It Happened on Scrabble Sunday

by Vas, Mahita;

  ASP Lee smirked. “She does seem to feel entitled to special care. I don’t think she’s having an easy time at Changi Women’s Prison. Especially being from China and bragging about her privileged past in the first ten minutes of being shown to her cell. A vast number of our prisoners are Singaporeans from humble backgrounds. Divas tend to be put in their place quite quickly.”

  Uday chuckled and considered his next question. Perhaps it was best not to ask. But he quickly changed his mind, thinking it might deflect any suspicion the police might have about him knowing her daughter’s whereabouts. “What about her daughter? Any news?”

  ASP Lee shook his head. “We’re still looking. We know she was asked to cook at a private event, but we have no record of the caller or the address. The call was made from an Indonesian phone, so it was most likely a rich Indonesian tycoon entertaining some business associates. She was known to accept bookings outside of her off day, Monday, by taking leave or getting a medical certificate. This was one of those bookings. Apparently, her regular clients paid as much as a thousand dollars per evening for her to cook at their homes, usually for special guests.”

  Uday whistled, “Wow! It’s true what they say about the Chinese—they can be quite lavish when it comes to food.”

  ASP Lee laughed. “Some of us, yes. I can’t afford that kind of money. Besides, I like my street food and home cooked meals.”

  Uday nodded in agreement, though other than laksa, chicken rice and satay, he did not care much for Singapore’s much lauded street food. With Sharon’s body parts suitably disposed of without any chance of discovery, Uday was convinced he would never be a suspect in her disappearance. “What about the others? Lavinia was … assaulted … sexually …”

  “The men, yes. We have detained the four people who took part in the attack. Three young men and a sixteen-year-old girl—”

  Uday’s eyes widened. “Sixteen?”

  “Runaway, living with Sharon. Her parents never reported her missing. Probably a difficult teen whose parents were relieved when she left—”

  Uday frowned. “What kind of parents would even think like that?”

  “It’s sad but we’ve seen such cases.” ASP Lee glanced at the computer screen to his right. “All four confessed to their participation and identified Sharon Lin Zhang Min as the woman who hired them to carry out the attack. Two of the men were her colleagues at the restaurant—a chef and a waiter—the third one was a polytechnic student and the sixteen-year-old, Lee Hua, was Sharon’s friend and flat mate. All four were promised two thousand dollars each to attack Miss Lavinia. None of them were paid—”

  “So, they blabbed in revenge?”

  ASP Lee shrugged. “Maybe. They were all picked up and questioned separately. Their narration of the events was the same.”

  Uday leant towards ASP Lee’s table. “Is it possible that one of them sent me Sharon’s phone? A wish for revenge, without realising the possible consequences?” Uday surprised himself with his convincing expression of feigned curiosity.

  “It’s possible, but they all denied any knowledge of sending Sharon’s phone to you. Maybe it wasn’t them. Also, admitting to it could implicate them in Sharon’s disappearance. We’re trying to find that link.”

  “I never figured out how they got Lavinia into the car. She regularly calls Grab taxi, so I’m surprised she’d get into a car with other people.”

  “Miss Lavinia used the shared ride service, which is cheaper. The attackers’ car was waiting for her at the foot of the block, so it was there before her Grab ride arrived. She must have hopped in, assuming it was her ride, not bothering to check the car type or number plate, both of which were shown on her screen. The attackers had a phone with a Google map fixed to the windscreen, and the driver verified her name and destination. Just like in any private hire car.”

  “But how did they know where she was, and her timing?”

  “Ah Lon, also known as Aaron—”

  “What? No! He was part of this?”

  “According to Lee Hua, the sixteen-year-old, yes. The men didn’t know anything about him. Aaron only communicated with Sharon, who then gave all the instructions. Evidently, he knew her plans and her whereabouts, going as far as following her to her friend’s place that Sunday—”

  “He was supposed to be away!”

  “He was in Singapore all along. Rented a cheap room somewhere, indulged in some heavy drinking and debauchery, evidently. He returned to your flat late the night of Wang Yan’s arrest and found out about it from the guards. Looks like he sneaked into your flat, packed his bags and got himself on the next flight to England. He has British citizenship and knows that it will be much harder to be extradited to Singapore for a capital charge which carries the death penalty.”

  Uday waved his finger ferociously. “I knew it! There was always something sinister about that creep. I was dead against him moving to Singapore with her but … oh well, what does it matter now?” Uday paused, trying to process this new twist in his never-ending nightmare. “That woman was jealous of my Lavinia, but to kill her? Was there anything else, ASP Lee?”

  “The same girl told us that Wang Yan was angry when she found out about a will you had drawn up, to be effective on your wedding day. She mentioned a pre-nuptial agreement which she had refused to sign, and so you created this will as an alternative. Is this true?”

  Uday nodded. “I … I don’t get it. How did she even know about the will? She must have been snooping around, going through my documents in my study, checking my emails …” Uday’s heart was beating rapidly. Tamara was obviously nothing like the woman he had believed her to be. “Perhaps she was recording our family discussions …”

  ASP Lee shrugged. “So many ways to get information these days, Mr Aurora. Especially when someone you trust goes digging. We were told Wang Yan believed Lavinia was conspiring with her brothers to force you to re-consider marrying her. She believed Lavinia was going all out to make things difficult for her. Is that true?”

  “No! No, absolutely not! Well, yes, in that Tamara believed all that about Lavinia and yes, Lavinia did not like her, but that was more out of loyalty to her late mother. I assure you, ASP Lee, it is not at all true that Lavinia planned anything. The pre-nup and the will—my children came up with those, yes, but it was a wise idea to protect their inheritance should anything happen to me.”

  “You did set aside something for Wang Yan. Twenty percent?”

  “Twenty percent was still a lot. She would have been very comfortable. But I suppose if she expected more, and believed it to be her right, then the idea of any percentage below her magic number would propel her into the deranged state in which she ended up.”

  “The will leaves sixty percent of all your assets to your three children, twenty percent to charity and twenty percent to Wang Yan. It seems that Wang Yan had expected everything, or at least half, to be left to her. We know that Wang Yan complained to her daughter, Sharon Lin, about the will. Based on what we’ve been told, Sharon only agreed to commit the murder to please Wang Yan, believing it might make her mother love her a little more.”

  ASP Lee leant forward and clasped his hands. “This will be very difficult for you, Mr Aurora, but please bear with me. Lee Hua told us that Miss Lavinia was taken to a roast meat factory to be …” ASP Lee breathed deeply and stared at his table before continuing, “Hacked to pieces and roasted in the furnace.”

  “No! How could anyone plan such a violent death for my daughter? For anyone’s sake?” The memory of seeing Lavinia on that cold, steel table with the hot furnaces in the corner, re- ignited an anger that made Uday’s outburst seem really genuine.

  “I’m sorry, Mr Aurora.”

  “And so Sharon decided to brutally attack my beloved Lavinia, let her die a painful death, and make her disappear? Without me or anyone in the family ever knowing what happened to her? Waiting years in the hope of finding her alive? All for her mother to love her more?”

  The room
was quiet for several minutes. Uday had lost his most precious child and ASP Lee was trying his best to be as sympathetic as possible.

  “If things had gone according to Wang Yan’s plan, then yes, this might have remained an unsolved crime. Wang Yan was so sure neither she nor her daughter would have been implicated in Miss Lavinia’s disappearance. But … the situation changed and she’s in jail while her daughter is missing.”

  “And my daughter is dead.”

  “I’m so sorry, Mr Aurora.” ASP Lee stretched out his arms and clasped his hands across the table. “The roast meat man, known as Ah Huat … he’s still on the run. Malaysian police will inform us once he’s caught.”

  “But he didn’t harm my daughter. He saved her.”

  ASP Lee grimaced. “We don’t know the extent of his involvement. We’ll still need him for questioning. The four people in remand said Ah Huat had betrayed them by not finishing the job. According to Lee Hua, Ah Huat was paid thousands of dollars.” ASP Lee paused before walking to the door and asking his assistant to bring in two glasses of water.

  “Looks like I’ll be here for a while.”

  “Shouldn’t take too long. Mr Aurora, I asked you to come in for another matter related to Wang Yan. Were you aware of the circumstances behind her husband’s death?”

  “Yes, of course. It was quite recent, less than a year ago. He was kidnapped, and even though she paid the full ransom, the kidnappers killed her husband. The three men involved were caught soon after and jailed, following an expedited trial. That seems to be all there is to it.”

  “There’s a lot more to it, Mr Aurora. We contacted our counterparts in Shanghai, where Wang Yan was last known to reside. We were told that she is now a suspect in her husband’s—”

  “What? A suspect?” Uday rested his chin on his bent arm and stared at the tray of documents to his left. “After what she did to Lavinia, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”

  “They have gathered evidence and are now preparing extradition papers to charge her for instigating the kidnap and murder of her husband. Had they known Wang Yan was in Shanghai recently—”

  “How could they not have known?”

  “Wang Yan was travelling under an assumed name on a different passport. It was in her handbag, along with her official Chinese passport with her real name. Did you know she had one from the Dominican Republic? Under the name Chanel Li.”

  Uday flopped back into his seat and laughed mirthlessly. “No, I had no idea. What else do I not know about this woman?”

  “I’m sorry, Mr Aurora. As I was saying, Wang Yan is wanted in China for her husband’s murder. Of the three men arrested, one insisted he was innocent. Evidently, a prison warden believed him, and the police have now re-opened the case. It appears that Wang Yan and her friend, the nurse, Aaron Green, also known as Ah Lon, hired three men to kill her husband. Two were arrested and charged, and are now waiting for their trial. The third man was her brother, who paid the allegedly innocent one to be the fall guy. Her brother remains free. I don’t have the details but so far, there is evidence that Wang Yan planned the kidnap and murder, while her brother helped to execute the plan with Aaron—”

  “I should have trusted my instincts and simply rejected her pleas to let him move to Singapore. Two murderers in my home! With him now in England, he’ll get away with murder. Literally.”

  “Let’s hope not. It may take years to bring him to justice, but let’s hope you’ll see the day.”

  Uday frowned, “Do you … do you think …” Uday shook his head forcefully. “No. No, I don’t believe she would …”

  “What is it, Mr Aurora?”

  Uday took a few moments to gather his thoughts. “It’s just as well I prepared the will. Even if she had not gone after Lavinia, she might have had the same plans for me. She might have staged a kidnap and had me killed, with the intention of being left a merry widow. She’s clearly capable of it!”

  “I don’t know, Mr Aurora. It’s possible, but we can’t accuse her of what we think she’s capable of. Right now, we’ll continue our search for Sharon and Ah Huat, the man from the roast meat factory. Without their evidence, our investigations will be hampered.”

  “What if you don’t find them?”

  “We are quite sure we’ll at least find Ah Huat. Even then, he is only tied to Sharon and not to Wang Yan. I’m sorry, Mr Aurora, but if we do not have sufficient evidence, we might not be able to procced with charging Wang Yan for instigating a murder.”

  “And she walks free? Just like that?” Uday thought of the men who were released due to lack of evidence in the curry murder case.

  “She will not walk free, Mr Aurora. If we do not have enough evidence to secure a conviction in Singapore, Wang Yan will be extradited to China where she will face charges for kidnap and murder. If found guilty, she could be executed, or sentenced to life imprisonment. There will be justice for Miss Lavinia.”

  “If you knew her like I do, life imprisonment would be worse than an execution. Far worse.”

  Uday felt cold and rolled down the sleeves of his linen shirt. He was grateful that circumstances had allowed him to torment Tamara with the belief that she had eaten parts of her daughter. He would have felt short-changed of the revenge he desired had she been arrested before she returned from China.

  29

  A Year Later

  Uday answered a call from the hospital about the recipients of Lavinia’s organs. The young man with cystic fibrosis who had received both Lavinia’s lungs had died from an infection after five days. The other recipients had survived the full year and had high chances of surviving for the next five years, especially the two women who received Lavinia’s kidneys. They were all very grateful and wanted to thank Lavinia’s family for approving the organ donation.

  The woman from the hospital’s communications depart- ment, who introduced herself as Marina, spoke with a melodic lilt he had never heard in Singapore. Uday resisted the urge to ask where she was from, having heard his children complain over the years how annoying it was when people asked them the same question. It made them feel foreign and unwelcome, especially as the question was usually asked with more resentment than curiosity.

  “Mr Aurora, would you like to attend an informal tea party in one of our meeting rooms? It won’t last more than two hours, and our patients and their families are very keen to express their gratitude in person.”

  Uday could not think of a more arduous task than being forced to make small talk and mingle with people who were alive because of his daughter’s untimely death. There were five recipients, excluding the man who did not survive his lung transplant—a young man who received Lavinia’s heart, a woman who received her liver, and the two women who received one kidney each. Lavinia’s corneas helped a woman regain her sight. Along with their families, there would be too many people. There was only so much unsolicited gratitude he could handle, and he did not wish for anyone to feel beholden to him or to his family. Uday only did what Lavinia would have wanted.

  “Thank you, Marina, but I don’t think I could handle it. I’m very glad that my daughter was able to help so many people. That they are doing well is all the thanks my family needs.” Uday asked her to convey his best regards to the patients and their families. He asked that she also explain to the patients that the circumstances would be too painful for him.

  When Uday had heard the verdict about Tamara a few months ago—courts in China seemed to be particularly expedient in high-profile cases—he was relieved that she would not be executed. Having heard reports that organs from China’s executed prisoners are used for transplants, Uday was sickened by the thought that her death would result in a continuing evil presence through several other lives.

  “Nonsense, Dad, they’re just organs,” Sayana had said, and he was right, but it was a feeling Uday could not shake off.

  He left the office and went home.

  With a Scotch on the rocks in one hand, Uday flipped through the p
ages of a thick scrap book, filled from edge to edge with pictures from the time Lavinia was born until the day before the attack, when she had taken some pictures on her phone while out with friends. Selfies, or wefies, she had called them. Uday had asked Ashwin and Sayana to help him create a collection of photos and have them all printed so he could glue them into the scrapbook. Initially, he had looked at them every day. When the pain became too much to bear, he stopped looking at them altogether. Today, going through the scrapbook, reminiscing, Uday wept for his great loss.

  When he reached the last page, Uday went through it again, stopping at each page, as if looking at the images for the first time. He stopped just before the middle, when he found a picture of Lavinia and her mother, taken when they were in front of the elephant enclosure at the zoo. Lavinia was six years old and was laughing while clinging to Julie’s leg. He kept the page open, walked over to the bar to fix himself another drink, and plugged in his special collection of songs into the CD player.

  Uday placed his feet on the coffee table, the one that Julie had bought, the one he retrieved from storage the day after Tamara was arrested. He sipped his Scotch as he tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and prepared himself for an hour of immersion in the compilation Ashwin and Sayana had created for him, starting with Lavinia’s favourite song—Taylor Swift’s Romeo and Juliet—and ending with one of Julie’s favourites, an unlikely country number by a singer neither of them had heard of until her song became a hit. Julie liked it for the sentiment—the future she wanted for the children, where no matter how bad things were, they would overcome all their troubles with humility and grace.