a lot of data since it was unclear whether the person used an app or called a taxi service. Regardless, it was only a matter of time before she found the destination and identity of that person.

Instead of going home, she walked in the same direction Kaito had walked after leaving the bar. She was not sure about his exact steps, but she had pieced together a general route based on the small flashes of images she caught from the establishments with security cameras.

It was unfortunate that the number of outdoor cameras was quite limited in the locale, except around larger businesses. It was not long before she came to the end of the route she had mapped out earlier in the day.

She looked at the digital map on her phone and tried to figure out Kaito's next move. He must have left the area without a hitch, but he probably did not make it to his vehicle or house. Her eyes narrowed as she tapped on a parking lot some distance away.

She smiled.

Kaito had probably used back alleys to get out of the red-light district. He probably loitered aimlessly by walking around because wanted to confuse anyone who might be following him. She put her phone back into her pleather handbag.

Without further ado, she walked into a dark alley. She did not know the local area, but she could find her way out since she had already deduced the general direction of the parking lot. Her cheap boots clacked on the ground as she walked.