Chapter 578: Chapter 578 That’s not me_1
Days later, at the Yulu Tavern in Pingcheng District.
Aiden sat by a small table in the tavern, passing the time with a newspaper spread open before him.
It was an entertainment news paper; most of the news held little appeal to Aiden, except for two pieces. One was about Sophie Carter’s comeback announcement. Sophie, who had gone undercover in prison under the alias Susan Feng, was due for release soon. The Puppeteer, who orchestrated her infiltration, was preparing to use her as an intelligence operative once more, hence they had made early preparations for her "recovery" to end and had been creating momentum in the media.
Then, in another moderately sized section, was news about Deborah: "Deborah Awen’s official announcement followed by a simultaneous disappearance with her boyfriend, elopement to a world of their own for a honeymoon?"
"I have been working hard, please!" Aiden laughingly despaired in his heart.
These past few days he had basically been living at the prison on duty, and when not working, he delved into the case of the Serial Doppelgänger Killer and the plot of "The Hound Knight," disguising himself when he went out. Deborah continuously changed her accommodations and disguised herself to hide her tracks when she went out. In the eyes of these magazine and newspaper reporters, it was as though they had vanished from the city.
As a result, these people actually began to speculate that they had eloped.
Deborah’s mysteriously toned response was taken by the media as an official announcement. Thankfully, she wasn’t very famous in the autonomous state, so it didn’t cause a huge sensation. As for what the news turned into when it reached the Empire, Aiden wasn’t particularly concerned.
Nevertheless, the situation still caused Aiden a bit of trouble. His mailbox saw an increase in fan letters for Deborah over several days. Some were blessings, containing nonsensical phrases like "You must make her happy," and of course, there were also anonymous curses like, "Die, you bastard."
High-ranking officials from the Prison Management Bureau also came to inspect the prison, taking the time to give him a talk on "moral responsibility," the gist of which was that personal love affairs are free as long as they’re lawful, but some things need not be so high-profile, as they reflect poorly on government departments.
In the end, that man even patted Aiden’s shoulder and expressed personal envy, saying, "Even if you were a corrupt official who swindled the national treasury, you likely couldn’t secure such a beautiful lover. Young man, your life is truly worthwhile."
Fortunately, the buzz around this issue had somewhat died down over a few days, and public interest had decreased.
Moreover, since many newspapers had continued to fail to locate Aiden and Deborah, their interest in them had waned, and reporters staking out the prison were nearly gone. However, just to be safe, Aiden still decided to alter his appearance to meet with Deborah.
"Mr. Aiden, you’ve arrived quite early today," the voice across the table made Aiden put down the newspaper.
Deborah had already taken her seat opposite him, both utilizing the same exterior appearances as the last time, so they could easily recognize each other.
"Just happened to have some time," Aiden said, passing the menu to Deborah. "I ordered milk tea for myself; feel free to order whatever you’d like."
"Okay." Deborah took the menu and eventually ordered a cocktail.
"The letter I gave you before, have you read it?" Aiden asked.
Recently, he had asked Tony to bring a letter to the hotel where Deborah was staying, explaining the findings from the case files and recent investigation progress. Deborah’s reply was a direct invitation to meet – clearly, she didn’t want to exchange their investigative updates through mere letters.
"I have. I really never noticed that the victims somehow resembled me," Deborah remarked.
"I don’t think it’s a coincidence. This killer is likely targeting you to some extent," Aiden said seriously. "Have you written to your mother?"
"I did, sent a telegram to the North Coast, and from there to the frontier. That’s the quickest way, but a reply surely won’t come back so fast," Deborah shook her head.
"We’ve already found twenty-three female residents who might be targeted," Aiden pulled out a stack of files, "I asked the police department to discreetly cooperate with the investigation. They made contact with these women under different pretexts, took photographs, and registered their addresses."
"Not only the Inquisition, but you also have connections at the police department, Mr. Aiden," Deborah said as she browsed the files a bit.
"There’s going to be some action, mainly not because of my connections, but because Silvertown is very likely the next crime scene for the killer. After all, if such a vicious crime occurred in the city, every department would be busy, and everyone wants to prevent it before it happens," Aiden explained.
"Unfortunately, I haven’t had any significant progress on my end, and divination hasn’t yielded any results," Deborah sighed.
"After all, this is a foreign city to you, and there’s a limit to what you can do. Just prepare well before the full moon night."
"Mr. Aiden, you’re so reliable. It’s wonderful to be working with you," Deborah raised her glass, gesturing for a toast.
Aiden lifted his milk tea glass to clink gently with Deborah’s, then took a sip. But Deborah downed her drink in one go and immediately called the waiter to order another drink.
"Take it easy, don’t drink too much," Aiden advised.
"Are you worried about me?" Deborah smiled happily, "Don’t worry, it’s just a cocktail; I can handle my liquor."
"Last time, you got tipsy after just one drink," Aiden said.
"I wasn’t drunk last time," Deborah blinked.
"If you weren’t, then why did you follow me all the way back? I was really scared by you then," Aiden laughed and shook his head.
"Follow you? What are you talking about?" Deborah looked genuinely puzzled.
"You’re saying you blacked out? No way, you seemed fine to me," Aiden frowned slightly.
Deborah’s expression bore no trace of embarrassment; it seemed she genuinely didn’t remember the incident, rather than pretending to be unaware. Veronica had been present at the time, so there was no possibility of smoothing things over.
"Mr. Aiden," Deborah’s expression grew strange, "That night, I directly checked into a nearby hotel and didn’t go out again."
Aiden froze: "Are you serious?"
"I swear it’s true!" Deborah nodded earnestly.
The surrounding sounds suddenly receded, an eerie silence enveloping the pair.
In the midst of this silence, they both felt a chill creeping up their spines.
Thinking back on the details of being followed by "Deborah," that person didn’t seem like Deborah at all. Aiden had attributed it to the alcohol.
But what if, that person wasn’t Deborah at all...
"My... doppelgänger?" Deborah murmured, voicing the thought in Aiden’s mind.
