by Ovidia Yu
That was not strictly true. Salim’s mother was almost as good as Aunty Lee at making the most of good quality ingredients and people. In his few days off he had already dismantled and cleaned behind the washer-dryer and above the ceiling fans, and now she was talking about a friend and neighbour who could really use the same help … especially as she only had three daughters and no sons to help her … three beautiful and smart daughters.
‘What do you want me to do?’
The rolling of a poh piah at the dining table seems simple. But that is only because of all the work that has already gone into preparing the individual ingredients for each diner to select for each spring roll. Aunty Lee started to put together her ingredients. But where to start?
Aunty Lee knew there was no point trying to phone Nina. Nina’s mobile phone was being held by the police as evidence against Salim. With some trepidation she called Ying. If Seetoh hadn’t killed Julietta, he would be feeling terrible. And if he had?
‘Julietta had another mobile phone, didn’t she? Other than the one that Beth took away from her?’
‘What difference does it make now?’
‘No difference at all. But if she didn’t have a phone, she couldn’t get in touch with you, right?’
‘I got her another phone. But that was because she needed to be able to talk to her children. And she was worried that in an emergency they would not be able to reach her. When I came to see her she would charge it in my taxi.’
‘Do you know where she kept it?’
‘Maybe whoever killed her took it.’
‘If not?’
‘If not then it will still be in the house. She hid it somewhere in her room, where Miss Beth wouldn’t find it.’
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Beth and Nephew
Beth was surprised when Aunty Lee, Helen Chan, and Fabian turned up at the Jalan Kakatua house in Helen’s pale blue Jaguar. Fabian was accompanied by a rolling suitcase and matching cabin bag. Both pieces of luggage bore Singapore Airlines Business Class labels that suggested he had not been left as short on funds as he claimed.
‘Jonny is not here,’ Beth said. But Aunty Lee could tell from the worried way she glanced at the stairs behind her that she was lying; Jonny was somewhere in the house. It looked like poor Beth, who had spent years trying to expose Patty for lying, was now lying for Patty’s husband. Aunty Lee, who didn’t approve of lying for anyone other than herself, felt a twinge of genuine pity for Beth.
Beth stepped out and pulled the door shut behind her. ‘It’s been a stressful time, and I am very busy. Sorry to be rude, but what do you want?’
‘Aunty Helen is going away with her husband and doesn’t want to leave me alone in the house,’ Fabian announced with sing-song truculence. ‘And Aunty Rosie doesn’t want me alone in the house with her. So I am coming back to stay here.’
‘Helen’s still upset after that burglary,’ Aunty Lee leaned in confidentially. ‘So hard to move on. But I told her that if her husband can buy new electronics she can jolly well buy new jewellery, right? And her husband got this motion sensor burglar alarm that videos everything so she doesn’t even want to go downstairs without putting on her make-up.’
Helen gave Aunty Lee a sour look. ‘Anyway, we don’t want to leave Fabian alone in the house. It’s not that we don’t trust him. But the stupid security system is so complicated, and if you don’t remember the code in time the police car comes and scolds you for wasting their time.’
Aunty Lee was impressed by Helen’s elaboration. Beth seized on her mention of the police.
‘The police told Fabian to stay at your house. If he moves out, they will put him back in prison!’
‘I told the police I was coming here to stay in my old room, and they said okay.’
That was not strictly true, but would be true once Aunty Lee got back to Salim.
‘And I am bringing Nina home with me now,’ Aunty Lee said firmly. ‘So you will have space for him.’
‘You are being unreasonable,’ Beth said flatly. ‘We had an agreement. You can’t just march in here at any time of day and demand your servant back. Remember her work permit complication? Does Selina know you’re here?’
‘This is not Selina’s business.’ In fact, Aunty Lee had not seen or heard from Selina since the news that Julietta’s body had been found. Was she backing away for once? ‘Nina is working for me, not for Selina. Nina!’ Aunty Lee called out, shouting over Beth’s protests. She thought she heard a muffled response, but couldn’t make out the words. At least Nina didn’t sound hurt or upset!
‘I told you Nina is busy. This is my house, and you are making a nuisance of yourself.’ Beth stepped backwards and stood with her back against the door, decisively blocking Aunty Lee, who had tried to step around her. ‘Why are you desperate to have her back in your house? Rosie, this is not healthy you know. You should talk to a therapist.’
‘I need her to come back and sort out my computer. She has to put up next week’s lunchtime specials. I don’t like getting outside people to do my website because I heard those IT youngsters are always trying to put up cartoons of naked politicians doing funny things.’
Any normal person, Aunty Lee was sure, would have asked which politicians and what things. Beth zoomed in on the website.
‘No computers. That’s another thing I must warn you about. You should never let them go online. That’s how they connect and pass on secrets to each other!’
‘Secrets? You mean like my recipes? Nina would never tell anybody else my recipes! Has she been cooking for you here? If she cooked my recipes for you then she must come back and cook your recipes for me!’
There was a pause. Aunty Lee wondered whether she had gone too far. But apparently Beth put no limits on the stupidity of her late sister’s friends.
‘You should just get a recipe book. Anyway, I will tell Nina you want her to go back. But I warn you, she may not want to. I don’t think she wants to be around that policeman who is stalking her. These foreigners are always scared of the police. Nina is better off here, and you are better off not getting involved. You will both thank me later.’
‘You let me see her I can say thank you to you now.’
‘Not now,’ Beth said. ‘This is the middle of her work day.’
Beth must still miss the strict schedules of her schooldays, Aunty Lee thought.
‘Then when?’
‘When she finishes. That girl is so slow and so clumsy. I’m sure it’s on purpose. Your fault, for giving her too much freedom. She’s clever. You can never trust these clever ones; they are the most lazy. They are always watching you to see what they can get away with.’
Aunty Lee could not deny Nina’s cleverness. She remembered how quickly Nina got things done once she realized that Aunty Lee was more interested in getting things done than keeping her helper fully occupied … as Aunty Lee suspected Beth of being.
‘Tell you what,’ Helen said. ‘I’m not in any hurry. Rosie, why don’t you call Mycroft and tell him to pick you up from here for your meeting with Cognate? I will wait here and settle Fabian in. Then I will drive Nina home when she’s finished whatever.’
The mention of a Cognate meeting upset Beth. She opened the door and started backing in. ‘I’ve had enough of your nonsense!’ She clearly intended to close it after her.
Fabian, moving surprisingly quickly, stuck his foot in the door. ‘I have to stay here. I’ve already given this address to the police station.’ Though a little breathless he sounded petulantly bored as usual. ‘I have to be here when they come to check.’
Beth Kwuan looked indecisive. ‘I must talk to Jonny first.’
This was the opening Aunty Lee had been waiting for. ‘Do you have to ask Jonny Ho permission to let Fabian stay in his own mother’s house? Beth … has that man been threatening you? Are you scared of him?’
‘Of course not! That is so ridiculous! So absurd! You are mad. Please leave at once. Get out of my house, all of you!’
‘I want to see Nina first.’ Aunty Lee knew that she sounded querulous and unreasonable. ‘If I don’t see her, I’m not leaving.’ She might be embarrassing Helen and Fabian but she didn’t care. In fact, neither of them was backing down, and they seemed as interested in seeing Nina as she was.
Beth shrugged ungraciously. She tried to push the door shut, but a piece of Fabian’s luggage had joined his foot and the door stayed open. Beth sighed exaggeratedly and said: ‘Wait here.’
They watched her go up the stairs with slow, forceful steps, then heard her bang on the door, then say loudly: ‘somebody wants to talk to you,’ as she unlocked it.
Aunty Lee could not hear what Beth was muttering to Nina as she walked her Nina down the stairs. But she was so glad to finally see Nina again that she didn’t care.
Nina was all right. That was all that mattered, Aunty Lee thought, hurrying to her. She immediately forgot all the dread dark thoughts that had been swarming inside her head. Of course Nina could look after herself!
‘Oh Nina! I missed you so much! You must come back. I won’t nag you anymore.’
Nina looked years older and much more tired compared to the last time Aunty Lee had seen her. The whites of her eyes were yellow, her cheeks hollow, and face lined with new wrinkles. Dehydrated, Aunty Lee thought, looks like she has not been eating or sleeping enough.
‘I cannot go back to your house until I finish my work here, Madam,’ Nina said mechanically. Clearly these were words Beth had told her to say, and just as clearly Beth didn’t like the way she had said them because she pinched the flesh on Nina’s arm and twisted it.
Aunty Lee was struck by how automatic it was. And how it barely seemed to register with Nina. She batted Beth’s hand away. ‘Nina, you must come back with me right away!’ Aunty Lee said. ‘I need you!’ She felt tears welling up in her eyes.
Nina stepped forward and put her arms around Aunty Lee, murmuring comforting words to her.
Beth watched suspiciously, muttering: ‘Nonsense,’ and ‘No self-respect’ to no one in particular.
Helen looked confused but not uncomfortable. She didn’t know what was going on, but was quite willing to wait and watch.
And Fabian sighed with exaggerated satisfaction: ‘This is better than reality TV.’
‘I must stay here and finish my work first,’ Nina said, stepping back.
Beth’s thin lips straightened in triumph.
‘After I finish I will come back to your house,’ Nina continued. ‘I will try to come tonight. Please can you tell my friend that I lost my phone? That is very important.’
‘Not tonight, tonight is too soon … ’ Beth started to say.
‘I’ll wait for you,’ Helen said brightly. ‘Go and finish whatever you have to do … I’ll even help. Then I can drive you back to Binjai Park with your things.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Beth said coldly.
‘Oh, don’t be silly, Beth. I’m not completely useless, you know! If there’s a lot of work to be done, you can use an extra pair of hands. Show me what Nina is working on in that room you locked her in and I will help. Rosie, you go off first. I know you have a meeting later, right?’
Aunty Lee left quietly. She knew that Helen would not leave without Nina. Helen, behind her perfectly made-up face, was totally set on solving the burglaries. It was personal for her, since her house had been the first broken into.
Only when she was safely away from the house did Aunty Lee look at the phone Nina had slipped out of her own pocket and into her purse when she hugged her. It was encased in a disposable latex glove, much like one of the gloves Aunty Lee distributed to customers who ordered chilli crab or black pepper crab and wanted to savour the juiciest claw tips without getting their fingernails dirty. It did not look like Nina’s phone. Aunty Lee tapped the ‘Power On’ button through the glove but the phone was dead. She did not know whose phone it was, or why Nina wanted her to pass it to Salim. Hopefully Salim would be able to make sense of it. And then she would go for her meeting.
Of course, it might be a complete waste of time. But there would be no harm done. It is always better to find out you are on the wrong track than continue along it happily and pointlessly.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Miss Wong
A puzzled but agreeable Mycroft had arranged the meeting for Aunty Lee. Mycroft Peters was happy to indulge the sweet old aunty who his mother was so fond of, and who his wife so enjoyed working with. Even if Cherril didn’t earn much at the café, she came home happy and to Mycroft that was worth a great deal more than money.
‘Miss Wong will be happy to meet with you,’ he told her as she got into his car. That was not strictly accurate. Wilhelmina Wong had protested her schedule and her busyness and the pointlessness of her meeting with a woman who was not her client. But Aunty Lee’s account with Cognate was a large one and when Darren Sim (junior to her, but coming up fast) added his request to Mycroft’s, Miss Wong decided there were different kinds of busyness and made the appointment.
Back at Ngee Ann City, they headed back up to the Cognate offices via the Tower A lift lobby. Darren Sim met them in the lobby area, coming forward even as Mycroft pushed open the tinted glass doors. At Aunty Lee’s request, Mycroft had not given any reason for the meeting request, and Darren looked apprehensive.
‘Is everything all right?’ Darren addressed Aunty Lee but looked nervously at Mycroft, who was looking his most lawyerly that morning.
Aunty Lee was more used to seeing Mycroft Peters in grungy shirts and shorts when he came to meet Cherril at the shop, and she had to admit he cleaned up quite impressively.
‘You’ll have to ask Mrs Lee.’
‘Where is Miss Wong? Miss Willy-something Wong? You arranged for us to meet her, right?’ Aunty Lee tucked a hand into Darren’s arm as though he was a grandchild, even as she put him in charge of directions. ‘Take me to see her now, can you?’
‘I’ll show you to Miss Wong’s office. You didn’t say what this meeting is about … anyway I prepared all your files in case you wanted to take a look at any of your portfolios? I can explain anything that you are concerned about … ’
‘Are you concerned? Then what for I get concerned? You are taking care of everything, right? Now, let’s go to Miss Wong’s office.’
They arrived at the same office that Aunty Lee had visited with Jonny Ho. However, a different woman was sitting behind the broad, polished desk. She rose to greet them as Darren showed them in: a tall woman in a grey-green dress and dark green jacket, slightly older and quite a bit more solid than the previous ‘Miss Wong’ Aunty Lee had met. She smiled warmly … a Chinese–Indian mix like Mycroft Peters, Aunty Lee thought, or Eurasian–Indian mix. She was darker than Mycroft, but with a muscular grace that suggested her colouring came from outdoor activities as well as genetics. She was certainly not the plump, awkward Chinese girl Aunty Lee had spoken to on her previous visit, yet she was vaguely familiar. And despite her un-Chinese looks she suited the name on the engraved desk plate far better.
‘Pleased to meet you, Mrs Lee. I’m Wilhelmina Wong. You were here last week, weren’t you? I saw you coming out of the lift … I thought I recognized you. Aunty Lee’s Amazing Achar right? I’m addicted to the stuff! Please come and take a seat. Hello, Mycroft. What can I do for you today?’ She did not greet or acknowledge Darren, who might have been part of the furniture. From Darren’s obsequious manner it was clear that he was worried about remaining part of the company furniture. But if a valued client had found some problem, however unjustified, with his management he knew the company would do what it could to appease her … and he might be out of a job.
‘I also thought I saw you last week,’ Aunty Lee told Wilhelmina Wong. She kept her hold on Darren’s arm until he deposited her carefully on a seat. ‘Thank you, Darren. But not inside this office here where I was introduced to you. Only, it wasn’t you. I think I did see you outside the lift last week but I didn’t know who you were. You
said “Hello” to me, right? And then I came here, to this same office, and I talked to Miss Willy-Mini-something Wong; only, it wasn’t you. That’s why I wanted to come back and check.’
Wilhelmina Wong studied Aunty Lee (looking for possible signs of dementia … the woman seemed harmless) then darted over Mycroft (impassive and non-committal) and finally Darren. She raised an eyebrow at Darren, finally deigning to acknowledge him.
‘There must be some mistake,’ Darren said. His relief at learning he was not the focus of Aunty Lee’s visit was clear. ‘Your accounts aren’t being handled out of this branch. That’s why I was so surprised you wanted to meet here. Of course, I can transfer everything over to this branch, but I thought that for your convenience you would prefer … ’
Miss Wilhelmina Wong cut him off with the slightest shake of her head. This example of her authority impressed Aunty Lee. Darren immediately switched tracks, which also impressed Aunty Lee.
‘You said you came to this office last week, Mrs Lee?’
‘Yes! I came to this office, and I thought I talked to Miss Willy-something Wong who is the big boss here. She knew all about the investments you made for me also. She talked about the McDonald’s Corporation and New York Stock Exchange and I don’t know what not, but I remember that name because of the French fries.’
‘French fries?’
‘Yes! When Darren told me about McDonald Corporation, I said “McDonald like in French fries?” and he said ‘yes’. I told him that if he likes French fries one day he should come and I will make my French fries for him. I fry them in lard. The taste is so good, once you taste my French fries you will never eat the McDonald’s ones again!’
Darren glanced at the files he was still holding. ‘You did have some notes with the McDonald’s Corporation but I believe we let them go several months ago. After handling fees and the Goods and Services tax you made a good profit.’
