"This, indeed, is Miss Fille's handwriting. Ahahaha, may I ask what is the relationship between you and her, sir?"
The man in the striped suit mopped his brow with a handkerchief, while grinning apologetically and greeting Aiden.
"Are you the owner of this place?" Aiden sized up the man before him.
After arriving at the "Midnight Rose" nightclub and handing over Fille's letter of introduction to the receptionist, Aiden had been promptly ushered into a private room decorated with an abundant local-styled luxury. Waiting for him there was the man who appeared to be in charge and who looked like the club's middle-aged manager.
"Yes, yes!" The club's owner nodded his head frantically.
From its location and class alone, "Midnight Rose" was clearly one of the top venues on the highly competitive Fireworks Lane. The owner was undoubtedly a very wealthy man and, running this kind of business, he most likely had to be one of those locally influential figures with a good network and savvy to last in the long term.
Yet, in Aiden's presence, this owner not only personally came out to meet him, but his attitude was remarkably amiable... to the point of almost being ingratiating.
"You don't need to be so nervous, I'm just here to inquire about some matters," Aiden said with a smile.
"Rest assured, since Miss Fille introduced you, we will absolutely cooperate," the owner assured, sitting upright.
"Wow, that woman... she really has that much clout here?" Aiden couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.
"What are you saying, Miss Fille is the god of our industry here on Fireworks Lane!" The owner's face took on a respectful expression, "She, with just a small shop, directly siphoned off more than half of the clientele from Fireworks Lane. Her daily revenue exceeds the combined weekly takings of other shops!"
"So, you see..." the owner rubbed his hands together and smiled obsequiously at Aiden, "please feel free to ask for anything, and do please ask her to be a bit more lenient on us in the future... Ah, that's right, could you ask her if she has any interest in a partnership someday? I wonder if we could be fortunate enough to collaborate with her, a share split is up for negotiation!"
"Got it, got it."
Aiden listened with a poker face, but internally he was extremely surprised.
The troublemaking succubus in prison who only knew how to make a fuss and throw tantrums at him was actually a major figure here, able to command the elements – something that would seem incredible to anyone.
But what the nightclub owner sitting across from him was thinking was something different entirely.
Aiden hadn't worn his uniform today for his visit, of course – a prison guard's uniform wouldn't bring any advantage to his investigation, and would only increase the risk of damaging his reputation if someone saw him enter such a place while in uniform.
But the owner was struck with fear and surprise as he watched the mysterious young man easily produce Fille's letter of introduction, referring to her so casually. He wondered if this young man could be... Fille's lover? No, considering how he treated the queen of the night scene as nothing more than a lackey, he seemed more like the big boss behind Fille.
Such a person, with just a flick of his fingers, could easily turn Fireworks Lane upside down, and eliminating his nightclub probably wouldn't even require him to blink.
This was someone he couldn't afford to slight!
"Would you like anything to drink? How about a cup? Actually, I have some pretty decent stuff in my collection..." the owner offered eagerly with a smile.
"No need, I'll leave once I've got the information I need," Aiden waved his hand dismissively, "Yesterday, around nine in the evening, two acquaintances of mine entered your club, one was a fat man with a handlebar mustache, about in his thirties, and the other was a young man around twenty years of age. Could you check who attended to them?"
"Right away, I'll ask for you," the owner responded immediately.
The owner promptly pressed the call button on the desk, summoned the receptionist responsible for hosting the previous night, and relayed Aiden's question to them.
"Ah, are you asking about... Officer Jaron Lorton?" the receptionist had a ready answer.
"Yes, that's him," Aiden nodded in verification.
"That scumbag..." the club owner muttered under his breath, cursing upon hearing the response and then abruptly his face stiffened as he realized his slip of the tongue. He hurried to explain to Aiden, "Ah, no, I just mean... uh, you're not friends with him, are you?"
"Don't worry, strictly speaking, we have some unsettled business," Aiden indicated for him to relax.
"Oh, that's good to hear," the owner patted his chest and let out a sigh of relief, "Ah, that Officer Lorton, he's notoriously known in Fireworks Lane as a robber, flaunting a mounted policeman's badge to run up tabs in various shops without paying, even extorting 'fees' and threatening to make trouble for the places, tsk tsk tsk... Really gives everyone a headache to see him around!"
It was obvious that Jaron Lorton was not a popular figure here.
"So, what did he do here yesterday, did he say anything to the young man he brought with him, can you tell me everything you know?" Aiden continued to make his demands.
"Please wait a moment, I'll call over the girl who served them drinks."
The receptionist bowed to him, turned around, and left, soon returning with several heavily made-up girls.
Aiden questioned each person present in turn, gradually reconstructing the activities of Jaron and Bruce at the nightclub the previous day.
According to the attendants and the girls, the two men didn't do anything particularly special yesterday in the club. They watched a performance near the stage for a while, then took a private room and had the girls accompany them in drinking and merrymaking until late night before dispersing.
Among them, the only clue that seemed valuable was that one of the girls serving drinks said she heard Jaron say something to Bruce in a stern voice before they entered the private room.
"He seemed to say something like 'I've given you everything, don't you fail me' or something." one girl recalled while speaking, she also glanced at the others, "Right?"
The other girls nodded.
"What did he give to that young man, didn't you hear it all?" Aiden asked earnestly.
"Sorry, it was through the door, I couldn't hear it very clearly," the girl said blankly shaking her head.
Aiden looked at the others, but the other girls also shook their heads.
"How can you be so useless! Ah?" the nightclub boss on the side became somewhat impatient, fearing that he might offend Aiden.
"Sorry, boss!" the girls all bowed their heads.
"It's fine, it's fine." Aiden raised his hand in a calming gesture, and turned back to the girls, "Then… was there anything else noteworthy? Talk about it."
Worried about being scolded again by the boss, the girls quickly racked their brains for anything they could remember, and one girl suddenly thought of something: "Ah! Mr. Lorton's pocket watch seemed to have been changed."
"Right, he had a silver pocket watch…"
"He used to show off his gold pocket watch when he was drunk, bragging about how amazing that family crest was."
The other girls chimed in one after another.
"Pocket watch?" Aiden's eyes narrowed sharply.
"Oh, stop talking about such trivial things! Don't waste the guest's time, okay?" the nightclub boss said angrily, slamming the table.
"Sorry boss!!" The girls lowered their heads even more.
But Aiden laughed, clapping his hands at them: "No, no, no, you've done well. You've given me some very useful information."
The girls and the nightclub boss exchanged glances, completely unable to understand the young man's reaction.
"Anything else?" Aiden looked at the girls and asked one last time. After confirming that no more information could be extracted, he finally stood up, "Well, thank you very much for your cooperation. I will take my leave now."
"Let me show you out." The nightclub boss stood up, eager to follow.
"No need, just keep busy with your work." Aiden waved his hand, and left the private room directly.
The boss gave the receptionist a look, who quickly followed Aiden to the door before hurrying back, asking in a low voice, "Boss, what's the background of that kid?"
"Never mind who he is, from now on whenever this person comes to the club, treat him with the highest standard! Notify me immediately if I am here! If anyone neglects him, I definitely won't let you off!"
The boss stared into the receptionist's eyes, instructing fiercely.