by Anne R. Tan
“Are you sure Claire Boucher didn’t take anything from your room? Or maybe she hid something in there?” Detective Stafford asked casually.
Raina shook her head. “Not a thing. I want to know how she got the key card to my room.”
“She didn’t need a key card. The locks are easy enough to pick.”
Raina sat back and thought about his words. Claire had moved in the predawn light with the practiced ease of a cat burglar. At least that was Raina’s impression upon waking. Maybe Claire did have training on how to pick a lock.
“Where do we go from here?” Raina asked.
“What you mean? Won’t Matthew turn up soon?”
“I’m talking about the murder investigation. Will you question Brian Anderson soon?”
Detective Stafford glanced at the Fitbit on his wrist. “In about ten minutes.”
The detective started asking Raina some uncomfortable questions about Matthew and his relationship with the victim. Before Raina could make something up, escape came in the form of her grandma.
“What’s up, Sherlock?” said a familiar voice nearby.
Raina spun around to see her grandma, sitting next to them, with a floppy hat and large Jackie O sunglasses. She had changed into a skimpy sundress and cardigan. She wore a cone bra on the outside like Madonna in the eighties. Raina didn’t recall seeing such an outrageous outfit when she sat down, but her grandma could have snuck in later.
Po Po took off her glasses and batted false long lashes at the detective. Her mouth curved into a slow smile. “Well, hello, young man. You can call me Bonnie.” She growled and inched closer.
Detective Stafford got a deer in headlights look. “Um, hello?”
Raina bit the inside of her cheek to keep from giggling like a child.
This was all the invitation Po Po needed. She got up and sat on the arm of his reading chair, bracing one hand on the backrest so that her cone-shaped boobs were in his face. “Is it my time to answer questions, Detective?” she said in a low sultry voice. “I think my daughter has hogged you long enough.”
“I thought Raina was your granddaughter,” he said, edging away.
Raina couldn’t tell if he was blushing, but he certainly looked like he wanted the earth to swallow him whole.
“Raina’s my daughter. It’s the sun damage. I keep telling her to use sunblock, or it’ll age her. But does she listen to her dear mommy? Of course not. Look at her now.”
Raina snickered. Great. Her grandma had lost two decades since the last time they spoke, and apparently, Raina had gained them.
Po Po brushed the side of his neck with a finger. “Don’t let the white hair fool you. I still have a lot of bounce where it counts.
Detective Stafford jerked as if her grandma had stabbed him. His coffee squirted out of the cup and splashed across his lap, staining his white blazer and pale blue jeans.
“Oh, let me help you with that,” Po Po said, pulling napkins from her cone bra to dab at his groin. Her cones almost took out his eyes.
Detective Stafford jumped up. “Call me if you hear from Matthew,” he said to Raina. He bolted from the café, leaving his coffee behind and a wet spot on the chair.
Po Po doubled over and laughed. “This will be the last time he tries to put the squeeze on my girl.” Raina joined her grandma’s laughter until tears rolled down her face. “Did you see the stains on his white jacket?”
After a few minutes, they cleaned up the leather reading chair. The owner must have put some kind of stain guard on it because it wiped clean. Raina grabbed her grandma’s beach-size purse, and they left the café with linked arms.
“How much of our conversation did you hear?” Raina asked.
“Most of it. The two of you were so focused on each other, you didn’t see me sit down,” Po Po said with a hint of pride in her voice. “Pay attention to your surroundings, Rainy. The murderer could sneak up on you, especially with everyone walking around in costumes. The killer could be watching us now.”
Raina glanced around uneasily. She didn’t like this idea at all. “I haven’t had lunch yet. Let’s go get some food.”
“Sounds good. Maggie and Frank went off to book their big day at the chapel. They don’t have time for the likes of us,” Po Po said.
Raina gave her grandma a sideways glance. “Do I detect jealousy in your voice? Don’t tell me you’re in love with Frank?”
“Nooo! Ewww. He’s just a friend.”
“Sounds like someone is protesting too much.”
“I’m not jealous, but Maggie is my best friend. Now she’s his best friend.”
“I doubt he’ll replace fifty years of friendship.”
“You don’t understand, Rainy. Maggie and I are like Thelma and Louise. Rice and egg rolls. It’s just not right to separate us.”
If they were having this conversation under different circumstances, Raina might let her grandma go on for a bit. However, this was not normal. They were dealing with a murder investigation, and she didn’t have time to play armchair psychiatrist to her grandma’s quirky logic. What her grandma needed was tough love.
“You’re being really selfish here,” Raina whispered.
Po Po frowned. “No—”
“You’re always jetting off between San Francisco, Morrow Cliff Village to visit Lucy, and back home. You’re always visiting family, but think about poor Maggie. She only has Matthew.”
“She’s always welcome to come along.”
“But they’re still not her family.”
“Close enough. She’s been part of the family for fifty years. She knows all my relatives.”
Raina shook her head. “It’s still not the same. And Frank has only one granddaughter. They could keep each other company during those times when she wants to stay put. You should be happy they have each other.”
Po Po blushed. By this time, they were in line for the buffet. Her grandma was silent, deep in thought.
Raina gave her grandma the space to process what she had said. Her grandma was usually the most generous woman she knew, but there were times when she could be selfish as well, especially when it meant things would change for her.
After they paid for the buffet and got inside the restaurant, Po Po broke their silence. “You’re right, Rainy. I’m an old fool.”
Raina’s heart clenched at the droopy look on her grandma’s face. She gave her a hug. “No, never a fool. Just someone blinded by love. And Maggie and Frank are both very lucky to have you as their best friend.”
Po Po brightened. “Maybe I can be a bridesmaid. I better go check on them after lunch. Maggie can’t see very well anymore, and I know her taste better than anyone. She’ll need my help to pick out a dress.”
Raina broke into a wide grin. “I thought you were my Watson. What am I supposed to do without my wing woman?” She set their receipt on the table to claim their booth.
“You seem to be doing fine without me. Just don’t let that handsome detective turn your head. He’s up to no good. You’re lucky I got here when I did.”
“And how would you know this?”
“I think he was on the news a couple of years ago for something. I’m sure if we search his name on the Internet, we’ll find something nefarious.”
They split up and made their way to the various stations to grab food. When Raina slid into the booth, Po Po was digging into a huge plate of French fries drowning in nacho cheese sauce. How was it possible that her grandma still had the digestion and appetite of a teenager?
Raina picked at her salad, moving the lettuce leaves around. After one or two bites, she dug into the two beef tacos on the other plate. She groaned at the savory bite. Now this was more like it.
“Hey, I have news from the Science Ninjas,” Po Po said. “They were able to crack the password protection on the USB stick.”
“Wow, that was fast. We were only talking about it this morning. How did you even get the USB to them this quickly?”
“Courier ser
vice. Hand delivered an hour ago.”
Raina’s eyes widened. And these kids cracked the password lock already? Yikes! She was both awed and horrified at what could happen if these kids worked for the bad guys. “How did you even have time to arrange all this? I thought you were in the guitar seminar this morning.”
“I only stayed for the first ten minutes. It was so boring. They were talking about fingering techniques. If I could move my hands like that, playing a guitar would be the last thing on my mind.”
Raina blinked. She wasn’t sure if her grandma meant to imply something naughty, but it was best if she ignored the comment. “So what did the Science Ninjas find on the USB stick?”
“NASA’s research and plans for a super drone that could spray pesticides on crops to replace the duster planes.”
“I thought that technology was already widely available.”
“The ones on the market are for short distance and at low elevations. The super drone has a range of over three hundred miles and the ability to avoid detection.”
Raina’s heart sank. Her grandma just confirmed that Matthew was up to his armpits in the NASA information breach. Was he trying to recover the USB or buying it for someone else? “If the technology falls into the wrong hands, this could cause extensive damage to a large area.”
“Not if they are spraying happy gas. Some people at the senior center could use some of that.”
Raina ignored the comment. “I wonder if this is Gloria’s research. She accused Claire of stealing it.”
“I don’t understand why it ended up in your room.”
“My guess is that Claire was supposed to deliver the USB stick to Matthew in the laundry room, but when Gloria showed up, Claire got spooked. So she decided it would be safer to drop it off in Matthew’s room.”
“Why didn’t she just call Matthew to move the rendezvous up?”
“Who knows? Maybe she couldn’t get in touch with him.”
“Does this mean she didn’t expect you to be in the room?”
“She certainly seemed surprised when I called out to her, but she moved like a ninja. And how could you miss a big lump on the bed? She probably knew I was in the room but thought she could do her business without waking me.”
“How did she know what room you’re in? Or that you’re Matthew’s fiancée?”
Raina blushed. “Well, I was stupid enough to give her my name and room number the day before. I was trying to get us tickets for the convention. My name must have caught her attention because she made a comment about it. And I told her my fiancé’s name was Matthew.”
Po Po raised an eyebrow. “And you get on my case about spilling the beans?”
Now heat engulfed Raina from the neck up. “Hey, I’m following the example of my elders.”
“I hope you don’t mean me because I’m not that old. Only sixty. Not old enough to be an elder yet.”
Raina gave her grandma a sideways glance. Her mother was fifty, so it was biologically impossible for her grandma to have her youngest child at ten years old. She dismissed thoughts of her grandma’s age.
She shifted her thoughts to Matthew. Why was he getting stolen technology from Claire? Was he a middleman, picking it up for someone else? And was this buyer one of the bad guys?
Po Po studied Raina’s face. “Are you okay? What are you thinking?”
Raina told her grandma her thoughts.
“Russian spies? Terrorist groups? Any one of them would want the technology,” Po Po said.
Raina shook her head. “No way. Matthew is one of the good guys. He would never help them. Maybe he was trying to get the stolen information back to NASA. He did say he was working on a security job.”
“Should I tell the kids to overnight the USB stick back to us? This could be a matter of national security, and I don’t want the kids to be involved any longer than necessary.”
Raina shook her head. “We can’t risk the USB getting lost in the mail. Can they drop it off with someone at the senior center?” She didn’t want to get the senior citizens involved either, but she trusted the Posse Club members more than she did these high school kids.
The Posse Club was her grandma’s brainchild. They were a group of active senior citizens with a warped sense of humor who liberally used stink bombs to get back at their nemeses. And they also monitored everything that happened in town.
“I’ll tell the kids to drop it off with the Lovebirds, and they can lock it in my safe,” Po Po said. The Lovebirds was the code name for a couple who had been married for a gazillion years.
“But don’t tell them what’s on the USB stick. If the authorities ask, the Lovebirds could still say they were only doing a favor for their friend,” Raina said.
Po Po pulled out her cell phone, and her fingers flew across the screen, sending out messages to her minions. When she was done, she asked, “What’s next, Sherlock?”
“Now we have to find Gloria, our NASA girl,” Raina said.
Gloria had plenty of motive for killing Claire. When the security breach became common knowledge, Gloria could kiss her career goodbye. She might have murdered Claire for revenge.
9
An Unlikely Pair
They headed toward the convention area. Raina was so focused on tracking down Gloria Tanaka that she didn’t even realize her grandma was no longer by her side. One minute Po Po was there, and the next she was gone. Raina spun around, her gaze scanning the casino floor.
There! Her grandma was skulking behind a bank of slot machines and peering around the corner with her birdwatching binoculars. Did Po Po think she could be inconspicuous in her cone bra and sundress?
Raina marched up to her grandma and tapped on her shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“Shhh!” Po Po pointed a finger at the blackjack table in front of them.
Raina rolled her eyes. As if anyone could hear them over the music, clanging slot machines, and the cheering crowds. Her gaze followed her grandma’s finger. “Am I supposed to recognize somebody at the blackjack table?”
Po Po shoved the birdwatching binoculars into Raina’s hands. “At the Lone Star Saloon. In the corner.”
Raina peered with the binoculars at the booth in the corner of the bar area. She gasped. Willie and Brian were huddled close together in the shadows. There might be enough distance to slide a sheet of paper between them.
Willie had changed out of her power suit and into a dress that made her grandma’s sundress modest in comparison. She had also lost her tawny blonde coloring and wore a long black wig with straight bangs like a stereotypical Asian woman. Since Brian was such a slight man, she looked like an Amazon next to him. He had dispensed with his toupee, and his shiny bald head gleamed in the faint light, contrasting with his dark sideburns. He was flushed like he was excited. Maybe it was from the attention of an attractive woman.
Raina assumed he knew the woman was Willie, but she didn’t know if he had glanced up from her chest long enough to pay any attention to her face. “I can’t believe those two are a couple. I wonder how long it has been going on.”
Someone tapped Raina on the shoulder. She lowered the binoculars and turned to see Hendricks frowning at her. “Yes?” she asked.
“What are you doing?” Hendricks asked. His tall square body blocked Raina’s view. His hooded eyes hid his thoughts. “Are you helping someone cheat?”
Raina glanced around. Her grandma had pulled a disappearing act, leaving Raina to explain the spying and binoculars. Some wing woman.
“No cheating here. I see someone at the Lone Star Saloon who looks suspiciously like Willie, except she’s wearing a wig and a skimpy dress,” Raina said. “I’m just taking a closer look.” She wiggled her binoculars like this should be self-explanatory.
Hendricks didn’t even blink. “What the boss does in her personal time is her business.”
“So Willie does this often? Why is she necking with the convention organizer? It seems rather distasteful to do this so publi
cly after one of their own was just murdered.”
“Like I said, that’s her personal business. Now move on out of here before I bring you into the office and call the cops on your suspicious behavior,” Hendricks said.
“Hey, we never got around to seeing the video feed outside the hallway of my suite. I want to know how Claire Boucher got into my suite the morning of her death.”
Raina didn’t believe there would be any video surveillance, but she wanted to ask anyway. If nothing else, the head of security could confirm her theory. And maybe if she made him squirm, he might be open to the suggestion they partner up for this investigation.
The head of security wasn’t her first choice of a partner, but she didn’t trust Detective Stafford. And while Po Po might think the two of them were equal to any professional, they didn’t have what it took to take down the real killer. And a big tank of a guy like Hendricks might come in handy with his muscles.
Hendricks didn’t exactly blush, but he stiffened. “There is no video outside of your room. Some of the cameras are decoys.”
Raina stared at him for a long moment. It was just as she suspected. “I assume you don’t want this to become common knowledge around here.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“Of course not. I just want to make sure we're on the same page.”
He made a sound halfway between a snort and a grunt.
“How is that investigation on Claire Boucher’s death coming along? I keep seeing Detective Stafford and his staff all over the hotel,” Raina said, exaggerating the police presence. “I’m surprised Willie isn’t more concerned.”
“What’s in this for you? Are you trying to cover up for your fiancé?”
“I have no stake in this, and that man is not my fiancé. But I am curious why Claire came into my room before her death. She didn’t appear to take or leave anything behind.”
He gave her an appraising look. “You look to be about my niece’s age, so here’s a piece of advice. Stay out of this. Enjoy your vacation and then go home.”
“Unfortunately, I have a grandmother who loves to read murder mystery books. And since I didn’t fall far from the apple tree, I am also curious.”