Fatal Fried Rice

by Vivien Chien

  “He’s a Casanova for sure. I hope you understand that reference.”

  “I’ve heard it once or twice,” I replied.

  “I’m pretty sure he cheats on his wife with half the students that sign up for his course. He gives tutoring lessons off the clock, if you catch my drift.”

  My stomach sank. Anthony was the last person—to my knowledge—to see Margo alive, and everything started to fall into place. The photos, the note, him stopping by the class the night she was murdered. He had to be the man in the photos. But who was the woman he’d been having a “study jam” with?

  “Do you know who his current mistress is?” I asked.

  “Ha, try that sentence again in plural,” she said with disgust. “Like what kind of man does that sort of thing? What kind of example is he setting for his family?”

  “Does he have kids? I’ve seen him around and he doesn’t look like any kind of dad to me.”

  “He’s not. He has a stepdaughter. His wife, Caroline, is a real pleasant woman. Any time we have a work function, she comes and is all smiles, even though she’s gotta know her husband is a total rat. Anyhow, she brought her daughter a few times—she’s grown, of course. I think her name is Brittany, or Brandy, something like that.”

  My throat dried. “Bridget … would that be her name?”

  She smacked her head. “Bridget, yeah that’s it. I’ll tell ya, your memory starts to go faster than you’d think. But yeah … beautiful girl, looks just like her mom.”

  I thanked her tremendously for the info and asked her to keep our conversation between the two of us. She agreed wholeheartedly and wished me luck with an added warning to be careful of Detective Bishop.

  Flying down the stairs to meet up with Kimmy, I checked the cooking room first, wondering what had been holding her up this whole time. She was going to be disappointed that she’d missed my conversation with Phyllis.

  I found her and Stanley in a heated debate. Kimmy currently had her index finger in his face and a string of swear words were flying from her mouth just as I entered the room.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said, stepping in between them. “What the heck is going on in here?”

  Kimmy huffed. “This jerk won’t keep his mouth shut. I tried to tell him we’re here on official business, and he can’t tell Peter that he saw us, but he won’t budge.”

  Closing my eyes, I pinched the bridge of my nose, and took a deep breath. Patience, Lana. “Stanley, it’s really important that you not breathe a word of this to our families, or to Peter. It could cause a lot of problems.”

  “No way,” Stanley said with a laugh. “And miss out on telling everyone that I schooled Lana Lee on cooking fried rice and she still messed it up.”

  My heartbeat started to quicken. “Fine, what will it take for you to keep your mouth shut?” I asked.

  He stopped laughing. “Wait, what?”

  “What do you want?” I asked, gesturing with my hand for him to hurry up with a response. “Everybody wants something. What is it that you want?”

  Kimmy gawked at me. “Don’t give this guy anything, Lana. He doesn’t deserve it. We have other ways of keeping him quiet.”

  I rolled my eyes. “No, we really don’t.”

  “Shhh!” Kimmy hissed. “He doesn’t know that unless you give it away.”

  “All right,” Stanley said, interrupting us. “How about this. You and Kimmy have to come to my restaurant at least three times a week, one time on the weekends for two whole months. Bring your beaus, the more the merrier.” He smiled, clearly taking pride in his offer.

  I wasn’t going to accept this deal at face value, however. No matter what corner we were backed into. My mother, of course, had taught me how to haggle with the best of them. “Two nights a week, we bring a group of friends, for one month.”

  Stanley tapped his chin. “One month, two times a week, but you have to bring your hot roommate with you.”

  Kimmy made gagging noises next to me.

  “Megan?” I asked. “She’s a manager at the Zodiac and a fill-in bartender. I’m lucky if I get to hang out with her two times a week.”

  “Okay fine … she’s gotta come at least one night a week with you … as long as she comes you only have to show up for a month.”

  I extended my hand. “Fine.”

  “Deal,” he said, taking my hand and giving it a firm shake. “See you this weekend.”

  I grabbed Kimmy’s arm and pulled her out of the room before she lay into him again.

  She jerked her arm out of my grasp. “I can’t believe you just agreed to that, Lana. You didn’t even ask me if I’m willing to go along with it.”

  “Well, you have to, unless you want Peter giving you a hard time about what we’re up to. And if my mom finds out I came back to this class, then I’m dead. It’s only a month.”

  “Fine, but you’re paying for my drinks.”

  “Ugh, whatever, let’s go. I have a lot to tell you.” We exited the building and headed toward our cars. “Can you come to my place? I think it’s time for all of us to have a powwow.”

  Kimmy shrugged. “Sure, I don’t have anywhere I need to be.”

  We got into our respective cars and headed to North Olmsted. I called Megan on the way there to make sure she would be home and warn her that Kimmy would be with me. Thankfully she was off that night, and I told her I’d be there in about twenty minutes, barring traffic.

  Right before we hung up, she whispered into the phone, “Be prepared. Adam stopped by unannounced.”

  CHAPTER 28

  Before we went inside, I alerted Kimmy to the fact that Adam had unexpectedly stopped by and how much I had failed to tell him. It was all going to come out now, but I wanted it to come from me, not Kimmy.

  She agreed without any convincing, promising to keep quiet until I had relayed the whole story of recent developments. As I unlocked the door, she patted my shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, girlfriend, I got your back.”

  Kikko’s head was the first to pop up as I stepped into the apartment. When she realized I had brought a stranger home, she released a series of yips and howls as she flew off the couch to inspect our new visitor. Kimmy opened her hand and turned it palm up for Kikko to sniff. After a few snorts, Kikko must have established that Kimmy was acceptable and gave her thumb a lick.

  In the meantime, Adam had risen from his seat on the couch and I couldn’t tell by the expression on his face whether he was going to strangle me or kiss me. Megan had been seated at the kitchen table with her laptop open and hadn’t bothered to get up.

  Adam stood towering over my small frame, looking at me with disappointment. He kissed my forehead without saying anything, though I knew that if we were alone, he probably would have started in on a lecture.

  Kimmy stepped forward, squeezing Adam’s bicep. “Hey there, Detective Hottie Pants, glad you could join us.”

  Adam’s face reddened and he stammered his response. “N-Nice to see you again, Kimmy.”

  Despite the amount of stress I was feeling at the moment, I couldn’t help but laugh. Kimmy was great at making awkward situations even more uncomfortable, but adding some humor to it at the same time.

  Adam had been coined “Detective Hottie Pants” when we first met, and all of my friends knew that if they wanted to give him a rattle, that was the way to do it.

  I removed my purse from my shoulder, and hung up my keys. “Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I could sure use a drink.”

  Adam followed behind me to the kitchen. In a low voice meant just for me to hear, he said, “I could use an explanation, Miss Lee.”

  “Don’t worry,” I replied. “I’m going to tell you everything tonight.”

  “It’s about time,” he said.

  Adam and Megan already had beers open, so I worked on fixing some mixed drinks for Kimmy and me. She wasn’t a huge fan of whiskey and Cokes, but she’d drink just about anything if it was free.

  We all sat at the table,
the first time in a long time utilizing all four chairs. Kikko sat at my heels, pawing at my leg, no doubt feeling left out that she wasn’t seated at the grown-ups’ table. I picked her up and put her in my lap.

  There were still parts of the story that Kimmy didn’t know, which was everything that I had discussed with Phyllis Ubert. But I needed to start at the beginning of what Adam was missing—which was basically everything that happened since the previous morning.

  Trying not to rush, I went over the details of what had transpired. Megan was only partially listening at the beginning since she was basically all caught up. In mid-explanation I’d gone to retrieve my purse and pulled out the card I’d received in the mail for Adam to inspect.

  He did so with a sour expression on his face, but allowed me to continue the story without interrupting.

  It felt like I had been talking forever by the time I got to the part where I spoke to Phyllis. My throat was feeling scratchy, and I paused to sip my drink.

  When I’d finished the complete story, and Kimmy had voiced her opinions of disbelief at the new information, we all took a moment to gather our thoughts in preparation of debate. I’d left out the part about Stanley Gao and our deal for the moment because I felt it wasn’t a relevant part of what we needed to accomplish. Megan and Adam would learn about it soon enough.

  Adam was the first to speak. “I can’t believe you didn’t bring any of this up when I texted you.” He waved the card and photo at me. “This is pretty important stuff, Lana.”

  “I know, but I couldn’t have you stop me from going back to the school. I knew that I’d learn something useful if I could just get back there, and look … we did.”

  Adam tossed the card and photo onto the table and leaned back, scrubbing his face with both his hands. “You’re really turning me gray here, babe.”

  Kimmy whistled. “Gray hair on men is hot!”

  Megan clucked her tongue. “All right, enough comic relief, Tran. Let’s be serious. This new information lines things up for us.” Megan rested a hand on the greeting card, and pulled it close to inspect it further.

  Kimmy held her hands up in defense. “Okay, sorry, Miss Killjoy.”

  Megan opened her mouth to say something, but must have thought better of it and let Kimmy’s comment go. I silently thanked her for that.

  “We just have one problem,” I said to the group. “I still haven’t heard back from Sabrina Hartford.”

  “Who cares?” Kimmy said, dismissing my concern with a wave of her hand. “That girl isn’t going to help us with anything.”

  Megan leaned forward. “She’s in danger though. Clearly the person who took the pictures is aware that she knows something she isn’t supposed to.”

  Adam snorted. “If you ask me, she’s the one who took the damn pictures to begin with.”

  “What?” Megan asked with gasp. “You think she’s the photographer?”

  Adam nodded with confidence. “For the original photo … absolutely.” He jabbed the giraffe card on the table. “And she’s the one who sent this to Lana too. Getting her there was a setup to keep her quiet.”

  Megan shook her head, unconvinced. “I think she’s just an innocent bystander. She’s too young and inexperienced to pull this off.”

  “Lana, what do you think?” Kimmy asked, ignoring the other two’s bantering.

  I petted Kikko’s tiny head and tried to organize the thoughts I’d come up with on my way home. “Three people are in that original photo … and two of them are guilty of an affair. The man has got to be Anthony Bianco. If he’s having a slew of affairs, then chances are it’s him that was caught on camera. And clearly we know that Margo Han is the one who saw Anthony with our unknown mistress.”

  “Okay…” Kimmy said, as she followed along. “But then what? They killed her to keep her quiet?”

  “Maybe,” I replied. “Anthony would be my best guess, considering I saw him with her last. But it bothers me that she seems disappointed or maybe even sad in the photo of her sitting in the car. Let’s say she was involved with him, and he’s the secret boyfriend: she would be devastated that he was sleeping with someone else.”

  Kimmy shook her head. “Man, I wish we had that photo to look at.”

  “I know, it would be really helpful right about now.” I glanced down at my phone, which still had no correspondence from Sabrina. It was nearing ten o’clock and felt a little late to call someone I didn’t know. I decided to send her a text message instead. Maybe she was still up. I typed a quick Call me ASAP. It’s urgent. and set my phone back down with the screen facing up so I could see her response right away.

  “You don’t think it’s weird she hasn’t answered you all day?” Adam asked. “After she was seemingly so helpful?”

  Megan rolled her eyes. “How can you think this poor girl is so guilty? She’s probably scared out of her mind.”

  “Or…” Kimmy interjected, “the killer already got to her.”

  My stomach sank at the notion. “Let’s hope that’s not the case. Maybe she’s just busy with schoolwork or something.”

  “So, what now?” Megan asked. “What do we do with a half-baked theory and what about Bridget? Are we going to talk about that hot mess?”

  Kimmy lifted a hand up to her ear and used her index finger to make a circular motion. “Girl is cuckoo.”

  Megan scoffed. “Finally, something we agree on.”

  “I have to admit,” I said, “she is beginning to seem a bit off to me, but more than likely, I think that she’s aware of her stepfather cheating and trying to catch him in the act or something. From what Phyllis said to me earlier, she thinks that Anthony’s wife is aware of his romping around.… Maybe Bridget caught on a while ago too?”

  Kimmy nodded. “She was staring down that rose-tattooed hussy something pretty fierce.”

  Adam sighed. “Okay, well, I agree that Bridget may have an idea about her stepfather messin’ around, especially if she’s going to classes at the learning center. She could have witnessed something.”

  I gasped. “Do you think she’s the one taking the photos?”

  He folded his arms. “Doubtful, babe. I think if she was the one taking the photos, she could have gotten him in trouble already. I don’t think she’d play all these games and just let him continue cheating on her mother.”

  “Yeah, but what if she was trying to be sneaky about it?” I suggested.

  “What would be her purpose in getting Margo Han involved? Seems like a waste. Besides … sounds like he’s involved with this supposed hussy woman—she’d be the one to go after,” Adam said.

  Kimmy threw up her hands. “You guys, it’s getting late, can we wrap this up? I have to open the shop in the morning. Lana, you need your beauty rest too, no sense in sporting eye bags all day.”

  I checked the time and it seemed the minutes were flying by. We were already coming up on eleven o’clock.

  For about fifteen minutes, we all exchanged some banter on our final conclusions. My ending argument was that Anthony Bianco was the most likely of our suspects to have killed Margo. It made the most sense considering the note that had been included with the photos challenging Margo to whistleblow on his cheating ways. It was obvious that Margo knew about the affair since she was in the photograph, and if the picture had been given to Anthony in a similar matter as a sort of blackmail, then I would gather one of his loose ends was keeping the Asian cooking instructor quiet.

  Adam seemed to be coming around to my way of thinking after I’d explained myself further, but he still thought that Sabrina was somehow involved and told me to trust his detective instinct when it came to the helpful intern.

  Megan threw a curveball by bringing up Robert Larkin, who I’d let fall to the wayside after Phyllis talked about how kind Margo had been to him, and that he was just a nice man who was misunderstood. However, my best friend didn’t seem to think so. “He probably mistook her kindness for romantic interest. Then when she turned him down, he go
t mad and killed her so no one could have her.”

  I cocked my head at her. “But what about the photo stuff? Then that wouldn’t make any sense.”

  Megan pursed her lips. “This whole thing could be a coincidence and have nothing to do with the photos. Or!” she said, holding up a finger. “On second thought, maybe Mr. Janitor is the one who took the photos. If she was sad in the photos as you say, maybe he took the photos because she was also sleeping with Anthony Bianco, and Janitor Man knew it and thought if he got the other man out of the picture, Margo would come crawling to him for comfort.”

  She did have a point, but did I agree that Robert Larkin would kill her so no one could have her? That I wasn’t sure on quite yet.

  Kimmy surprised me by suggesting that the rose-tattooed woman was the culprit and that it would explain her crappy attitude in Margo’s initial class. “Didn’t you say she was giving her the death stare throughout the whole two hours? Maybe she’s in a better mood now that she knocked out her competition.”

  I tried to envision the middle-aged rocker-esque woman stabbing Margo Han in the back. I wasn’t sure I could fully buy into it, but at this point, anything was possible. It would have really helped if we could see the woman in the photo now and compare it to the memory of our strawberry blonde friend.

  We said goodnight to Kimmy and watched her get into her car. Megan shut off her laptop and announced that she would be calling it a night as well. She claimed the ping-pong of all our speculations had given her a headache.

  I said goodnight to my best friend before retiring to my bedroom with Adam lagging behind and Kikko racing me to get there first.

  Sleep came quickly and I was relieved that I made it through the night without any bad dreams to wake me up. I checked my phone as soon as I was coherent and to my disappointment, I had no return messages or calls from our missing intern.

  It was only eight in the morning, and I was just about to see Adam off when I decided to call Sabrina one more time. She was a college student, so I assumed she would be awake, getting ready for class, or she was already at school. I planned on leaving her a very curt voice mail about how rude it was to not return calls when someone says there’s an emergency.