After they shook hands, Dick paused slightly, a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes, then asked,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYIrrroqphS
“So… do you have any plans on where to go?”
Claire nodded. “Let’s head to Queen Street. There’s a nice American-style diner there.”48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIStR6CCmi8
Her tone was natural, as if it had been planned all along. No hesitation, and no special emphasis on this being a date.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2siuM136J0
Just dinner. Simply dinner.
As they chatted, they walked outside. Claire turned to lock the door.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKS08joI34p
While doing so, she couldn’t help but glance down at the bottom edge of the doorknob—48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoF6qGWL28Y
a place where she had once scratched a tally with her nail to keep track of time.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU6Hfq5UQKa
That mark was long gone, as if it had never existed at all.
Claire finished locking up and turned right.
Dick frowned slightly, watching her back as he said,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpKfgxM0og
“Isn’t Queen Street to the left?”
Claire nodded. “I know. But I want to take the long way.”
She said it so matter-of-factly, without any explanation.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJlufSevhz
Her tone was as casual as saying, “I feel like drinking something hot today.”
Dick tried to make sense of it, to interpret the logic.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB0BN6GR9ZS
‘The long way’ = more time together?48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUd0yZ25o0H
Was she trying to get to know him better?48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcpxLhqh4DM
But—there was absolutely no sign in her eyes that she had any particular thoughts about him.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAumfdELVJu
That clean, clear indifference felt oddly… intimidating.
What exactly is this girl’s goal?48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3Sz19XErm
Dick had to find out.
They walked together. The shopfronts along the street glowed softly, the sidewalks neither crowded nor deserted.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzECyWwxPZi
Warm orange streetlights stretched their shadows out behind them.
Naturally, the conversation began.
Claire asked, “Is being a police officer really busy?”
Dick nodded and gave a textbook answer:48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuW0j4geta6
“Workload’s heavy, pace is fast. But we work in shifts, so we get rest. Our precinct’s got decent security—less hectic than other districts.”
Claire didn’t call him out on the vague, PR-style response.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Bq21DGSfs
She just nodded silently.
Dick countered, “Is running a café tiring?”
Claire thought for a second, her tone relaxing a bit.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GmsR6NSWa
“Not too bad, really. I have to prep ingredients early every morning.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVcMBHrpBXM
Some customers are regulars, others just passing through.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQOT9zCXLDG
Afternoons are quieter, so I bake more then.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmI3vcBBmpt
It’s tiring, sure, but you get used to it.”
Her voice was steady, but when she mentioned “regular customers,” the corner of her lips twitched slightly—like she’d remembered something funny.
“Your precinct chief drops by almost every day. He loves hazelnut lattes,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCXa8wyYhP
but always claims he only drinks black coffee—too afraid his team will mock him for being soft.”
Dick blinked, then laughed.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkjZJygNTy8
That was more real than anything they’d said so far—plus, some gossip he hadn’t heard.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMbAi7Nxore
The tension quietly melted under that small, mischievous joke.
They came to a corner.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7yMftxh6F
There stood an old motel with a flickering porch light and faded signage. Claire suddenly lifted her head and looked up at the upper floors.
Dick followed her gaze.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhIPPLaVdg7
There was nothing. No lights, no movement, not even a stray cat.
Then Claire turned left toward Queen Street without a word, her pace steady, as if she had already seen whatever she needed to see.
Dick looked puzzled and caught up with her. “What were you looking at just now?”
Claire turned and looked at him, her expression calm, voice equally so:48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi0uYf5qfWZ
“You don’t mind if there’s one more person, right?”
Dick’s brain short-circuited for a second.
48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo7IBan065F
…One more person?48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc8USeqTub9
Now?48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpX6ogDZOwY
At this time of night?48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7591Uywjs
What did she mean by “one more person”?
His mental alarms fired up—scanning the area for any tails, ambushes, anything off.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlsPrwH29jQ
But everything looked normal.
Then it hit him—48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡimt9zzOprh
she meant someone was joining them.
This woman had planned a three-person date.
Is this a trend now? Or have I officially lost track of how modern dating works?
Dick glanced at Claire, who kept walking like nothing was wrong, and he couldn’t tell anymore who was leading this whole situation.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgZB41B1bmE
Wasn’t she the one who issued the invite without his consent?48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd2w5ggnbFM
Now she even arranged a third party?
He was starting to find her a little scary.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD9Ccg0tBzg
Not dangerous—but the kind of scary where you could never guess her next move.
Dick tried to keep his cool and picked up his pace to match hers.
He lowered his voice and tried to sound casual:48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIX6IwTcLOD
“Can I ask… um… who’s joining us?”
Claire only tilted her head slightly, giving him a look that said,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfv94Rkcw8
Why are you asking so much?48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZIDN6Lm3Pb
Then kept walking without breaking stride.
“A cute kid.”
Dick: “????????”
You couldn’t blame him for being confused.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOKG6F6xndV
She said it so naturally, but his brain was entering meltdown.
He quickly calculated her age, build, manner—she didn’t seem like someone who had a kid.
So… whose kid was it?48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVIw7wMC9Jr
Why would a child be joining them at night for dinner?48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡev4WiXgmLM
What kind of parent would be okay with that?48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiLT0iPShM1
Or… maybe the kid wasn’t hers at all?
The whole thing was getting weirder by the second.
As they walked on, Dick started to seriously wonder if he’d accidentally stumbled into some underground recruitment process,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZ8LVsedLJ
or if this was all a carefully disguised evaluation.
This woman’s actions were completely outside the bounds of any logic he’d ever associated with “ordinary people.”
48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdZh8CWRrwL
Just as Dick felt he needed to ask more questions to make sense of all this,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAWulj4hEae
Claire suddenly began looking up at the sky.
She walked while glancing upward, her gaze gliding along the edges of rooftops,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb9VXp1FBPM
sometimes pausing slightly, as if she were searching for something.
48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZvJ5SXiYdI
Dick followed her lead and looked up too—though honestly, he had no idea what he was supposed to be looking for.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAYVreIJRbV
His brows furrowed, and he couldn’t help but ask in a low voice,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqM14iWcqYv
“Excuse me… what exactly are you looking for?48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Xn9iXSt0s
Didn’t you just say a cute kid was joining us?”
He tried to keep his tone steady, but his brain was already running at full speed.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkD2eHjuTLL
He was trying to form a logical picture,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa70sWERyHq
but every clue felt like a kite with a broken string—pulled once, then gone with the wind.
He began mentally evaluating her mental state.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXMeQRT4HT0
This woman—her actions made no sense. Her words offered no context.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrNlAp5Odhh
Her plans always seemed half a step ahead,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTreE8fRAec
but with zero warning.
Claire’s eyes continued sweeping across the sky as she replied, her tone calm and detached:48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcoDk84Zcfc
“Robin. I’m looking for Robin.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6OAJi3QxO
He’s joining us for dinner.”
Dick felt like his brain exploded on the spot.
He jolted where he stood, stopping in his tracks almost instinctively.
Robin?48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUdMSNtSDGk
She said she was looking for Robin?48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxvqm2JHOj
The Robin he was thinking of?
A barrage of question marks flooded his mind:
—How the hell would Robin be here?48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhwqZuDenx
—Why is she looking for him in Blüdhaven of all places?48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KNFWKZjrd
—She invited Robin to dinner?48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ13m6DbzKNk
—Does Robin even know her?48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQVzWLK6viC
—Would Robin even show up so casually…?
Too many questions surged in all at once.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJyrVFdhQb6
It was like a flood crashing into his thoughts.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5zNN0Ao9Xb
He forgot how to breathe.
Just as his mind was about to be overturned by confusion,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhu0NdOKuSx
Claire suddenly stopped walking.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeX4pm1A60F
She didn’t say a word—just lifted her gaze toward a specific direction,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIro3eyWcBw
and her eyes lit up.
Dick followed her line of sight.
Up on the rooftop of a tall building at the corner, shrouded by the faint veil of night,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcl4tBHqF5p
a figure swung across the skyline.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaouScd7V1m
The taut grappling line sliced through the darkness like a stroke of ink across paper.
Robin.
His cape billowed behind him.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxnlUcCZ9ET
He hovered for a moment in mid-air,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJ5pFsVbvu
his form sharp and fluid, like a perfectly trained hawk in flight.
Claire smiled,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmrMBfMTo8R
a quiet smile filled with the satisfaction of keeping a promise.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZGqXkJDLN
She said simply:
“Found him.”48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaPougfwGUk
