by Vivien Chien
“I knew it!” I said, a little too loudly. “I knew he couldn’t have done it!”
“Lana…” His jaw clenched. He glimpsed around to see if anyone was staring. “As of now, my team and I are opening an investigation, and we want to go over the crime scene again before releasing it. With this new information, we may find something we missed before. At least that’s the hope.”
“So this means Brandon is in the clear.” Mild relief washed over me as I said it. Even if he didn’t commit the crime, he was still guilty of something. Staging a murder felt too calculated to be a random act of violence. Whoever this person was wanted Brandon to look guilty.
“And I need you to stay out of this. No digging around like you did with the Mr. Feng case.”
It was almost as if the man could read my thoughts. “But—”
“No buts, Lana.”
We continued our walk, the wheels in my brain moving at full speed. I turned to him as we reached the door to the property office. “It’s just that…”
“Just what?” I could see the patience slipping from his eyes.
I stared at the door to the office. “Ian’s inside talking to Brandon’s ex-wife and her lawyer.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And?”
“Wait, you knew?”
“Of course I knew, didn’t you?” He cocked his head at me. “You were friends with them, right? Isabelle never mentioned it?”
My face reddened. “No, I didn’t know.”
“His parents told us about her when we notified them of what happened. I guess she’s the executor of his estate.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.” I shook my head.
“That she’s the executor of the estate?”
“No! That he had an ex-wife.”
“Lana, I thought you knew. How was I supposed to know that you didn’t know? You guys were friends … I just assumed.”
My shoulders slumped.
“So what’s the big deal?”
I gawked at him. “The big deal is that she’s in there talking with Ian about taking over the property the day after her ex-husband dies. She just happens to be the executor of his estate. They’re divorced … how does that even happen? And you don’t find that the least bit suspicious after what you just told me?”
He contemplated this, then glanced up at the door. “Maybe I better take that soup in. It wouldn’t hurt to join their chat.”
* * *
After I left Adam with the soup, I returned to the restaurant in the hope of keeping busy. Of all the days to be slow, of course it had to be today. With no customers to tend to, I paced in front of the entrance to the restaurant, waiting for the door of the property office to open. In an effort to occupy myself, I called Megan to fill her in on everything that Adam had told me.
“Maybe they just forgot to mention it,” Megan suggested when I told her about the mystery wife.
“How do you forget something like that?” I asked. “We talked about everything else. She told me all the details of how they met and how long they’d been together. Their first apartment, the way he proposed. Everything.”
“Do you think maybe she didn’t know?”
I thought it over. “I guess it’s possible.”
“You did say you thought he was keeping secrets from her all the time about where he was going. So why not about his past, too?”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“That’s usually the case.”
I pretended to gag. “Careful, your head might not fit through the doorway the next time you try to walk through.”
“Har har.”
I snickered into the phone.
“Well, what now. I mean, we have to look into this, right? Brandon was clearly being set up by someone. Do you think it could be this ex-wife?”
I thought about how Adam had just instructed me to stay out of it. “Maybe. I don’t know … shouldn’t we let the police handle this one?”
“Things got a little dicey toward the end when we were digging into the Mr. Feng case, but would they have solved it without our snooping around?”
She had a point, but I didn’t have time to think about it at that moment because the door to the property office started to open. Adam slipped out, mouthing something over his shoulder.
“Ooh! Adam just left … I’ll call you back and let you know what happened.”
“Okay, we can talk about this more later, but just one thing before you go.”
“Yeah?”
“Does he look dreamy today?”
I hung up to the sound of Megan snickering.
Adam’s demeanor had changed since he’d entered the office, and the expression on his face led me to believe his hair might light on fire at any minute.
“Well…” I prodded. “What’s going on in there?”
“That woman is a piece of work, that’s what’s going on in there.” He tugged at his tie as he approached me, loosening the knot. “She had the nerve to tell me how to run my investigation. My investigation.”
“What did she say?”
Before he could tell me anything, the door to the property office flew open and Constance Yeoh stormed out with her lawyer in tow. He scrambled to keep up with her long strides. Ian stood in the threshold with his hands behind his back, seemingly dissatisfied.
Constance marched up to us—Godzilla-style—and planted a gloved hand on her hip. “Mark my words, Detective, that property is mine, and if anything in there is damaged from your little investigation, I’ll be coming to the police station for compensation.”
“Constance,” her lawyer whispered. It was the first thing I’d heard him say since they’d shown up. “Maybe it isn’t wise to speak to the detective in that tone.”
She held a finger up to his face. “Don’t you tell me how to talk to someone. I pay you to work for me, remember?”
The lawyer put his head down and took a step back.
“Ms. Yeoh,” Adam gritted through his teeth. “I can guarantee the property will be just fine when we’re done with it, but I cannot let you in until my team is finished. Those are the rules.”
“What’s left to look at?” Constance said, inching toward City Charm, giving the exterior a disgusted glare. “The bodies are gone … what more do you want?”
“We’re collecting evidence,” Adam said in a flat voice, refusing to elaborate. “Until we’re certain that we’re finished, nothing can be contaminated by an outsider. My team is very careful.”
“What evidence could possibly be left? My ex-husband killed that poor, moronic girl and then shot himself. Case closed.”
“Constance…” her lawyer pleaded.
Adam’s neck began to turn red. “Actually, Ms. Yeoh, the case is not closed. New evidence has been discovered revealing that your ex-husband is not responsible for either death.”
Her eyes bulged. “What do you mean, ‘new evidence’?”
“Brandon Yeoh is not responsible for these murders. Someone set him up to take the fall for this, and we are reexamining the crime scene to see if anything was left behind that might lead us to the actual killer.” He crossed his arms over his chest; a tiny sliver of self-satisfaction fell over his face as he watched her struggle for words.
She dismissed him with a flick of her wrist. “Fine, whatever. Collect your evidence. But trust me, I’ll be going over everything with a fine-tooth comb and if there is anything disrupted from your … equipment, then I’ll be speaking directly with the chief about you, Detective.” She snapped her fingers and sauntered out with her lawyer tagging along behind her.
Poor guy.
Ian came up behind us, shaking his head. When they were officially through the entrance doors, he gave a low whistle and said, “That woman is scarier than Donna.”
I turned to glare at him. “What?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
Adam nodded. “I have to agree. Mrs. Feng can be quite intimidating from what I’ve seen, but this
woman is on a whole other level. Completely out of control.”
“Is it true what you said?” Ian asked. “Brandon is really in the clear?”
“Yeah, he absolutely did not kill himself, and him killing his wife is not likely considering the circumstances. Someone took time to make him look guilty.”
“But I still don’t understand … how could she possibly own the property?” I asked. “Wouldn’t it go to next of kin or something like that?”
“She has a will stating that at the time of Brandon’s death, he relinquishes everything to her. And a living trust that gives her the right to take it over as soon as possible,” Ian explained.
“Her?” I asked. “But what about his own wife?” Not that it mattered, but I couldn’t imagine how someone’s ex could be in charge of their personal matters after death.
“Isabelle’s not listed on any of the documentation.” Ian sighed. “It appears that Brandon may have never had his papers updated after the divorce. It’s something we’ll have to look into. We’ll have to make sure there’s not another will out there somewhere.”
“So what are you going to do?”
He shrugged. “I have to discuss this whole thing with Donna and our lawyers. Find out if there’s anything we don’t know.” He checked his watch. “Speaking of, I have to meet with Donna soon. I should get going.”
Adam and I returned to the restaurant, standing outside the doors. He looked down at me; his neck and face were flushed. “I can never say that any of my encounters with you are dull.”
“That’s a good thing, right?” I cringed at the hopefulness in my voice.
He chuckled. “I suppose it is.”
* * *
That night when I was getting ready to sleep, I paced around my bed, thinking about everything that had been going on. Maybe Megan was right; maybe I was trying to convince myself that I wanted to stay out of the investigation. I did, didn’t I?
But how could I, I argued with myself. I stared at my mattress. Kikko watched me with anticipation. She could sense I was up to something.
I lifted the edge of the mattress, and Kikko sprang up, jumping to the floor.
I pulled out a spiral notebook with worn edges. It was my “detective” notebook. I had used it to help me sort my thoughts during the Mr. Feng ordeal.
Rifling through the notes I’d made at that time made the whole thing seem surreal. When I’d begun, I had no idea how much I would uncover and where it would lead me.
Before going to bed, I turned to a fresh section in the notebook and wrote out the details of what I knew so far, which wasn’t a lot. I made notes about the murders and it being staged as a murder/suicide. After that, I jotted down my feelings about Constance Yeoh and what I thought her involvement might be. So far all I could come up with was either jealousy or greed. She seemed to want that property pretty badly; I just couldn’t figure out why. A woman of her means should be able to attain anything she wanted … so why that store?
Lastly, I wrote a brief description of my mystery man … Captain Kirk. As far as I knew, he was the last person seen with Brandon. Did that have any significance?
When I was satisfied, I stashed the notebook back under my mattress and curled up underneath my blankets, Kikko burrowed behind my knees.
As I fell asleep, I started to think about how I could hear Megan saying, I told you so.
CHAPTER
9
“Laaaaa-na,” my mother yelled into my ear.
My phone had rung when I was in that place right between consciousness and sleep. I was beginning to think I would never have another solid night of sleep again. The first call to let me know that they made it safely was fine, but was she planning on calling me this early the entire time they were gone?
“Mom!” I yelled back.
Kikko popped her head out from under the blanket and snorted. I guess she didn’t like her sleep being disturbed, either.
“Ai-ya! Why did you not tell me about what happened next door?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, sitting up in bed. My heart began to race.
“About the Yeohs.” By the tone in her voice, I could tell that she was losing her patience.
“Oh … that.” I shifted under the covers.
“Yeah, ‘oh that,’” my mother spat. “What happened?”
I went through the story, explaining the new developments Adam had informed us of earlier that day. Every couple of minutes she gasped. I ended with, “I didn’t want you and Dad to worry. We have everything under control at the restaurant. And the police are almost finished there, so everything’s pretty much back to normal.” Except the killer was still on the loose. But I wasn’t going to point that out to her.
“I told you. I told Mr. Feng. I told Mr. Sung. I told your daddy. That store is not lucky.”
“Mom,” I whined. “Don’t be so superstitious. That could have happened anyplace.”
“But it happened next door. Nothing stays there, nothing is good there.” My mother started screaming in Mandarin. I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but I caught the words “fish” and “taxi.”
“What’s going on over there?” I asked. “What are you talking about?”
“Your a-ma wants to go shopping for fish. She is making fish stew today.”
“Ew.” I crinkled up my face as if she could see me. “Are you going to leave the head on, too?”
My mother grumbled. “Do not change the subject, Lana. You need to be careful. If I did not talk to Anna May, I would not know anything. What if you were in trouble? How can I help you when you don’t tell Mommy everything that is happening there?”
So Anna May had ratted me out after all. I’d have to remember to give her a good scolding. “Mom, we’re fine. There’s no trouble to get into. Adam has been stopping by and he won’t let anything happen to me. Plus, the Mahjong Matrons gave me a jade bracelet for good luck. Everything will be fine. And don’t forget, Peter is with me all day … and wait a second … I thought A-ma was having problems. She’s making stew now?”
My mother paused before answering. “Everything here is okay. We will take care of her. You worry about you.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.”
“Is the policeman your boyfriend now?”
“No, I told you, we just had dinner a few times. It’s no big deal.”
“Policemen are okay, but I wish you would meet a doctor … or a lawyer. Someone who can take care of you.”
“Mother…”
“Okay, okay, you go to sleep, I will call you later this week. If something happens, you call Mommy right away, okay?”
“Yes, Mother, I will call you if anything else happens.”
Unable to relax after our phone call, I stared at the ceiling, trying to clear my mind. I tried counting sheep, singing the alphabet … twirling my hair, but nothing worked. I was starting to feel hopeless. Or even worse … cursed. Every time I thought things were getting better, something else happened. And not just small, silly things.
I reached for the jade bracelet on my nightstand and slipped it on my wrist. Evil spirits, begone.
* * *
I woke up a minute before the alarm went off, but I didn’t bother getting up. I wasn’t looking forward to the employee meeting or another day at the plaza in general. Who knew what the day might bring?
I trudged through my morning routine, stalling at the coffeemaker for longer than necessary. Megan was still asleep since she’d worked the late shift the night before, and I could hear her snoring through the door.
Snowfall had been nonexistent overnight and temperatures remained below zero, as promised. I listened to the weather report on the way to work as the newscaster talked with enthusiasm about breaking winter records. I was not equally amused.
More important, at what point in my life had I started listening to the weather report?
When I arrived at Asia Village, the lot was filled with cars and the plaza was buzzing with employees. Everyon
e was gathered near the entrance of the property office in small huddles. A few folding chairs had been set out for the elderly employees to sit during the meeting. Mr. Zhang from Wild Sage sat front and center, his head nodding back and forth in a slow rhythm. Esther sat next to him, chattering in his ear, and I questioned if she counted as one of the elderly.
News had traveled fast about the recent update to the investigation, and the whole room was abuzz with gossip. As I passed the Yi sisters, I overheard them rambling off something about what had been reported on the six o’clock news the previous day.
Ian and Donna were whispering between themselves off to the side, and I sighed with relief knowing that the meeting hadn’t started yet.
Someone tugged on my arm, and I turned to find Kimmy staring back at me.
“They’ve been arguing like that for fifteen minutes,” she huffed. “I have to pee and I know the minute I go to the bathroom, they’re going to start the meeting. I wish they would hurry up already.”
“Have you seen Peter?”
She threw her hands up. “Why does everyone automatically assume that I’ve seen Peter? I’m not his keeper, you know.”
I raised a brow at her. “What are you talking about? All I asked was if you’ve seen him. I don’t know if he’s here yet.” I stood on my tiptoes and searched the crowd.
“Oh, well … no, I haven’t seen him.”
I gave her a sideways glance. “Everything okay? You seem a little on edge this morning.”
She brushed a strand of hair from her face. “Yeah, fine. I’m just tired of everyone asking what’s going on with me and Peter. We’re just friends.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“It’s like … I don’t know. If people keep saying stuff, then he’s gonna pull the guy card and disappear or whatever.”
“What are they saying?” I asked.
“Just … stuff.”
“Are you interested in him?”
She turned away. “I don’t know. He’s okay, I guess.”
The crowd began to quiet, and when I turned to face the front, Donna was shooing Ian off to the side. She took her place at the head of the crowd, looking elegant yet professional in her cream-colored pant suit.
