by Vivien Chien
“Not a lot really. He’s a regular, he’s got money…” He held up his hands. “That’s about it.”
“You don’t know his name?”
“I’m a card dealer, we’re not friends.”
“Can you find it out for me? Someone has to know who he is.”
His eyes darted to Carmen, who was watching him intently. “I’ll see what I can do. But you might want to know about the woman he’d show up with from time to time. Brandon never saw her … but I did.”
In my head, I imagined Marcia … the man being her new gambling partner. Maybe a sugar daddy. Or maybe she was using him to track down Brandon. Jay Coleman did mention that she was always keeping tabs on him. “What did she look like? Pretty … great cheekbones?”
Ryan cocked his head at me. “She was kind of old-fashioned … and you could tell she comes from money. Dressed real nice … fur coat.”
“Fur coat?” I asked. “A black fur coat?”
“Yeah … how’d you know?”
“That’s Brandon’s ex-wife … Constance Yeoh. We’ve met.”
“She doesn’t come around anymore … hasn’t for a while.”
I found it strange that Constance was spending this extra time in Cleveland. I wondered how far back Adam would search into someone’s past. If there was proof that Constance was here a lot leading up to Brandon and Isabelle’s murders, maybe it could be used to tie her to something.
“So you got what you came for. Can we go now?” Carmen asked.
“I have a few more questions.”
“Hurry it up,” Ryan said, gesturing with his hands. “We have things to do.”
I described my mystery man to him as best I could, leaving out any references to William Shatner since no one appeared to get it besides me. “Do you know anybody like that?”
“I don’t know … could be some guy that Brandon came around with. Could be a lot of people.”
“Okay … what about someone named Bobby? Does that name sound familiar at all?”
“Nope.”
“How about Marcia? Brandon had another ex-wife and I think she liked to gamble just as much as he did. Did you ever see him with any women?”
The couple glanced at each other and seemed to exchange some kind of unspoken message between themselves.
“No…” Ryan finally answered. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”
I let out a heavy sigh. “I guess that’s it then.”
They both stood up. Carmen stormed off without saying anything else. Ryan stopped, his hands resting on the back of the chair he’d just been sitting in. His gaze was fixed on the seat. “This ex-wife woman … the one with the fur coat … maybe you should be checking her out instead of hassling us.”
He walked away without giving me a chance to respond. I stayed at the table a few extra minutes thinking that he might be right.
* * *
I returned to the plaza and headed straight for Ian’s office. The whole drive over I had been circling back around to the Constance angle. I thought about her extreme desire to get in the souvenir store as soon as possible, the break-in at Brandon and Isabelle’s apartment, and her outburst since we met.
Not only did she appear to be a woman on edge, but she seemed desperate. Of course, I couldn’t actually prove that she’d broken into the apartment. Then again, what if that was staged, too?
“We need to talk about … the situation,” I said to Ian from the door of the property office. I shut it behind me and went to stand by his desk.
“You were missed at the meeting.” He stood up from his desk, giving me a once-over. “Are there any developments on our little dilemma?”
“Not really.” I didn’t want to tell him about the information I’d learned at the casino. Not yet anyway. “But I’ve been thinking. Constance has really been pushing hard to get into that store. What if there’s a reason for that?”
“What do you mean? That she could be after something inside?”
“Yeah. And what if it ties her to Isabelle and Brandon’s murder somehow?”
“But the police already went through everything. If there had been something in that store, they would have found it already.”
“Maybe so, but perhaps they weren’t looking for the right thing. Or maybe it’s not something obvious right off the bat … you know?”
“You think you could figure out what that something is?”
“I’d like to give it a shot.”
Ian mulled this over. “So … what is it that you need from me?”
“Can you let me into the souvenir store?”
“Sure,” he agreed without hesitation. “If it means that she doesn’t get to open the store, then I’ll agree to anything. Just one question—what gave you this idea?”
I decided to go with the apartment angle. I told him about the break-in and my theory on that being staged, as well.
“You’re kidding!”
“No, the place was turned upside down. But as far as they could tell, nothing was taken. And Constance waited for Rina before entering the apartment.”
“So?” Ian asked, clearly confused.
“So when have you had an experience with Constance where she was being considerate of someone’s feelings?”
Ian nodded. “True. So you think she staged it to make herself look innocent?”
“Well, it’s plausible. At first, I thought there was no way she’d break in considering that she can go in as she pleases, but what if she got mad and trashed the place? She’d need a cover. And we’ve seen her temper…”
“Also true.”
“Not only that, but it’s crossed my mind that whoever it was might not have found what they were looking for. And that could be because it’s in the store.”
“Assuming they were hiding anything at all.”
Telling him about Brandon’s checkered past didn’t seem pertinent at the moment. Like everything else, it was better if fewer people knew about it. “Just let me go into the store and have a look around. It can’t hurt and the cops are done in there anyway. As you mentioned earlier today, if Constance gets her way, things are going to start happening as early as this Thursday. What do we have to lose?”
“You’re right; it can’t hurt to at least give it a shot. If we’re going to do this, we’ve got to have it wrapped up before then—before it’s too late.” He reached for the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a set of keys. “Keep this under the radar. We don’t need anyone wondering what you’re up to.”
* * *
After I had the keys, I went back to the restaurant to check in with everyone and waste some time. Business had mellowed out; there were only a few tables filled for dinner. I decided to piddle around in my mom’s office until the plaza closed and I could go into City Charm unseen.
I called Megan to tell her about my adventure at the casino and to let her know that I had some undercover work to take care of.
“Man, I am missing all the good stuff,” Megan pouted into the phone. “Stupid job.”
I laughed. “This is the good stuff?”
“You know what I mean.”
I told her I’d pick her up when I was done.
A few minutes later, there was a soft knock on the office door.
“Come in,” I yelled.
Figuring it was Nancy, I didn’t bother taking my eyes off the report I’d started working on. “Do you need help up there?”
“I would say they have it under control,” a husky voice responded.
I looked up. Adam. “Oh, I wasn’t expecting to see you.”
“I know,” he said, shutting the door behind him. “I thought I’d stop in for a surprise visit.”
Because of the information I didn’t want to give him, I’d successfully avoided him up to this point. Considering the placement of that, he probably thought it was for other reasons. Remembering my manners, I asked, “Can I get you anything?”
“No, I’m good.” He took a seat in the chair on the opposite side of the desk. I
t was too small for him and he looked like he was sitting in a chair made for little kids. “I was actually hoping I could convince you to come have a drink with me. You know, after you’re done here.”
“Oh…” I replied. Of course, he would pick tonight.
“I wanted to make up for the other night. I feel like our date ended on the wrong foot. Then the whole thing with the tires … and the case.”
“Well, I’d love to, but I’m going to be here for a while.” I pointed to the papers in front of me. “We’re off a little bit, and I want to get this fixed before I leave.” Really? That was the best I could come up with? Lame, Lana, so lame.
“Is there anything that I can help with?” He craned his neck, trying to see the report.
“Oh no, I’ll be fine.”
He eyed me, not satisfied with that answer. “Okay, how about this? I’m going to head up to the Zodiac. And when you’re all done here, you can meet me if you’re up for it. I’ll be there either way. No pressure.”
“Sure.”
He stood up from the chair, gave me a wink, and slipped out the door.
I let out a breath. Talk about timing. I’d have to speed up my snooping and make it to the Zodiac in a reasonable time. If I didn’t show up he might think I wasn’t interested, or—even worse—that I was up to something.
CHAPTER
26
I stood on the threshold of the back room of City Charm, peering into the darkness while the outline of stacked boxes started to form. As my eyes adjusted, I contemplated the direction my life had gone in the past few months. If you asked me a year ago what I would be doing, I wouldn’t have guessed it’d be sneaking into people’s offices or trying to solve crimes. Yet here I stood getting ready to snoop through someone’s things … again.
The last time I had gone through this door, the back room had been a horrible mess. But now, the room had been returned to its normal state. Professional cleaners had scrubbed down the entire area; not a single trace was left behind showing that any type of crime had taken place. If you didn’t know otherwise, you would assume everything was business as usual.
Isabelle had prided herself on being an organized person, and I found her office to be a reflection of that. It was in pristine condition. I took a minute to admire the tranquil work environment she had created. Outside the office, the stockroom was a cluster of boxes and random inventory arranged in a maze of haphazard piles. Standing in it for a while could make you feel a bit claustrophobic. But in her office, you felt a sense of calm. The space, though small, didn’t feel cramped or chaotic.
The desktop was free of clutter; the only things on it were a pencil cup and a tiered filing tray with color-coordinated folders stacked in each slot. A beach calendar hung above the desk with a Post-it note stuck to January’s photo of a Hawaiian coast that said, Wish I was here!
Black filing cabinets stood on both sides of the desk. I opened one of the drawers and took a peek. Inside were past invoices and receipts from different distributors. Nothing of real interest to me.
I skimmed through another drawer but found more of the same. I opened all of the drawers just to be safe, but nothing unusual or out of the ordinary jumped out at me.
I inspected the folders that were on the desk tray. These were their current bills and appeared to be outstanding. Assuming that Constance would finally get her hands on this place, she would be in charge of making sure these got paid. I put everything back the way I’d found it.
There was nothing interesting here. I had been so sure that I’d find something … anything. Another slip of paper. Some incriminating note. A planner that had secret meetings in it. I guess you can’t strike gold twice.
With disappointment, I flipped off the light switch and went back out into the stockroom. I stared at the piles of boxes for a minute, contemplating the likelihood that something of importance might be in one of them. The chances were slim. The police had been through everything in the room, and then the cleaning crew, which led me to believe that nothing looked or was placed exactly the way it had been that day anyway.
If Constance wanted in for something specific, it couldn’t be the inventory. She’d made it pretty clear that everything sold in the store was unworthy of her attention.
I trudged back through the service hallway to Ho-Lee Noodle House. I stuffed the keys in an envelope, wrote No Dice on the outside of it, and slipped it through the mail slot of the property office before I left.
I wasn’t very good with discouragement, and this was no exception.
* * *
Probably because I found nothing of worth, my expedition hadn’t taken as long as I’d expected. I was in and out in less than thirty minutes. No one would know that I had been up to anything sneaky. And by “no one,” I meant Adam.
I made my way to the Zodiac, my brain going back and forth over the lack of information. What the heck was I missing? What more was there for me to do? I could try calling the number that I’d found on that slip of paper again. When I’d tried before, I hadn’t thought about what I would say. I didn’t even know who I was calling. What if this Bobby person turned out to be the murderer? Even though I had found the number written in Isabelle’s handwriting, it still felt relevant to Brandon. I replayed the conversation that we’d had on our last outing together when she’d mentioned how exciting it might be to be a detective. What if she had already started looking into Brandon’s suspicious behavior? Had she found something she didn’t want to mention to me?
I pulled into the parking lot, noticing that Adam’s car was parked front and center. Good, I hadn’t missed him.
Inside, he was sitting at his usual spot at the bar, his eyes fixed on the TV overhead. His blank stare told me he wasn’t paying attention to what was on the screen. As I made my way over to him, Megan spotted me and went over to where Adam was sitting to greet me.
Adam following her gaze, turned around, a small smile forming on his lips. “There she is. I thought I was going to have to send a search party after you.”
That comment caused a nervous laugh to escape. I turned away, pretending to be preoccupied with a loose thread on my jacket. “Oh, I just lost track of time.”
“How’d it go?” Megan asked with a pointed look.
“Fine,” I said, sitting down on the stool next to Adam. “Just another night of nothing out of the ordinary. Just a bunch of receipts and invoices.”
Megan nodded slowly, picking up on my double speak. She pursed her lips. “I’ll get you a drink then.”
After Megan walked away, Adam turned toward me, giving me a once-over. “You almost sound disappointed about that. I would have thought you’d be glad.”
I sighed. “No, I’m fine, I’m just tired. It’s been a really long day.”
He straightened in his seat. “Okay, that’s the second time you said ‘fine’ and you haven’t even been here five minutes. What gives?”
“Nothing really, I’m f—”
“Three.”
“Would you stop it?”
“Is this because of the other night?” Adam asked.
“What? The whole thing after my tires were slashed? No.”
“No, I meant our date. I want to make up for that.” He looked down at his hands. “I know the night didn’t go as well as it could have. It’s hard for me to talk about my work…”
“It’s okay, you don’t have to explain,” I told him.
“I’m just not ready.”
A rock was starting to form in my stomach. I clutched a hand to my waist. “Ready for what, exactly?”
He shrugged. “To let someone into that part of my life, I guess.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what else to say since I had no idea what this was about. But what I did know was that he had doubts about letting someone get close to him. Mainly me. I squeezed my stomach.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had anyone close to me and…” He shook his head. “I swear, sometimes I forget how to be a person.
”
“I know how you feel,” I replied. “People tell you things get easier with age, but I don’t know if that’s actually true.”
“It sure doesn’t feel like it.” He took a sip of his beer, glancing up at the TV screen. “I’d like to take things slow, you know, so we don’t mess things up. I’d hate for that to happen because of me. I need some time … to adjust. I hope you can understand that.”
“Sure … time,” I replied, attempting to act as unaffected as possible. I knew my face was giving me away. I could feel it.
Megan came back with something red and fizzy. I didn’t ask what it was; I let go of my stomach, grabbed the glass from her hand, and took a big gulp. Tasted like cherries.
“Wow, someone’s thirsty,” Megan laughed.
“Long day, that’s all,” I said. “Would you two excuse me?” Without waiting for a reply, I grabbed my purse and got up, heading toward the ladies’ room. My eyes fell on the pay phone that stood between the men’s and ladies’ bathrooms.
I had tucked the slip of paper with Bobby’s name on it in my purse. I pulled it out and found some change.
I dialed the number expecting the same results. But this time the phone rang twice and a gruff-sounding man answered the phone.
“Hi, is this Bobby?” I asked in a chipper voice.
“Yeah, who’s this?”
I had to think quick. “Oh, we met through a mutual friend, and you asked me out on a date, remember? It’s been a few weeks, sorry I didn’t call sooner.”
There was a long silence and I thought he’d hung up on me. “Hello?”
“Who’d you say you were?” he finally asked.
“Katherine … we met through Isabelle Yeoh, don’t you remember?”
“No, I don’t know any Katherine … and I don’t know any Isabelle Yeoh. Don’t call this number.”
Before I could get anything else out, he hung up.
I put the receiver back on its hook and stared at the phone. Clearly, whoever Bobby was, he was a big, fat liar.
I went to the bathroom as I originally intended, taking my time at the sink to think about the call. I started to wonder if this Bobby person could trace the call back to the pay phone. If some random weirdo came looking for Katherine, at least I’d know who Bobby was.