Wonton Terror

by Vivien Chien

  Opal and Pearl straightened up. “Ruby Lin, you say?”

  “Do any of you happen to know much about her?”

  The two sisters looked at each other and smirked.

  “She is an interesting woman,” Opal said. “Perhaps a little on the strange side.”

  Helen and Wendy nodded in agreement.

  “She was married a time before,” Wendy began. “She had a lot of trouble with that husband.”

  “She did?” I asked. “What kind of trouble?”

  Opal leaned back, a look of disdain on her face. “Some men think it is okay to raise a hand to their wife.”

  The four women remained silent after that comment and only nodded in agreement to one another.

  “So, how are things with her new husband?” I asked. “I met him the other day…”

  “They are good from what we know,” Pearl said. “He is a quiet, nervous man. I think this is what she likes now.”

  I found it upsetting to learn that Ruby had suffered from domestic abuse as well. I hadn’t known about it and I had a newfound sympathy for what she’d been through. I also felt a little shocked to realize that in all my searches through county records, I had never bothered once to look through hers. But I had been right to want to check her out now. “What can you tell me about her first husband?”

  “He is very rich,” Helen said. “I believe he was an investment banker. When they divorced, she was taken care of very nicely. He paid her a lot of money to keep quiet about their situation. That is why she does not have to work and can stay home making jewelry.”

  “What’s his name?” I asked.

  “David Yang,” Opal replied.

  The bell sounded from the kitchen, signaling their food was done, and I excused myself to get their order.

  When I returned with their food, Wendy tilted her head up in question. “Lana, why do you ask these questions? Is there something wrong with Ruby?”

  “No, nothing like that. Just curiosity, I suppose.” I set down a plate of pickled cucumbers in front of her. “I don’t remember her from my childhood, and when I met her second husband, I didn’t realize she’d been married before.”

  “Of course, you would not remember her,” Pearl said, laughing. The way she acted was as if this information were supposed to be common knowledge. “She and your mother stopped being friends when you were still very young.”

  I looked among the four women. “Wait, do you ladies know why they stopped talking to each other?”

  Helen nodded. “Yes, of course, we all know this.”

  “Well, what happened?”

  “The problem was not with your mother, but with Esther.”

  “Esther? What does any of this have to do with Esther?”

  “Ruby wanted to sell the jewelry she made at Esther’s store, but Esther would not allow this. She said that she did not wish to work with friends. Ruby did not take kindly to this and made many comments about Chin’s Gifts selling only junk,” Helen said.

  Opal continued the story for her. “She caused Esther a lot of problems and, as you know, your mother is very protective of her. She told Ruby that she was not welcome at Asia Village any longer. After that, only Sandra came by.”

  Well, that made sense as to why the mahjong circle had been my mother, Nancy, Esther, and Sandra in the end. “But why didn’t anyone tell me this? Why didn’t Esther mention it?”

  “It was a very long time ago,” Pearl said. “All things have been forgiven. Their friendships will never be the same, but there are no hard feelings anymore.”

  Finding myself slightly disappointed with the details of the story, I left the four women to their breakfast. There were no other customers in the restaurant, so I wandered up front and sat down at the hostess station to stare out into the plaza.

  I could ask my mother about Ruby, but would she give me a fair assessment? From the way that Esther told the story when I visited with her the other day, it sounded like my mother hadn’t let go of her previous grudge with Ruby. Surprisingly, Esther seemed to be more levelheaded about the situation even though Ruby’s behavior back then had been directed at her. She might end up being my best source for information. After all, I doubted Sandra would have a bad word to say against Ruby. On top of that, I was fairly certain any chances of contact with the Chow family would be nearly impossible.

  That’s when Calvin Chow walked in.

  CHAPTER

  26

  Calvin was dressed in what I would consider a standard-issue mechanic’s outfit. He had on a blue-gray button-down work shirt with a sewn-on patch that spelled his name in white cursive. And if I had to guess, his dark blue pants were more than likely a pair of Dickies.

  Though he didn’t appear unfriendly as he approached the hostess station, he didn’t smile either. His eyes skimmed the restaurant before he spoke. Even though it was empty except for the Mahjong Matrons, he kept his voice low. “We need to talk, Lana,” he said.

  There was something in his voice that made the emotion hard to describe. He sounded concerned, angry, and sad all at the same time.

  “Okay,” I said. “I’m the only one here besides Peter right now. I can’t exactly leave the dining area unattended.”

  He chewed on his lip. “I have to be at work in an hour, I don’t have a lot of time. Do you think Peter could come up here and man the fort? It’s not like people are breaking the door down to get in here.”

  By the way he spoke, I felt like what he needed to say was pretty important, so I agreed and went into the back to ask Peter if he would mind keeping an eye on the front for a couple of minutes. He gave me a strange look when I explained to him that Calvin was here to see me, but with a shrug, he complied and followed me up front.

  I signaled to Calvin to follow me into the back room and I led him to my office, shutting the door behind us.

  “So what’s this about?” I asked, sitting behind my desk. I noticed that my hands were clammy and I wiped them on my pants. No reason to be nervous, Lana, Peter is just a yell away, I told myself.

  “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you,” he said, shifting awkwardly in the guest chair. “I stopped by the other day … I don’t know if your sister told you. She hasn’t changed much, that’s for sure.”

  I laughed. “Not really, no. Why didn’t you call me? You have my number.”

  “Why didn’t you?” he replied. “My uncle told me that you stopped by the shop.”

  I grabbed a pen off my desk and twisted the cap off and back on. “I meant to, but it just slipped my mind. There’s been a lot going on lately.”

  His eyes focused on my hand twisting the pen cap. “I know what you’re up to, Lana.”

  “What do you mean?” I did my best to play dumb. As I suspected, they were on to me.

  “Why are you going around asking questions? You’re not a cop. Is it because you’re a cop’s girlfriend or something? You feel the need to get involved?”

  “No … I—”

  “It’s none of your business what happened with my father. And we’re not good friends or anything. So I can’t understand why you’re snooping around asking my family questions. It seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through for someone who isn’t involved.”

  “Because—”

  “I read about you, you know,” he said. His tone was accusatory, as if he’d caught me in the middle of a great big scheme. “After we saw each other, I Googled you, and I saw the articles from the Plain Dealer. You think you’re some great big detective, don’t you? Do you think you’re the Asian community protector or some stupid crap?”

  “No—”

  “My family isn’t some game for you to—”

  I slapped the pen on my desk. “Shut up! Geez, would you let me talk for one freakin’ minute?”

  He sat back in his seat, most likely caught off guard because I’d raised my voice at him. Did he think he was going to come to my restaurant and bully me?

  “Now,” I said, standing
up and placing my hands on the desk so I could lean forward. “First of all, I don’t think I’m some great big detective as you put it. I haven’t asked to be a part of the things that happened. They occurred and I dealt with them. Each instance has affected me one way or another.”

  “But—”

  I held up a finger. “I’m not finished yet.”

  He closed his mouth and turned away sulking, as if he were being scolded by a parent.

  “The only reason I’ve been going around asking questions about your situation is because our parents used to be really good friends, specifically our mothers. And my mother is extremely upset by this whole thing. And even though my mother and I don’t have the best track record, I hate to see her upset when she hears that her friend is suspected of being a murderer.”

  He started to say something and I held up my finger again.

  “For the record, I think that your mother is innocent. But I’m not so sure about the people around you, and frankly, I’m starting to have more questions about you now too,” I said, tapping my finger on the desk. No sense in telling him that I had been dabbling with the idea of him being a guilty party anyway. “Maybe the real question should be, why are you so upset with me asking questions? What are you hiding, Calvin Chow?”

  His eyes widened. “Me? You think I would kill my father? After all these years, you would think that I’m capable of something like that? Murder?”

  “Well, I don’t know you … and as you said, we’re not good friends.”

  “I haven’t done anything wrong. I don’t have anything to hide.”

  “Then tell me what you and your father were arguing about that day. I saw you two going at it during the night market.”

  He slumped in his seat, resting his chin in his hand. “It’s the stupidest thing, and it kind of makes me look guilty. I don’t know, maybe you’re right, maybe I do have something to hide.”

  I sat back down in my chair, unsure what can of worms I’d unintentionally opened. But I had to know either way. I reminded myself again that Peter was just a yell away … given that I would have time to scream, that is. “Tell me what happened. I’m not going to judge you.”

  He sighed. “My father and I fought all the time. Since I was young … but his current problem was that he didn’t want me to work for my uncle Gene. He hated that I was a mechanic and wanted me to join the family business instead. But I really didn’t want to. Like I really want to work with my parents every single day of my life?”

  I laughed, trying to lighten the tension that filled the room. “You’re preaching to the choir.”

  He smirked. “Well, my dad’s grand plan was to get another food truck going. He wanted to have Wonton on Wheels at more than one location, but that meant he needed someone else to run the second truck, and he wanted that person to be me.”

  “Okay…”

  “But I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to run a food truck. I like working on cars, and I like working with my uncle Gene. He’s a solid guy. I mean sure, he drinks a little too much, but he’s had a rough life. He still gets done what needs to be done, so whatever. It’s not my problem, you know?”

  “You don’t have to defend your uncle’s drinking problem to me. Honestly, that’s not my concern.”

  “Right,” he said with a nod. “Anyway, when I stopped by the night market to see my mom, my dad pulled me aside to tell me that he was in the process of buying the other truck. He was waiting on some paperwork to clear with his credit but it was only going to be another day or two. And he demanded that I quit my job at the repair shop right away so I could get started on running this second truck for him.”

  “Then what happened?”

  “I turned him down,” Calvin said, his chin dropping to his chest. “I told my dad to go to hell … that was the last thing I said to him before walking away.”

  I felt my insides tighten. And now that I knew the story, I could understand why Calvin would think this would make him appear guilty. He and his father get into an argument about a second truck, then tragedy strikes, and there’s now zero reason to buy a second truck. There’s no longer a first truck, and the man pushing for a new truck is dead.

  But what if Calvin’s motive was only to damage the first truck? Maybe he didn’t mean to harm his father in the process. It had all been an accident after all. But would the authorities see it that way? And furthermore, would a jury see it that way?

  Calvin watched me while I thought through everything he’d said. “See? Now you think I’m guilty too.”

  “Truthfully, I don’t know what to think,” I told him. “I don’t see you going through all of this and then telling me about it if you were actually guilty.” Would he? I thought. Was he even telling me the truth to begin with? No one would know otherwise. I suppose I could find out about the second truck and see if that checked out. But I would never know if that’s what he and his father were actually fighting about the last time they spoke.

  “Are you going to tell on me?” he asked. “I’m sure the cops would love to hear this story.”

  It was a fair question, and I wondered about that myself. Instead, I thought for the time being I could use my position as leverage. I looked him square in the eye. “No … if you agree to let me ask you a couple of things then I will keep your secret for the time being.”

  “Okay, that’s fair. Shoot.”

  “Did you know that your father got physical with your mother? In a bad way, I mean.”

  His eyes bulged. “What? No!”

  I hated to be the one to tell him, but it was important for me to know what exactly Calvin was aware of. “I did some digging on the county public records site and there was an instance where they got into a domestic dispute. Apparently, it happened more than once, but she never reported it. He also had a couple other offenses on his record that had to do with violence, but they didn’t involve your mother.”

  He closed his eyes. “No, I didn’t know. She did have some bruises on her arms and chin a few months ago, but she told me she fell out of the back of the food truck. I didn’t have a reason to not believe her so I let it drop. She can occasionally be clumsy.”

  I leaned back in my chair. “What can you tell me about Ruby Lin?”

  Calvin cocked his head at me. “Ruby? My mom’s friend?”

  “Yeah, do you know anything about her?”

  He shook his head. “Not really. I mean, they’re like totally best friends. Ruby is always around, helping my mother with stuff. She seems like a solid lady, but I couldn’t tell you much about her personally. It’s not like I sit around with the two of them.”

  “I figured as much.” I paused for a minute because I really didn’t want to ask my next question. However, it was the first thing that came to mind after he told me about his father wanting him to quit his job.

  Calvin seemed to sense that I wanted to say something else, and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together as if he were bracing himself.

  I straightened my shoulders. “Calvin, this whole situation with your father … the new food truck, him wanting you to quit your job … did your uncle Gene know about all of this?” I held my breath while I waited for his answer.

  “Yeah … he knew. I was so mad when my dad told me about it the first time, I went to blow off some steam with my uncle. We went out drinkin’ and played some pool. We talked about what a jerk my dad is and then we laughed it off. My uncle knew I would never go for this food truck idea in a million years, so he didn’t really care.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” I said.

  A line etched itself between his brows. “Wait … what are you trying to say?”

  “I don’t want to go in that direction. I know how much your uncle means to you. But I think we have to face the possibility that your uncle Gene was involved in your father’s murder.”

  CHAPTER

  27

  Before Calvin left for work, I gave him a f
ew brief details on what I thought happened concerning Winston, and that he might actually have played a part. I felt so bad about accusing his uncle who I knew he admired that I turned the tables and said maybe his uncle was covering for Winston in some way.

  I tried my best to find out if Calvin knew anything about the relationship between his father and Winston, but he wasn’t much help in that department.

  We both swore each other to secrecy, and though it felt legit with a handshake and all, I still had my reservations about trusting Calvin. The thought had crossed my mind that he could be playing me to keep me quiet.

  He did promise to look into the whole Winston angle though, and find out what really happened with the truck. I suppose he was doing it more for his own benefit than mine, with the goal of clearing his uncle of any suspicions.

  The restaurant had remained calm while I was gone but Peter was glad to go back to the kitchen. The Matrons had finished their breakfast just as Calvin was leaving, and I cashed out their check.

  On their way out, Helen warned me to be careful.

  After I cleaned off their table, I returned to the hostess booth to wait for my next customers. The plaza itself was slow, and I found myself bored after a few minutes of watching a trickle of early-morning customers walk by.

  There was a chance that Megan might be awake, so I pulled out my cell phone and gave her a call.

  “Hello?” she mumbled into the phone.

  “Did I wake you up?”

  “Maybe just a little bit.” She yawned. “What’s up?”

  “Calvin Chow just stopped by.”

  “Now I’m awake. What happened?”

  I relayed the story, adding my own commentary on what I thought it all meant. I also told her about the information I’d gathered from the Matrons about Ruby and her first husband.

  “Sounds like you’ve had a busy morning,” she replied when I was finished. “So are you going to talk to this David Yang guy?”

  “No…” I said. “I don’t know if he would be all that credible.”