Reo and Me

Fourteen {Ju Shi}

Ayesha's POV

Few hours later

It was 10 in the night- I had succeeded in tracking down Reo and being unnoticed. A professional thief like him had to be smart enough to know that someone was following them, but he didn't.

I uploaded the photos onto my laptop, feeling very mission impossible like. I had clicked pictures of the bar I was at and he frequented, also clicked pictures of important landmarks onto walking to the house and finally a picture of the house along with the address as the caption.

I fell down on the bed, tired as my room bell rang.

It was room service with the steaming bowl of plain steamed rice and dumpling soup as I had requested them to bring. My stomach was aching for food. I had not eaten anything in over 6 hours. I gulped down the food in record time as I pondered about my next step. I had a day left in Japan- I had an early morning flight on Sunday back to London.

As I sipped on my soup, I decided to go back to Ginza tomorrow as early as possible and do some asking around for him. I don't know why I was so bothered but I had to get to know him more. He knew everything about me after all.

It was 11 after I was done being a detective when I turned on the late night news. There he was on the screen again. I listened intently. "The thief has struck again in Ginza. Looking at his pattern, the police has concluded that he steals every 2 weeks approximately on Fridays. The question is, why would he leave behind a pattern. Also, where will he steal next? Keep watching our-" I turned the tv off. So on Fridays every two weeks.

I looked up his case on the net- he had struck House number 1 on one Friday on street 1. Then e struck house number 2 on street 3. I compiled a list of all the houses and their streets:

House 1- Street 1

House 2- Street 3

House 3- Street 5

House 5- Street 8

House 8- Street 13

House 13- Street 21

House 21- Street 34

House 34- Street 55

House 55- Street 89

House 89- Street 144

And the latest,

House 144 - Street 233

That would mark the end of his robberies in Ginza, as the number of streets in Ginza were only up till 235. I quietly though about the numbers. They seemed familiar. I couldn't place them anywhere though- it was a blur.

I closed my notepad and fell asleep.

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I woke up at 8 the next morning and took a quick shower. It was my last day in Japan. I was fortunately going back to Ginza as Haneda was closer. I changed into a peach dress and white stockings, a dress I had reserved for my last day. The Christmas spirit was gone but replaced by the New Years Spirit. I smiled looking around at all the cakes being sold and karaoke bars preparing for one of the busiest nights of the year.

I reached Ginza back in 2 hours and checked into the same hotel. I was just staying there for the night though. I took a rental and went to the same house as yesterday. I made sure to cover my head and face in case Reo was around. I did not want him to know that I was investigating him.

I stopped at the start of the street as I had planned to do. I got out and covered my face. It was a little tough as I stood out as a foreigner. I went to the house closest from the small house. I rang the doorbell. An old lady of about 70 opened the door, a smile on her face.

"Hello. I'm planning to rent the house next to you. Your neighbor- can I meet him?" I asked the lady. She looked at me confused. "The house next to me is empty- no one lives there." Now this was weird. I'm pretty sure I had seen him entering the same house.

'Are you sure?' I asked her.

"100 percent. I've lived here for over 10 years, and for the past four months the house has remained unoccupied." She recounted.

"Was it occupied before that?" I continued.

"Yes- a lady of about 40 lived there alone. But then she moved to Korea. I'm still in touch with her." She said.

"Can I get her number please?" I asked her. She looked at me for a minute but then handed me the number, written on a piece of number with her name. I bowed down and she closed the door. I went to my rented car in Ginza and down in the driver's seat, an important lead in my hand.

I called the number, looking at the name. "Momoe Junichi." I thought out loud.

She picked up after 4 rings. "Hello?" He voice sounded. "Hello Miss Junichi. I'm calling from your building agency." I hoped for my alias to work. She thought for a minute before replying.

"Yes." She said. "A new tenant is interested in renting your place and she has a few questions about the house. I have answered most, but she wants to talk to you personally."

"Sure, please hand her the phone." She said. I grinned. So far so good.

"Hello Miss Junichi- I'm Sakura Nakagawa. I wanted to know, when did you leave the house?"

"About four months ago, on the 15 of July."

"If you don't mind me asking, why?"

"My son works in Korea- I moved to live with him." She replied without any hesitation.

"I see. So who takes care of your house now that you're in Korea?"

"My next door neighbor and the real estate agent. Although sometimes a young man also takes care of the house." My ears perked up at the mention of 'young man'.

"Young man?" I asked nonchalantly.

"Yes- the agent must have told you. He comes to clean and look after the house sometimes. He has a key to the place."

I wanted to tell her that she was unknowingly housing a robber but refrained. "Okay, thank you so much. I'll be sure to contact you in the future." I cut the call after that.

So the young man whom I was assuming to be Reo took care of Momoe's house and I'm guessing also lived there. I was cut short in my thinking when I saw Reo come out of the house stealthily, his face covered by a mask and head covered in a hoodie.

I reversed out hurriedly into the main road and drove away to the hotel. I still was thinking about what I should do. It was 12 in the afternoon now. I parked my car outside and went up ahead to my room. I sat in my balcony looking down at the traffic passing. Should I just confront Reo? I shook my head.

I needed to find out more about him anyhow. I opened my notepad. Name is Reo, age late twenties to early thirties, address, appearance, and number of houses robbed.

That pattern of numbers was still very intriguing. I clearly remembered there was something in those numbers, but what I didn't know. I made myself a coffee and turned the TV on. Instead of switching to the news, I put on a variety channel where they were showing the preparations for New Year.