by Vivien Chien
“I don’t know. This could have just been a good opportunity that presented itself. Stella has ties to this community, maybe the killer was just biding their time until she came back?”
The server returned and we placed the rest of our order. Megan ordered kung pao chicken, and I ordered my usual Mongolian beef dish with white rice.
When the soup came, I did my usual critique. The brown base was a nice, thick texture, and there was a decent ratio of tofu to bamboo to mushrooms. All in all, it was a decent soup. Was it better than Peter’s? Never.
Megan slurped her soup. “Have you come up with any ideas on what we’re going to say to Walter yet?”
“No … I just keep thinking about how this is a waste of time, and whether I like it or not, Penny is probably the guilty one.”
“I’m on board with that, but can you really believe this Joel guy though? I mean, seems pretty convenient that he’s telling you all of this now. He could be the one pulling the strings and trying to pin it on her because he knows that she has a motive the police would find very interesting.”
“But why wouldn’t he have taken that information to the police already? He could have easily thrown the spotlight on her. Besides, I kinda believe him.”
“Why though?”
“Because when I told him about the fortune-cookie thing, he appeared genuinely surprised. He was totally clueless as to what I was talking about.”
“Maybe he’s a good actor. He could have been faking it. You fake being surprised all the time.”
“I was looking him right in the eye though. He didn’t flinch or pause or anything.” I sighed. “I don’t know. Either way, she’s at the top of the list.”
“Where is Trudeau with the whole thing? Has he said anything useful to you about it?”
“Not really. The original murder weapon used on Norman hasn’t turned up, there were no prints found in Stella’s room, and he can’t seem to find any actual concrete evidence. The only thing he has going for him are those stupid fortunes.”
“Did he find any fingerprints on the wrapper or the cookie paper?” Megan asked.
“So far, nothing. This person was meticulous about covering their tracks, which makes me think they’ve had a long time to think about this.”
The server returned with our food. As she was bringing the food out, Walter Shen came out of the kitchen carrying an oversized tray above his head. He took careful steps as he made his way into the dining area.
“Dad!” Jackie yelled from across the restaurant. “Don’t do that!” She ran over to meet her father, and took the tray from his hands. “What did I tell you about lifting this stuff? It’s too heavy and you’re going to hurt yourself.”
“Bagh!” Walter swatted at her arm. “You worry too much.”
Jackie scoffed and strutted away with the tray.
Megan turned to me. “What the heck was that all about?”
As the server set our food on the table, she said, “Mr. Shen has a shoulder injury and he’s not supposed to be lifting anything heavy.”
“How long has he had problems with it?” I asked.
“Maybe ten or so years. But you know how some men can be…” She gave us a wink. “Stubborn as all get out.”
We thanked her for the food, and stared at each other after she left.
“Well,” Megan said, waving her chopsticks at me. “That solves that. If he can barely lift a tray on his own, there’s no way he’d have the strength to strangle anyone, especially someone the size of Norman Pan. At least we eliminated one person.”
The part of me that wanted to narrow things down was relieved. But the part of me that wanted to stay in denial about Penny was not.
* * *
When we got home that night, I sat down with my notebook and logged in everything that I had learned throughout the day. I drew a line through Walter’s name and added a note about his shoulder injury.
Ray and Penny sat at the top of my suspect list. The two of them had something in common: both of them only benefited from one of the parties being dead. If Joel’s accusations from the previous year were true, Ray would benefit from not having Norman Pan around anymore. With him gone, no one would ever be able to prove that Ray fixed the contest by bribing one of the judges. But there was nothing for him to gain by having Stella out of the picture. They had no associations, and Stella did mention to me that she’d never met him in person prior to the contest. Unless there was a missing piece we weren’t aware of and Stella or Ray had been lying.
The same scenario went for Penny. Norman wasn’t anyone for Penny to be concerned about, but if she was the murderer, she did have a good reason to get rid of Stella … revenge.
I wanted to cross Joel’s name out indefinitely. But I was still holding on to what Megan suggested about Joel potentially being involved. He did have information about Penny that he could use to his benefit. It didn’t completely track since he could go to the cops with it, but with him being an unreliable source in the eyes of the police department because of his own feelings toward Norman, he might not want to seem like he was trying to take the attention off himself. Usually people who blamed others tended to look more on the guilty side.
Another big question lay with the act of murder itself. Did Penny have what it took to go through with it? Not just mentally, but physically. Overpowering Stella would have been no problem, as she was a petite woman and Penny could most likely take her out. But a man of Norman’s size would be a little more difficult.
However, both parties were drinking prior to their deaths and Norman had had a considerable amount. I pondered that thought and wondered if there was any significance to it. Just in case, I wrote that down too.
With Walter Shen technically eliminated, I thought I would feel better, but I didn’t. There were parts of me that worried he could have orchestrated the whole thing and convinced someone else like Joel to carry out the task. Maybe the goal was for me to suspect Penny so that I would turn the focus on her and not on them. Everyone involved knew I was dating Adam. What if they wanted him to be persuaded to investigate a certain angle? They might think that could be accomplished through his nosy girlfriend.
Joke was on them though. If they knew anything about him at all, they would know he never listened to my theories anyhow. He was the professional, and I was just a gal with an overactive imagination and a ratty notebook.
CHAPTER
27
Sleep did not come easily. I tossed and turned thinking about the various possibilities concerning the murders. Kikko was not happy with me and she left to go sleep in her doggy bed during the middle of the night. I fell asleep just as it was turning light out, and the alarm went off all too soon.
Stumbling around, I prepped my coffee and got ready for work, not feeling too much like being social. I thought about calling in sick, but my mother would throw a fit and probably come check on me only to find out that I was perfectly fine.
After giving myself a pep talk with little result, I decided I would go in to work for the shortest time possible. Once Nancy arrived at eleven, I could bail and attempt to do something useful on the case. I kept my fingers crossed that business would be slow.
On my way into work, Adam called my cell phone. “Seems your theory about Ray Jin fell through,” he said when I answered.
“What do you mean?” I stopped at a light and watched intersecting traffic pass by.
“Ray called the station last night and said he also received a fortune cookie. He’s flipping out saying that someone is coming after him.”
“What did the fortune say?” I asked.
“I can’t remember word for word, but it had something to do with the enemy hiding in plain sight.”
A tingle ran down my spine. “Where is he now?”
“He just left the station. He came in this morning to make an official statement. We had cruisers driving by his place last night, but there was no activity. Have you seen anything unusual?”
&n
bsp; “No.” The light turned green and I proceeded down Lorain paying more attention to the road than to the call, which was hard considering Adam was now telling me that Ray had also received a fortune cookie. There were two of us with targets on our backs. “Everything has been normal. No weird cars … except your guy, of course.”
“Wilkins is a good guy,” Adam said. “He’s a good friend of mine who owed me a favor. And don’t wave at him anymore. The whole point is not to let anyone know that you’re being followed.”
“I know … I thought about that after the fact.” I sighed. “So, what now?”
“Nothing, you let me deal with that. The fact that there are two fortunes out there means that the killer is getting anxious. They’re going to slip up, and when they do, I’m going to be waiting.”
“You sound like a movie script,” I said playfully.
“Lana … this isn’t funny. I need you to take this seriously. I don’t know who this person is and they can sneak up on us at any time.”
“I am taking this seriously. I’m the one who’s in danger, remember? Just trying to add some levity to the situation.”
“Add levity to the situation all you want, but I want you to stay away from anyone involved with the contest until I get this squared away.”
“I promise I won’t do anything stupid,” I told him. “Don’t forget about me being capable.”
He grumbled, warning me to be careful, and told me he needed to get back to work.
I must have been extremely distracted the rest of the way to work because without realizing it, I’d arrived at the Village parking lot. I sat in my car staring at the entrance. If I had a fortune cookie, and Ray had a fortune cookie … then that meant Penny was the last woman standing.
* * *
“It just doesn’t feel right,” I said to Megan. I was hiding out in my office and decided to give her a call once I’d prepped the dining area. I only had about fifteen minutes before I needed to open the doors. I could hear Peter banging around in the kitchen through the wall and it was grating on my already tense nerves. “It can’t be Penny. It has to be a mistake. How could she do all of this?”
Megan, who was groggy and had been disturbed from sleep by yours truly, mumbled into the phone. “I know you don’t want to believe it, but we’re running out of other people to blame. Her name keeps coming up, and she has a pretty good motive for wanting to kill Stella.”
“But now me and Ray too? It doesn’t make any sense. I’m going to see Ray later this afternoon. I have to talk to him about that fortune.”
“Do you want me to come with you? I could call in sick.”
“No, you better go to work today. You’ve been taking a lot of nights off and switching shifts for me lately. Plus, he might be more willing to talk if it’s just me and him.”
“Okay, well, call me when you’re finished there. Or better yet, stop by the Zodiac for a drink. I’m sure you can use one after all this chaos.”
“Well, if I do stop by, I won’t be alone. Officer Wilkins will be there too … in the parking lot, of course.”
“Oh, right … that guy is still following you around, huh?”
“Yup, Adam said he’ll be around for as long as he needs to be.”
“Well, maybe he can have a drink with us. He’s gotta be tired of sitting in that car.”
My time was up and I said good-bye, promising her that I would check in later. I opened the doors and the Mahjong Matrons hustled inside, peppy and ready to start their day. I was hopeful their cheery dispositions would rub off on me, but that ache in my gut would not go away.
* * *
Normally when I’m anxious to get things under way, time seems to drag, and I spend more time checking the clock than actually being productive. However, that was not the case on that particular morning.
The restaurant was busier than normal, and I sped around the dining room trying to keep up with orders and cashing people out. Food and supply deliveries came in succession and on other days they went pretty smoothly. But the vegetable guy lost control of his stack of boxes and red peppers, shitake mushrooms, and heads of cabbage went all over the kitchen and that in turn slowed Peter down, causing him to burn a few orders that needed to be remade.
I was ready to rip my hair out by the time Nancy arrived. And with lunchtime right around the corner, business did not let up. Nancy and I buzzed our way around the dining area trying to keep the flow of people in check.
Finally when the lunch rush died down, I slipped into the office and hurriedly prepped a bank deposit. I swung by Nancy’s table to let her know I was on my way out. She was in the middle of taking an order for a young couple who’d just been seated.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed someone standing at the front. I decided to seat them before I left, so they didn’t have to wait. When I got closer to the front, I realized that it was Penny standing at the hostess station.
I stopped mid-stride. What was she doing here? I thought about my call with Adam that morning. He’d said he thought the guilty party was starting to get anxious. Was Penny coming to get me?
“Lana,” Penny said, when she noticed I was staring at her.
“Hi…”
She took a step closer to the podium. “Would you mind if we talked?”
“Right now?” My hand clenched the deposit bag.
She nodded. “It won’t take long … what I have to say…”
“Uh, sure. Did you want to talk in the back room?”
“Actually, I was thinking we’d talk at the lounge. Maybe have a drink?”
My hand was shaking and the zipper on the deposit bag rattled.
Penny looked down at my hand. “You okay? Too much coffee this morning?”
A nervous laugh escaped. “Yeah … you know me and my coffee.”
We stared at each other.
If I didn’t go with her, she would know that I knew. Did it really matter at this point? Then again, what if she wasn’t guilty and she was going to tell me something that would break the case? She hadn’t exactly been forthcoming in recent weeks, so the chances of that happening were slim.
How badly did I want to know what she needed to say? Adam’s warning about staying away from everyone involved with the contest ran through my head. I knew he was right, but I also knew that whatever Penny planned on telling me wasn’t going to be something she told the police.
In the end, my curiosity won. “Nancy,” I yelled. “I have to run over to the lounge with Penny. If you need me, that’s where I’ll be … just come get me.” I gave Nancy a pointed look, but of course, she had no idea why.
* * *
Sitting inside the empty establishment felt completely different now that I viewed Penny in a negative light. I realized how there was no direct line of sight to the entrance and the feeling of isolation was unbearable.
Penny shuffled around behind the bar, grabbing pieces of strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry from a plastic container. She dumped them into a blender on the counter and added some ice. “I found a new cook,” she said as she opened a cooler and pulled out a carton of orange juice. “He’s going to start next week.”
“Well, hey, things are looking up!” I said this with a little too much enthusiasm and it clearly sounded fake.
She stopped what she was doing and turned to face me. “Are you feeling okay? You really drank that much coffee?”
I chuckled. “It’s been a long morning.”
She gave a dismissive shrug and continued with her drink concoction. She turned on the blender and the crunching sound of ice filled the bar. When she was done, she poured the mixture into two tall glasses. “Try this … I just found the recipe online.” She dropped a maraschino cherry on top and slid the glass across the counter.
I took a sniff and smelled the sweetness of the fruit mixed with vodka. “What is this?”
“A Blushing Dragon. I think I’m going to add it to the menu after I tinker with it for a bit.”
; It felt obvious that I was waiting for her to take a sip first. Did I really think she was going to poison me? Possibly. It wouldn’t be the first time that someone tried.
She sipped her drink and I let go of a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. “So,” she said, leaning against the bar. “I don’t want to keep you long; I know you have things to do. But I didn’t want to wait to talk to you anymore. Our argument has been eating away at me.”
Instead of responding, I tasted my drink. Not bad.
“I want to apologize for my behavior. I know that I’ve been acting strange lately, and I need to explain.”
“Okay…” I twirled my straw in the glass, my heartbeat quickening.
“Stella and I … we have a long history together…” she started, choosing her words carefully. “We used to be best friends even.”
I wanted to stop her there because I already knew this story. Of course she didn’t know that, and I needed to see if she would tell me the same story that Joel told me. If their stories matched up, maybe I could trust her. Maybe.
She went through the same details that Joel had, almost a little too closely. And, as she talked about their time in school and the contest, I started to wonder if it sounded a bit rehearsed. But then she added something I wasn’t expecting.
“After Norman died, she came to me and told me she thought she knew who did it, but was afraid to say anything until she was one hundred percent sure. She kept asking me for video footage of the night of the party because she wanted to double-check something. But when I told her that the cameras don’t actually work, she flipped out on me. She kept hounding me and told me she was running out of time.”
“She actually said those words?” I asked.
“Yes. She told me that she needed solid proof to take to Detective Trudeau. Apparently she was worried that what she had on her own wasn’t enough to convince anyone of anything. She said she needed to be careful and needed something that would prove the person was guilty without a shadow of a doubt.”