by Vivien Chien
“Exactly.”
So, it was settled … Detectives Lee and Riley were back on the case.
CHAPTER
7
Sunday afternoon, after my family and I were done with dim sum, I ventured to Asia Village in hopes of chatting with Penny in private. I’d heard from Anna May that Penny was still planning to open the Bamboo Lounge as if nothing out of the ordinary happened the day before. The only room that was off-limits according to the police was the party room. They’d gone through the rest of the restaurant the previous night, but according to Adam, nothing seemed relevant and they released it back to Penny.
Personally, I didn’t think it was a wise decision to open the lounge so soon after the tragedy. But I could understand that Penny most likely wanted something to keep her busy.
I found her wiping down the counter, the bar completely empty of customers. She appeared contemplative as she wiped over the same spot repeatedly.
Making some noise as I walked, so as not to startle her, I greeted her with a reserved pleasantry. “Hey, there…” I hoisted myself up onto the bar stool in front of where she was standing.
“Oh, Lana, hi.” She lifted her head, barely making eye contact. “Did you want something to drink?”
Glancing around the empty room, I thought it might be best to give her something to do. “Sure, but make it something on the weak side, it’s a little early in the day for me.”
“How about a mimosa?” she suggested.
“Sure, that’ll work.”
She pulled a miniature bottle of champagne out of the cooler and poured it into a flute, mixing it with orange juice. Her movements were robotic and I sensed her mind was somewhere else.
“How are you holding up?”
“Hm? Sorry?” She set the glass down in front of me and wiped her hands on the towel she’d been cleaning the counter with earlier.
“I asked how you’re holding up.”
“Oh, right…” She inspected her hands. “I’d like to tell you I’ve been through worse … maybe I have … I’m not sure anymore.” Her eyes skimmed over the room. “This is the first Sunday since I’ve opened up that the place has been empty. I’m ruined, I can feel it.”
“You’re not ruined,” I reassured her. “It’s just a minor setback. In a few days, everything will be back to normal.”
“The party room is my real moneymaker and I don’t know when I’ll even get that back. There was a pretty big business party planned in there for Monday. I had to call and cancel with them, and it cost me a huge chunk of money.”
I took a sip of the mimosa and slid a peek at the party room. The door was shut and crime scene tape was covering it. That right there probably wasn’t helping business. “They might be done quicker than you think. After Mr. Feng died, the property office was back open in no time.”
“I don’t know, Lana. I feel like hard times are ahead.”
I know that grief shows differently on everyone, but it was a little concerning to me that she was more worried about her business than finding a dead body in her party room. I remember how Kimmy reacted to finding the Yeohs, and how Cindy from the bookstore had been after she found Mr. Feng. But, in this instance, I thought Penny was completely overlooking the fact that someone had died. It was almost as if it didn’t matter to her.
Steering the conversation, I asked, “Do you remember seeing Joel Liu last night? I thought it was odd that he’d show up after his outburst at the contest. I was wondering if he’d been here the entire night?”
Penny scoffed. “Can you blame him? The poor guy has been ripped apart by that … jerk. And, I hate to say that about someone who was just killed, but there you have it.” She slipped away mentally for a minute, and her gaze traveled out the window into the parking lot. After a long pause, she shook herself back to the present, realizing I was still waiting for her to answer my question. “No, I don’t remember seeing Joel until after everything happened. I was pretty busy most of the night. I couldn’t exactly keep tabs on certain customers. Maybe he was out here in the main room trying to avoid being in such close quarters with Norman.”
I drummed my fingers on the side of the champagne glass. “What do you know about Stella Chung?”
Penny froze. “Why would you ask me about her?”
“I spoke with her a little bit last night. She was pretty nice to me and all, but she didn’t seem to be a big fan of Norman Pan.”
“Oh…” Penny relaxed, resting her elbows on the bar.
“What did you think I meant?”
“Nothing, I don’t know. I don’t know anything about Stella other than what everyone else knows … that she’s a witch.”
“A witch?”
“Not literally…”
“She seemed okay to me. Maybe a shade on the prideful side, but I can’t say that I blame her. She’s accomplished quite a bit with what little she had.”
“Well, she’s not that great,” Penny spat in return. “She’s deceitful and manipulative. Maybe she had something to do with Norman’s murder. Either way, I can’t say that I saw much of her last night. I tried to avoid her as much as possible.”
Another odd reaction. She seemed a little defensive about my mention of someone she didn’t know very well. But maybe my brain was being overactive. When I got in this mode, I started to see things that weren’t there. Everyone becomes a suspect.
I pointed up at the security cameras above the bar. “Well, maybe those will help things along … I noticed you have a few in the restaurant. Have the police taken those yet to investigate? If they could see who came out of the room at the right time that would be a big help.” I had to suggest it even though I already knew that Adam would have been on top of any type of surveillance. I needed to get her talking before I lost control of the conversation.
She shook her head. “The cameras are fake … I only have them up there to discourage anybody from trying to rob me, but they’re not actually recording anything.”
How convenient, I thought to myself. A trickle of doubt started to form. Considering the type of business Penny ran and the cash flow that went in and out of the place, you’d think she would have functional cameras at least by the cash register. In recent months, my parents had had four installed in the restaurant: two in the dining area, one in the kitchen, and one in the back room.
My silence must have given me away because she gawked at me, her stance defensive. “Something like this wasn’t supposed to happen here. When I moved here, everything was supposed to be right again.” Her eyes widened and she grabbed the towel, swiping it carelessly across the bar.
“What do you mean ‘right again’?”
“Nothing…” She avoided eye contact as she replied. “I mean I love it here because it’s supposed to be a safe place … nothing ever happens in this town.”
“Maybe less than other places, but things can happen anywhere, you know?”
With a sigh, she nodded. “I guess you’re right about that.”
The restaurant door could be heard by the loud creaking it made as it swung open. Normally the noise inside the lounge drowned it out.
We both turned around to find Adam and two uniformed officers coming our way.
Adam had his game face on, but despite the fact that I remained ever so innocent-looking, he did not appear pleased to see me.
“Lana, what are you doing here?” His voice was gruff and authoritative. “Isn’t today your day off?”
I held up my champagne glass. “Stopped in for a mimosa.”
His eyes slid to the glass in my hand and then back at me, studying my face. He knew that’s where all my emotions liked to come out and play. “I didn’t know you liked mimosas…”
“Look at you, learning something new every day.”
He pursed his lips. “Can I talk to you out in the plaza, please?”
“I’ll be right back,” I said to Penny as I scooted off the stool.
Adam led me out into the plaza. I watched
the tension build in his shoulders as I followed behind him.
“For the record,” I said, as the door shut behind me. “I am just enjoying a drink with a friend. I’m not up to anything, I swear.”
“You’re snooping. I can sense it … you had your guilty face on when I walked in.”
With feigned surprise, I raised a hand to my chest. “Why, Detective Trudeau, are you implying that I’m not being forthright with you?”
“Knock it off, Lana … I don’t want you getting involved.”
“I was seriously just having a drink. Besides, Penny could use the company. She hasn’t had a single customer all day. You saw how empty it was in there.”
“We suggested that she remain closed until the investigation was done, but she insisted on opening.”
“How long do you think it’s going to take before she gets the party room back? She had to cancel on some potential customers and I think she’s hurting for money.”
He shook his head. “I’m not sure. I’m waiting to hear back from the lab on a couple different things. I don’t want to open up the room if it turns out we need to go over it again. Everything will be compromised.”
“Do you have any suspects yet? What about the murder weapon? Do you know what he was strangled with?”
“I thought you weren’t snooping?”
“I’m not … just morbid curiosity.”
“Don’t you worry about any of that, Miss Lee.”
I huffed. “Fine. I was just making conversation. I don’t really want to know those things anyway.”
“Uh-huh.” He sighed to himself, scrubbing the day-old chin scruff that had begun to form. “Let’s get you back in there so you can finish your drink and be on your way. I’m sure you have plenty of other trouble to get into.”
As I started to walk in, he grabbed my arm, giving me a little tug. I turned to face him.
“Do me a favor, Lana … maybe keep your distance from Penny for a while, okay?”
“Why?”
“Because I do have some suspects, and she’s made the list.”
* * *
When I got home, Megan was in the living room doing yoga. While she was trying to accomplish the downward dog, my own dog was attempting to lick her face.
“Lana, get your dog out of here. I’ve been trying to do yoga for the past hour.” She turned her face away from Kikko, whose persistence was something to be admired.
I chuckled as I scooped up the little pug and carried her to where Megan had pushed the couch against the wall. “There are some bones in the pantry to keep her busy.”
“I tried that. I gave her two … they’re now buried somewhere in the apartment.” Megan looked at me upside down from her position on the floor. “How did it go at the Bamboo Lounge? Find out anything interesting?”
“Penny was sort of skittish, but I can’t tell why. She doesn’t seem too worried about Norman, so it can’t be that.”
Megan exhaled. “From what you’ve told me about his past, I don’t see that many people would be.”
“Something else did happen while I was there, though.”
“Oh?” She flipped over and sat Indian-style on her yoga mat. “Do tell.”
“Adam showed up, and he was really concerned about me being there.”
“Of course he was … he knows how you are.”
“It’s not just about my snooping around. He said that Penny is one of his suspects.”
Megan raised her eyebrows. “Oh, really?”
“Yeah, and on top of that Penny mentioned something about how it wasn’t supposed to be like this when she moved here.”
“Wasn’t supposed to be like this? What do you think she means by that? What the heck was she expecting … fairy-tale land?”
“She wouldn’t really tell me, and before I could question her more on the subject, Adam and his guys showed up. Not that I think she would have told me much more anyhow. She doesn’t usually talk about herself. But the whole thing makes you wonder what she was running from to begin with.”
CHAPTER
8
Monday morning came with a mix of emotions. Most of it was centered on frustration. After I prepped the restaurant for opening, I stood outside of Shanghai Donuts, waiting for the new owners to unlock the doors. I really would be their first customer.
A petite, older lady, maybe in her sixties with graying hair, shuffled to the door with a pleasant smile on her face. In some ways she reminded me of my grandmother and I wondered if they would become friends.
The smile extended to her eyes, which I always found to be a form of sincerity. She pushed the door open. “Welcome,” she said, stepping aside to let me in.
I smiled in return. “Hi, I’m Lana Lee, I manage the noodle shop next door and thought I should come introduce myself.”
With a delicate bow of her head, she shuffled back behind the counter. “It is very nice to meet our neighbors. Everyone here is so nice. My husband is not here yet. I’m Ruth Wu.”
“We’re happy to have you at Asia Village.” I eyed the case of doughnuts. “Especially me.” There were so many kinds. My gaze landed on the glazed doughnuts shaped like eights. “I’ll have one of those, please. And some coffee.”
She opened the case and pulled out a doughnut. I could feel my mouth watering already.
“I was very sorry to miss the contest this weekend, but after hearing about what happened, I’m very glad we didn’t go.”
I cringed. The opening of her shop and the noodle-contest tragedy was definitely bad timing. “Normally it isn’t like this here. Most days nothing happens at all.”
Ruth nodded in understanding, but didn’t comment. Instead, she handed me a waxed paper bag.
I peeked inside; the sweet smell of freshly baked dough filled my nostrils.
“I put some extra doughnut holes in there for you.” She smiled, sliding a paper cup of coffee across the counter.
“Thanks, that’s so nice of you.” I reached for my wallet inside my purse, and she held out her hand to stop me.
“Please, this is a gift to my first customer.”
“Well, let me be your first tipper at least.” I pulled out a five-dollar bill and slipped it in the cookie jar that was marked TIPS.
“What will happen to the contest?” Ruth asked. “Will it be canceled now?”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. I had yet to talk to anyone about what would happen next. Canceling it seemed like the best idea, but I doubted that Ian would even entertain the thought. “I guess we’ll find out today.”
“Hopefully our business will not get off to a bad start.” She glanced around the tiny eatery. A few wooden tables were placed near the front windows and off to the left side against the wall were two blue velvet armchairs with a small end table in between them. It felt cozy and I could hardly believe that the souvenir shop had once occupied this space. “My husband and I are retired now. We moved here from California to be close to our son. We put a lot of money into making this doughnut shop.”
“I’m sure you’re going to do great. Who doesn’t love a good doughnut shop?” I said, holding up my bag. “I better get back to work; our cook is going to wonder what happened to me.”
“Thank you for stopping by, Lana. I will be sure to return the favor.”
I stepped out into the plaza clutching my doughnut bag and coffee. The abandoned stage still occupied the middle of the plaza and I took a minute to reflect on the current state of Asia Village. Aside from my reservations about gaining another pants size, I hoped Shanghai Donuts would succeed, and that what was happening now wouldn’t affect their business or their desire to stay.
The spot had housed a variety of businesses, too many to remember, which is why my mother and her friends insisted the space was cursed and no business would succeed there.
Ian made it a point to remind the Mahjong Matrons, and anyone else who claimed the business lot was doomed, that those types of things didn’t exist. I wasn’t very supers
titious myself—unless of course it was midnight and I was home alone. But after meeting the nice woman who ran the place, I kept my fingers crossed that things would work out for them after all.
* * *
When I returned to Ho-Lee Noodle House, Peter was in the dining room hanging out with the Mahjong Matrons. The four widowed women were our first customers every morning without fail. They sat in the same booth, in the same spots, and ate the same thing every day.
They all turned when I walked in.
“Where have you been, Lana?” Pearl, the eldest of the four women, asked me.
I held up my bag. “I stopped at the new doughnut shop next door.”
Peter snickered to himself. “I figured that’s where you snuck off to. I was keeping these lovely ladies company until you got back.”
Opal, Pearl’s younger sister, clasped her hands together. In her soft voice, she said, “I have prayed for the new owners next door. I will bring them a good-luck charm later.”
“Well, I better get back in the kitchen and start on your breakfast.” He tipped his head and disappeared into the back.
“Lana.” Helen, who acted as mother hen, and also happened to be the loudest and most active gossip of the four, glanced around the restaurant before continuing. “Do you know what is happening with the noodle contest?”
“No, I haven’t talked to Ian since Saturday. My mother told me he isn’t doing so well with what’s going on.”
Wendy, the most sensible of the women, nodded. “I still think he is too young for this job. We need someone like Mr. Feng to handle these types of problems.”
They all bowed their heads in his memory. Mr. Feng, the original owner of Asia Village, had been taken from us not that long ago by his own tragedy. The Village was the first property he ever owned and it was his pride and joy. While Ian came with plenty of fresh ideas to help restore the plaza and its business, no one felt that anyone could give it the same love and attention as its previous owner.
