Flower Girl: A Burton Family Mystery

by David Marshall Hunt

  Tuesdays and Thursdays are shooting practice days at the Oakland PD handgun firing range. Reddy insists that even our Clinic Director remain proficient with the Kahr 9mm pistols he prefers for self and home defense. On Saturdays we fly up to a cabin Reddy has near Lake Tahoe. That was where Reddy and I practiced sniper shooting. Dalisay and I were both becoming proficient at setting up a hide, tracking, and getting the hang of Reddy's six direction training. We also screened the emails on michaela.com when Reddy was unavailable. He showed us how the system worked to keep both client and now BFB secure. I wondered how Reddy planned on replacing Chip at the CIA, or whether Chip could continue his screening and background checks on potential clients from another location.

  After I completed a check of the BFB finances, Reddy made signature arrangements with all of his banks so Dalisay and I could access funds. Then we gave some thought to non-family members - Angie, Penelope, Chip Moriga, and a lawyer we might need.

  Reddy didn’t like the title 'employee,' and called it demeaning, so 'partner,' and 'contractor,' were considered. Not everyone would be full time; however, I insisted that medical and retirement benefits as well as life insurance be provided from day one for anyone who works for us full time, along with a share in the profits to be calculated at year's end. Professor Marshall Hunt's seminar gave me that last idea.

  The clinic for abused girls was a legitimate front for Burton's Family Business. Reddy suggested this, claiming, "I learned the value of having a legitimate business as a front from the Parks. Their clinics fronted successfully for over a decade for their child bride business."

  Reddy also insisted that we charter our business off-shore, for tax reasons and to keep government interference in our operations at a minimum. I was still researching this and had a call in to Professor Marshall Hunt Jr. for a consultation.

  As I’ve mentioned, Dalisay has located a warehouse near the Oakland Naval yard and made a six month lease agreement with option to buy from the retired Chief Petty Officer who owned the place. His name was Rusty O'Malley and everyone called him Chief. He agreed to provide some labor to help her with electrical and plumbing renovations. She put her medical studies on hold and went to work getting beds, building a showers area, a kitchen, and the necessary medical equipment and personnel who, with the residents, helped us design the examination and operating rooms, the rest of the workspace, and a visitor's area. Reddy pitched in and added a security system that rivaled Fort Knox. Every member and resident was to be issued a photo and fingerprint identity card that synched with the metal detectors that arched over each entrance and window. Reddy personally ran detailed background checks on every job candidate. I noticed that he also asked Chip Moriga to run a check on Courtney Blaine Grey.

  "Speaking of unwanted guests," I said, "remember what I told you about how Penelope was approached by this Courtney Grey creep at the Seattle Seminar a few months ago?"

  "Yes."

  "Well, he came to Oakland to visit Penelope at Dalisay's Clinic," I said. "I have to give Penelope credit. For a girl her age, she has incredible instincts for identifying creeps. He suggested that she join him for a rock concert at the Oakland Center for the Performing Arts."

  She darted him with, "Aren't you a bit old for rock concerts?"

  "That little arrow stopped him in his ego."

  Penelope was the one who told me about this encounter with Courtney. "He kept asking questions about my health and was I raped, was that why I was at the clinic. I told him it was attacked but not raped. I think it finally dawned on him that a rescue clinic for abused girls was not a source of virgins. The bastard is what I call a volume skirt chaser. He doesn't really care how many times he gets shot down; he just wants his virgin piece of ass as often as he can get it."

  I knew about the Greys' penchant for droit du seigneur and their insatiable appetites for virgin girls. When I was at the Parks’ Home for Girls, I learned several Korean legends that place a high value on their women being virgins when they marry. However, so far we have not determined if Courtney was sent by the Greys to spy on us or if he is virgin shopping.

  Matte remained suspicious of Courtney’s motives. She and Sara-Clare O'Callahan soon became frequent volunteers at Dalisay's Clinic. They had raised funds on their many speaking engagements, almost enough funds for Dalisay to meet her first year's payroll and rent. Reddy tossed in funds for her medical supplies, beds, and the construction of showers. He set up the security system pro-bono. Hell, I thought, it all came out of what were now family funds. However, as the keeper of the books, I felt responsible for spending money wisely.

  Then Betty-Sue Curfew, matriarch of R.V. Curfew Incorporated, surprised Dalisay with the gift of a mobile Curfew van, fully equipped with first aid and communication gear as well as GPS and off road capability in case it was necessary to rescue or treat someone in a remote area. The van could also convert to being a twelve passenger personnel transport for such activities as visits to the redwoods on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge and frequent concerts and other activities for the shelter residents that the Clinic staff was already planning. As of the first of May, twelve girls became official residents. Penelope was one of them, as noted earlier, and Dalisay put her on the clinic payroll as a counselor on her thirteenth birthday.

  We never debated or even discussed the issue of who was the boss at BFB. Reddy operated on instinct and experience and made decisions accordingly. Dalisay was like Reddy in that she trusted her instincts; however, I was certain that with time and a proper education she would learn to value the scientific method. I was a trained scientist so it came as no surprise that I made decisions based on observation and scientific enquiry.

  Back at Skeleton Lake during summer three, I asked where our next client(s) might be coming from. While Reddy connected his computer and scanned through his email, I perused another set of documents he had just given to me to encrypt. As I finished encrypting the documents, I thought I had an answer to another mystery that had puzzled me for some time. The CIA agents had said during their visit two years ago that Reddy had listed me as his sole beneficiary for his government benefits. I felt uncomfortable with that bit of information then and now I knew why. He was already considering going 'off the reservation' and freelancing at the time of their visit.

  So what if he freelanced! And if he has violated his own Rule #2 about revenge, well, I wasn’t about to open that can of worms until he was ready to share. Suffice it to say for now, I still shudder whenever an assassination appears on the news on the big screen at the Beastro.

  Berkeley Hills, Shy and Comet were curled up next to Dalisay and me on the cushions in front of the fire place, and we all glanced up when Reddy came in from the kitchen sipping a cup of hojicha and carrying two more cups on a tray. He was silent for several minutes, deep in thought. Then he broke the ice, saying "I think it is time to fully retire from government service. I thank you both for making this a legitimate family business, emphasis on family."

  I can't really put into words what I am feeling at this moment. It is a mixture, make that a confusion of revenge, pride, fear, and once again, I am puzzling over whether I am becoming like my father. My emotions are a mess of thoughts about family and revenge.

  I was getting used to the fact that Reddy'd tell me eventually, if he thought I needed to know something like who shot Dr. Evel Park, Sr.. Was this an expression of filial piety, respect, trust, or mere curiosity on my part? For now I was engrossed in thoughts about starting up Burton's Family Business.

  "You’re ready Shannon" echoed in my head. Ready for what echoed back.

  Chapter 6: The Princess Zubaida Case

  More than any other, the Princess Zubaida case served as a start-up for Burton's Family Business. Soon we were expanding our primary activities to include rescuing child brides. Shortly after our return from our third summer at Skeleton Lake and the completion of Professor Marshall Hunt's seminar, Reddy was gone again, but for the first time in my memory we
knew where he was, in Singapore following up on Hamish’s clues about a three year old girl who may be Princess Zubaida's granddaughter.

  The secure kitchen phone rang, "Call for you, Reddy!" I shouted down the basement stairs out of habit. I wasn't sure he was home. He wouldn't let me put a PA or buzzer system in the basement to alert him. When I asked him why, he said, "If I'm here, I'm here." For a hi-tech dude like Reddy this seemed incongruous; however, I let it drop.

  "I'll be right up" came the reply.

  "Hi, Matte, what's up?" Reddy said as he put the kitchen wall phone on speaker so I could hear.

  "I have a colleague and close friend from Saudi Arabia with a problem that you might find interesting," Matte said. "Her name is Zubaida. She's a tiny but elegant woman with great charisma and she's a Saudi Princess. After a recent women's conference, Zubaida came to me in confidence with an appeal for assistance. Her granddaughter Zinni lost her child while she and her husband were living in Singapore. I'll leave the details to Zubaida. Can she reach you at this same number in Berkeley?" Reddy got the call from Princess Zubaida the next morning.

  Neither Matte nor Zubaida knew how infrequently Reddy had been home for the past months. I guess they just got lucky to find him at home that morning.

  "Salaam Alaikum, Mr. Burton," Princess Zubaida began. "Your friend and mine, Dr. Matte Morgan, has kindly contacted you on my behalf regarding a most sensitive family matter."

  "Wa Alaikum esalaam, Princess Zubaida," Reddy replied. ”I heard from Matte yesterday. How may I be of assistance?"

  "Please call me Zubaida. The princess is for formal occasions."

  "Everyone calls me Reddy."

  "Thank you, Reddy. May I start with my daughter Zinni? She became pregnant while she and her husband were living in Singapore. She began having complications at five months. The Parks’ Clinic was located only a few streets over from the compound they lived in, so Zinni went to the doctors there for diagnosis and treatment as they are ob/gyn specialists."

  "I am familiar with the place; it’s next to Clark Hatch's Fitness Center in the InterContinental Hotel on Middle Road. I work out there and enjoy a sauna whenever I am in Singapore," Reddy added.

  Zubaida continued, "On Zinni's first visit to Dr. Sincere Kim Park, one of the owners of the clinic, she was told that she must check in immediately as a caesarean birth was critical if Zinni and the baby were to survive. Her husband was out of town on business, so Zinni called her housekeeper and asked her to bring a change of clothes and toiletries. Then she immediately checked in for the next few days as per doctor's orders.

  "The next morning Zinni was rushed into emergency, sedated, and a c-section was performed by Dr. Sincere Park. When Zinni awoke, Dr. Park was at her side with a nurse, completing some writings on a clip board at the end of her bed. Dr. Park told her he was deeply saddened but they had not been able to save the baby. He said it was officially still-born. Zinni, to her credit, delayed her shock and grief long enough to ask to see the fetus. But Dr. Park told her the fetus had been cremated as was standard practice in such cases as hers."

  Zubaida finished her story, adding, "After Dr. Matte told me of your tale of rescuing your daughter Shannon, I couldn't help but see the similarities with my granddaughter's case. Officially still-born was the clue that made me think something might be amiss. And the Parks’ Clinics was more than a coincidence. The mother surviving was the main difference in the two cases. I am sorry to have to mention such a sensitive matter. Can we meet and discuss this?"

  Reddy met with Zubaida a few days later, and she repeated that Zinni thought the baby was still alive. A mother's intuition, she said, but also, in Zinni's words, it was Dr. Park's tone, it was so matter-of-fact. Then there was the reaction of the attending nurse after the surgery. Zinni suspects that the nurse was unusually nervous when Dr. Park said "still-born." She couldn't look Zinni directly in the eye. At first I attributed this lack of direct eye contact as an Asian thing. However, on second thought it just didn't add up for Zinni that her baby was not viable at five months. Why had they cremated the fetus so soon, without her husband's permission? Everything had happened too fast, arousing her suspicions.

  Reddy told me he asked Zubaida if she knew the nurse's name.

  "Zinni told me her nametag read Chao," Zubaida replied. To which I answered, "Nurse Chao will make an interesting interview."

  Reddy told the princess that anything done by or at the Parks’ Clinics was suspicious to his way of thinking. Then he agreed to look into the case starting the following week when he returned to Singapore. If he found anything, he would relay it via me. Then he asked for a blood type, hair color, eye colors of the mother and father, birthmarks, and if possible pictures of any other children they have for identification purposes if he found the baby alive. He gave Zubaida no assurances other than the shared knowledge of the Park Clinics modus operandi.

  Princess Zubaida continued, "I forgot one important detail. The Parks’ Clinic in Singapore did provide Zinni and her husband with a death certificate. I believe it has blood type on it; I'll fax it to you. Shukran Reddy and my best to Shannon.”

  Reddy started his investigation into Zubaida's case with the assistance of Hamish and his contacts in Singapore by investigating the details of the officially reported death of her granddaughter. He told me that official records reflect what the writer has been ordered to record, not necessarily the truth. As I researched further on the history of women in Korea's three kingdoms, I would become acquainted with just how historical documents were biased and not always accurate. Monks were told by royalty what to enter into the official records and accounts.

  It was Matte's request on Princess Zubaida's behest as well as her emotional appeal that led to Reddy's accepting the case. There went rule # 4 about accepting cases that are too close to family and home. And, Reddy may have been influenced by revenge, so rule #2 was also in jeopardy. By the way, this was the first case for which Reddy had me keep encrypted records, probably because it was case #1 in the BFB books.

  "Dr. Sincere Kim Park was the attending physician and was able to save the mother; however the c-section was too late to prevent the still-birth," the receptionist at Park's OB/GYN Clinic told Reddy. The doctor was not available to be interviewed; however, Nurse Chao would be on duty tomorrow.

  Nurse Chao was a shy nervous woman in her early twenties, petite and very pretty. She did not reveal anything new to Reddy; however, she did confirm Zinni's impression, in that she seemed to be hiding something. Officially the baby was still-born and all their efforts went to saving the mother - that was all Reddy got out of her during their first interview.

  Reddy decided to take another crack at Nurse Chao. He returned to the Park's Singapore clinic the next day only to find out that she was on extended leave and no one knew where she was, not even a home address, only a district and no phone number. His suspicions grew. He tried once more to approach Dr. Sincere Kim Park in a coffee house on Orchard Road, but his bodyguards discouraged him. That was as far as the clues in the death certificate took him.

  I recall that Reddy called out of the blue with an update on his progress or lack of it. He reported that he took a second look at Sara-Clare's TV documentary. It contains the clue we learned about from Dalisay that he followed about three young girls being sent to Guatemala and Saba Island from the PI. "That's why I’m in Luzon," he said, adding, "I don't want you to pass this info on to Zubaida and Zinni and falsely get their hopes up."

  Reddy continued," Zubaida's case was looking like it was going nowhere; however, this other case got me back to Singapore at exactly the right time to procure a set of documents, written in Mandarin, that I sent to Hamish for translation. Finally, I have a serious lead regarding the fate of Princess Zubaida's granddaughter. Hard work pays off in mysterious ways."

  One of the other girls Sara-Clare interviewed was kidnapped from Luzon and it was her case that Reddy was now tracking. That same girl called Sara-Clare and told her she hea
rd a rumor that a new girl, aged three, had arrived in southern Luzon. She said that the guerillas were making plans to sell her to a clinic in Singapore for transport to what they call the education center.

  Reddy reported that he arrived too late in Luzon. The girl had been sold. so he returned to Singapore, called again and told me that, while visiting his favorite Starbuck’s, he had noticed a petite figure scanning her smart phone messages. "She was wearing a flowing white outfit that looked like a traditional Vietnamese ao-dai, red high-heeled shoes, and carrying a red leather purse linked by a chain over her shoulder. Her long black hair contrasted with the outfit. I couldn't quite make out her face as she maintained a very shy attitude. In some districts of Singapore, the red shoes and red purse was the attire of prostitutes. This was about to be the eleventh girl fitting this general description that I followed this week. Why this one drew my attention escaped me at the time."

  The next day, Reddy spotted Ahmad Khamal at the same Singapore coffee house. He was with a young man who bore a striking resemblance to Edvard Grey. It was Courtney Blaine Grey whom we met in Seattle. A twelve year old PI girl seated between them was very much to Courtney's taste; in fact he had considerable experience initiating virgins into his sex games.

  "Had I not been tracking the girl in the red shoes, I never would have spotted Courtney nor found out that the girl was pregnant. It could be that she was about to be another victim of the Parks' treachery," Reddy said.

  "I couldn’t know for sure what they talked about as they spoke in hushed tones whenever anyone was near their booth by the rear exit. I didn't need evidence; I wasn't a policeman, not even a private detective. I was a sleuth looking into the death or disappearance of a granddaughter of a client.