Ask Ji about life insurance—PD just got a call about a claim. I will look into Rodger/landlord angle. Lin Yang + kerosene? Yikes. Be safe. Love you.
Sadie cleared her throat and blinked quickly to overcome the emotion the last two words of his text brought up. He did love her. Which made this all the more confusing for both of them. She thought about how Leann’s jealousy of Wendy had made her an impossible topic between Rodger and Leann. Granted, there were likely other things going on in their relationship, and Wendy wasn’t well, but Sadie still saw it as an example of what she didn’t want between her and Pete.
But she couldn’t focus on that right now. She had a very awkward conversation coming up and needed to be ready for it. As she walked toward Chinatown, and planned how she would respond to a variety of imagined scenarios once she arrived, she thought of the other information from Pete’s text message. Sadie didn’t remember seeing anything about a life insurance policy in the boxes of files.
But Ji had been sorting the messy box when he’d left yesterday. And a claim had been called in—had it just been this morning? Didn’t Min say Ji was at a meeting this morning?
She picked up her pace and hoped she could keep all the questions straight in her mind. Now was not the time to get lost in confusion.
Chapter 32
Sadie reached Choy’s around 11:15 and, with her hand on the door, she took a deep breath and prayed for . . . whatever she might need during this discussion. She walked in and blinked at the bright interior, just as she had the first time. The bright lights made her think of the oil lamps that had been removed from the tables for no good reason, lamps that used the same type of fuel that had been used on Wendy. The thought made her shudder.
There were some men seated around one table, although the rest of the restaurant was empty. Sadie scanned the room for Lin Yang, relieved that she wasn’t there at the moment. She headed toward the red double doors of the kitchen and was just raising her hand to push them open when they pushed back at her instead. She quickly moved out of the way; she’d been hit by a door before and had no desire to repeat the experience.
Lin Yang stepped through the doors with a teapot in one hand, her fingers clutching the handle a bit tighter when she saw Sadie. They faced off for a moment before Sadie found her voice.
“I’m here to talk to Ji.”
Lin Yang didn’t move and her expression remained hard, which detracted significantly from her natural beauty. “Ji is busy. Only employees are allowed in the kitchen.”
“He asked me to come.”
“Come back another time.”
Sadie stared the woman down. “He asked me to come right now.”
A bell jingled, and Sadie and Lin Yang both looked toward the door, where a young family stood blinking in the bright lights.
“Wait for me,” Lin Yang said, then stepped past Sadie. “Four?” she asked the new arrivals.
Sadie remained where she was, directly in front of the kitchen doors, and looked at the bamboo design in the plaster of the wall. She so wanted to head through those doors and find Ji, but she didn’t want to make a scene at his place of business. Or did she?
She watched Lin Yang hand out menus and fill the old men’s teacups before putting the pot on the table. This morning Lin Yang had been aggressive with her, but they had been alone—relatively; now Ji was in the next room, and Sadie knew even more than she’d known when she’d talked to Lin Yang earlier. In the time it took Lin Yang to return to her, Sadie had changed her goals for this meeting. She would talk to Ji, but she would also take advantage of the chance to talk to Lin Yang, too.
“As I said,” Lin Yang said, “now is not a good time. The lunch rush is starting. I will have Ji call you and decide another time that the two of you can talk, if that’s what you wish.”
“You went to see Wendy a few days before the fire.”
Lin Yang didn’t react at all; instead she crossed her arms and fixed Sadie with her signature cold look. “You know nothing,” she said simply.
“I also know about the lamps you took off the tables at about the same time that Wendy’s body went up in smoke. The same type of fuel in those lamps was used to—”
Lin Yang suddenly kicked at Sadie’s knees, throwing her off balance.
She put out her hands to catch herself, but Lin Yang grabbed one arm and twisted it behind Sadie’s back so that by the time Sadie fell hard to her knees, one arm was pinned behind her and the pain radiating from her shoulder left her speechless.
The exclamations of the customers in both English and Chinese didn’t drown out the hissing sound of Lin Yang’s voice in her ear. “You know nothing. Get out of my restaurant and don’t come back.”
Sadie was ready to agree to whatever Lin Yang asked; she could barely think straight for the pain shooting up her arm, through her shoulder, and down her back. But reason took over. Lin Yang was obviously desperate to chase Sadie away, and that in and of itself communicated how much she had to hide. But Lin Yang had reacted impulsively—they weren’t alone here.
“Ji!” Sadie screamed as loudly as she could, which, unfortunately, didn’t come out as strong as she’d have liked.
Lin Yang pulled her arm up higher, and Sadie just screamed that time, but it was louder than her first attempt.
One of the men at the table said something, and Lin Yang turned and yelled at him in Chinese without letting go of Sadie’s arm.
Sadie could barely breathe for the pain when she heard the spring-action hinge of the kitchen door and Ji’s voice at the same time. “What is going on out here?”
Lin Yang answered in Chinese. Ji responded in the same language.
Sadie waited for Lin Yang to let go of her arm, but she didn’t until Ji pulled her away. Sadie crumpled onto the linoleum, her torso trembling as she tried to put her arm back into a normal position. Her chest heaved for breath, and then people were helping her to her feet.
“Thank you,” she said once she’d been assisted to a chair by two Chinese men.
Ji and Lin Yang were still yelling at each other, and although Sadie couldn’t understand anything they said, their tone of voice and the expressions on the old men’s faces let her know that the discussion was serious. One man whispered to the other, who nodded before casting a sidelong look at the fighting couple, as though not wanting them to know he was watching.
“Are you all right?”
Sadie looked into the face of the father of the family who’d been seated a minute earlier. She looked past him to the mother and two children who stood by the door, looking scared. “I’m fine now,” she said. “Thank you.”
The man looked between Ji and Lin Yang. “We’re outta here. You should come with us.”
“He’s my nephew,” Sadie said, waving toward Ji, who was now screaming at Lin Yang, who was screaming back. Sadie forced a smile. “He won’t let anything happen to me.”
The man didn’t seem convinced, but a moment later he nodded and then ushered his family out of the restaurant. The Chinese men were right behind them, still whispering to each other and trying not to look at Ji and Lin Yang, who were nearly nose-to-nose. The veins in Ji’s neck were bulging. Although he was more than a foot taller than his tiny wife, her ferocity balanced them out.
Sadie stayed in her seat. She wasn’t sure her legs would hold her up if she tried to stand. She took a breath in anticipation of entering the foray from where she sat and then yelled, “I think Lin Yang lit Wendy on fire!”
Ji and Lin Yang snapped their heads toward Sadie. Silence. Sadie watched their reflexive expressions. Ji was shocked and confused. Lin Yang, on the other hand, was angry. She glanced at Ji and said something in a normal tone of voice, but Ji didn’t even look at her. He continued to stare at Sadie.
“What?” he said after a few more moments had passed.
Sadie quickly organized the details in her mind so she could present a solid hypothesis. “I think Lin Yang went to Wendy’s apartment and doused her body with
the kerosene you used to use in the lamps on the tables, and then she lit Wendy’s body on fire.”
Ji blinked, then turned to Lin Yang and spoke to her in English. Sadie could only assume it was for her benefit. “What is she talking about?”
“She’s as crazy as Wendy,” Lin Yang said, sending Sadie a hateful look. “I don’t know what she’s talking about. I had nothing to do with Wendy.”
Someone opened the front door, and they all turned to look at a young couple who stopped short just over the threshold.
“We are closed,” Ji said, walking toward them.
The young man pointed toward the sign lit up in the window. “But the sign says—”
Ji marched to the sign and turned it off. “We are closed.” He said it harshly enough that the potential customers backed away from him and exited without argument. Ji pulled the door closed behind them, turned the lock, and then faced Sadie, who was still sitting, rubbing her throbbing arm. Sadie had had surgery on this shoulder a couple of years ago; she hoped Lin Yang hadn’t damaged it too severely.
“Lin Yang didn’t have anything to do with Wendy,” Ji said. “She only met her a few times, and I had never even been to Wendy’s apartment until this week. Why would you make this kind of accusation?”
Sadie told him about Lin Yang being seen at the apartment, the lamps being removed from the tables around the same time, and the forensic tests that determined the accelerant used on Wendy’s decaying corpse was synthetic kerosene.
Lin Yang cut her off in Chinese and took a step toward her husband.
He glared at her, causing her to stop. “English,” Ji commanded her.
“I will not talk of this with her here.” She scowled at Sadie, who held her eyes without showing the intimidation she felt.
“Oh, yes, you will,” Ji said. “Or I will call the police and do nothing to help you when they arrive.”
He believes me, Sadie thought, shocked at how easily he’d sided with her.
Lin Yang took a breath, and her eyes narrowed when she spoke. “I did it for you.”
Ji visibly startled. “Me?”
Sadie held her breath.
“To protect you,” Lin Yang said flatly.
Ji startled a second time. “Protect me from what?”
“From the police. She was an evil woman, and I would not let her ruin our family.”
“What are you talking about?” Ji said, anger building with every word.
“I knew you wouldn’t stand for Min seeing her. I understand why you did it—you were protecting our family, as was I.”
Ji was quiet, his eyebrows furrowing, then lifting, then furrowing again as he thought through what Lin Yang had said.
Sadie watched them closely, her entire body tight in anticipation of what was unfolding before her and with anxiety about what might be coming next.
“You think I killed my mother?” Ji finally said.
“As I said, you were only doing what was best for our family. For Min.”
“Min?” he said, sounding more confused than ever. “What does Min have to do with any of this?”
Sadie waited for Lin Yang to say something, but she suddenly looked confused and kept her mouth closed. Had Lin Yang thought Ji found out about Min and Wendy and had killed his mother because of it? Did Lin Yang, then, burn the body to cover for him and then place the anonymous call to the fire department?
“Min met Wendy last year,” Sadie said, looking at Ji when she spoke. “Wendy had come to see you here at the restaurant but met Min instead. They struck up a friendship, and Min would go see her sometimes. You really didn’t know?”
“I’d have never allowed it if I’d known,” Ji said, his voice little more than a growl. “My mother was a terrible influence, but . . .” He turned to Lin Yang. “You think I would kill my mother?”
“She was horrible,” Lin Yang said, her tone justifying her accusation.
“But you think I would kill her?” His eyebrows went up, and he took a step away from Lin Yang. “You went to her apartment? You—”
Lin Yang began to speak in Chinese again, pleading.
“English!” Ji shouted at her, causing her to jump.
Sadie watched Lin Yang’s small hands clench into fists and felt herself tensing all over again in response. She knew better than to underestimate Lin Yang again. She was brutal when she wanted to be.
“I did it for you,” she said in a cold voice.
“You have never done anything for me,” Ji spat back. They glowered at one another, and Sadie took the silence as her chance to throw out another question. She looked at Lin Yang.
“Did you kill Wendy?”
Lin Yang waved that away as though annoyed. “She was long dead by the time I—” She caught herself mid-confession and pursed her tiny lips.
“You were seen at the apartment a few days before the fire,” Sadie said. “Maybe you’d gone there a month earlier, too.”
Lin Yang glared at her, and then turned to Ji as though looking for his support. He had his arms folded over his chest and stared at a spot on the floor; he said nothing. When Lin Yang realized he was not going to speak, she looked at Sadie with abject hatred in her eyes. “Of course I didn’t kill her. I didn’t know about Min seeing her until a few weeks ago.”
“How did you find out?” Sadie asked.
Lin Yang looked between Ji and Sadie, then lifted her chin slightly. “Someone called the restaurant asking for Wendy Penrose’s son. I asked to take a message. They said that they hadn’t heard from Wendy for some time and wondered if Ji or our daughter had spoken to her recently. I couldn’t understand why anyone would think one of our daughters would know anything about Wendy. And then I found a picture of Wendy on Min’s phone.”
Sadie felt her heartbeat racing. Someone had tipped off Lin Yang!
Lin Yang glanced at Ji again. “I didn’t want to upset you so I went to talk to Wendy myself, to tell her to leave us alone.” Sadie wondered if Lin Yang had planned to beat Wendy up too, but she didn’t say as much out loud. “Wendy was already dead,” Lin Yang finished.
“How did you get in the building?” Ji asked with skepticism. He wasn’t convinced that Lin Yang’s involvement was limited to the fire. “You have to be buzzed in.”
“When she didn’t answer my requests on the intercom, I waited until someone left, then caught the door before it closed. I didn’t break in.”
What impressive morality, Sadie thought to herself. Breaking in was wrong, but burning a corpse could be justified.
“And her apartment?” Ji asked.
“Was unlocked. When she didn’t answer, I tried the door and it was open.”
“Someone called you,” Sadie said. “Who?”
“They did not say and I did not care. I wanted none of Wendy in our life.” She made a dismissive gesture with her hand.
“Was it a man or a woman?”
Lin Yang glared at her, withholding her answer until Ji asked her the same thing.
“A woman.”
A woman? Leann was the first woman to come to Sadie’s mind. The only woman to come to mind. Sadie was so caught up trying to determine what in Leann’s hidden agenda would lead to the phone call that she missed the first part of what Lin Yang said next.
“ . . . and I was protecting my family.” She turned a softer look on her husband, who was so tense he looked as though he were carved from stone. “I thought you had killed her, and if it were discovered, we’d have lost everything. I have no regrets.” She said something else in Chinese.
Ji shot her an angry look, his jaw tight. “You had no qualms about my being a murderer?”
“She was a horrible woman,” Lin Yang said.
Something was wrong with Lin Yang. Very, very wrong. Even if their marriage wasn’t a happy one—and Sadie had seen nothing to convince her otherwise—their children were obviously their world, which made their family of utmost importance. Important enough for Ji to kill for, in Lin Yang’s mind. Important e
nough for Lin Yang to destroy evidence and clean up any proof that might lead the police to Ji, too.
“Did you call the fire department that night?” Sadie asked.
Lin Yang looked hesitant, then down at the floor. “I thought the alarm would go off in the building, but I waited across the street for a few minutes and nothing had happened. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.”
Sadie found Lin Yang’s sense of humility disturbing. She was proud of setting the fire, but seemed embarrassed to have made the call.
“Did you stage the burglary?” Sadie said, determined to learn everything she could from this conversation. She was quite sure that after this, Lin Yang would never speak to her again.
“I thought that would help the police,” she said, though it made no sense to Sadie. “If they thought it was for a robbery, they wouldn’t look elsewhere.”
Rather than consider Ji for killing his mother to prevent her from having a relationship with his daughter. Yes, something was very wrong with Lin Yang. She was impulsive and yet contemplative, logical but with distorted thinking.
Sadie was satisfied with what she’d learned about the fire and turned to look at Ji, waiting until he met her eye before she asked the question she had already asked him twice before. “Why did you leave the office yesterday, Ji? I thought it might have been because you’d discovered Min and Wendy’s relationship, but that wasn’t it, was it?”
Ji shook his head, then uncrossed his arms and reached into the wide front pocket of his chef’s jacket. He pulled out some folded papers. “I finished all the packing I could think to do after you left and moved everything to the living room. I thought I could finish sorting the box you’d been working on, but a few minutes into that task, I found this.” He unfolded the papers and held them out toward Sadie.
She stood and crossed the room toward him to retrieve them. She kept her eyes on Lin Yang’s balled fists. She now understood how she herself had gained the upper hand in so many prior altercations with people much bigger and stronger than herself: they’d underestimated her, just as she’d underestimated Lin Yang. Sadie was determined not to make that mistake again.
Fortune Cookie (Culinary Mystery) Page 26
