Fortune Cookie (Culinary Mystery)

by Josi S. Kilpack

  Sadie thought about that. “That makes sense. I can play that up.” She smiled at him, and Pete smiled back, a slightly hesitant and vulnerable look on his face. Sadie thought he was going to say something—worried he was going to say something—and so she hurried past him to get her purse from where she’d left it in the office. She put the strap over her head and then looked at the boxes still waiting to be taken to the hotel. She felt her shoulders slump. She wanted to be done.

  She heard Pete come into the room behind her. “We need to take these with us,” she said without looking at him. He was so close that she could lean back, just a little, and they would be touching. But she didn’t lean back. She didn’t know if he’d welcome it or what she’d do if he didn’t.

  “Why don’t we take them down with the dolly? You can wait with them while I bring the car around—like we did with the file boxes yesterday.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Sadie said, finally meeting his eyes. He held her gaze, and she could see the same hesitation she had to talk about uncomfortable things.

  “We’d better get going,” Pete finally said, stepping away and checking his watch. “Traffic will be a nightmare.”

  Choy’s was busy, and Lin Yang didn’t treat them as though she recognized them. Instead, she showed them to an empty table and put down the dinner menus, which were exactly like the lunch menus. She spoke in the same clipped and efficient speech she used for everyone. A younger daughter was running the cash register tonight. Min was nowhere in sight, and Sadie worried that she wasn’t there. Pete and Sadie had ruled out the eleven-year-old as the possible granddaughter seen at Wendy’s building, leaving just the older two as possibilities, though Sadie’s money was still on Min.

  The daughter working the register was wearing black ballet flats, not the Converse sneakers they were looking for. But surely she had more than one pair of shoes; it was silly to think they’d be able to identify which daughter had been there by her shoes alone.

  Pete ordered for them again, some of the same things they’d had yesterday but a few different items as well; they skipped the ribs. Each time the door to the kitchen opened, Sadie tried to get a glimpse of who was working back there, in hopes of spotting Min, but the angle wasn’t good. They finished their dim sum having only seen Lin Yang and the middle daughter.

  When Lin Yang brought them their check, Sadie asked if her daughters were working tonight, as though she didn’t see the girl at the register.

  “Min is working in the back; Pengma is at my sister’s. She’s only here in the morning.” She waved toward the register. “That is Sonia. Pay at the register.”

  Pete and Sadie shared a now-what look as Lin Yang moved quickly away from their table. Sadie had thought that Lin Yang would want to show off her girls, but clearly not.

  “That didn’t turn out, did it?” Sadie said as she set her napkin on her empty plate. She pushed away from the table before noticing someone coming toward them from the direction of the kitchen. Sadie looked up to see Ji looking sharp in an all-black chef’s jacket and matching pants. He had a black cap on his head as well, making him look very official. Sadie stayed in her seat and smiled up at him.

  “Your dinner was good?” he asked when he came to a stop beside their table.

  “Excellent,” Pete said. “Some of the best dim sum I’ve ever had.”

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Ji said with a nod. He had his hands clasped behind his back, which forced him into a rather formal stance. “Shots came for everything?”

  “Yes,” Sadie confirmed. “He was great. Thank you for setting that up.”

  Pete ate the final dumpling and laid his chopsticks next to his plate.

  “Now you two can return to Colorado.” Ji looked between them. “The wedding is coming up quickly, isn’t it?”

  Sadie felt a tightness in her chest at the mention of the wedding. She knew she was overreacting to think that the tension she and Pete continued to feel on this trip meant that the wedding was off, and yet the fear was there. She looked at her engagement ring, which had always brought a zing of excitement when she caught sight of the diamond sparkling in the light. It was plenty sparkly beneath the over-bright lights of the restaurant, but the zing fizzled. She didn’t know what to expect—sooner or later she and Pete would have to talk about everything again. What would come of that conversation?

  “Three weeks,” Pete answered for her.

  “It’s good the apartment was cleared out so quickly then. I’m sure you have a lot to do to get ready.”

  “Our flight doesn’t leave until Sunday,” Sadie said, wondering if he would suggest they see each other before she and Pete had to leave.

  “Ah, well, then you have a day to enjoy the sights. I’m glad I was able to meet you both. Thank you for coming in so we could say good-bye.”

  “I hope we can stay in touch,” Sadie offered. She didn’t mean to sound desperate but wanted to make sure he knew she hoped their relationship would continue after she left his city.

  “Certainly. Stop by if you come to San Francisco again.”

  Ouch. If that wasn’t a “Don’t call me, I’ll call you” answer, Sadie didn’t know what was. The door to the kitchen opened and Lin Yang came out. She looked at Ji and said something in Chinese, sounding snappish, like always. Ji looked over his shoulder and responded just as bluntly. He’d barely finished speaking when Lin Yang countered, earning a short response from Ji before he turned back to the table and attempted a polite smile, though his jaw was tight. “I need to get back to work. Your dinner is on the house tonight.”

  Pete lifted his eyebrows. “Oh, we fully intended to pay for—”

  “I insist,” he cut in, bowing slightly at the waist and taking the check Lin Yang had set down earlier. He slid it into the pocket of his jacket. “Enjoy the rest of your trip.”

  Sadie and Pete both thanked him, then watched him return to the kitchen. The door swung shut behind him but as it swung back, Min came out carrying a plastic tub. She came directly to their table, bowed slightly and began gathering plates, stealing glances at Sadie in the process. Sadie automatically looked at Min’s shoes: worn black Converse sneakers. She caught Pete’s eye before nodding toward the floor and then smiling at Min.

  “How are you, Min?” Sadie asked.

  “I’m good,” Min said, gathering more plates. “Did you enjoy your dim sum?”

  “It was excellent,” Sadie said. She hurried to think of something that would keep Min talking. “Your father tells me you’re going into engineering.”

  Min shrugged, glancing at Sadie in an appraising way. Sadie had seen the same look on Ji’s and Rodger’s faces when she’d met them and felt sure that Min was mentally comparing Sadie’s face to Wendy’s. Sadie let her look.

  “You live in Colorado?” Min asked after a few seconds.

  “The northern part,” Sadie said. “A small town called Garrison.”

  “That’s cool,” Min said, but not as though she really thought it was cool, more in the sense of wanting to say something. She opened her mouth to say something else but was cut off by words from her mother, who was serving a group at the next table. The people she was serving jumped at the sharpness of her tone, and Min’s mouth tightened the slightest bit, the only outward indication of what she was likely feeling on the inside. She bowed slightly toward Sadie and then to Pete as well. “I need to get back into the kitchen. Nice to see you again.”

  “You too,” Pete and Sadie said at the same time as Min turned and went into the kitchen. A few dishes remained on their table, but Sadie knew Min hadn’t come out to clear their table. It had been an excuse to get a final look at Sadie—her grandmother’s sister.

  “It’s her,” Sadie said under her breath.

  Pete nodded.

  A group of three came into the restaurant, and Lin Yang sat them at the only open table. She scowled at Pete and Sadie, giving Sadie the impression that she wanted them to leave so that their table could be availab
le. Pete seemed to agree because he stood, putting his napkin—and a generous tip—on the table.

  On their way out, Sadie glanced into the glass case, where two of Ji’s jewelry boxes lay on the bottom shelf. He’d said something yesterday about not making any more. Sadie hoped he’d change his mind about that. Talents and passions were what made life worth living when the burden of existence became heavy.

  “Don’t forget your fortune cookie.”

  Sadie looked up at Ji’s middle daughter, Sonia. Sadie and Pete made the slight detour to the basket of individually wrapped fortune cookies. Sadie pulled one out from the middle of the basket. “Thank you.” Pete grabbed one as well.

  “Thank you for coming to Choy’s,” the girl said. She looked more like her mother than Min did, but Sadie could still see Ji in her features as well.

  Sadie smiled and carefully tore open the thin plastic wrapper.

  “You guys sure do a great job here,” Pete said, waving toward the restaurant and seeming in no hurry to leave. “It’s some of the best dim sum I’ve ever had.”

  “Thank you,” Sonia said with that same nod of her head that Ji, Min, and Lin Yang had all made at one point or another. She flickered her eyes to Sadie, but although she was obviously curious, Sadie didn’t see the same comparing look on Sonia’s face as she’d seen on Min’s. “You’re my father’s aunt?” she asked. She flicked a glance toward her mother, who had her back to them as she passed out water glasses and teacups.

  “Yes, my name is Sadie.” She smiled in a let’s-be-friends kind of way. “And you’re Sonia?”

  The girl nodded, seemingly pleased by the attention.

  “And you’re thirteen?” Sadie asked. She was aware of Pete standing back from them, opening his cookie and allowing Sadie to conduct this line of questioning.

  “Fourteen in October,” Sonia said proudly.

  “That’s wonderful. I meant to ask Min, but did you ever meet your father’s mother? My sister.”

  Sonia glanced toward the tables again, and Sadie dared a look over her shoulder. Lin Yang must have gone into the kitchen. Sonia looked back at Sadie and shook her head.

  “Did your sisters ever meet her?”

  Sonia shook her head again. “Ba ba told us she wasn’t very nice.” She glanced at Sadie quickly, and her cheeks flushed pink.

  “He was right, she wasn’t very nice,” Sadie said, smiling to show she wasn’t offended. She heard the kitchen door open and suspected Lin Yang was back, but likely with plates she needed to take to customers, buying Sadie a little more time. “Did he have any pictures of her at your house?” Sadie wanted to confirm that it wasn’t through a photo that Min was making her comparison. Any bit of validation would help at this point.

  “No, ma’am,” Sonia said. “I’ve never seen a picture of her.” She looked past Sadie and straightened slightly before lowering her eyes demurely. “I need to get back to work, ma’am.”

  “Of course,” Sadie said, stepping back from the counter and certain she could feel Lin Yang glaring at them. She held up her fortune cookie and smiled. “Thanks again.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Pete pushed the door open for her a few seconds later and then kept it open for a group of businessmen heading inside. One of the men asked his opinion on the restaurant. After Pete said it was excellent, the man asked for a suggestion on what to order. While Sadie waited for Pete, she broke her cookie in half and pulled out the paper.

  A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something.

  When Pete had finished playing doorstop and restaurant critic, he joined her near the green dragon statue. She handed him her fortune and he read it.

  “Huh,” he said, handing it back to her. He held up his already-read fortune with flourish and cleared his throat dramatically. “‘Go take a rest. You deserve it,’” he read, then sighed. “I get the worst fortunes. Yours are pretty good, though.”

  Sadie read hers again.

  “So what’s your hunch at the moment?” Pete asked.

  Sadie was a bit startled by the question, but she considered it seriously. Did she have a hunch at the moment? After a few seconds, she looked up at Pete. “I think Min will talk to me if I can get her alone.”

  Pete smiled and tucked his fortune into his shirt pocket while Sadie slid hers into the front pocket of her purse alongside her fortune from yesterday. “I think you’re right.”

  Chapter 22

  Pete looked up and down the street, then put his hand on Sadie’s arm before heading to the left of the restaurant. “There’s got to be an alley behind Choy’s, right?”

  “Probably,” she said. “Why?”

  He scanned the line of buildings ahead of them on Sacramento Street. “I can’t think of anywhere else we might be able to catch her. Ji and his family live above the restaurant, so it’s not like we’ll catch her on her way home after her shift. But people are always coming and going in the back, right?” He met Sadie’s eyes. “I saw how she looked at you; she knew Wendy—and then Sonia didn’t seem to know Wendy at all.”

  Sadie was impressed that he’d followed what she was doing so perfectly, though she knew it shouldn’t have surprised her.

  They turned the corner, and Pete spied the entrance to an alley that ran behind the row of buildings. He picked up the pace, and Sadie hurried to keep up with him. The alleyway was narrow and dark—creepy—so Sadie stayed close to Pete until it opened up onto a street between the buildings that rose three or four stories.

  There were laundry lines stretching between buildings and Dumpsters lining the brick exteriors on either side. Cars were parallel parked, leaving just enough room for a garbage truck—at least, Sadie hoped there was enough room for a garbage truck. It would be a tight fit.

  On the ground level, there were doors marked with Chinese characters, and sometimes English words, that indicated what business they belonged to. Several people were coming and going from different establishments. Pete told her to stand straight, don’t look around too much, and try to look like they belonged there. As far as Sadie could tell, they were the only white people, but everyone was going about their business and not paying them any attention.

  They found the door to Choy’s, and Pete and Sadie hid on the side of a nearby Dumpster set a foot or so away from the wall. The gap gave them a good view of the doorway to Choy’s, and the shadows of the building kept them well hidden. It stunk, but Sadie didn’t comment about it. As far as stakeouts went, this wasn’t too bad. She’d take stinky over long and boring, which is what most stakeouts were.

  After nearly fifteen minutes, the door to Choy’s opened, and both Sadie and Pete peeked through the space between the Dumpster and the wall, but it was just a young man throwing away a bag of garbage. They pulled back and he went inside. They remained hidden for another few minutes before the back door opened again. They only peeked long enough to identify Lin Yang talking on the phone before pulling back quickly. They listened as she spoke to someone in Chinese, her voice not as sharp as it had been when she talked to her family in the restaurant. Sadie wished she knew what Lin Yang was saying. At one point she laughed, which was a sound Sadie had never expected to hear from her. The door opened again. Lin Yang’s voice turned sharp, and a younger, softer voice conversed back and forth with her.

  Pete took a turn peeking. When he came back, he mouthed “Min.”

  The door shut and everything went quiet. After a moment, they peeked around the side of the Dumpster to see if both women had gone back inside. Min, however, was sitting alone on a crate next to the back door, doing something on her phone. Pete and Sadie exchanged a look, and Pete nodded toward Sadie, indicating that she should go talk to her and that he would stay behind the Dumpster.

  Sadie nodded—she didn’t want Min to feel ambushed—and took a breath. She was just stepping out of the shadows when the back door opened again. She quickly stepped back into her hiding place, then looked at Pete with raised eyebrows when she heard Min giggle.


  Together they crouched down and peered through the Dumpster-building gap again. Min had her arms up around the neck of the same boy who had taken out the trash earlier. Their foreheads were pressed together as they whispered about something. The boy’s hands were at her waist, and then he leaned down and kissed her sweetly. Min looked around as though to make sure they were alone, but he pulled her closer to the wall—more in view of Sadie and Pete—and Min finally kissed him back.

  Sadie moved away in order to give them some privacy, but Pete didn’t until she slugged him in the shoulder. He turned to her with a goofy grin on his face, and Sadie rolled her eyes. “What do we do?” Sadie mouthed to him.

  Pete shrugged, then reached for her and pulled her against him, quick and fast. Sadie pushed against his chest and shook her head. This was not the time. They were behind a Dumpster, for heaven’s sake.

  The young couple continued to speak softly to each other, then went quiet for a few seconds before the door opened again. When Sadie peeked a second later, she saw that Min was alone, sitting on the crate and playing with her phone again. They hadn’t missed their opportunity!

  Sadie pushed away from grabby-fingers Pete and tried again—deep breath, shoulders back, step away from the Dumpster.

  Min was the picture of innocence as Sadie approached and didn’t look up from her phone until Sadie spoke. “Hi, Min.”

  The young woman startled and jumped to her feet. “Um, hi,” she said. She slid the phone back into the pocket of her apron. “Uh, what are you doing here?”

  “I wanted to talk to you.”

  “How long have you been out here?” Min asked nervously.

  “What’s your boyfriend’s name?” Sadie had meant for the question to reflect that she was cool about the boyfriend but, at the expression on Min’s face, she suspected that Min had taken the comment as a threat.