by Vivien Chien
As she was heading out, Penny was coming in. The two women exchanged some heated words that couldn’t be heard and Stella stormed off while Penny stood glowering after her. In the brief time that I’d known Penny, I’d never seen her get nasty with anyone. And I hate to use the phrase if looks could kill, but there was definitely something murderous in those chocolate-browns.
CHAPTER
11
Penny stood at the front of the restaurant, preoccupied and clearly steaming from her conversation with Stella.
“Everything okay?” I asked, stepping up to the hostess station and nodding my head toward the direction Stella had left in.
“Huh?” Penny gave me a blank stare as if she hadn’t realized I was standing there. “Oh, it’s nothing … she is just a nasty woman. I shouldn’t let it get to me.”
I shrugged. “I still haven’t seen that side of her. She seems all right to me.”
“Well, she would. She puts on a good façade, doesn’t she? Everyone just loves Stella Chung.”
Where was all this aggression toward Stella coming from? “I’m sorry … I didn’t mean to make you upset.”
She waved it off. “It’s no big deal. I’ve just read a couple articles about her and she is a total snob. I wish people would see through her act already.”
I didn’t want to argue with Penny any further on the subject so I nodded in agreement. “Maybe the success went to her head? You know how that happens to people after they make it big. The media has really fluffed up her story, so I’m sure that doesn’t help matters.”
“Yeah … something like that.”
“So, what can I do for you?” It wasn’t like Penny to stop by so early in the day.
“I came to ask if Detective Trudeau has mentioned anything to you about giving back my party room. It’s been a few days and I really thought I’d have it back by now. I have a booking request from a previous customer and I’d really like to rent the room to them. They’re offering me a substantial amount and I’m not in a financial position to turn down the money.”
Shaking my head, I told her, “No, he doesn’t discuss his work with me. I never have any clue what’s going on with a case. I wish I had something better to tell you.”
Her shoulders sagged. “I guess I’ll try calling the police department again. He’s a hard man to get a hold of.”
“If I talk to him today, I’ll pass along the message for you. It’s not much, but it’s the least I could do.”
“Thanks,” she mumbled, and headed out the door.
Nancy came up behind me once Penny left. “She seems to be acting strangely, don’t you think?”
“Yeah … this whole day is strange,” I replied. “I think I need to head next door and grab a doughnut.”
* * *
I spent some time admiring the doughnut selection and talking to Ruth Wu in between her customers. So far the doughnut shop was doing really well. So well, in fact, she mentioned that the Yi sisters were glaring at her from across the pond. Apparently, their moon cake customers were in the mood for a little something different.
“June Yi is the one to watch out for. She’s the meaner one. But you’ll get used to them,” I assured her. “Before long you’ll learn to ignore them like the rest of us do.”
Ruth laughed. “I am glad that it’s not only me they are mean to. It is hard to be new in a place where everyone is like family.”
To make her feel better, I told her about the times that the Yi sisters had been especially rude to me despite the fact that we were all supposed to be “family.” Most of that came with the murder of Thomas Feng and how they seemed to think that Peter and I were the guiltiest of all.
I tried not to hold grudges, sometimes they can be a heavy load. But, then again, no one’s perfect.
Business at the doughnut shop started to pick up, so I waved good-bye and headed back out into the plaza with my bag of doughnuts. When I peeked inside, I saw that she had added some free doughnut holes just like the other times. I smiled to myself … doughnuts made everything better.
Right as I was about to head back into the noodle house, I noticed Joel Liu coming out of the Bamboo Lounge. What the heck was he doing here? I hadn’t seen him since the contest. I decided to walk over and find out.
He smiled at me as I came up to him, but clearly had no intention of stopping to chat. Before he could rush by, I stepped in front of him. The expression on his face was borderline surprise mixed with agitation.
“Hi, going so soon?” I asked with a tilt of my head.
“Lana, hey.” He glanced toward the main entrance. “Nice to see you.”
“Likewise … what brings you to our neck of the woods?” He looked like he was ready to run for it, so I figured, why waste time with pleasantries.
“Uh, I stopped by to talk with Penny and see how she was holding up after … after what happened.”
“That’s awfully nice of you … I didn’t realize that you two knew each other.” There seemed to be a lot of that going around lately.
“We…” He glanced back at the lounge and then down at his shoes. “We used to know each other, but we drifted out of touch.”
“You drifted?” That didn’t make any sense; Penny was newer to the area. And I’ve known Joel Liu to be a Cleveland native, so how would that be possible?
“It’s not a crime to stop and visit with someone, is it?” Joel said, his tone sharpening. “Are you the visitation police?”
I held up my free hand, the other clutched my doughnut bag. “Hey, just asking a simple question. No need to get riled up over it.”
“Oh, quit the crap, Lana. You are treating me just like everybody else is.” He inched closer and I could feel his breath on my face. “And frankly, I’m getting a little sick of it.”
“How is everyone treating you?” I asked, trying to appear innocent. For the record, I’m not sure it worked.
“Like I’m the one who killed Norman.” His shoulders drooped. “Does everyone really think that poorly of me that they’d believe I’m capable of murder? I may have hated the guy, but I’m no murderer.”
“But you did get in a fight with him at the contest … and you did threaten him on different occasions. Send any interesting e-mails lately?”
“How do you kno—” He pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “Never mind, I don’t have to justify myself to anyone … especially you. But if anyone asked me my damn opinion, I’d tell them exactly what I told the police.”
“Which is…?”
“Ray Jin. That slimy good-for-nothing wannabe cook. If they’re pointing the finger at anybody, it should be him.”
“What? Ray? That doesn’t even make any sense.”
“Sure it does.”
“The two of them were friends,” I pointed out.
“Ha, okay … friends. Right. The reviews that Ray got for his crappy restaurant are a little too perfect. Do you honestly think that sort of thing comes free?”
I knew he was referring to the bribery rumor … the rumor that he’d started. “To be honest, I’ve never given it much thought.”
“Maybe you should. And maybe your stupid boyfriend should too. That whole police department…” He shook his head. “The blind leading the blind.”
“Hey! There’s no reason to disrespect Adam or the police department like that. They’re just doing their jobs and considering every possible lead. Clearly, you have something to be guilty about if they’re looking at you,” I spat.
He threw his hands up in the air. “You’re like a dumb kid, you know that? I insult your boyfriend and you throw a tantrum.”
“It’s not a—”
“Try focusing on the actual facts, genius. It’s like I said to your knucklehead boyfriend … if you read all of Norman’s reviews, you’ll notice they’ve never gleamed as bright as they have for Ray … that’s because his payout is probably the biggest. Go ahead, take a look and see for yourself.”
“Maybe I wil
l.”
“Do whatever you want … just stay away from me. I have enough problems as it is.” He stormed off, and I watched him stampede through the plaza.
You wanna talk about tantrums? Joel Liu would definitely take first place.
CHAPTER
12
My run-in with Joel bothered me the rest of the day. I went through sales slips and food orders on automatic, the possible suspects rolling through my head over and over. Was Joel telling the truth? Or was he another one trying to move suspicion away from himself with exaggerated accusations? I didn’t know.
And, what was he doing at the Bamboo Lounge? Penny had never hinted that she knew Joel besides the fact that he owned a local restaurant. He’d said they knew each other from before … before when? I could try and ask Penny, but something told me she wasn’t going to be very forthcoming with me either.
At five o’clock, I left for the day, leaving the restaurant in the capable hands of Nancy, and our resident teenager, Vanessa Wen, who was at times more than I could handle.
Megan was at work, and I decided to stop and see her. Maybe an outside perspective could enlighten me.
Happy hour was in full swing at the Zodiac, but thankfully I was able to find an empty stool at the bar. The astrologically themed bar had been our local hangout since college, and they were known just as much for their art murals depicting the twelve signs as they were for their outstanding drink menu.
I caught Megan’s attention and she acknowledged me with a wink as she made her way down the bar to where I was sitting. By the time she got to me, she already had a mixed drink in hand. She slid it toward me with a napkin and leaned over. “Your face tells me that you need this.”
“It’s that bad?”
“Oh, yeah.”
Keeping my emotions off my face has always been a difficult task for me. But even when I thought I was successful at hiding them, Megan usually knew the truth. After all, we’d been friends for years—plenty of time for her to observe me.
“What happened?” she asked, her eyes checking the bar for raised hands.
“I ran into Joel Liu today. He was at the Bamboo Lounge visiting with Penny.”
“Remind me why that would be weird again?”
Before I could tell her the full story, she was summoned by another patron. I sipped my drink and glanced over the happy hour menu … it had been a long time since lunch and the noodles that Peter made for me earlier in the day seemed like a distant memory.
When Megan returned, I placed an order for some boneless teriyaki wings and finished my story.
“Sounds to me like this Joel guy is making things up. I mean, Ray was supposedly paying Norman for good reviews, but we don’t actually know that to be true. That whole thing was a rumor that was started at last year’s contest by Joel himself, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, he made sure to pass on his story to the Mahjong Matrons. They basically did the work for him. Aside from that, though, no one thought Ray should have won anyway.”
“And why is that? His food is good, no?”
“Well, up until the contest, his reviews weren’t that great. And truthfully, his food really isn’t either. I’ve eaten there a couple of times, and it’s nothing to write home about. There is nothing on his menu that makes him stand out in any way.”
“Yeah, but you’re partial to Peter and your family’s recipes. Are you sure you can be a good judge of whether or not this guy has a creditable menu?”
“Okay, that’s true … but…”
“But what?”
“I hate to admit this, but if anyone should have won other than us, it should have been Walter Shen. His food is definitely contestworthy. Don’t tell my mother I said that though … she’ll disown me in a heartbeat.”
“Then do you think it’s possible Norman was worried that if Walter Shen won the contest it would look like favoritism? They’re supposed to be good friends, right?”
“Well, yeah … but then we should have won.”
She smirked. “Take yourself out of the picture and take into consideration that maybe Norman was trying to make the contest look more legit. But instead, it went in the opposite direction.”
“But that didn’t stop the House of Shen from winning in previous years. So if he did suddenly care about things appearing to be on the up-and-up, what changed?”
“Maybe someone brought it up and Norman was approached about it. You know as well as I do that some things aren’t a problem until someone puts a spotlight on it.”
“It is possible, I suppose.”
My boneless wings arrived and I realized just how hungry I was. Megan worked the bar while I chomped on my food, contemplating what my next move would be. I knew that I needed to talk to Ray at some point, but I wasn’t looking forward to it. In general, I’d never been a fan of his. I found Ray more often than not to be pompous and condescending. He wasn’t that much older than me, but he always managed to treat me like I was some kind of child who needed his guidance.
The last time we’d had a run-in prior to the contest, he told me how surprised he was that my parents put such a young girl in charge of the family restaurant. He also made it a point to suggest that if I ever needed tips from an expert, I’d know where to find him.
Besides the obvious need to talk with the people involved, I also needed to take some time and read the reviews that Norman had written for any of the Asian restaurants competing in the contest.
Another thing I wanted to do was check out Norman’s family tree. I didn’t know if that would lead me anywhere, but it wouldn’t hurt to do a little digging into his personal life. Who knows, maybe I’d find something of use.
And at some point down the line, I’d have to talk to Adam about all of this. Since I knew how he would react to me asking questions and bringing up the case, I decided to leave that task for last.
Maybe in the meantime, I’d be able to come up with something more concrete.
* * *
When I got home after visiting with Megan, I spent a considerable amount of time walking Kikko around the apartment complex. While she sniffed and marked her territory, I thought about the case and the best way to approach Ray.
The contest was only a couple of days away, and I wanted to talk to him before then if possible.
Back inside, Kikko found her bone under a cushion and I plopped down next to her on the couch with my laptop to do some digging.
My first search consisted of articles written by Norman about Asian restaurants in the area. Most of them were harsh, even when he was giving compliments. Apparently in his opinion there was always something to be improved on.
It seemed the only glowing reviews he gave were to Walter Shen and Ray, but even in those he added touches of criticism. A few times he mentioned that Ray’s sauces could be a little overused, making some of his dishes more watery than necessary. The harshest thing he said about Walter was that he needed to spend more time on the presentation of the dishes.
Walter getting excellent reviews, I could understand. As much as I disliked the Shen family, they had a reputable restaurant that had been around for over forty years. They served traditional Chinese food and they never skimped on ingredients. Their meats, vegetables, and noodles were always of the best quality, and the portions were always big enough that you’d have plenty to take home. Something like picking on his presentation wasn’t going to hurt business in the least.
But why Ray?
While I was searching through reviews from customers who claimed to frequent the establishments, Ian called.
“I need you in my office at ten A.M.,” he said by way of greeting.
“Oh, is that so?” My patience was thin and easily apparent in my tone.
“Sorry, I’m a little on edge.” He paused. “Freddie Yuan is coming tomorrow to talk about the contest, and I’d like you to be there.”
My stomach dropped at the mention of Freddie’s name. “Why do I need to be there? Don’t you want
the other judges there instead? That makes more sense, doesn’t it?”
“Lana, why must you always argue with me? We act like a married couple and you won’t even go on a date with me.”
My eyes rolled so far into my head, I thought I might flip over the back of the couch. “Fine … I’ll be there.”
He was silent for a minute, possibly at the shock of my quick agreement. “Do you think the other judges should be there too?”
“Yes…” I said with exasperation. “Stella and Ray should definitely be there to meet with Freddie and discuss the particulars and … deliberate or whatever it is they do.” I realized as I said it that this would be my opportunity to talk with Ray without actually having to go see him at his restaurant. It would be less suspicious and save me the trip.
“Okay, I’ll give them a call and see if they can make it. I suppose it would be a good idea. See? This is why I bring you along on these things. You always have such good ideas.”
“Uh-huh. I’ll see you tomorrow, Ian.”
“Ten o’clock. Don’t be late.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll be there at ten.” My eyes drifted back to my computer screen. “Hey Ian, what do you know about Norman Pan?”
“What do you mean? As in personally?”
“Yeah, you know, like did he have a girlfriend or maybe a cousin … nieces, nephews?”
“Not that I’m aware of … oh, wait! Yes, of course, I can’t believe I completely forgot about his niece, Tammy.”
“Tammy? Who’s that?” I asked.
“Sweet girl, she owns the Tasty Dumpling over on the east side. From what I understand they weren’t really on speaking terms. He gave her a bad review once in Cleveland magazine.”
“Wow, he actually gave his niece a bad review?” I knew he was a jerk, but doing that to his own niece was a low blow.
“Norman isn’t one to pull punches; I guess that applied to family as well.”
I thanked Ian for the intel before hanging up and searching for the Tasty Dumpling online. I found an address and jotted it down on a notepad. If I got the chance, I would definitely be paying a visit to Tammy.
